Australia Drop Sam Konstas for First Ashes Test
One player in the squad is conspicuous by absence: Sam Konstas. The 20-year-old opener made a terrific Test debut last Australian summer, taking on India spearhead Jasprit Bumrah with confidence. However, his form has tailed off since then.
Konstas was next called up for the West Indies tour earlier this year. Although conditions were challenging for batting throughout, his 50 runs in six innings did little to inspire confidence. He did score a century for Australia A in India in September, but has struggled this season in the Sheffield Shield, accumulating just 122 runs at an average of 22.3 across three matches.
Chief selector George Bailey, however, remains upbeat about the batter’s potential: “I feel for Sammy. I feel like at the moment if he farts, it’s a headline. There’s a handful of young guys his age playing Shield cricket around the country and they’re all learning. Sammy’s no different, he just happens to be doing it under immense scrutiny. We really like him. We like the skill set there and we’re confident that will continue to build out.”
Jake Weatherald, Brendan Doggett Receive Call-Ups
Selected in Konstas’s place is 31-year-old Tasmania opening batter Jake Weatherald. Although he scored 0 and 12 in his most recent game against Victoria, Weatherald had three half-centuries in four Sheffield Shield innings prior to that. He was also the top run-getter in last year’s Sheffield Shield, with 906 runs in 10 matches.
Regular skipper Pat Cummins has been ruled out of the first Test with injury, with captaincy duties falling to Steve Smith. Scott Boland is expected to slot into the XI, while Australia have added two Test-uncapped seam bowlers—Sean Abbott and Brendan Doggett—to the squad as cover.
Abbott is a white-ball regular for Australia, with 29 ODIs and 28 T20Is to his name. He most recently represented Australia in the third T20I against India three days ago.
Doggett, 31, has yet to play any international cricket. He was part of Australia’s squad for the 2017-18 home Ashes but did not make it onto the field. In 49 first-class matches, he has taken 184 wickets at an average of 26.75. Doggett’s career-best figures came in last year’s Sheffield Shield final, where his 11-140 helped South Australia secure their first title in 29 years.
Of Australia’s 15 selected players, 14 will be active in the next round of the Sheffield Shield. The exception is Usman Khawaja, with the 38-year-old’s workload set to be managed carefully.
Australia Squad: First Ashes Test, November 21 in Perth
- Batters: Steve Smith (c), Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Jake Weatherald
- Wicketkeepers: Alex Carey, Josh Inglis
- All-rounders: Cameron Green, Beau Webster
- Bowlers: Sean Abbott, Scott Boland, Brendan Doggett, Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon, Mitchell Starc