WI vs AUS 2025: 'Small step forward in last game' - McDonald on Konstas after Grenada Test

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald saw promising glimpses from young batter Sam Konstas during the second Test against the West Indies and has suggested that there will be significant opportunities for players to stake their claim for Ashes selection early in the domestic season and through Australia A fixtures.

Konstas scored a composed 25 in the first innings in Grenada, before falling for a duck during a brief second-innings stint late on the second day. Despite the mixed outing, McDonald remains optimistic about the youngster’s potential. Konstas is set to feature in the final Test at Sabina Park, which will be the venue's first-ever day-night Test, offering him a chance to finish the series on a high note.

"Four games in, eight innings, it's probably early for anyone to judge, really. I think the challenges in Test cricket aren't necessarily always your skill level or your technique. It's dealing with the moments, the pressure, all the other things that externally come with that as well. He's a player finding his feet in the environment,” McDonald said as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.

"[It was] a small step forward in the last game with that first innings. I thought the way he structured up his first 20-odd balls, he had the positive intent, he was moving a lot better compared to the game before where it looked like he was stuck in the middle and didn't know whether to play a shot and it was either ultra-aggressive or ultra-defensive," he added.

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Konstas is expected to feature in the four-day matches on Australia A’s tour of India in late September, before being available for the opening rounds of the Sheffield Shield in early October. Four rounds of the Shield are scheduled ahead of the Ashes series.

"There's great opportunity in domestic cricket at the start of the season, and there always is leading into any Test series. We saw with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy last year, there was an opportunity for players to put their hand up there. There's also Australia A [against Sri Lanka A] in the Top End [Darwin] at the moment, so we're watching that closely…so it's really about the opportunity that presents,” McDonald said.

"First and foremost, we concentrate on what's right here, right now. Everyone will be speculating around who can come in, what possibilities are, but we're confident the players that we've got here can do the job," he added.

McDonald noted that it may be difficult to draw strong conclusions from this tour in relation to the Ashes, a view he holds even though the series has been dominated by pace bowling rather than spin.

"There's been a lot of variable bounce and sideways movement, so it's probably not similar to Australia. Maybe some surfaces will be. I think Perth potentially, when it does crack a little bit, it can go up and down and a little bit sideways. But I think the first four rounds of Shield cricket will draw a better connection to the Ashes than what we're seeing here,” McDonald said.

"What we are seeing here, though, is people getting exposed at Test level, and within that exposure, the mental challenges of Test cricket are real," he added.

Australia’s top order remains under scrutiny as Usman Khawaja continues to struggle, though Cameron Green eased concerns with a half-century. The head coach stated that Australia finished as comfortable winners in both Tests. Despite being evenly matched after two days, the West Indies collapsed in both second innings, lasting just 34.3 overs in Grenada and 33.4 overs in Barbados.

"For every failure in the top-order, the middle-order's been able to get us out of those situations and vice versa. We've had times when the top-order's prospered and the middle potentially hasn't delivered what you'd probably expect,” said McDonald.

"Ultimately the game of cricket's matching the bowling with the batting. At the moment we're doing that. We're finding ways through it. Would we like to have greater output from the top-order? There's no doubt about that. And those players would want more runs. But they'll come. We've been able to find a way through the West Indies batting order…and they've been quite big victories," he added.

McDonald added that he does not anticipate any changes to the squad for the final Test, which will mark Mitchell Starc’s 100th appearance, though player assessments will be made upon arrival in Jamaica. A decision on whether to release Marnus Labuschagne from the squad will be made once the match begins.

Labuschagne has the option to rejoin Glamorgan for the County Championship or potentially travel to Darwin for the second four-day game against Sri Lanka A, starting July 20. However, resting him ahead of the August ODI series against South Africa is also being considered.