Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has urged caution against making sweeping changes to the Test side after the historic defeat to Bangladesh in Darwin, insisting that the painful loss should not prompt an emotional overhaul of a team that still has plenty of cricket left in it.
Australia suffered their first-ever home Test defeat to Bangladesh on Sunday, a result that immediately intensified scrutiny on several experienced players. Calls for changes have grown louder, with Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne among those facing questions over their places in the batting order.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has also called for “regeneration” in the side, but McDonald believes the selection decisions must be made with a longer-term view rather than as an immediate reaction to one defeat.
“There is always going to be a call for change at the back of a loss. There is always going to be an emotion around that from the outside, and even internally. Our guys are sitting in the dressing room, and they are feeling it,” McDonald said, as quoted by the ICC.
“You feel a Test loss. It means a lot to them to play for Australia, so let us not lose that in all this as well.”
McDonald acknowledged that Australia's ageing squad will inevitably remain a talking point, particularly after a damaging result, but stressed that the current group still has plenty to offer.
“It is always going to be a conversation, the age profile of the team. A loss does not help that. But these players have got a fair bit of cricket left in them,” he said.
“The easy option is to call for change. A lot of people call for change when we are not winning. They are entitled to do that as well on the back of a performance like that. So that is part of our lot.”
McDonald added that the selection process would not be driven by emotion ahead of the second Test in Mackay, which begins on August 22.
“We’re not emotional around change in terms of, ‘if we lose a game, then we need change’. It’s the ability to think through, ‘Okay, what does it look like? How do we maximise our playing group, and how do we get the best out of them?’” he said.
The coach also backed veteran spinner Nathan Lyon after the off-spinner endured an unusually difficult outing in Darwin.
Lyon, who has taken 568 Test wickets at an average of 30.32, finished with figures of 1/125 as Bangladesh's batters largely neutralised his threat. By contrast, Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed a match-winning five-wicket haul.
McDonald felt Bangladesh's approach, rather than a failure from Lyon, deserved significant credit.
“I think they played him exceptionally well. As a whole, their batting unit, even against our quicks, they played the ball late, they were very patient and disciplined,” he said.
“There was not a lot in the surface at that point of time for Nathan. So it is very hard to judge one-off sample sizes to the function of that attack.”
Labuschagne remains another major talking point after scoring 31 in the second innings. McDonald admitted that the batter needs runs but was encouraged by some of the changes to his technique.
“We want runs as the bottom line,” he said. “He’s lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that. We’re working incredibly hard as a coaching group.”
Australia suffered their first-ever home Test defeat to Bangladesh on Sunday, a result that immediately intensified scrutiny on several experienced players. Calls for changes have grown louder, with Jake Weatherald and Marnus Labuschagne among those facing questions over their places in the batting order.
Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting has also called for “regeneration” in the side, but McDonald believes the selection decisions must be made with a longer-term view rather than as an immediate reaction to one defeat.
“There is always going to be a call for change at the back of a loss. There is always going to be an emotion around that from the outside, and even internally. Our guys are sitting in the dressing room, and they are feeling it,” McDonald said, as quoted by the ICC.
“You feel a Test loss. It means a lot to them to play for Australia, so let us not lose that in all this as well.”
‘The easy option is to call for change’
McDonald acknowledged that Australia's ageing squad will inevitably remain a talking point, particularly after a damaging result, but stressed that the current group still has plenty to offer.
“It is always going to be a conversation, the age profile of the team. A loss does not help that. But these players have got a fair bit of cricket left in them,” he said.
“The easy option is to call for change. A lot of people call for change when we are not winning. They are entitled to do that as well on the back of a performance like that. So that is part of our lot.”
McDonald added that the selection process would not be driven by emotion ahead of the second Test in Mackay, which begins on August 22.
“We’re not emotional around change in terms of, ‘if we lose a game, then we need change’. It’s the ability to think through, ‘Okay, what does it look like? How do we maximise our playing group, and how do we get the best out of them?’” he said.
McDonald defends Lyon after tough outing
The coach also backed veteran spinner Nathan Lyon after the off-spinner endured an unusually difficult outing in Darwin.
Lyon, who has taken 568 Test wickets at an average of 30.32, finished with figures of 1/125 as Bangladesh's batters largely neutralised his threat. By contrast, Bangladesh spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz claimed a match-winning five-wicket haul.
McDonald felt Bangladesh's approach, rather than a failure from Lyon, deserved significant credit.
“I think they played him exceptionally well. As a whole, their batting unit, even against our quicks, they played the ball late, they were very patient and disciplined,” he said.
“There was not a lot in the surface at that point of time for Nathan. So it is very hard to judge one-off sample sizes to the function of that attack.”
Labuschagne under pressure
Labuschagne remains another major talking point after scoring 31 in the second innings. McDonald admitted that the batter needs runs but was encouraged by some of the changes to his technique.
“We want runs as the bottom line,” he said. “He’s lacked runs. He feels that. We feel that. We’re working incredibly hard as a coaching group.”