Alright, here's some Thoughts from probably the only person on the forum who regularly follows cricket down undah.
First of all, not related to our opening situation:
- I doubt he plays - any selector who benches Boland at the G, where his domestic record is like 1 million wickets at 10, is lethally insane - but it is good to see Jhye back in the Test frame after a rough run of injuries for the last couple of years. He's fast, gets bounce out of pitches, and is probably the most like-for-like Cummins replacement we have if he is ever hurt.
- Also good to see they didn't drop Beau Webster out of the frame; if I were selecting, Big Beau would debut over MMarsh on Boxing Day.
Sam Konstas is a game changer. Calling him up is 100% warranted. He kind of reminds me of a Jacob Bethell sort of selection - while his rate stats in First Class aren't eye-popping in the same way you get with a David Bedingham type, you just look at him and you see someone who plays a lovely game, has a nice variety of shots (although if he tries his ramp in the Test I will lose it) and most importantly, seems to have a very high cricket IQ. I watched both the PMXI innings and his recent 20-ball 50 in the BBL, and he didn't remotely look like getting out in either - in fact, even his dismissal in the Big Bash game looked not out at first glance. Additionally his last three knocks have been that 100 against the Indians (without Bumrah admittedly), 88 against a strong WA team, and that record-breaking BBL 50. To summarise it: I do think Konstas can be our long term opening solution.
But have we dropped the right player? No.
The big knock on McSweeney is his average. Sure, 14 isn't good, but he also just cannot face the best bowler in the world. Not only has he done well enough against the other bowlers - only dismissed once, and that was in the Brisbane thrash where everyone hit out and got out - but he's outbatted Usman and MMarsh this series and is right there with Marnus. Also, once again, he is more of a natural at #3. I don't see why we can't drop Marnus - who has been pretty horrific in his recent Test returns (he's averaged 35 and 24 in the last two years of Tests, compared to Usman's 52 and 24), isn't needed for the bowling option, and isn't a natural opener unlike Khawaja - and bump McSweeney down to a spot at 3 where he will (hopefully) be sheltered from Bumrah while getting in.
(Final thought: also, I'd have Kurtis Patterson in as the reserve batter and not Josh Inglis, but that's less of a huge issue)
