Former England captain Michael Vaughan said he does feel sad for Nathan McSweeney, who was dropped from Australia’s squad for the remaining two Tests against India, while acknowledging the rationale behind the decision made by the visitors’. McSweeney opened in the first three Tests against India but made just 72 runs at an average of 14.40, despite not having opened previously in first-class cricket. On Friday, the Australian selectors dropped McSweeney to draft in teenage opener Sam Konstas. “I feel for Nathan, I think he’ll be back – but I totally understand why Australia made this move. I feel for the kid, because of all the people that I’ve seen come into Test cricket over the last 10 years, I don’t think anyone’s been given a harder challenge.
“To face Bumrah in the conditions that he’s had to face now, the pink ball under lights in his second game, in Perth it did all sorts and in Brisbane the ball was moving around. I thought they’d go with McSweeney for Melbourne, and if he failed again, they’d bring Sam (Konstas) in for his home Test at the SCG.
“I don’t think in the long run it’s going to be a bad thing for McSweeney. I think he will end up being an Australian Test cricketer, but I don’t think he’ll be up the top of the order; I think it’ll be down at four or five. If I was McSweeney, next time I get the chance to wear the baggy green, I’d want him to be in the position that he’s played all his life,” said Vaughan to Fox Sports on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Konstas shot into the limelight by scoring twin centuries against South Australia in the opening round of the Sheffield Shield. Those twin centuries also earned him the distinction of being the first teenager to achieve this feat in the Sheffield Shield since the legendary Ricky Ponting did so in 1993.
Konstas had been a member of the Australian team winning this year’s U19 World Cup in South Africa and also scored a century while playing for the Prime Minister’s XI against India in the warn-up pink-ball match at Manuka Oval in Canberra.
Talking about how Konstas would cope to the challenge against Jasprit Bumrah, who never let McSweeney be settled at the crease, Vaughan stated, “Bumrah has had a number of the Australian batters… but I think in Sam Konstas, it’s very clear that he’s going to be a star of the future.”
“I’ve never been a big believer in: ‘What damage can be done to a 19-year-old?’ They’re all just youthful, and all they ever think about is positivity, there’s no baggage. It’s quite exciting when you’ve got a young kid who can clearly play, so what’s the worst thing that can happen – he gets not many runs? Well, that’s been happening anyway!
“If he goes out and gets an innings under his belt against Bumrah’s quality, then you start talking about a seriously high-class player. From a very young age, he’s scored hundreds and he knows how to score hundreds.”
Vaughan signed off by saying Usman Khawaja is also under considerable pressure to perform and that his partner in the Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, starting on Thursday, should be a specialist opener.
“I do think that Usman needs runs in the next two games; I don’t think he can be anywhere near a shoe-in to go to Sri Lanka and the West Indies if he doesn’t score runs in this series, because eventually you have to look to the future. They can’t go three on the trot from the middle order to the top; they’ve got to go with someone who opens the batting,” said Vaughan.
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