Perth: Australia will not make any change to the squad that took a 295-run hammering from India in the opening Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test here but there are some fitness concerns over all-rounder Mitchell Marsh’s ability to bowl, coach and selector Andrew McDonald has said.
Following the crushing loss, McDonald revealed that the team would land in Adelaide for the day-night second Test beginning December 6 earlier than planned to allow an additional net session.
“The people in that change-room (for Perth Test) are the same people that will be in Adelaide,” McDonald was quoted as saying by ‘cricket.com.au’.
“It (making changes) is always a consideration, wherever you go in the world in terms of the personnel you pick for conditions.”
Marsh, who bowled just 17 overs in the first Test for a match haul of three wickets, has been dealing with “niggles” since the white-ball tour of England in September.
Skipper Pat Cummins has already revealed that Marsh finished the first Test “a little bit sore.”
McDonald expressed satisfaction with Marsh’s bowling performance in the first innings but said his fitness would be monitored closely moving forward.
“Has he (Marsh) pulled up okay? We’ll wait and see,” McDonald said.
“No, we didn’t feel that (was a weakness). We knew that Mitch (Marsh) was slightly underdone coming in, but I thought the performance in the first innings was satisfactory.”
Another player under scanner is top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne, who has struggled for form with an average of just 13.66 in his last 10 Test innings.
However, McDonald said he has faith in Labuschagne’s abilities, describing him as “the player we need” and urging him to rediscover
his form.