Andrew McDonald, the Australia men’s head coach, has said that all options are on the table when it comes to selection for the fourth Ashes Test in Manchester – but, with nine days’ break after an intense few weeks that began with winning the World Test Championship final, the first priority is giving the team a breather.
Australia’s players will scatter across the UK and Europe for a few days of rest and recreation: tennis enthusiast Steve Smith heads to Wimbledon, a group of golfers to Scotland, while other destinations include live‑music hub Bristol, the rolling hills of the Cotswolds, and the continental lights of Paris, Amsterdam and Spain. They will return to camp from 14 to 16 July.
The break means that Josh Hazlewood’s return to the bowling lineup is all but guaranteed, with Scott Boland likely to make way, while McDonald said that Marnus Labuschagne’s series of unconverted starts still demonstrated that his technique was up to the challenge.
The bigger question is how to accommodate Mitchell Marsh, after a dominant century while filling in for the briefly injured Cameron Green, and whether that might be as a makeshift opener replacing David Warner. It hasn’t been ruled out.
“[Marsh] did pretty well down the middle order,” McDonald said. “To put him up to open in English conditions would probably be something we haven’t discussed yet. But we do have some time between now and the next Test.
“You’ve also got to reflect on what the opening partnership’s been able to do across the six innings and there’s been three 50-plus partnerships in there. Albeit it didn’t function to its level [in the third Test], in some ways it’s done well so far in this series.”
More likely, in a team that tends to minimise change, Marsh will keep the No 6 spot ahead of Green for the time being. “[He] was positive, showed great intent and he’s a fine player of the short ball,” McDonald said. “So there’s a lot to like with how he matches up against England. I thought he was impressive with the ball as well, and he’s done that before in England so that’s nothing new.
“There’s not a straightforward answer really. Cameron Green is important to the structure of the team as well, with his all-round capabilities … we’ve got a decision to make.”
Squeezing out the spinner would not be considered, even though Todd Murphy bowled only 9.3 overs in the Headingley Test to buy one wicket when Ben Stokes was trying to hit every ball for six. The Australia captain, Pat Cummins, explained Murphy’s peripheral role as being based on conditions and the brevity of both England innings, but Old Trafford has a more notable history of bringing spinners into the fray.
“We like to have a balanced attack and it gives you options, you can take pace out of the game,” McDonald said. “You become one‑dimensional – whether it be with the right‑arm bowlers or just pace bowlers in general – without the ability to turn to a spinner. I think that leaves you a bit short at times, and England played a very aggressive side here with Moeen [Ali] at seven and four quicks, but they value the spinner as well just to change the pace of the game. We’ll have to assess that, but as it sits at the moment we do like to have the spinner in the team.”
As for Australia’s tendency to use the short ball with catchers out on the fence, expect that to continue despite the game-changing counterattack that England’s lower order employed in the first innings at Leeds. “The short ball’s been used more regularly in this series than I’ve ever seen before and with the short ball comes the risk of runs,” McDonald said. “But I still think it’s going to be a plan that’s employed throughout the series.”
Decisions of when exactly to turn to that plan are the captain’s prerogative, but the coaching staff have plenty of input. “It’s pretty regular on and off the ground, anything we see there Pat encourages us to communicate to him out there and vice versa. So I think it’s all hands on deck in terms of reading where the game might go and what tactics will be used. We set most of the plans in the morning and then go from there once we get new information.”
