Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has backed his team’s batting unit despite consecutive collapses against South Africa, insisting the visitors have reasons to remain optimistic following their series defeat in Cape Town. McDonald also expressed confidence that Steve Smith would return for the upcoming home Test series against New Zealand, with Australia keen to resolve the batter’s neck problem ahead of a demanding international schedule. McDonald believes the experience gained in difficult overseas conditions could ultimately benefit his side.
With Cameron Green returning from injury and Josh Inglis strengthening his case with another away Test, Australia could explore different batting combinations before the New Zealand series.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has backed his team’s batting unit despite consecutive collapses against South Africa, insisting the visitors have reasons to remain optimistic following their series defeat in Cape Town.
“It’s still a very good cricket team with a lot of very good players in there, and some … (who) will be acknowledged as legends of the game. We’ve got to balance that out with who comes in, what the next decisions are. If you looked at the batting unit, I think we walk away in a stronger position (than at the start of the South Africa tour). “With Green, it was an injury that curtailed him early in the series. Inglis … he’s (now) got two away Test hundreds. We know how difficult it is to play away. The challenge is always greater when you play away in foreign conditions and you get challenged in different ways. There’s a reason why a lot of teams don’t win on the road – it is difficult. Smith missed the series-deciding Test at Newlands after failing a final fitness assessment, despite attempting to overcome the issue with a pain-killing injection. “All I’ll say is the medical team and Steve gave it every chance, and that’s all you can do. The next morning … he wasn’t ready to play. He acknowledged that – and we do put a lot of trust into our players, in particular our senior players who know their bodies quite well. “So yes, we are planning for him to play against New Zealand, Test in Perth. “We’ll have to reassess that as we move forward.
It’s not an excuse – we felt as though we’re good enough to come here and win this series,” he said. McDonald said the decision rested with the senior batter and stressed that his recovery would take priority. “I’ve got no knowledge to the counter of that,” McDonald said. “We believed in ‘Marn’ for this tour,” McDonald said.
