Andrew McDonald says we have challenged ourselves with the structure of our team as well as playing eight batters
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald says its job well done on a few ODI fronts. Besides the fact that the side banked continuous ODI series wins against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, they did as such during a background of change and progress.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald says its job well done on a few ODI fronts. Besides the fact that the side banked continuous ODI series wins against Zimbabwe and New Zealand, they did as such during a background of change and progress.
The big question of who replaces Aaron Finch as ODI skipper remains, but McDonald says the two ODI series in north Queensland offered invaluable insights ahead of the 50-over World Cup beginning in 13 months in India.
Australia beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in Townsville before placing the brush through New Zealand 3-0 in Cairns – all while McDonald dabbled with batting and bowling choices. Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green, and Sean Abbott played key roles.
“The exposure that we’re giving some players in [Josh] Inglis and Abbott and Green, with [Mitch] Marsh and [Marcus] Stoinis and [Pat] Cummins not in that last side, we’re just creating some depth,”
McDonald said.
“We have played some players in different roles.
“We have challenged ourselves with the structure of our team as well as playing eight batters, and trying to get more overs out of our all-rounders. We got a lot of information out of the six games up here, in particular three games against New Zealand in difficult conditions.
“The pleasing factor is the adaptability of our players to work through different conditions and to play in many different ways.”
Plenty of players and bowlers conveyed vital performances in the six ODIs. Green took his most memorable ODI five-wicket pull against Zimbabwe and hit an unbeaten 89 to lead Australia to triumph in game one against New Zealand.
Labuschagne, who waited till the first match against New Zealand for an outing, delivered a crucial partnership alongside Smith, whose 12th ODI century set Australia’s insurmountable total in game three.
McDonald is in no rush to track down a response, with Finch to still play on as captain through the upcoming T20 World Cup in October and November.
“It’s probably the end of the [T20] World Cup, isn’t it?”
he said.
“We have got a little bit of time to consider what those options look like. We’ve got the World Cup in front of us so that’s more pressing at this stage than filling the captaincy void.”