Ian Healy has been sharpening his blades right through the West Indies series, in fact from the WTC final itself, about the Australian top order, raising questions about Sam Konstas and Osman Khawaja. He has another go now, though this time with a lot of constructive suggestions in particular for Konstas.
“There’s no one else over there to fill an opening position,” Healy said on SEN radio, suggesting that both Khawaja and Konstas ought to open in the third Test in Jamaica. Incidentally that would be a day-and-night affair, with questions being raised on the quality of the floodlights at the venue.
But first to Healy’s views. “If there was an opener ready to go (they could do it), Marnus (Labuschagne) is not an opener. So, they’ve got this Test match, no question. Usman got two good deliveries at least. There were a few eyebrows raised when he reviewed his second LBW decision, but he’s got to get moving. Jayden) Seales is swinging it into him from around the wicket and then nipping it in off the pitch and trapping him right between his knees in front of the stumps.”
Khawaja has been having this issue of lbw with balls angled in from around the stumps, and if he avoids lbw, he edges the balls that straighten as he is invariably pushing inside the line.
Healy had a few suggestions for what Konstas needs to do at nets before the final Test.
“But Sam Konstas is very jerky and short, he fell to a cut shot that had no fluency about it. He’s just got to find his fluency in the next week at practice, get to Jamaica and enjoy every bit of it. If you set out to enjoy a week and then look back, it’s no coincidence you play quite well. It’s not very fun for him at the moment.”
The third Test starts a week later, on July 13.
“He’s got to do the right amount of practice,” Healy said. “He’s got to find the sweet spot, not overdo it, but feel some progress every session with your fluency. Footwork, balance, and fluency. He threw the bat at it late and he was falling into the shot, and he chopped it on. Cam Green has made some improvements, so why can’t Sam Konstas do the same?”
There have been a few fretful faces ahead of the Jamaica Test about the readiness of the venue. Jamaican Cricket Association President Dr Donovan Bennett is confident the match will go ahead though he admitted he was a feeling a “bit uneasy”.
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“I’m pretty sure about that (being ready),” Bennett told the Jamaican Observer. “I’m a little bit uneasy because I would have hoped that everything would have been completed by now. But when you’re doing construction, there are unforeseen challenges, that’s exactly what happened with the lights and the scoreboard.But we’re on target, I’m confident that we’ll be ok with both the lighting and the scoreboard for the 12th, when the games are scheduled, I’m sure we’ll be ok.”
