Konstas will become the fourth-youngest Australian to make his Test debut at 19 years and 85 days on Boxing Day against India, with only Ian Craig, current captain Pat Cummins and Tom Garrett making his debut at a younger age.
“We said from the start of the summer that there would be no shame and age would not be a barrier,” McDonald said. “And what he’s shown is a variety of shots, the ability to put pressure back on the opposition and get opportunities. We’re really excited about him.”
Head had a short hit in net on Tuesday after doing nothing in Monday’s selection session, doing some running and playing defense in the outfield.
“Does he have something to work through? Yes, he has,” McDonald said. “So that’s what you would have seen. No need to worry at the moment. Has he been officially sent off? I don’t know. I haven’t seen the back end of his training session there, but I’m pretty confident he’ll play.
“I think he looks good with the bat, so of course he has good technique. It’s basically a matter of what the risks are. He put a little bit of strain on the quads, but that’s not a concern on my part. “He can run, so I think he’ll be fully functional when game time comes.”
Head had a lengthy discussion with McDonald and Australian physio Nick Jones immediately after hitting the net, but the coach downplayed its significance.
“It’s more about his defensive position and what he can do there,” McDonald said. “Obviously he’s relaxed, he’s definitely got some demands on the bat pad.
“So that was it. And my question to Nick Jones was what he needed to do to get through the session. So I would look at that ahead of time or make sure nothing changed during the session and then we would see if India “We started talking about what we were going to do, so it wasn’t very specific.”
“If we haven’t selected Scotty here, we can’t declare the team because that’s Pat’s job tomorrow, but we’re not going to be out on Boxing Day if he’s not in the XI, so you can do that too.” McDonald said.
McDonald’s did not confirm whether any further changes would be made. Considering Mitchell Marsh is fully healthy, that seems highly unlikely. He had one of the longest bowling spells of the summer in the nets on Tuesday and appeared to be moving well after overcoming a back problem that had plagued him since suffering cramps in the fourth ODI against England at Lord’s back in September.
“To sum up, Mitch Marsh is fit and ready to bowl,” McDonald said. “I know he bowled only two overs in the last game and people were speculating about that, but that was even more so with the intervention of the weather and we were unable to keep the fast bowlers fresh even though we only had two out of three. “But he is ready to go and I think he will play a more important role in this Test match than in the previous one.”
McDonald was delighted to have him in the squad along with another fast bowler, Sean Abbott, and felt Sydney might need him as the Melbourne Test goes on for five days and Australia’s bowlers stretch. However, McDonald felt this was not possible given the surface and light loading that Cummins and Mitchell Starc had had throughout the series so far.
“Jhye was impressive,” McDonald said. “There have been clear setbacks in the Shield game with the shoulder. Every week people are confident that it reduces the risk and what we saw in the net today is a highly skilled player and he is getting closer to the top level. This is very interesting.
“I think it’s realistic to have two extra quicks in the team with a short turnaround. If this game goes on for a long time with a short turnaround, there are some decisions to be made. Our front-line quicks in terms of Stacy and Paddy will probably play three Test matches. “I would say there is a good chance that the load will be less than we imagined later, giving us the opportunity to back up from Test 4 to Test 5.”
Alex Malcolm is the editor-in-chief of ESPNcricinfo.
