Australia A 99 for 4 trails India A 107 (Doggett 6-15) for eight runs
Konstas, the 19-year-old who has been the most talked about player this season, dropped behind in the opener against Mukesh Kumar as he looked to lead, and Bancroft, after four single-figure Sheffield Shield scores, was trapped. down the side of the leg, although replays showed it detached from the thigh pad. Bancroft, who failed to return to the Test team last season despite his prolific domestic form, threw his head back in frustration.
Harris reached double figures but was unconvincing. He survived a big appeal for being caught behind and was then dropped by Baba Indrajith on 8 at third slip against a ball that straightened around Kumar’s wicket. After the break, he made a good breakthrough but wasted his innings when he targeted Prasidh Krishna, who is part of the Indian Test team, and was harshly dismissed at second slip. Prasidh could have had a third at the end of the day when Cooper Connolly was given a life on the cordon.
To add to the intrigue, McSweeney, who bats three in the Sheffield Shield but is number 4 here to accommodate the three openers above him, played as solidly as anyone all day, facing 110 balls for his 29, to give him more credibility to the talk. which can still be the solution at the top of the order.
Speaking earlier in the day in Melbourne, Australia head coach Andrew McDonald admitted there was more uncertainty around selection than was ideal, but the final decision would not come down to a single innings.
“I think sometimes you’re pushed into a space where you can’t give long-term certainty,” he said. “There’s a balance in the sense that we prefer to be more settled when the summer comes, for sure. If you have it, certainly that’s great, but there will also be moving parts in the summer that will create discussions and decisions about who is going to play.” the next test. While we want to provide clarity and certainty, sometimes that is not always possible.
“There is a lot of context and consideration around the work of those senior players like Marcus Harris and Cameron Bancroft. Clearly, Sam Konstas hasn’t been able to have that work behind him due to the limited Shield cricket he has played, and Nathan McSweeney is somewhere intermediate of that.
“Take Sam for example, he’s had limited experience in Perth and then obviously up to the Gabba, so there are incredible challenges for players who haven’t played in those conditions before, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do it.” “. Either way: learn quickly.
The bowler-dominated tone of the day was set in the second over when Josh Philippe brilliantly caught the first ball off the leg side of India A captain Ruturaj Gaikwad. Jordan Buckingham added a second in his first spell with a beautiful delivery to find the lead off Abhimanyu Easwaran, who is another in India’s full Test group.
Sai Sudharsan made a promising start before closing in on Doggett to begin what would be a memorable day for the South Australian quick, who was only in the team as a second reserve after being called up to replace the injured Liam Hatcher, who had replaced. Marcos Steketee.
Doggett hit the perfect full length on a surface that encouraged quicks and worried all the batsmen. After offspinner Todd Murphy removed Indrajith on the stroke of lunch, having been caught at short leg when it was unclear whether the bat was involved, Doggett really got to work after the interval as he moved through the middle order.
Ishan Kishan showed an edge at the back looking to counter-attack and Devdutt Padikkal, who had provided the most resistance and was the day’s top scorer with 36, edged a breakthrough attempt to give Philippe his fifth catch. Doggett’s fifth came when he trapped Manav Suthar for a yorker and a career-best sixth when he cleaned up Prasidh to leave India A 86 for 9. Navdeep Saini (23) managed to take the total to three figures.
Andrew McGlashan is deputy editor of ESPNcricinfo
