'Rare that Marnus, Smith miss out in same Test match': Australian coach McDonald

Australian head coach Andrew McDonald said that though star batters Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne rarely miss out on big scores in a same Test his teams victory without them performing at the highest level is always a positive reported ESPNCricinfo on ThursdayMost of Australian players would like some days of rest before the second Ashes Test but that may not be the case with two of the sides most consistent batters Australia won the first Ashes Test without much contribution from this prolific pair as they could score only 35 runs among themIt is a potentially daunting prospect for England regretting that they let the match slip away while also managing to keep Smith and Labuschagne quietIt is very rare that Marn and Smudge miss out in the same Test match It is an appetising thought said McDonald as quoted by ESPNCricinfoThey will be no doubt a craving for more net sessions from Marn and Smudge They are disappointed they missed out in this game but I think any time the Australian cricket team can win without those two performing at a high level is always a positive We have got some areas we can improve there is some growth within the team and there are two obvious ones he addedAlso Read Length at off stump is important on this wicket Steve SmithSmith scored a mammoth 774 runs in the 2019 Ashes series in England But in the last match he could manage only 16 and six runs in both innings falling to Ben Stokes and Stuart Broad respectivelyThe most intriguing dismissals were perhaps that of Labuschagne He first edged Stuart Broads outswinger in the first innings as he pushed well away from his body for a golden duck Then in the second innings after briefly attacking Moeen Ali with some reverse sweeps he once again nicked a Broads delivery He could manage scores of 0 and 13 in both inningsDue to these two low scores Labuschagne lost his number 1 Test batting ranking to Englands Joe Root who scored 118 and 46 respectively Labuschagne has managed only two halfcenturies in his last 17 innings in the longer format His batting average has also come down from 6082 to 5514Labuschagnes home and away averages are also contrasting While he averages 7050 in Australia with nine centuries and nine fifties he has a 3713 average in away Tests with only one century and six fiftiesIt is not like Labuschagne lacks experience in English conditions since he has played plenty of County Cricket here for Glamorgan with an average of 5552 in 26 appearances He also made four halfcenturies in the 2019 Ashes after being Smiths concussion sub at the LordsHis matchup with Broad is now one of the most fascinating duels of this series Given the amount of hunger for runs work he puts into his batting Labuschagne will no doubt leave no stone unturned to come back strongly in the second Test The same applies for Smith too who came into the first Test after a matchwinning century against India in the ICC World Test Championship final at The OvalUsman Khawaja the southpaw who earned the Player of the Match for his knocks of 141 and 67 at Edgbaston had very little doubts about the duos comeback in the second Test saying that he genuinely expects Labuschagne to score a hundredI genuinely just expect Labuschagne to score a hundred next game We had potentially our two best batters not score runs this game It is very unlikely does not happen very often In my opinion the greatest batter of my era in Test cricket Steve Smith not very often he misses out twice We have still got four Ashes Tests Might be a good thing for us they have some runs in the bank said KhawajaThe coaching staff will be there to help though McDonald backs them to figure out solutions to their problemsI think there is always a curiosity to get better so we are not going to stall that in any way They will come up with different plans different movements said McDonaldThey have seen what England are going to do and how they are going to attack them and they are probably two of the greatest problemsolvers we have had over a period of time so you would expect them to go back to the drawing boardBatting coach Michael Di Venuto will be part of that process They will come out pretty clear what they need to do next innings But there is no issue there he concludedAustralia will start off preparations for the Lords Test on SaturdayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever