Australia to Retain Squad for Adelaide Test, Monitor Marsh's Fitness: McDonald

Immediately after the crushing loss, McDonald declared that the team would be coming to Adelaide a day ahead for the start of the day-night second Test that is scheduled to begin December 6 in order to fit an extra net session.

Australia will not alter the side that suffered a 295-run drubbing at the hands of India in the first Border-Gavaskar Trophy Test here but all-rounder Mitchell Marsh's fitness for bowling is a matter of concern, according to coach and selector Andrew McDonald.

Immediately after the crushing loss, McDonald declared that the team would be coming to Adelaide a day ahead for the start of the day-night second Test that is scheduled to begin December 6 in order to fit an extra net session.

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"The people in that change-room (for Perth Test) are the same people that will be in Adelaide," McDonald was quoted by 'cricket.com.au'.

"It (making changes) is always a consideration, wherever you go in the world in terms of the personnel you pick for conditions."

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Marsh, who bowled just 17 overs in the first Test for a match haul of three wickets, has been dealing with "niggles" since the white-ball tour of England in September.

Skipper Pat Cummins has already revealed that Marsh finished the first Test "a little bit sore."

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McDonald was delighted with Marsh's bowling in the first innings but said his fitness will be closely monitored now.

"Has he pulled up okay? We'll wait and see," McDonald said.

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"No, we didn't feel that (was a weakness). We knew that Mitch (Marsh) was slightly underdone coming in, but I thought the performance in the first innings was satisfactory."
   
 Another player under scanner is top-order batter Marnus Labuschagne, who has struggled for form with an average of just 13.66 in his last 10 Test innings.

However, McDonald believes in Labuschagne's abilities, describing him as "the player we need" and urging him to rediscover his form.

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"That's an ongoing discussion and that ebbs and flows in players' careers, so at the moment he's in one of those patches and no doubt he'll be getting critiqued externally," McDonald said.

"But in our heads, we are actually quite confident that, at his best, he is the player we need."

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When asked if Labuschagne's struggles were technical, McDonald said: "It's always a mix of factors, isn't it, with the mindset?

There are some technical aspects to that, as well, within the play of the mindset. As I said, we feel confident that he can turn it around.

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The decision to hand debutant Nathan McSweeney the opening slot proved to be a blunder as he managed only 10 and 0 in his two innings. McSweeney had had success in first-class cricket, as had Beau Webster, but neither of them has the experience of being an opener.

"I feel as though there's been enough guys pounding on the door. I believe we have enough depth there if need be," he said.

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"I think sometimes people look at the pure numbers of what's happening in Shield cricket, but it's sometimes hard to get a connection with the surfaces they're playing on. So we feel as though we've got ample players available if called upon."

Despite the heavy defeat, McDonald said morale of the team was strong.

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"I think we've got to own it, and we've got to own that as coaches as well. So there will be a semblance of review around what we have done and what we can learn from it," McDonald said.

"But I think morale is pretty good. I think this team is really good at the highs and lows, it's quite a level team, so we'll be somewhere in the middle of that."

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And another thing, the coach went on to say that in relation to the review of this performance, the preparation coming into this game had actually been sound, and all set for the challenges that had to be faced.

''We felt as though our planning going in (to Perth) was where we needed it to be. Execution in amongst that is always a question, but we were comfortable with the plans."'.

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"Clearly, the method with the batters and the way they've been challenged is always going to be a learning moving forward. So we've got some challenges, no doubt about that."

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