Andrew McDonald, Australia coach and selector, has backed Australia’s present Test group to perform well in the Pink Ball Test, starting December 6 in Adelai

Speaking in the aftermath of Australia’s 295-run loss to India in Perth, McDonald ruled out the possibility of any big changes going into the second ICC World Test Championship contest in Adelaide.

“The people in that changeroom are the same people that will be in Adelaide. It is always a consideration, wherever you go in the world in terms of the personnel you pick for conditions,” McDonald confirmed.

Apart from the XI that featured in Perth, Australia’s squad comprises wicket-keeper and back-up batter Josh Inglis and pacer Scott Boland who will be considered for the second Test. While McDonald admitted the form of No.3 batter Marnus Labuschagne was of some concern, he is confident the right-hander can turn it around quickly.

“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. But internally we’re really confident that, at his best, he’s the player that we need,” McDonald said.

McDonald further ruled out any possibility that Australia’s Test stars could return to domestic cricket ahead of their second Test at Adelaide Oval.

“That hasn’t crossed our minds. We feel that with the long summer ahead, the prep we’ve got in place – albeit we’ve extended that by a day in Adelaide,” McDonald instead backed the ongoing arrangement.

“We’ll be well prepared as we were leading into the first Test.”

Mitchell Marsh, the supporting act of Australia’s pace attack as the fourth seamer, sent down 17 overs in the Perth Test, securing 2/12 in the first innings but being expensive in the second. The seamer has had fitness concerns over the year, having picked up a hamstring injury during this year’s IPL and had bowled only four overs during the previous eight months before the Test.

“We’ll wait and see,” was McDonald’s response on Marsh’s fitness going ahead in the series, though he was satisfied with the all-rounder’s bowling performance,

“We knew that Mitch was slightly underdone coming in, but I thought the performance in the first innings was satisfactory.”

Despite the rattling loss to India, a side which was coming off a record home whitewash against New Zealand, Australia’s were in good spirits.

“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. There will be conversations around how we improve the appetite to get better, but I don’t think the morale’s an issue at this stage,”