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Sport Nation
Healy: No question Konstas and Khawaja play the third Test
SEN • July 7th, 2025 12:02 pm
Ian Healy is certain that both Usman Khawaja and Sam Konstas will play in the third Test against the West Indies in Jamaica.
While the Aussies won the second Test by 133 runs in Grenada overnight to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test series, some have called for both openers to be axed with Konstas making scores of 3, 5, 25 and 0 and Khawaja making 47, 15, 16 and 2 this series.
Even though both have fallen short of even their own expectations, Healy is certain both will get a third chance, with one reason being there’s no clear replacement currently with the squad in the Caribbean.
With their spots seemingly secure, Healy called out some areas of improvement for both to work on ahead of the third and final Test.
“There’s no one else over there to fill an opening position,” Healy said on SENQ Breakfast.
“If there was an opener ready to go (they could do it), Marnus (Labuschagne) is not an opener. So, they’ve got this Test match, no question.
“Usman got two good deliveries at least. There were a few eyebrows raised when he reviewed his second LBW decision, but he's got to get moving.
“(Jayden) Seales is swinging it into him from around the wicket and then nipping it in off the pitch and trapping him right between his knees in front of the stumps.
“But Sam Konstas is very jerky and short, he fell to a cut shot that had no fluency about it.
“He's just got to find his fluency in the next week at practice, get to Jamaica and enjoy every bit of it.
“If you set out to enjoy a week and then look back, it's no coincidence you play quite well.
“It's not very fun for him at the moment.”
With a full week off before the third Test gets underway, Healy thinks that Konstas can make the necessary improvements to his game to succeed and he urged the teenager to try and find a sweet spot with how long he spends in the nets ahead of the pink-ball clash.
“He's got to do the right amount of practice,” Healy said.
“He’s got to find the sweet spot, not overdo it, but feel some progress every session with your fluency. Footwork, balance, and fluency.
“He threw the bat at it late and he was falling into the shot, and he chopped it on.
“Cam Green has made some improvements, so why can’t Sam Konstas do the same?”
The third Test between West Indies and Australia begins at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica at 4:30 am (AEST) on Sunday, July 13.
Listen to every ball of the series LIVE on SEN and the SEN app.
