ustralia head coach Andrew McDonald has defended David Warner’s Ashes contribution, however refused to ensure the opener will preserve his place because the sequence heads to Old Trafford.

Warner loved an encouraging Second Test at Lord’s, making his first half-century in England since 2015, however adopted that up with scores of 1 and 4 in last week’s defeat at Headingley, falling to Stuart Broad for the sixteenth and seventeenth instances in Test cricket.

Those failures have reignited the controversy over the 36-year-old’s spot going into the Fourth Test in Manchester, which had been raging coming into the sequence.

Warner has already introduced his intention to play via the Ashes earlier than retiring on the finish of the house sequence in opposition to Pakistan in January and the selectors’ choice is sophisticated by the truth that dropping the axe now may spell the tip of the veteran’s Test profession.

"You’ve also got to reflect on what the opening partnership’s been able to do across the six innings, and there’s been three 50-plus partnerships in there," McDonald mentioned of Warner’s function alongside Usman Khawaja on the prime of the order. "Albeit it didn’t function to its level [at Headingley], in some ways it’s done well so far in this series.

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"We’ve received lots to think about and lots to weigh up.”

There is about to be a squeeze on locations within the touring aspect forward of the Fourth Test, with Mitchell Marsh having scored a superb first innings hundred in Leeds whereas deputising for the injured Cameron Green.

Marsh was taking part in his first Test in 4 years however now seems to be undroppable, and with Green set to be match after recovering from a minor hamstring drawback, McDonald admitted Australia face a “tough decision”.

Marcus Harris was the reserve opener within the Third Test squad however bringing him in as a like-for-like alternative for Warner would do nothing to ease the congestion elsewhere.

One choice can be to drop Warner to make room for each Green and Marsh, presumably with Marnus Labuschagne transferring as much as open alongside Khawaja.

Labuschagne has expertise opening the batting in home cricket however has spent the overwhelming majority of his Test profession at No3, the place he averages 57.6, and the 29-year-old has seemed out of kinds to this point on this sequence. An different can be to maneuver Marsh to the highest of the order, the place he has had success in white-ball cricket.

“Mitch Marsh has put a question to us no doubt,” McDonald mentioned. “[But] he did pretty well down the middle-order. To put him up to open in English conditions would probably be something we haven’t discussed yet.

"But we do have some time between now and the next Test.”

The most radical transfer would see Australia play Warner and each all-rounders and as a substitute omit spinner Todd Murphy, who got here into the aspect at Leeds rather than the inured Nathan Lyon.

Murphy was trusted to bowl simply two overs throughout England’s run-chase on Sunday, however Australia haven't gone right into a Test match with out a frontline spinner in additional than a decade and McDonald poured chilly water on the thought.

“We like a spinner,” McDonald mentioned. “We like to have a balanced attack, and it gives you options, you can take pace out of the game, and you become one dimensional – whether it be with the right-arm bowlers or just pace bowlers in general – without the ability to turn to a spinner.

“We’ll have to assess that, but as it sits at the moment we do like to have the spinner in the team.”