Khawaja locked in for Sydney amid uncertainty over his future

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has said selectors have been given no indication from Usman Khawaja about his playing future but has guaranteed his selection in Sydney while acknowledging the batting unit is not functioning at full capacity.

He added that Cameron Green batting in five different positions in his last five Tests is a result of him having to fit around others due to not being able to bed down a role with a weight of runs and he confirmed that Beau Webster would to be considered for Sydney. McDonald also acknowledged Marnus Labuschagne's lack of intent has been a concern in the last two Tests after starting the series well.

Khawaja's future is in sharp focus ahead of the Sydney Test given he has just turned 39 and Australia do not play another Test for eight months following the completion of the Ashes until Bangladesh visit next August.

Khawaja started the series as Australia's long-time incumbent opener but has not opened in the series due to suffering back spasms in Perth. He missed the Brisbane Test as a result and then was initially left out of the side for Adelaide before being recalled at bat at No. 4 just 45 minutes before the toss due to Steven Smith's illness.

He made 82 and 40 and retained his place for Melbourne where he was one of Australia's biggest contributors in the first innings with 29 on a difficult pitch.

Khawaja, who was among a number of players not to take part in an optional training session at the MCG on Monday, has never put a timeline on his future and McDonald said he had not been given any indication from Khawaja that he was considering retirement while locking him in for the SCG Test

"We've been really clear that we haven't had a conversation," McDonald said prior to training. "The speculation has been from the external. He's with his family at the moment, having a couple of days off.

"We'll build into Sydney, and we're always having conversations about where players are at and speaking directly with players. And there's no indication at my end that he's calling it in Sydney.

"So that'll be something that we'll discuss, but his performance in this calendar year has been good enough to warrant selection, so I'd say he'd be there marking centre in Sydney.

"Our challenge is if any of our great players retire is that you want to acknowledge them. But until that point in time when you're clear on someone's future, it's very difficult."

Green also missed the optional session while Webster has flown to Hobart to play one BBL game for Hurricanes on Monday night before flying to Sydney to rejoin the Test squad on Wednesday.

McDonald said that Green's lack of runs meant he had needed to fit around other players in the line-up after he was moved from No. 5 to No. 7 in Melbourne to bat behind Alex Carey, who has been inked in at No. 6 following scores of 63, 106 and 72 in Brisbane and Adelaide.

"He fits around others at the moment," McDonald said. "He hasn't nailed down the spot."

Green's scores 24, 45, 0, 7, 17 and 19 in the series have led to calls for Webster to replace in him. McDonald said it was difficult to make changes on the back of one Test in difficult batting conditions when the team had won the first three in fairly comfortable fashion, with Green playing well in Brisbane before making an embarrassing mistake to throw away a start.

But Green has scored just one half-century in his last 17 Test innings compared to Webster's four in his only 12 and McDonald confirmed the output of Australia's batting unit as a whole would be discussed by the selectors ahead of Sydney with vital World Test Championship (WTC) points on the line.

"It's a nice problem to have when people are talking about someone out of the team that's unlucky," McDonald said. "People are going to debate selection. They're going to debate where Cameron's at at this point in time and how he fits. And Beau, I think he's averaged 34 and did some handy bits and bobs with the ball for us as well. So we know we've got a quality player sitting there waiting.

"We've got a batting order that we'd like to think can function at a higher capacity. So we'll be having conversations leading into Sydney."

Labuschagne and Jake Weatherald were the only batters that played in Melbourne that had a hit at the MCG on Monday. McDonald confirmed that Labuschagne's regression in his strike-rate was a concern, having struck at 73.56 in the first two Tests of the series while making two half-centuries before absorbing 122 deliveries in Adelaide and Melbourne for just 46 runs at a rate of 37.7.

"I think with Marn, he won't mind me saying this, it's probably when he loses his intent to score he gets himself in bad positions," McDonald said. "I think there's periods of time where he goes back into his shell and really trusts his defence. And I think within that creates a little bit of error in his game, and he's working on it.

"We saw early in the summer how he played in those first couple of Test matches, great intent, good movement, positive. It's a difficult game, and batting on some of these surfaces is tricky, but it's really about that mindset of going out there and scoring runs.

"We've been consistent in that view from our end. Marn will probably go into the technique a little bit more than we do. But we think it's a mindset piece and his intent to score, and if he does that he's at his best and we've had those conversations, even at one-day international level in terms of the way he plays, and we've had to drop him a few times on the base basis of lack of intent.

"I'd like to see him get busier in his innings. And he's a good player. He still averages 40-plus in Test cricket. He's had a lean period but he's a quality player."