Aussie cricket fans have once again been left scratching their heads and calling out chief selector George Bailey after Nathan McSweeney was dropped for Sam Konstas for the MCG Test. McSweeney was brought into the Test side to lead Australia at the top of the order alongside Usman Khawaja after a successful two years in the Sheffield Shield.

McSweeney had never opened in the Sheffield Shield, but was called upon to take the role David Warner left vacant. Unfortunately, Jasprit Bumrah has terrorised McSweeney with the red-ball having dismissed him four times across the three Tests.

McSweeney has only registered one score above 10 in his six Test innings to date – with his battling 39 facing the pink ball under lights in Adelaide. Khawaja and Marnus Labuschagne have not done much better with both under enormous pressure to keep their position.

And the 25-year-old South Australian has copped the wrath of the selectors having found himself dropped from the Melbourne Test with Konstas called up into the squad. While there is no guarantee Konstas will open, with Josh Inglis also in the squad, it appears he will be a direct replacement for McSweeney. Konstas has been sensational this year having scored 670 runs at 55.83 in red-ball cricket this year.

Although the news has not sat well with Australian cricket fans. Many are questioning why McSweeney was thrown into an unfamiliar role at opener and paid for his lack of runs, while the likes of Khawaja and Labuschagne have not been dropped when they have failed to make inroads for more than a year in the Test arena. Both are also batting in their favourable position in the order.

Bailey has come under pressure in recent times for his relationship with the current squad. Most recently former coach Darren Lehmann called Bailey out for spending too much time with the players in the dressing room, rather than sitting with other selectors.

Former player Chadd Sayers also questioned how Bailey’s was spending his time as a chief selector, while Ian Healy called out Bailey’s post-match move in Perth when he lined-up and shook the hands of all the Indian players.

The selectors have been questioned in recent years for not dropping some of the veterans when their form should no longer guarantee them selection. Khawaja is currently under pressure at 38 years old and failing to score runs at the top of the order. Labuschagne was also under pressure heading into the series and has not done much to change fans’ minds.

And McSweeney’s axing has not sat well with fans who have also called out chief selector Bailey for retaining the ageing squad together maybe longer than they should have. While Bailey can point to McSweeney’s lack of runs as the reason he has been dropped, discarding the 25-year-old so quickly has also prompted fans to question the selectors. Bailey pointed to Konstas’ ‘style’ of batting as a point of difference and the reason the 19-year-old was promoted to the squad.

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Darren Lehmann calls out George Bailey

This week, Lehmann made headlines for calling out Bailey’s role as selector and claimed the former ODI captain should be stepping back from the playing group with some tough calls potentially facing the Aussie team. “In my opinion, he’s too close to the team,” Lehmann said on ABC Sport.

“I would like him sitting up watching in a selectors’ box somewhere and be able to make his own decisions. My preference is for the selector to be able to make decisions within a selection group and deliver a hard message if they have to.

“Make a hard decision if they have to for the betterment of Australian cricket. Now, you can’t do that sometimes if you’re too close because you actually get too emotional and you care about the players. As a selector, I cared about the players, as a coach you do, but sometimes you actually get too close and you forget about what’s out there.”

However, Aussie captain Cummins was quick to defend Bailey after the third Test. “I don’t know how that (criticism) can be true,” the Test captain said.

“There is so much more to picking a side than just looking at the internet. Going on with really strong philosophies, working with players. The most important thing is you do stay objective and I think the selection panel are amazing at that.