Ian Healy gives his thoughts on Australia's test side ahead of impending squad announcement

Former Australian cricketer Ian Healy believes minimal changes are needed for Australia’s Test side against Sri Lanka after their Border-Gavaskar series victory against India.

The SENQ Breakfast host thinks, although the pressure is off, the side for this Test match, a little bit of experimenting with the line-up could be on the cards as the Aussies try and plan for the future.

And with that mindset, it would mean 19-year-old Sam Konstas should certainly keep his spot, if the decision was up to Healy.

“Yes it’s a certainty that Konstas has to go. You don’t just drop in and out of Australian teams when you’re 19. You stay in there and you play,” Healy said on SEN’s Dwayne’s World.

“As far as other changes, the pressure’s off for the World Test Championship so we may see some experimentation.

“Does McSweeney go along as a learner or is Josh Inglis enough batting depth that we have on tour if he’s right after his injured calf? I think there’s maybe a change there.”

“Beau Webster keeps his spot.

“We’ve got to get someone lining up behind Nathan Lyon soon, whether it’s a leg spinner or whether it’s another right arm orthodox or it’s a left arm orthodox.

“I haven’t heard if Usman Khawaja has chosen to not to go or to go. So, I’m assuming he’s going.”

The former wicketkeeper is cautious about Australia’s mindset going into this test however, believing that if they were to take the Sri Lankans lightly, they’d be in for a rude awakening.

“I don’t want this Australian team just waltzing into Sri Lanka because it is really tough,” Healy said.

“The wickets are really challenging. The men that you’re playing against are totally different to the men that they are when they come to Australia. There’s a lot of challenges of playing in Sri Lanka.”

Australia begin their test match against Sri Lanka on January 29, where they’ll look to cap off the Australian cricketing summer with another test series victory before heading off to Lord’s in June to take on South Africa in the world test championship final.