Alex Carey was the last wicket to fall in the Perth Test as Australia crashed to an ignominious defeat in conditions that were set to suit them. On expected lines, there was jubilation in the Indian camp. It was a clinical and memorable performance from the visiting side. Meanwhile, there were some glum faces in the Australian set-up.
The embarrassing defeat just accentuated the question marks surrounding the aging Australian side, especially in the batting department. Just a glimpse at some of the averages of the current set of Australian batters tell a story. Since the start of 2023 Ashes, following are the averages of Usman Khawaja, Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Travis Head and Alex Carey – 38.2, 32.82, 27.41, 30.45 and 28.23 respectively.
This is what Ravi Shastri, the former India coach, had to say about Australia’s batting woes. “I am seriously worried about the depth in Australian cricket. There were times when players had to play years and years of cricket to make the cut. Mike Hussey, Matthew Hayden – years and years, and you look down the ranks there in Shield cricket and some of the youngsters coming through the ranks, there aren’t many there.
“When you look at the batting line up, a couple of guys in the evening of their career, on the other side of 30 – deep into the 30s, you want to have some depth,” he told Fox Cricket.
To some extent, Shastri makes a valid point. Just take into consideration a couple of examples: Michael Hussey had to compile 10000 first-class runs before getting into the Test side, while Mark Waugh had notched up around 8000 runs by the time he earned his Baggy Green Cap.
That raises another question. What about the Sheffield Shield? Is Australia’s premier first-class competition not producing enough talented batters? The top three run-getters from last season’s Sheffield Shield – Beau Webster, Cameron Bancroft and Sam Whiteman – are all over 30 years of age. Nathan McSweeney, who slotted in at fourth in that list, replaced the retired David Warner for the first Test, with Smith moving back to No.4 in the batting order. On the other hand, Webster, the batting all-rounder, has been called up for the second Test in Adelaide, as a cover for the injured Mitchell Marsh.
Unfortunately, McSweeney had a horror start to his Test career, getting out to Jasprit Bumrah twice for 10 and 0. There is no shame in being dismissed by a great bowler, but with McSweeney batting at the top of the order, Australia are left with three players whose first intent is to to defend. To make matters worse, one of those three batters – Labuschagne – is out of form.
The crux of the point is Australia generally have had at least one attacking batter in the top three – be it Michael Slater, Matthew Hayden, David Warner or Ricky Ponting. Justin Langer, during the second part of his career, also took more of an aggressive approach. Yes, Labuschagne might find his form in the next Test or McSweeney could go on to play an innings of substance, but opponents won’t fear Australia’s present top-order.
If we take a deep dive into Australia’s Sheffield Shield, there are a few promising batters plying their trade. Sam Konstas, the 19-year-old, who has already played for Australia A, has 383 runs at an average of over 50 this season. Cooper Connelly, the batting all-rounder, has played a couple of ODIs. Also watch out for Campbell Kellaway, Will Salzmann, Harry Dixon, who in turn idolises Warner, Oliver Peake and Ollie Davies. Of course, the injured all-rounder Cameron Green has already established himself in the Australian Test side.
There is also the curious case of Jake Fraser-McGurk. There is no doubt that the youngster has a generous portion of skills. Just that he plays in an era where T20 has taken prominence. And Fraser-McGurk’s game is suited to the shortest format.
Incidentally, there are a few lingering doubts about Australia’s bowling department as well. Josh Hazlewood, Nathan Lyon and Mitchell Starc have been great servants of Australian cricket. But they are all now on the wrong side of 30. So much so that even the ‘Golden Boy’ of Australian cricket, Pat Cummins turned 31 this year. The Australian captain wasn’t anywhere near his best in Perth. Although one expects the pace-spearhead to bounce back at some point of time in the series.
Here too if we peel the outside coating, it is crystal clear that India have a great record against Starc, with the left-arm pacer averaging as high as 53.66 at home, while bowling to the Asian country’s batters. In that context, is Scott Boland an option? The same bowler who picked up crucial wickets versus India in the World Test Championship final last year. Michael Neser, the other alternative, is out with an injury.
Somewhere, the Australian pace bowlers seemed to also lack intent in the opening Test. Michael Clarke, the former Australian skipper, told the official broadcaster, “It was like we just expected to knock India over again for not many – there was no intent. They were right in our faces, but I didn’t see any of our bowlers give it to any (India) batsmen … it all looked a bit flat for the first Test of the summer.”
It would be naive to rule out Australia from making a comeback in the ongoing Test series. But it increasingly feels like the selectors need to soon inject some fresh blood into the Test set-up.