The Border-Gavaskar Trophy is only one Test old and already some formidable challenges are glaring at the Australian team.
Down 0-1 in the series, they cannot afford another loss and they need to turn things around quickly in Adelaide.
Much of the hue and cry has been about the dismal batting performance of several of the batsmen in the Perth Test.
Were they short of preparation while coming into the match and will they put their hands up and improve as the series goes on?
What is really alarming though is that it is not one or two particular batsmen who seem to be struggling – but it’s a collective form of the entire batting lineup.
Yes, they were pitted against arguably the best bowler in the world Jasprit Bumrah in Perth. But even leaving that Test aside, digging up some stats and numbers shows a very alarming picture.
Before we go to the batting stats, we must see the larger picture also. Make no mistake – the team has been doing very well – in this WTC cycle, they have won eight, lost four and drawn one.
Four out of those victories have come away from home – where they have retained the Ashes and won in New Zealand.
Though the team numbers look good, there is an issue on the batting front that has been brewing since last season.
(Photo by Albert Perez – CA/Cricket Australia via Getty Images)
If we compare the numbers of the last two seasons, it gives us a clear picture.
For the sake of comparison, we have the batting average of the current batsmen from two periods: Timeframe 1: November 1, 2022 to October 31, 2023 and Timeframe 2: November 1, 2023 to November 31, 2024.
Player (Timeframe 1 – Timeframe 2 – Difference)
Usman Khawaja : 47.26 – 30.6 – 16.66
Marnus Labuschagne : 52.08 – 23.57 – 28.51
Steve Smith: 50.39 – 29.38 – 21.01
Travis Head: 56.65 – 26.35 – 30.3
Mitch Marsh: 50 – 42.53 – 7.47
Alex Carey: 30.66 – 32.75 – 2.09
This is an amazing comparison because, for the first timeframe, there were four batsmen averaging 50 and above with the fifth one averaging 47. However, in the last 12 months, there is only one batsman that has an average of over 40.
This is an incredible dip season per season in the batting averages.
However, during this period of the last 12 months, the team was carried a little bit by two batsmen who are not currently part of this team – David Warner and Cameron Green.
Both of them average close to 29 in the first time period that we are considering.
However their average rises to 49 and 50 respectively in the last 12 months. Apart from them, Mitch Marsh is the only batsman who averaged more than 40.
As we saw last home season, he carried the Australian team on many occasions on his batting shoulders.
Now the question naturally arises that for a set of batsman doing so well what is it that has changed from one season to the next?
Marnus Labuschagne. (Photo by Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
We cannot pinpoint any one glaring issue as such however there are a few things that we need to consider.
1. If we take the last home summer and then the New Zealand Test into account, I feel that the teams have consistently pitched the ball up with or without movement.
The batsmen have looked very reluctant to get a stride out to the ball and play a positive shot out of it – getting stuck on the crease at most times.
Pakistani bowlers like Amir Jamal, then West Indian Shamar Joseph, the Kiwis in helpful conditions and now Indian pacers have all put it consistently on a good length.
They have not offered any short stuff to the batters – something which they have generally and traditionally prospered against.
Their technique against the pitched-up ball has visibly degraded remarkably.
2. Realistically with the WTC championship won and Ashes retained, the logical cycle of the Test team should have ended and the team regeneration, at least on the batting front, should have started there.
It was the ideal time for search regeneration. However, the WTC cycle and the importance given to it by the Aussie team management means that such changes overall cannot be effected mid-cycle.
Now we stare at a situation where multiple incumbent batsmen have shown a remarkable dip in batting average, but the next cabs off the ranks have not got enough test exposure by now.
Usman Khawaja. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)
3. Are the batsmen focusing too much on either survival or a big shot?
Can the focus shift to getting a single ball that they face? If it is a good ball then it can always be defended.
These batsmen are not school-level novices and surely they know these nuances. However sometimes while focusing on bigger things sometimes small points like this can be easily overlooked.
The first 25 overs are what they need to keep out – in Adelaide as well as the Gabba – but that has to be done with a sense of positivity and intent.
So what is the possible remedy for all this? Possibly a little aggression and a little flexibility can help in this situation.
There can be a little flexibility in selection like putting in Josh Inglis who is the standout batsman in the Sheffield Shield this year in place of one of the struggling incumbents.
Similar is the case for moving Alex Carey up the order possibly to number four or five since he has also been on a good run in all the Shield fixtures that he has played.
If rigidity persists and fixed mindsets are applied, particularly to the batting order, then this issue might blow out of proportion pretty quickly.
What do you feel fellow roarers can be the issues for such a drastic downturn in the numbers?
Baggy_Greenhttps://https://ift.tt/OLBWnt0 collective batting storm is brewing: Some reasons why the Aussies are struggling so much in scoring runs
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