Australia ponder way forward after 'most humbling' Test defeat to Bangladesh
Australia's nine-wicket loss, completed on Sunday inside four days, was variously described in local media as one of the country's biggest Test humiliations following domination by Bangladesh.
A home series against Bangladesh may have seemed the perfect chance for Australia to shake off rust and ease into a huge year of Test cricket. But the shambolic defeat to the South Asian side in Darwin has the top-ranked hosts searching for answers to uncomfortable questions about their future.
Australia's nine-wicket loss, completed on Sunday inside four days, was variously described in local media as one of the country's biggest Test humiliations following domination by Bangladesh.
The second and final Test in Mackay, Queensland, starting on Saturday, now carries far more weight than anticipated.
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Nothing less than a thumping win to level the series will convince fans and a sceptical home media that the Darwin debacle was an aberration rather than a clear sign of a team in inexorable decline.
"Let's call this out for the gob-smacking shambles that it was ... Australia's nine wicket loss to Bangladesh is both the greatest upset in Test history and the most humbling Test loss ever suffered by an Australian cricket team," veteran cricket writer Robert Craddock opined in the Courier Mail newspaper.
"None of Australia's 236 Test losses over 150 years quite compare to it," he said.
Old problems
Captain Pat Cummins did not seek to downplay Australia's underperformance in the post-match press conference, but his remark that they lost the match on day one, when their batters could manage only 198 in the first innings, was wide of the mark.
Australia lost on every day, in every session, in every facet.
Most of the scrutiny has trained on the faulty parts in Australia's batting machinery.
The problems are by no means new but were allowed to fester over the home summer as the team cantered to a 4-1 Ashes win over a lamentable England.
Opener Jake Weatherald has done little to convince that his game can stand up in the Test arena and may have one more chance in Mackay, at best.
Marnus Labuschagne, too, will be feeling the heat after two poor dismissals in Darwin.
Once a world-beater in Australia's top order, Labuschagne's continuing struggles are pressuring teammates lower down the order.
Head coach Andrew McDonald and his staff may no longer be able to ignore calls for regeneration despite a paucity of young batters demanding selection with a weight of runs in domestic cricket.
Australia's bowling quality has long carried the team, but the Bangladesh match offered a glimpse of their ageing attack's mortality.
The champion pace trio of Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc have over 1,000 Test wickets between them, but toiled in the Darwin heat as Bangladesh piled on 426 for a 228-run lead.
Spinner Nathan Lyon, 39 in November, was comprehensively out-bowled on his home pitch by Bangladesh's part-time off-spinner Mehidy Hasan Miraz.
With pride stung, Australia can be expected to rebound strongly in Mackay. Selectors may be inclined to give the existing squad a chance to make amends and prove Darwin was a one-off.
But with a three-Test tour of South Africa, the World Test champions, looming in October, Australia may have to look beyond short-term redemption and make the tough decisions now.
