Four issues facing Australia before Ashes series

BBC News

8 hours ago

Australia's bid to win back-to-back World Test Championships ended in disappointment after they lost an engrossing final to South Africa at Lord's.The next assignment for Pat Cummins' side is a three-Test tour of West Indies which starts in Barbados on 25 June.Beyond that there is, of course, a highly-anticipated Ashes series against England on the horizon later this year.Cummins said after Australia's five-wicket defeat there are some big calls to be made over the next few weeks."After this Test match, everyone is thrown back into the conversation so it's a bit of a reset for the first Test [in West Indies]," Cummins said."We've obviously got a team here that got us to the final so it's about when do we feel it's the right time to change. "We've got a few weeks until that first game against West Indies so we will take some time to digest this game before we sit down to think about that."Australia head coach Andrew McDonald acknowledged there are "some decisions to make" and "relevant questions around our batting and bowling depth".BBC Sport takes a closer look at some of the issues facing the Aussies which might give England some heart before they begin their bid to regain the urn in Perth on 21 November.
Khawaja under pressure
Usman Khawaja will turn 39 in December and must be wondering if he will get a tap on the shoulder before then.The opening batter was catapulted back into the Australian side in the 2021-22 Ashes series after Travis Head got Covid, and made hundreds in both innings which revived his international career.Against South Africa at Lord's, however, he was particularly unsettled against the pace and disciplined lengths of Kagiso Rabada.A tortuous 20-ball duck in the first innings was followed by an unconvincing 23-ball six in the second, nicking off to Rabada on both occasions.Cummins noted Khawaja has gone through lean patches previously in his career and "got out of it" and he was certain runs "aren't too far away" for the experienced left-hander."His name was similarly thrown out there before the Sri Lanka series and he answered with a double hundred and showed us how good he is," Cummins said."He's got a good record of dragging himself out and finding his best again. But like anyone else, yeah you've got to be scoring runs and taking wickets."A poor tour of the West Indies and Khawaja will be feeling the heat but McDonald maintained he has a "big part to play"."It will come down to his inner drive and the way he prepares," he added."I don't see an end date with the way he's training, the way he's preparing, the way he's moving."
Top order 'musical chairs'
In the build up to the WTC final, who would open the batting alongside Khawaja against South Africa was a source of national debate Down Under.Nathan McSweeney, Travis Head, Sam Konstas and Steve Smith have all been tried recently. Marnus Labuschagne was handed the role at Lord's but modest returns of 17 and 22 are unlikely to settle the debate.McDonald said the 30-year-old is still a "big part of the future of the team" even though he has "missed out on some scores"."At the moment, he'll be disappointed with the returns," added the Aussie coach."We're confident he can return to his best and that's why we keep picking him. And at what point do we stop picking him?"If the Labuschagne experiment has already been deemed a failure, then he may revert back to three with Konstas looking likely to come in.Cameron Green, who looked woefully out of his depth batting at three, will likely drop back down the order.There's been a lot of chopping and changing with Australia's top order and they have three Tests to try to settle on a formula that works."I was on the record a couple of weeks ago talking about the need to bed down that opening combination," said McDonald."We've had a bit of musical chairs there so now might be the time."We've got a problem to solve around what the best order is and I think it will continue to create debate even when we settle on a top order because that's the nature of the Australian cricket team."
Do quick Tests make Lyon a passenger?
Nathan Lyon has 553 wickets in 137 Test matches for Australia. The off-spinner is third on Australia's all-time list of wicket-takers with only Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne above him. But Lyon's impact on this match was negligible. He bowled 34 wicketless overs for 78 and rarely looked a threat albeit his economy was still a miserly 2.29.The 37-year-old got the opportunity to bowl in the fourth innings at Lord's but the manner in which this Test match rattled along meant the pitch had not disintegrated sufficiently for him to land a glove.There's a school of thought that England's Bazball approach could produce shorter Tests and Lyon's impact on the match could be nullified as it was here.If that's the case he may end up being a passenger.Australia might be minded to consider a leg-spinner if they wanted a more attacking option, although they have not picked one since Mitchell Swepson played the last of his four Tests in in 2022.White-ball specialist Adam Zampa has not entirely given up hopes of playing Test cricket, but a lack of red-ball cricket counts against him.
Worries over ageing seam attack
With 969 Test wickets between them Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Cummins have been the fulcrum of Australia's seam bowling attack.But at 35, 34, and 32 respectively they are not getting any younger."I think the bowling had some areas [against South Africa] where we let the tempo of the game shift on day three," McDonald said."There's always great debate around selection. Ultimately it will keep being debated until we get the returns that a) the players expect and b) we expect as a coaching staff."If form or fitness becomes an issue for the trio then Australia do not have a lot of obvious options up their sleeve.Scott Boland has consistently proved an excellent stand in, but at 36 he is even older than the men he could potentially replace in the side.Apart from Boland the specialist bowling stocks are a little bare with the likes of Beau Webster and Green likely to fill the breach.Selecting all-rounders Green and Webster weakens Australia's batting, and could be a subtle indication they are trying to have enough overs at their disposal to protect their old pacers.Alternatively, Australia would have to blood someone unproven at Test level, or recall a more experienced seamer who has not been around the side for a few years.It feels like Starc and Hazlewood will potentially see a home Ashes as their Test swansong.That worked out nicely for McGrath and Warne during the 2006-07 Ashes but there's no guarantee of Hollywood ending in Test cricket.