Brutal image exposes Australian cricket’s glaring Achilles heel

The Aussies may have enjoyed a cruisy summer of cricket, but one glaring issue has been exposed that spells danger going forward.

Australia cruised to a dominant 10-wicket victory at Adelaide Oval with the opening Test wrapped up in less than two and a half days.

The win becomes the latest in what has been a rather cruisy summer for the World Test Champions after they swept Pakistan aside by claiming a 3-0 series sweep.

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If we’re being completely honest the summer has been bleak. But that’s not why we’re here right now.

Australia have comfortably wrapped up four straight wins, but throughout the summer a glaring issue has been exposed.

Test captain Pat Cummins came under the microscope throughout the Ashes series over his peculiar tactics in the field.

This time around it has nothing to do with the field. It has to do with the tactics he and his fast bowling crew unleash at the end of an innings.

Despite having three bowlers ranked inside the top 10 for Test cricket, Australia’s Achilles heel has been revealed and it’s bizarrely the 10th wicket.

Australia forget how to bowl against the 10th wicket. (Photo by Sarah Reed/Getty Images)

Triple M stats guru Ethan Meldrum exposed the damning kryptonite that has continually plagued the Aussies all summer long.

Through eight innings the 10th wicket has the highest batting average, a major blight on the Aussie bowling contingent.

The 10th wicket is averaging 27.57 runs, ahead of the second and sixth wicket partnership which sits at 26.75 runs.

The tenth-wicket partnership is now the highest averaging against Australia this summer pic.twitter.com/EOinS7Rheo

— Ethan (@ethanmeldrum_) January 19, 2024

A graphic displayed by Channel 7 showed just how ugly the issue is for the Aussies when the final batsmen strolls out to the crease.

In the opening Test against the West Indies, Cummins and his men let the weakest batsmen off the hook by bowling nowhere near the stumps.

That’s not an exaggeration either, throughout the first Test only one ball from Australia’s fast bowlers crew would have hit the three rather important pieces of timber that stick out of the pitch.

Graphic exposes Australia's glaring issue. Credit: Channel 7

While the issue hasn’t caused the Aussies any major hiccups this summer, thanks in large part to the inferior opposition, it must be addressed going forward.

While the Aussies will only venture overseas for a two-Test series against New Zealand in February and March, they’ll welcome India Down Under next summer.

No disrespect to Pakistan and the West Indies, but New Zealand and India will prove a far tougher test for the Aussies and if Cummins and his crew can’t figure out how to properly bowl to the tail end the issue could be the undoing for the Aussies.

Australia have one final chance to prove they can finish an innings quick smart when the second Test against the West Indies gets underway on January 25 in a day-night contest at The Gabba.