‘Playing like foreigners’: Where did it go wrong for Australia in first Test?

Cricket greats are making damning calls on the state of Australian cricket after the Aussies were embarrassed in the first Test.

Serious questions are being asked about the state of Australian cricket after India made the Aussies look like second rate “foreigners” on home soil in the first Test.

India will likely wrap up a dominant victory in the series opener on Monday, handing Australia their first loss at Perth’s Optus Stadium in five outings.

It’s only one game, but the knives are already out for Marnus Labuschagne and there are rumblings about the team’s body language.

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So where has it gone so wrong for the Aussies?

Indian superstar puts Aussie bowlers to shame

India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah is the toast of the cricket world after tearing Australia’s batting line-up apart in a blistering bowling clinic.

At his best, Bumrah’s slingshot action aided by his hyperextended elbow is unplayable, but he also helped himself by bowling fuller and attacking the stumps.

“You’ve got to give credit to Bumrah,” Fox Cricket’s Brendon Julian told news.com.au.

“He’s exploited the conditions. He bowled a lot fuller and he attacked the stumps.

“That gives us an indication for Australian batsmen — if it does a little bit and they’re making them play, then we get in trouble. A few techniques were found wanting.”

Julian believes Australia’s batters are vulnerable against fast, skidding bowlers — highlighting Pakistan quick Haris Rauf, who took 15 wickets in six white ball matches in November.

“You could even say, in the third One Day International against Pakistan, as soon there’s a bit of pace like Haris Rauf — skiddy and bowls at the stumps — we’re in trouble,” Julian added.

“That’s where I think there’s a bit of lack of technique. We need to fix that heading into Adelaide.”

India’s Jasprit Bumrah looked like the best bowler in the world. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

The LBW dismissals of Steve Smith, Nathan McSweeney and Labuschagne don’t make for great viewing.

Labuschagne was bamboozled and fell over his own feet in the second innings while deciding whether to play a shot or leave — a tell-tale sign of a batter out of form.

Julian added: “India are going to bowl at us full and straight (for the rest of the series), how are we going to sort out our defence? You can’t just shuffle across the crease and expect not to get hit on the pad. “That’s where we’re finding a bit of trouble. And the way he (Bumrah) bowls and angles it in and seams it away, technically we’re getting caught.

“Jaiswal and a couple of other Indian batsmen, their defences look really solid. I got the feeling watching that Test match, India were playing like the home team and we were playing like the foreigners getting caught out.

“That’s something we need to sort about before we get to Adelaide. It’s a pink ball and that’s their plan, they’re going to bowl at the stumps. You can’t go to Perth and think ‘just because it’s bouncy I’ll let everything go, it’ll go over the top (of the stumps)’. Not if they’re bowling a foot fuller than we do.

Julian pointed out “Bumrah bowled 6.3 metres from the crease, whereas Australia’s bowlers bowled about 7.5m.”

“In the second innings, they didn’t bowl the right length and not enough at the stumps,” he added.
“We were a fraction too short. India bowled a lot fuller. The new ball on that pitch, bowl full and straight. You’ve got to make the batsmen play.

“They’ll be better for the run. They just need to fix their length up.”

‘Underdone’ Aussies made preparation ‘mistake’

Australia’s team is experiencing a baby boom at the moment, with Mitch Marsh welcoming his first child and Travis Head celebrating the birth of a baby boy on the eve of the Test summer.

Marsh missed the two white ball series against Pakistan, while Travis Head played the one Sheffield Shield game in October.

It’s worth pointing out a lack of preparation has worked for Head before. He went on a long holiday before scoring the matchwinning century in Australia’s triumph in the World Test Championship final over India last year.

The result in the first Test begs the question, has the lack of preparation made Australia’s players under prepared for the challenge of playing India?

“Travis Head and Mitch Marsh had three weeks off before the first Test,” Julian said.

Did the Aussies come in underdone? (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

Travis Head didn’t play much cricket in the lead-up to the Tests. (Photo by SAEED KHAN / AFP)

“You don’t often see that leading into a really important Test series where a batsman takes three or four weeks off paternity leave to get themselves right for the first Test. I think that was a mistake.

“Marnus played a lot, Steve Smith as well. You could say they’re underdone but on that pitch in the first innings, you don’t know. It didn’t matter how good your form was. It’s just one Test match so I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”

‘Not the quality’: Brutal truth for Aussies

Ex-England captain Michael Vaughan conducted a mid-match post-mortem on Australian cricket during Day 3 in Perth.

Speaking on Fox Cricket’s coverage, Vaughan pondered whether a lack of depth in the Australian ranks has made the current squad too “comfortable”.

“I think obviously the batting unit is a batting unit that has had plenty of success in the past,” Vaughan said.

“There’s some great players in it, but consistently now for a number of games they’ve just not managed to score the runs that many would have expected, including themselves.

“I just wonder about what’s underneath. What’s underneath this Australian batting line-up really pushing the standards in the first team?

“Standards generally get driven in a team because you’ve got many players pushing for places in it. I just don’t see too many doing that.

“You don’t want to be looking all the time in the past, but when Australia had a batting line up that had many world class players in it, I reckon you had seven or eight world class players not in it, and that’s just in the batting department.

Has Australia’s squad become too comfortable? (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

“If I was an Australian fan I’d be worried that there’s just not the level of quality waiting to get into this team … (and) maybe some in the team are too comfortable because they feel like they’re not getting pushed by those outside of it.”

“I think the debate over the next week or two going into the second and third Test matches will be, are Australia short of a gallop and they needed this game to get back into Test match cricket mode, or are they a team that’s just starting to get over the edge and they’re in need of a little work? That’s going to be the big debate over the next week or so.”

Julian added: “I don’t think it’s a matter of being comfortable. I don’t think Marnus or Steve Smith are comfortable. I don’t think that’s an issue.

“I’m not worried about Steve Smith. I think he’s good enough and he’ll be fine.

Labuschagne is under pressure, with his average dropping and last Test century coming in last year’s Ashes.

“With Marnus, it’s something he hasn’t really gone through in his career,” Julian said.

“He had an amazing start out of the blocks. Now it’s really how he handles a loss of form, the ebbs and flows of one’s career. You hope he doesn’t get too involved in his own head regarding what he’s going wrong.

“It’s just an interesting time. They’re not going to drop him but it’s a real focal point of his career where most batters bounce back and get better through this period.”

Australia’s quicks bowled a touch short. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

On the other hand, the first Test couldn’t have possibly gone better for India.

Bumrah has usurped Pat Cummins as the best player in the world, they’ve unearthed a worldie in Yashavi Jaiswal and Virat Kohli is back in form with his seventh Test century in Australia.

And India could have five first-choice players still to come back in the series — with Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja all set to play a role in the series.

Did Australia start summer at wrong venue?

After ending Australia’s 33-year winning streak at the Gabba last series, India have picked off another Australian fortress.

The Aussies have now lost for the first time at Optus Stadium — where a fast and bouncy pitch was expected to favour the home side.

Now it’s back to the drawing board ahead of the pink ball Test in Adelaide. Australia have won all seven day-night Tests played at the Adelaide Oval.

“The way we’re playing at the moment, playing the first Test in Perth is 50/50 for Australia,” Julian said.

“Playing the first Test at the Gabba is 85 per cent win rate sort of thing, a pretty good record at the Gabba.

“You roll up to Perth and it’s a green seamer, you’re probably winning the toss and bowling. You don’t often do that.

“It’s not a gamble but it’s not a stronghold, Perth. We haven’t shown we can dominate in Perth. No longer is winning the opening Test match a lock if it’s going to be in Perth compared the Gabba.”

Prior to the shift from the WACA to Perth Stadium, South Africa was the only team to beat Australia in Perth since 1997.

Pat Cummins and Australia are under the pump. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Aussies need ‘spark’ after ‘wake-up call’

“I’m putting this down to a wake-up call for the team,” said Julian.

“Their backs are against the wall and I expect them to turn it around for Adelaide.

“Everyone was writing India off, I was too. They lost three-zip to New Zealand — pressure was on, Kohli wasn’t in good form, the captain wasn’t playing the first Test match.

“India have got a real grit and determination. Australia just needs to show a bit of grit now. “I’m pretty confident they’ll get to Adelaide and bounce back hard. But this is a great test for Australian cricket. No one expected India to wipe the floor with us.

“There wasn’t one person saying India looked amazing.”

The former Australian all-rounder noted “you don’t necessarily need great form to perform”. “Australia, they just need a spark, whether it’s a Steve Smith innings, Khawaja at the top or a Pat Cummins five-for,” Julian said.

“They need to search for that and find it and then they could be away. This is good test for them.

“It’s great for the game. If India had lost the opening Test, they could have fallen over given they’d lost three against New Zealand. I think this is really good for the series. It’s character building for the Aussies.”

There’s plenty of time for the Aussies to stew on the taste of the defeat, with 11 days before the second Test kicks off in Adelaide on December 6.