Australia vs. Sri Lanka: Aussie onslaught a growing trend of overseas batting success

Remember the hysteria and call for heads after the Perth Test? Well it seems the Aussies can still bat a bit, just as long as they bring their passports, writes Daniel Cherny.

Having been asked to bat out of position against an all-time great in treacherous conditions, it would be interesting to know the thoughts of Nathan McSweeney as he watched Josh Inglis waltz into the middle on debut with 400 on the board on an internet cafe Wi-Fi slow pitch. This was a baptism of daffodils.

Remember the hysteria and call for heads after the Perth Test? Well it turns out the Aussies can still bat a bit. Just make sure they don’t forget their passports.

The combination of the Kookaburra’s move to reinforce the seam of its balls four years ago and Australian curators preferring to err on the side of spice than ice has meant that as it stands, it is generally better to bat overseas than in Australia.

The script has been flipped, because for most Australian batters over the years – even some of the greats like Victor Trumper and David Warner – runs at home have come much more freely than those away.

Josh Inglis made a stunning debut innings. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

But that is no longer the case. Yes, there is the occasional massive ragger like Indore 2023 or a grassy deck at Christchurch last March.

And things could yet deteriorate here too. But as a trend, the last few years have been much harder for Australia’s top order on home soil than abroad.

Every passing Australian batting milestone at Galle International Stadium on Thursday morning felt a world away from the challenges of Perth, Adelaide and Sydney, where guys were doing well to scratch out 20 or 30.

Granted Sri Lanka’s bowling was a mixed bag, and a suite of chances had been blown on Wednesday. There was no Jasprit Bumrah either, but India’s pace colossus wasn’t the first to trouble Australia in Australia.

The rot didn’t even start with Shamar Joseph’s heroics to lead the West Indies to victory at the Gabba 12 months ago.

Aamer Jamal, Mir Hamza and Khurram Shahzad all troubled the Aussies earlier in the 2023-24 season. And while Australia won the Ashes 4-0 in 2021-22, the signs were already starting to appear that there was no place like home, but not in the way Dorothy meant it.

Khawaja and Inglis made it look easy. Picture: Ishara S. KODIKARA / AFP

Even Marnus Labuschagne – who didn’t make an away Test ton until 2022 – has fared better away than at home in recent times. His only two Test scores of 90 or more in the past two years have come at Old Trafford and Hagley Oval.

Smith made a couple of tons at home against India but has also thrived in England and Sri Lanka.

The injured Cameron Green’s finest innings have come at Galle, Ahmedabad and Wellington. Mitch Marsh’s record following his 2023 return was superior away than at home too.

Of the current side it is most extreme for Khawaja, once considered a liability in Asia and flaky in the UK, but whose last three Test centuries have come in Ahmedabad, Birmingham and Galle.

Of all the places for him to make his maiden Test double century (at 38 no less), Galle would have been considered highly unlikely over the first half of his international career.

“It’s a contrast of two halves – my career in the subcontinent,” Khawaja said after play on day one.

“There’s pre-Dubai, post-Dubai (his breakthrough century against Pakistan in 2018). There were some low times – my wife Rachel was here with me (when dropped mid-series in 2016), and we had so many of those tough times. No one ever sees that. Everyone sees the good stuff.”

These days, casual Aussie cricket fans are seeing more of the bad stuff because it is happening in their backyard.

Originally published as Australia vs. Sri Lanka: Aussie onslaught a growing trend of overseas batting success