Ashes Tour match to decide fate of Australia’s batting flops

After an extraordinary defeat at Headingley, Marcus Harris and Usman Khawaja are the pair facing most scrutiny.

Usman Khawaja and Marcus Harris are battling to retain their places in Australia’s team for the Fourth Test at Old Trafford. Picture: AAP

Thursday’s practice match against Derbyshire will be the last opportunity for at least one Australian batsman as the side processes being on the wrong side of history in one of the game’s greatest Test matches and contemplates who makes way for Steve Smith.

Justin Langer was grim faced after what he called an “unbelievable game” and an “extraordinary” innings by England allrounder Ben Stokes.

He admitted the dressing room was “disappointed” and players’ immediate futures were on the line in the three-day match.

“We’ve got 10 days, we’ve got a game in Derbyshire to play, we have plenty to play for,” the coach said. “It’s 1-1 in this series, we have been so close, I mean one more wicket and we are 2-0 up and feeling pretty good about ourselves. But that’s sport. We’ll pick ourselves up.

“There’s actually going to be some big questions. One thing I do know is we’re not batting well enough at the moment. I said at the start of the series that the team that bats best will win the Ashes. We’ve got some real questions to ask for the practice game then the fourth Test match.”

Marcus Harris (average 13.5), Travis Head, Matthew Wade (average 25) and Usman Khawaja (average 20) will all feel the heat, but the feeling is either Harris or Khawaja are the ones facing most scrutiny.

#Ashes poll: With Steve Smith set to return for the Fourth Test, which Australian batsman should make way? https://t.co/sxnUPdcu4H

— The Australian (@australian) August 26, 2019

If Harris goes, Khawaja would open. There is a belief in the Australian camp that Marnus Labuschagne could one day play that role, but it would be madness to uproot the batsman who is averaging 71 from three consecutive half-centuries while filling Smith’s shoes at No 4 in the middle of an Ashes.

Wade scored an important century in the second innings at Edgbaston but has compiled just 40 runs in the four innings since that first Test.

Smith is slowly increasing his workload after suffering concussion following a blow at Lord’s while England’s veteran quick James Anderson is doing the same and is expected to play.

“We can’t fit them all in,” Langer said. “That’s one issue we’ve got. We’ve also got to work out after a long summer, we’re going to have to rest some players. Just to give them a mental freshen-up more than anything. The other thing, we’ve got two back-to-back Test matches to win or lose the Ashes. And we’ve talked from day one that we’re going to have to give guys (time) to freshen up — they’ve been here for Australia A or the World Cup. And sometimes the mental break is as important as anything.

“So the questions will be asked — who do we give a break to? Who do we play? All those sort of things we’ll have to ask.”

The Australians, like the opposition, are wary of fatigue for players who had a World Cup campaign leading into the Ashes, but Stokes showed no ill-effects, blasting his side to victory in Sunday’s incredible match, as he had six weeks ago in the final at Lord’s.

Langer was reaching for superlatives and comparisons after the match.

“It was an unbelievable game of cricket,” he said. “Everyone remembers the ’81 Botham game. I hate to say it but for the game of cricket, that was an unbelievable game. Ben Stokes, that was extraordinary. We are obviously very, very disappointed up in the change rooms. But we have to shake ourselves up and get ready for the next one.”

The Australians are still processing the disaster of letting Stokes off twice in the last overs, but nothing could stop the allrounder on his way to a towering 135 not out — the last 74 runs of which were made batting in a 76-run partnership with No 11 Jack Leach, who made just one.

Harris missed a difficult catch on the boundary and Tim Paine wasted the team’s last review the over before umpire Joel Wilson made another error and ruled him not out when he was trapped in front lbw.

“We’ve been really poor at it (DRS) this whole series,” Langer said. “Sometimes you don’t quite get it right. To be fair, the one off Pat Cummins (that Paine reviewed) — it was getting pretty desperate at the end there and that often happens.

“That’s just how it works out.”

Langer dismissed the notion that an umpire in that position should give Stokes out in the knowledge that England had two reviews which would test the decision.

“The umpire should make the decision he thinks is right regardless of reviews in my opinion,” he said. “If they think it’s out they should give it, if they don’t they should give it not out.”

Nathan Lyon fumbled a run-out chance that would also have won the game for Australia.

“We had our chances, we had three or four,” the coach said. “He (Stokes) played like a man with nothing to lose, and you’ll never see a better innings than that. At lunch we knew it was game on.”