Australia has played six Test matches so far, having won four, but the team has struggled with the willow
Things at the moment for Australian cricket are not going the way they had hoped. No, it has nothing to do with only the loss they suffered at the hands of India in the first Test game of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. It is about how Australian batters have struggled throughout the year.
In 2024, Australia has played six games so far, having won four and lost two. The team has three more games, including the upcoming Adelaide pink-ball Test, before the year 2024 comes to an end. At the moment, alongside wins against India, Australia certainly hopes to score at least one 400 in 2024, a feat they are yet to achieve, with 383 being their highest top score this year against New Zealand in Wellington.
If Australia fails to get that one 400, this will be the first time since 1990 that they will end a calendar year without having scored a 400 in any of the matches.
If we look at the playing XI, only Alex Carey has so far averaged 30 in Test matches in 2024, whereas Cameron Green, who is injured, averages 50.33, thanks to his career-best 174 not out against the Black Caps in Wellington.
As per a report by ESPN CricInfo, teams that played at least six Test matches this year, Australia’s overall average from batting position one to seven is at 29.52, behind Sri Lanka, England, India, New Zealand, South Africa, and PAK.
Even when it comes to the number of hundreds per innings for number one to number seven batters in 2007, CricInfo reports that Australia’s average is 38.5 below Sri Lanka, South Africa, India, PAK, England, and New Zealand.
The reason is because this year, Australian Test has witnessed only two centuries from their end, i.e., one by Green against New Zealand and another one by Head against West Indies.
Australia may have four games out of six, but the two games they have lost so far this year were pretty embarrassing. For example, the game they lost to West Indies helped the Windies win their first Test game in Australia since 1997. In short, a Test winning streak against the West Indies on home soil was disrupted after 27 years.
Even the defeat against India was massive, given the Men in Blue won by 295 runs, the biggest win on Aussie soil since 1977. Team India broke their own 47-year-old record to create a new and better record, which obviously was an embarrassment for the Baggy Greens.
Recalling the scores from the last match, the top order and middle order, comprising Usman Khawaja, Nathan McSweeney, Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith, and Travis Head—all went back to the pavilion without scoring even 15 runs. In the second innings, only Travis Head could turn things around for himself, even though his average has also fallen to 41.96 compared to last year’s 44.69.
New Zealand drop to fifth place in the World Test Championship standings after both teams were docked three points for a slow over-rate in the first match of the #NZvENG series pic.twitter.com/8SydYuGpgJ
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 3, 2024
Will Australia’s batter rise again? Will Australia get that 400? Questions that can’t be answered by us but will surely be answered on the various pitches of Australia before December 31, 2024.
