Australia’s batting was again its Achilles heel on Day 1 of the first Ashes Test against England, and it has led to many fans turning on the team.
New opener Jake Weatherald fell for a duck, Usman Khawaja again struggled for runs, and veteran duo Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne looked anything but comfortable at the crease.
You can watch all the highlight from day one in the video above
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Further down the order, Cam Green didn’t fill Aussie fans with much hope either, as Travis Head and Alex Carey were the only two who looked like they could put together a half-decent score.
And after the same group of veterans failed to score runs yet again on Friday, Aussie fans are already eager to play the blame game, with the finger pointed directly at the selectors.
“The Australian selectors have to bite the bullet and give at least one batter a chance, whether it’s Kellaway or whoever. Can’t have Khawaja, Smith, etc forever,” cricket fan Jason Arnold wrote on X.
“This Australian batting line-up is toast. Squarely on the selectors. Dumb picks, deserved this,” a second said.
Australian fans took to social media to also call for Khawaja, Smith and Labuschagne to be dropped ahead of the second Test, urging selectors to give other promising Shield players a chance.
“Khawaja bottling it. Don’t blame him at 39 but selectors should have binned him,” one wrote on X.
“It was coming. Marnus Labuschagne really fooled the whole world with his two year peak at home conditions by scoring runs at will against the likes of Pakistan, New Zealand and West Indies at home. He was also ranked number 1 in the horrendous ICC rankings. Should’ve been dropped,” another said.
Not only are there serious concerns about the top order’s form, but the reality is Australia’s line-up is ageing, and many look set to retire.
Khawaja is 38 and will turn 39 this December, Smith is 36, Mitchell Starc is 35, Nathan Lyon will be 38 in November, and Pat Cummins is 32.
Such is the ageing squad that Green is the only player under 30 selected for the first Ashes Test.
Last summer, Australia’s only teenage debutant since Pat Cummins in 2011, Sam Konstas, sent pulses racing before his bold style of play saw him fall cheaply and often.
Now he has been relegated to the Sheffield Shield ranks, and there doesn’t look to be an easy path back to the Test fold.
With the need for change, Aussie selectors turned to Weatherald and Brendan Doggett, who are both 31, hardly a regeneration.
So, with experience failing and a real concern for the future of the Australian Test team, with a lack of youth getting any top-level experience, it is no surprise that fans are blaming selectors.
Former Test captains Greg Chappell and Steve Waugh have been incredibly outspoken on the matter, calling for an injection of youth and fast.
Waugh said chief selector George Bailey has shied away from making the tough and necessary calls, while Chappell declared Australia is “going to have a painful regeneration problem” in his recent Cricinfo column.
“Domestic competitions don’t produce Test-ready players; they only identify those with the skills to make it at the top level, so CA must prioritise giving the next generation as much international cricket at the Australia A level as possible to bridge the gap.”
