Australia were bowled out for 198 on home soil to Bangladesh on the first day of their bumper Test calendar. It’s their brittle batting that’s standing in the way of them ascending to rank among the all-time great Test sides.

Having not played a Test match for eight months, Australia are braced for a 12-month stretch that will define their legacy. Tours to South Africa, India and England, three countries where this generation of players are yet to win a series, offer a chance to prove themselves in all conditions.

But first, to get them back in the groove, is a two-Test flash against Bangladesh, who were beaten by Zimbabwe in their last Test just over a month ago. Having been asked to bowl on a pitch with plenty of grass on it, Bangladesh ran riot. Hasan Mahmud took his career best figures of 6-55, while Taskin Ahmed and Edabot Hossain played supporting roles with two wickets each. It was a collective, disciplined effort from a skillful attack, one perfectly placed as kryptonite to Australia’s batting weaknesses.

Much has been made of Australia’s ageing bowling attack, and whether it can withstand an intensive stretch of Test cricket. But it’s the batting that risks cutting their triple assault off.

Statistically, Australia are the most dominant Test team of the last five years. They’ve reached the last two World Test Championship finals, and sit top in the standings less than a year out from the final of the current edition. They haven’t lost a bilateral series since 2023, and the last time they lost a series at home was in 2021.

However, that picture masks an underperforming batting unit, over-reliant on individual brilliance from Steve Smith and Travis Head, and consistently looking to that ageing pace attack to bail them out of trouble.

Jake Weatherald, under pressure coming into the series, was tied up by consistent line and length from Mahmud. The reward came when Weatherald finally edged an outswinger halfway through the morning session. A chop-on from Travis Head in the next over opened the floodgates. Marnus Labuschagne continued a run which has seen him pass 20 twice in his last eight Test innings, before Cameron Green compounded questions swirling over his own position in Australia’s Test side.

Since the end of the 2023 Ashes, no active player other than Smith and Head averages more than 40 in Test cricket for Australia. Of those, it will be Green and Labuschagne who are of biggest concern. Labuschagne faced 19 dot balls in his one-run innings, and was trapped deep in the crease by Hossain when he nicked off to second slip. Over the last two years, he has the lowest strike rate of any active player who has faced over 100 balls in Australia’s top six. Since he was recalled for the Ashes, he averages 26, and the repetitive cycle of chewing up balls and failing to capitalise has continued.

Green too is running out of time to prove he’s worth the investment Australia have put into him as their all-round lynchpin. Having slipped down the order by the end of the Ashes, he was promoted to No.5 to cover for Usman Khawaja’s retirement, with Head retaining his role as opener. Since coming back into the side after a year out with injury, he has scored one half-century in 10 Tests. His contributions with the ball have also been reduced, and with the inclusion of Beau Webster in the side, Green’s place feels dispensable.

The consistent questions over one opener position since David Warner’s retirement, as well as their brittleness in the middle, has been strung along by consistent results. In addition to the ferocity of their pace attack, Head and Smith have been able to pull together results which have maintained Australia’s position of dominance. Head has been Australia’s leading run-scorer in their last three bilateral Test series, and he and Smith teamed up in their last Test outing at Perth to ensure England were consigned to a crushing 4-1 scoreline.

Nevertheless, there’s a fragility between the pair of them which, if exploited as Bangladesh managed, exposes the brittleness Head and Smith cover over. Over the last two years, Head and Smith have played more false shots than any other Australia batter has. A case-in-point was Head’s dismissal to Hasan Mahmud, where he chopped on playing an ugly prod from well back in his crease. It’s the kind of shot that, had the ball not ricocheted onto the stumps, would have been easily forgotten in the aftermath of Head cashing in later with audacious strokes sailing over the boundary.

There’s also an element of luck behind Smith’s 71-run contribution to Australia’s score in Darwin. He nicked several deliveries early in his innings, and was dropped in the slips before he reached 50. He also admitted after the end of play that he’d nicked another that was caught-behind, but DRS failed to pick up the spike.

Ultimately, Australia’s collapse was made to look worse by Bangladesh’s management of their reply late in the day. They finished 96-1, with Australia’s pace attack unable to make inroads to pull the day back more in their favour. Australia may well come back into the game, as they did when they collapsed in their first innings of the Ashes in Perth nine months ago. But day one showed familiar problems still exist against the grain of results.

The next 12 months are set to be definitive for this Australia side, as they head to South Africa and India for marquee Test series, before potentially playing in both the WTC final and the Ashes in England next year. At the end of that schedule, it’s likely there will be even more significant player turn over than there has been already. If they are to finish on a high that befits what they’ve achieved, reversing their worrying batting trend will be key.

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BangladeshAustralia Steven SmithCover StoriesTravis HeadJake WeatheraldMarnus LabuschagneCameron GreenSeries Cover Stories