The upcoming Test series against India will require the Australian cricket team to be better than it has been in recent times against the world’s best.
In fact, seven of the previous nine Test series between the two have gone the way of India and the last time the Aussies tasted victory was in 2014-15.
There are plenty of certainties heading into the series that begins on November 22 in Perth. The local bowling cartel of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood will frighten the life out of the tourists should they find rhythm. Indian counterparts Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Ravichandran Ashwin will do the same if given the opportunity and the bowling line-ups, as usual, will hold the key to success for both teams.
Quite simply, it is the ability to take key wickets when required and exert pressure even when conditions might not be conducive to doing so, that will always decide series’ between the two modern giants of international cricket.
Of course, the batting line-ups will play their roles. Young star Yashasvi Jaiswal will be seeking a breakout series against arguably the best home bowling attack on the planet. Along with Shubman Gill and veterans Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, India arrives in Australia with plenty of potential runs if the conditions are moderate.
The Australians will be looking to Usman Khawaja for yet another consistent series and if Marnus Labuschagne, Steve Smith and Travis Head fire on home soil, the chance for a series win for the Aussies is on the cards.
Yet it will be the bowling once again that destroys top orders late in the day and makes the inroads that lead to victory. It will be the guile of the spinners like Nathan Lyon and Ravindra Jadeja that influences, after they sit tight and wait for the moment to strike when the pitch is primed for their offerings.
That reality demands a solid start at the top of the order, a resistance to early collapse and both teams possessing an ability to bat long and occupy the crease should they hope to reign across the five match series.
Australia are searching for the right man to join Khawaja at the crease and face the pace and guile of Bumrah and Siraj. Neither Sam Konstas or Cameron Bancroft have sent compelling messages to the selectors after being dismissed for ducks in Mackay against India A.
There are of course other options and no doubt all the candidates being considered could mount an argument for their inclusion given enough opportunity to post big runs and find better form.
Whether Marcus Harris, who also failed with the bat against the Indians, looms as a better option, might actually miss the entire point. Australian selectors would be best to simply ignore the run column for now, as unimpressive as it is, and find the man tough enough in character to enter the fray first and face the lunatics pegging the cherry in his direction.
Nathan McSweeney bats in Mackay. (Photo by Albert Perez/Getty Images)
Right now, with Khawaja a mainstay but also just a season or two away from departing the Test arena, Australia needs a tough man behind him; one ready to step into the fray against the brilliant Indians, the English abroad and the dangerous South Africans on home soil.
The team is rarely beaten at home, with India the only opposition capable of doing that consistently, and the need for a warrior at the top of the order has never been more urgent.
Smith is a quality player and no one would suggest otherwise, yet his petulant attitude and penchant to sook in rather embarrassing fashion when dismissed meant he was never to be the man required at the top.
Australia needs a David Boon type figure, even if the early numbers might not present a strong case for his long term selection in the team.
Boon came into the Australian set-up after being a teenage prodigy, at a time when the biggest ever rebuild of the Australian cricket team was taking place and did not excel from the get go.
Joined not too long after by best mate and West Australian Geoff Marsh, what Boon did do was set up a culture at the top of the order. He withstood a barrage from the West Indies quicks, faced awful times wafting away outside his off-stump early in his career and then blossomed into the toughest and most belligerent opening batters Australia has been blessed with since the 1980s.
The Tasmanian did it in true Apple Isle style, with few words and an understated method that looked lackadaisical at first, before then being proven as a reflection of pure grit, determination and the presence of a clear chip on his shoulder that he wanted removed.
As Australian cricket journalism bangs on about who should join Khawaja at the top of the order, I would argue for the man they feel is best equipped emotionally to handle the upcoming series and what follows over the next two years. Pick a man with the toughness of Boon, ensure he has what it takes to lead and model to younger players when Khawaja steps aside and stick with him across the India series for the full five Tests.
If the selectors can work out which player fits that bill they will have found the opener they need. Maybe ignoring the current high pressure chase for runs is the best thing to do in the short term.
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