This Test team has 10 months to change ugly legacy
The coming 10 months are going to define the legacies of some of Australia’s greatest cricketers, as well as the men’s Test team as a whole.
Since Michael Clarke retired following the 2015 Ashes tour, the side has been under the guidance of Steve Smith and Pat Cummins - the two players who have shared the captaincy over the past decade.
Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins on day four in Cape Town. AP Photo/Halden Krog
Those two men, as well as fast bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, and spinner Nathan Lyon, have formed the nucleus of the team some say is one of the best in the game’s history.
But how will it actually be remembered, if all those players retire without winning a series in England, India, or South Africa?
Individually their careers will be remembered for a long time. They are among the best to ever play the game.
As a unit, the Aussie Test team has some serious questions to ask following a devastating 2-1 loss to the Proteas.
The decision of Cummins to bowl first in Cape Town will be scrutinised ad nauseum. It was puzzling, and proved to be disastrous.
The performance of the batters on day five was abysmal.
And the decisions, plural, of selectors before and during the series should put jobs in jeopardy, none moreso than George Bailey, who will arrogantly defend his picks even when they are exposed as duds.
Bailey, Cummins, and head coach Andrew McDonald should feel the heat after blowing a 1-0 series lead, and losing the No.1 Test ranking.
“It’s got to come back to those three,” former captain Mark Taylor said on Wide World of Sports on Sunday.
“Our confidence was down because I think we eroded confidence as the series went on. We didn’t stick to our game plan, (to) bat first, get some runs on the board, put them under pressure. We got away from that. The thinking is too short-term with this side, I would like to see us thinking a bit more long-term and a bit more structure about where we want to be.”
Australia has played 33 series since Clarke retired following the 2015 Ashes tour. Of those, 15 have been away from home.
Steve Smith is running out of time. AP Photo
And of the 15 away series during the Smith-Cummins era, the Aussies have only won on the road five times. They beat New Zealand in 2016, Pakistan in 2022, New Zealand in 2024, Sri Lanka in 2025, and the West Indies last year.
Test teams are remembered for series wins, and this side has failed to beat any of its main three rivals away from home.
The loss in South Africa was their last chance to beat the Proteas away. They head to India for a five-match series in January-February, and then fly to England for an Ashes tour in June and July.
Mass retirements are predicted following the Ashes tour with Smith, Starc, Hazlewood, and Lyon winding down their storied careers. Cummins is 33 years old and will have to pass the baton in the coming years, too.
The era is on the verge of ending and as it stands, like it or not, they risk being remembered as home-track bullies.
Only series wins in India and then England will be able to change that ugly perception.
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