Pat Cummins admitted Australia are struggling with the bat after a crushing loss to South Africa. The team got bowled out for 295 in the second innings. Cummins said, "It's always the challenge of, do you give someone one more game?" The final Test starts in Cape Town on October 27.
After being made to follow on, Australia were bowled out for 295 in the second innings, with Marnus Labuschagne, Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster continuing their poor run in the series. Labuschagne particularly came under fire after playing an uncharacteristic aerial shot, allowing the Proteas to get back into the game as he fell for 39.
The batter has not scored a Test century since July 2023. Maddinson, meanwhile, contributed 0 and 8 at Gqeberha. Injury cover Maddinson’s presence in the squad has been questioned from day one, including by Aussie great Matthew Hayden. Before the first Test at Kingsmead, he had last represented Australia almost 10 years ago. Allrounder Webster came up with lowly scores of 13 and 8. In the first Test, he didn’t do much either.
The third and final Test starts in Cape Town on October 27, and in the lead-up to the game, there will surely be a lot of conversations around who to keep and who to leave out. “It's always the challenge of, do you give someone one more game? Or do you feel like now is the right time to make a move?” Cummins said.
"So that's what will be spoken about over the next few days. I think we will probably have Cam Green and Josh Inglis be available — I'm sure their names will get thrown around when we try and work out an XI.
“But it's always that delicate balance. Do we feel like someone's just about to turn the corner and they're going to be away? Or does it now feel like the right time for a change-up?” he added.
'There'll be lots of conversations'
Matt Renshaw scored his first Test ton in 10 years at Kingsmead to help the Aussies crush the Proteas by 214 runs. His innings was decisive in the context of the match. Cummins said that not only at Gqeberha but Australia were also not at their best in the first Test. And after a very poor performance in the second Test, the fears over their batting have grown.
"Renshaw had an amazing game (in Durban), but I still think we weren't at our best, particularly in the batting.
"Looking around the changeroom at how good our batters are, and the standards they all hold themselves to, I think we were probably a little bit short of runs of where we'd like to be.
"We're still finding ways to win. We make it hard for ourselves sometimes. But we've got three or four days to get it right for Cape Town.
"There'll be lots of conversations. Probably run through a few scenarios that we'll probably get in Cape Town again and (ask) what would we do differently? The good thing is most of our team is pretty experienced. We've done it in the past, but we’re not seeing it as often as we'd like."