Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Mackay: Australian skipper Pat Cummins would not confirm if Marnus Labuschagne would board the plane for October’s three-Test series in South Africa, after the under-siege Queenslander endured another poor outing in his side’s emphatic triumph over Bangladesh in the second Test.
While Cummins’ men cruised to victory by an innings and 51 runs inside two days, Labuschagne’s woes with the bat continued on day one, falling for just four runs, victim to a ball which brushed his thigh pad and fell onto leg stump. The 32-year-old’s most recent century at Test level dates back to July 2023, and he has averaged just 29.69 since the start of that year.
“I don’t reckon I can guarantee anyone really, he [Labuschagne] has not scored the runs he would’ve liked,” Cummins said.
“I did say a couple of days ago – and I think it still stands – he’s been batting fantastically well off the field. But it doesn’t mean much – you’ve got to convert that into runs out there.
“We’ve got a bit of time. [The] selectors will get together, I’m sure, in the next week or two, and start nutting out that next Test squad. We know he’s class when he’s at his best. And going into this series, we thought he was pretty close to his best.
“But he needs to start transferring that into runs out there, so we’ll see in the next couple of weeks.”
Labuschagne was not alone in failing as Australia only managed to amass 210. But the dominance of their bowlers meant they did not require a second innings to register the quickfire win, bowling out the visitors for 64 and 95.
It meant the first Test played in Mackay ended inside two days, just like last November’s Perth Ashes Test and the Boxing Day Test a month later at the MCG.
In fact, Australia’s 210 was lowest recorded by any team that has won a Test by an innings in the past 80 years – and the fourth lowest to do so of all time. The Test was the second-shortest completed on Australian soil, lasting just 750 deliveries, compared to the 656-ball Test against South Africa at the MCG in 1932.
Mitchell Starc was the inspiration for Australia’s stark turnaround following the nine-wicket loss in the first Test in Darwin a week earlier.
The left-arm paceman took four wickets on Sunday, following up the six he snared on Saturday in Bangladesh’s first innings to finish with match figures of 10-51.
Despite the carnage caused by quick bowlers in the match, Cummins had no issue with the pitch.
“It [the match] seemed to happen in fast-forward. The pitch was pretty good, it didn’t really feel like a 30-wicket, five-session Test match, but it seems to be the way a few of these Test matches are going,” Cummins said.
“There was some really good bowling in there at times, some below-average batting – myself included – so that’s probably why it was a bit accelerated.”
“I think today [day two] was a pretty good batting wicket, particularly by the end of today. I felt like it was pretty consistent, I think tomorrow and day four would’ve been awesome as well.”
Bangladesh skipper Najmul Shanto was disappointed his team could not give a better account of itself in the second Test after their stirring win in Darwin. He concluded his post-game debrief by imploring Cricket Australia not to allow another 23 years to elapse before inviting his country Down Under for another Test series.
“We’re here after 23 years,” he said. “It’s not easy to compete in these conditions against this quality of team. So if we are able to come consistently, then the players have their idea, players have their experience, and they can be able to adjust these kinds of conditions and play good cricket.
“So my request is we want to play here, we want to play similar kinds of conditions consistently, not after 23 years.”
Despite the dominance of the quick bowlers, it was off-spinner Nathan Lyon – not required to bowl on day one – who wrapped up the game with two wickets from three balls after the tea break.
Earlier in the day, Lyon (32 not out) batted with intelligence to push Australia’s first innings lead to 146, first partnering top-scorer Cameron Green (67) before adding 24 runs with No.11 Josh Hazlewood.
The Australian innings finished midway through the first session of day two, leaving Starc enough time as a bowler and fielder to destroy any hopes Bangladesh had of a fightback.
He made the initial inroads with consecutive balls – catching a Shadman Islam leading edge for Labuschagne to claim a diving catch, before clean bowling Mominul Haque after the No.3 shouldered arms.
Tanzid Hasan’s ill-fated attempted pull from a steepling Cummins bouncer caught the top edge of his bat and was caught by Starc at fine leg, while skipper Najmul Hossain Shanto threw his wicket away on 31 when he lofted Nathan Lyon straight to Starc at mid-on.
Litton Das then backed up his first innings duck with another, lazily wafting his bat at a wide Starc delivery and guiding it straight to Beau Webster at third slip.
Cummins soon had his second scalp when Mehidy Hasan Miraz produced a loose and unconvincing attempt to cut him over the slips, only to edge to Alex Carey behind the stumps.
He backed it up in his next over, with Hasan Mahmud poor and cramped pull only lobbing an easy catch to Travis Head at bat-pad.
Starc then claimed his 10-wicket haul, clean bowling Taijul Islam for seven.
On the first ball after tea, Lyon picked up Taskin Ahmed, smartly caught at first slip by Steve Smith, then two balls later enticed Shoriful Islam to sky the ball to Starc in the outfield. It meant Starc had three catches on Sunday to go with his haul of wickets.
The performance of the tourists was a far cry from the 138 overs they batted in the first innings in Darwin’s searing conditions. In Mackay, they batted for less than 73 across both innings.
Earlier, it took a toe-crushing yorker from Shoriful to end Green’s valiant innings. The wicket made the left-arm seamer Bangladesh’s first quick to claim seven wickets in a Test innings (7-48).
That milestone followed his nation’s first Test win on Australian soil in the first clash in Darwin, a game he missed while recovering from injury.
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