With series against India and England coming up in the next two summers, Barrier Truth sport correspondent Peter Argent analyses the Test performances of Australian players across the ’23-24 Australian summer against Pakistan, the West Indies and New Zealand.
David Warner (three Tests – 299 runs average 48.83 HS 164) 7/10
Starting the summer with a brilliant 164 in the opening Test in Perth, Warner’s summer swansong was never questioned from that point.
He finished his career with a half century in his final innings, and the pugnacious and aggressive left hander leaves the Australian program as one of the best openers in the nation’s history, with 8786 runs at 44.59, with 26 centuries at Test level.
Warner has proved to be a great success at all three forms of the game.
Usman Khawaja (seven Tests – 447 runs – 34.38 HS 90) 5.5/10
Now 37 and not converting one start into a century across the summer, Khawaja’s consistency would be concerning for the Australian selectors.
His highest score for the summer was 90 in the opening Test in Perth and after getting to double figures on 11 occasions, only two of them produced half centuries.
Marnus Labuschagne (7 Tests – 325 runs – 29.55 HS 90) 4/10
Out of form for most of the summer, Marnus made a gallant 90 in the Christchurch Test, his 50th in national colours.
He did score three totals in the 60s across four innings against Pakistan in Melbourne and Sydney, but for the country’s number three bat, seven single-figure dismissals were way too many.
Labuschange was generally outstanding in the field.
Steven Smith (seven Tests – 365 – 40.55 HS 91 not out) 4/10
Starting for the first three games against Pakistan at number four in the batting order, Smith asked to be elevated to the opening role when David Warner retired.
Since moving to the top of the order Smith has made 12, 11*, six and 91*, with the single half century in the thrilling loss to the West Indies, followed by 31, zero, 11 and nine in New Zealand.
This small sample size of 171 runs, being dismissed six times, averaging 28.5 initially suggests this move hasn’t worked.
Travis Head (seven Tests – 269 runs – 22.42 HS 119) 3.5/10
One superb match winning innings doesn’t make a summer, with Travis Head generally disappointing across the seven-Test campaign with the bat, after an excellent previous 12 months.
His first innings in Adelaide was outstanding when no other bat made more than 50 in the game, but Head did follow that up with three consecutive ducks.
He did pick up three wickets with the ball, bowling his tidy off-spin and was good in the field at short leg.
Mitchell Marsh (seven Tests – 500 runs – 45.45 HS 96) 7/10
The most consistent of the Australian batters, Marsh collected a Man of the Match performance in Perth and finished with five half centuries across this summer.
He batted with power and control in the middle order, directly influencing at least three wins.
Underutilized with the ball, Marsh took three wickets with his medium pacers.
Cameron Green (four Tests – 302 runs – 50.33 HS 174*) 5.5/10
Returning to the national team with the retirement of David Warner, Cameron Green produced a breakout innings in the first test at Basin Reserve in Wellington. That innings was a game changer and masked the six other scores below 50 in his return to the Test arena.
Green was also used as the Australian fourth quick, grabbing five handy scalps. He was athletic and a safe catch in the field.
Alex Carey (seven Tests – 336 runs – 36.6 HS 98*- 34 catches, five stumps) 8/10
Outstanding behind the wickets all summer, I can recall only one chance going down in the final test in Christchurch. He was good up to the stumps to Nathan Lyon and Travis Head, along with standing back to the quicks.
With the bat, he produced an important half century in Brisbane and a match-winning innings at Hagley Oval, in the second dig in Christchurch, deserving a hundred. He’s now entrenched in the Test side.
Mitchell Starc (seven Tests – 25 wickets – 29.56 BB 4/55 vs WI) 6/10
In Christchurch, Starc passed the legendary Dennis Lillee on the Australian wicket taking list to move into fourth place.
He had a consistent summer, picking up at least one wicket in 13 of the 14 innings he bowled.
With the willow he was below par for a number eight bat, with a highest score of 28 in the final match of the summer.
Patrick Cummins (Captain) (seven tests 30 wickets – 16.86 BB 5/48 vs Pak) 9/10
Along with growing his captaincy skills, Pat Cummins was a lynch pin in the Australian bowling attack across the summer, being a frugal strike bowler.
His Man of the Match 10-wicket match haul in the Boxing Day Test was the highlight of the summer and he was a wonderful foil for Alex Carey in the Hagley Test run chase, continuing to grow his aptitude with the bat.
In the lower middle order he made 62 not out in the first innings in Brisbane against the West Indies and his 32 not out in the final match of the New Zealand tour helped immeasurably to that victory.
He is now ranked tenth all-time on Australia’s wicket taking list.
Nathan Lyon (seven tests 29 wickets – 23.21 BB 6/65 vs NZ) 6.5/10
The spin option in the Australian test team, Nathan Lyon played his role in the national bowling quartet as support to the future Hall of Fame trio of quicks – Cummins, Hazlewood and Starc.
His 10-wicket match haul against New Zealand in the first Test in Wellington was the highlight of his summer. He also smashed an important 41 with the bat in the second innings as a night watchman.
Lyon has 530 test scalps at an average of 30.28 across his 129-match career and he seems to be improving with age.
Josh Hazlewood (seven tests 35 wickets – 15.31 BB 5/31 vs NZ) 9/10
It was another super summer for opening bowler Josh Hazlewood, who consistently put opponents on the back foot with his relentless attack at the stumps and ball movement.
Along with a pair of five-wicket hauls, there were wickets taken in each of the 14 innings he bowled across the summer. Hazlewood is a model of consistency with ball in hand.
He will also be remembered for his junior role in the match changing 116-run tenth wicket partnership with Cam Green at Basin Reserve in the first Test against New Zealand.
