Pakistan tours Australia in 15 weeks, and the Test averages of the host batsmen are looking bad and in freefall.
Here are the grim facts:
1. DAVID WARNER - averaging 48.63
- stable, and quite scary.
2. JOE BURNS - averaging 41.52
- in free fall currently, at the end of the tour of New Zealand his average was 49.29.
3. USMAN KHAWAJA - averaging 44.03
- an even steeper decline, he had an average of 51.05 just a few Tests ago, but seems clueless against spin bowling.
4. STEVE SMITH - averaging 58.55
- like Warner, remains stable and scary.
5. ADAM VOGES - averaging 72.75
- the most misleading record of all.
- he averages 542.00 against the West Indies and 99.00 against New Zealand, thanks to some incredibly placid pitches.
- but he averages just 28.71 against England and 19.66 against Sri Lanka, and passes his 37th birthday before South Africa and Pakistan tour.
6. MITCHELL MARSH - averaging 24.00
- he has passed 50 only twice in 29 Test innings, ironically in his second and last Test matches. He went 15 Test matches in between without reaching 50 in an innings.
- until his 50 in the first innings of his most recent Test, he failed to reach 40 in 21 consecutive Test innings.
7. PETER NEVILL - averaging 20.88
- another stunningly poor Test record.
- he has only scored 2 fifties in 19 Test innings, and in his last 10 Test innings his highest scores are 24 and 32.
- In the other 8 of his last 10 innings he has not even reached a score of 15.
David Warner and Steve Smith are potential series-winners. But the bottom line is that two of Australia's top seven are tail-enders (Marsh and Nevill) while three more (Burns, Khawaja and Voges) are in serious danger of losing their place in the side.
Here are the grim facts:
1. DAVID WARNER - averaging 48.63
- stable, and quite scary.
2. JOE BURNS - averaging 41.52
- in free fall currently, at the end of the tour of New Zealand his average was 49.29.
3. USMAN KHAWAJA - averaging 44.03
- an even steeper decline, he had an average of 51.05 just a few Tests ago, but seems clueless against spin bowling.
4. STEVE SMITH - averaging 58.55
- like Warner, remains stable and scary.
5. ADAM VOGES - averaging 72.75
- the most misleading record of all.
- he averages 542.00 against the West Indies and 99.00 against New Zealand, thanks to some incredibly placid pitches.
- but he averages just 28.71 against England and 19.66 against Sri Lanka, and passes his 37th birthday before South Africa and Pakistan tour.
6. MITCHELL MARSH - averaging 24.00
- he has passed 50 only twice in 29 Test innings, ironically in his second and last Test matches. He went 15 Test matches in between without reaching 50 in an innings.
- until his 50 in the first innings of his most recent Test, he failed to reach 40 in 21 consecutive Test innings.
7. PETER NEVILL - averaging 20.88
- another stunningly poor Test record.
- he has only scored 2 fifties in 19 Test innings, and in his last 10 Test innings his highest scores are 24 and 32.
- In the other 8 of his last 10 innings he has not even reached a score of 15.
David Warner and Steve Smith are potential series-winners. But the bottom line is that two of Australia's top seven are tail-enders (Marsh and Nevill) while three more (Burns, Khawaja and Voges) are in serious danger of losing their place in the side.