Australia's worrying lower-order record

An examination of the lower-order contributions of the world’s 10 Test-playing nations has revealed a glaring concern for Australia.

Steve Smith’s men are ranked eighth out of 10 when it comes to runs scored from batsmen 8-11 in the past two years, sitting ahead of only Bangladesh, who’ll they face in the first of two Tests on Sunday, and Zimbabwe.

Australia have managed 1,070 runs at an average of 13.71 per wicket from 22 Tests in that period, well behind table-topping England’s 2,129 runs from 27 matches.

Those numbers are in direct contrast to the performance of Australia's top-order batsmen (1-7), who sit third behind England and India with 10,484 runs at 45.58, the second-highest average and only fractionally behind India’s 45.70, while Australia’s 34 centuries is the most by any nation.

England’s main lower-order contributors have been quicks Chris Woakes (458 runs) and Stuart Broad (360) and allrounder Moeen Ali (305). But for Australia, only one tailender has produced more than 200 runs.

Mitchell Starc’s 477 runs puts him fourth on the list of heaviest individual lower-order scorers, after Ravindra Jadeja (625), Rangana Herath (579) and Jason Holder (487), and the left-hander is responsible for scoring all four half-centuries by Australians since this time two years ago.

Quick Single: Khawaja to prove doubters wrong, says Starc

While the runs column looks a little empty, scoring is not the sole Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that Australia’s lower order batsmen are measured on, according to Starc.

"One of the KPIs that we did use in the Indian (Test) series was for two guys in the last four to face at least 60 balls," Starc told The Unplayable Podcast.

"If you’re spending some time in the middle you’re contributing to the score, you’re keeping the other team out there as well and for some of it you’re probably batting with another batsman.

"That was a KPI we had in the Indian series but if the bottom order can contribute, ideally you’re scoring 150 in the last four blokes. And if your top order is scoring runs, you’re making totals of 500-plus, which is always a positive and you’re leaving yourself in a good state for the rest of the game.

"We definitely can all bat, (we) take a lot of pride in it and give each other a bit of stick along the way as well."

Starc (three times), Stephen O'Keefe, Pat Cummins (twice) and Josh Hazlewood ticked off that tailender KPI of facing 30 balls an innings in the four-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy series.

Starc’s 61 from 63 balls in the first innings in Pune, in concert with Hazlewood’s 31-ball single, propelled Australia from 9-205 to a match-winning total of 260.

The vital knock underlined the 27-year-old’s improving ability with the bat, an area of his game that he wants to continue to refine.

"The main one is just contributing with the bat and being more consistent," Starc said.

"I don’t really care about being talked about as an allrounder. I’m still a bowler who can contribute with the bat, I just want to do that more consistently.

"I’ve been able to score nine (Test) fifties now – I want to do that more consistently and put the team in a better position with the bat if we’re in trouble early or scoring some quick runs late.

"All I’m worried about is doing that more consistently and contributing more often than not."

A feature of Starc’s batting career has been his willingness to take on the opposition bowlers and clear the pickets.

In 36 Tests, Starc has clocked 29 sixes, the third most by an Australian lower-order batsman, and he will almost certainly leapfrog Mitchell Johnson (31 sixes) and Shane Warne (36) in the near future.

Starc smashed seven sixes in the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan last year, the most ever by any player at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, but says hitting maximums isn’t solely on his mind when he’s out in the middle with willow in hand.

"If I see a ball there I’m going to swing hard and I’ve got long levers," Starc said.

"I’ve been working on my golf game so it’s moving into my cricket game and clearing the rope a little bit.

"Boof (Australia coach Darren Lehmann) is good like that. He’s very pro ‘if you see it, hit it’ and ‘if it’s spinning into you, swing harder’.

"I like to think I can take the game on at different times, depending on who I’m batting with and at different stages of the game.

"It was nice to hit a few sixes last summer."

Australia in Bangladesh 2017

Australia squad: Steve Smith (c), David Warner (vc), Ashton Agar, Jackson Bird, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matthew Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson, Matthew Wade.

Bangladesh squad: Mushfiqur Rahim (c), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Sabbir Rahman, Nasir Hossain, Liton Das, Taskin Ahmed, Shafiul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Taijul Islam, Mominul Haque.

22-23 August Tour match, TBC

27-31 August First Test, Dhaka

4-8 September Second Test, Chittagong