Batting in the spotlight as Aussies suffer another false start

Whether it was the Top End's alien tropical climate or merely the continuation of the toughest batting conditions Steve Smith has ever encountered, Australia are once again asking questions of their batting unit to begin a home summer.

Having been knocked over for 104 (against India in 2024-25) and 132 (against England in '25-26) in the opening Tests of the past two home seasons in Perth, Australia's shifting of the start of their 'summer' to Darwin has borne similarly barren beginnings.

On Thursday, they were rolled for 198 after Pat Cummins elected to bat first on a drop-in surface that offered Bangladesh's honest seam attack plenty, before flattening out when it was the visitors' turn to bat in the late afternoon.

The decision exposed a vulnerable top order, with even Smith needing a series of lucky breaks in order to prosper. Dropped in the slips when on 2, he confessed to edging a ball on 7 off Ebadot Hossain that audio technology failed to pick up, while also admitting his semi-regular affliction of 'losing his hands' once again struck on Thursday.

"Maybe it's one to look at," vice-captain Smith said of Cummins' call to send his batters out to brave the dewy early-morning conditions.

"I'll go back to yesterday – guys thought the wicket was rock hard. When we turned up this morning, it was a bit tacky I think just from the dew potentially. So it'll be interesting to see tomorrow morning if it's the same.

"It definitely sort of hardened up as the day went on, but it will be interesting to see if there's that same dew tomorrow morning and if it softens up. If so, I think it'll be tricky to bat again."

Australia of course bounced back to beat England after that first-up failure in November when Travis Head battered an epic Ashes hand. And, as Smith suggests, the prospect of similarly difficult batting conditions for Bangladesh tomorrow morning could well mean the hosts get away with a mulligan.

The champion batter, who rode his luck to top score with 71 on day one, stood by his side's preparation for the first of two northern Tests.

Smith himself had found life difficult on the stadium-adjacent Marrara Cricket Ground's practice wickets in recent days where the variable humidity has made preparing international-standard surfaces a major challenge.

One Nathan Lyon delivery this week spat so viciously at Smith that it might have hit him in the neck had he not been hanging back half expecting such an outcome.

But Smith insisted the squad's preceding series of intra-squad match simulations in Brisbane had left them with no one to blame but themselves after the 36-year-old was the only Australian to last more than 70 minutes at the crease.

"I've said for a while that batting at the top of the order in Australia at the moment is as tough as I've seen in my career – by a mile," he said.

"The ball's seaming significantly. It's extremely tricky and you need some luck definitely as a top-order batter. The guys got off to a decent start today … and then we obviously lost a few in clumps there.

"I think top-order batting at the moment in Australia, in particular New Zealand even with the Kookaburra ball, South Africa I'm guessing is similar as well with their Kookaburra ball, it's as hard as I've seen in my career."

So challenging in fact that Smith told Fox Cricket he "forgot how to hold the bat" during an eventful first 30 balls of his innings. "For some reason I had my hands too close together and I was chopping down on the ball and slicing it," he said.

"Then I figured out that I usually have my hands apart a bit more and when I got to that, my bat face integrity came back. One of those days where I just forget – it happens every now and again."

As for his teammates, both Marnus Labuschgne and Cameron Green, who have both been urged by the team's leaders to be more assertive at the crease, along with relative rookie Jake Weatherald will be eager to redress their missteps in Australia's second dig.

All three are averaging between 22 and 26 over the past two years, though Weatherald has only been in the team for Australia's past six Tests having debuted during the Ashes series.

Labuschagne's familiar prod behind means he has been out for single digits in half of his last 32 Test innings, while Green is averaging a tick under 23 since his breakthrough 174no in Wellington in March, 2024.

Weatherald's challenges are somewhat separate; in those conditions even the likes of Smith believe are on the extreme end, the left-handed opener has only been out for single-digits three times in 11 innings.

Showing a respun technique in his hometown Test, standing more upright and with his head back on the line of the stumps, he again made a start (22 off 39 balls) before failing to go on.

Weatherald lessened his exposure to the bowled and lbw dismissals that proved a target for opposition bowlers in his debut series. But, having not been out once nicking against England, was caught behind attempting to drive the lively Hasan Mahmud

"It's not easy," said Smith. "We've got to keep trying to find ways to put pressure back on the bowlers, get them off their lengths when they're bowling well like they are and just apply some pressure.

"Or at other times go the other way and maybe come into our shells a bit. Just read the game and play what's in front of us. That's really important for this group."

NRMA Insurance Bangladesh Test series

First Test: August 13-17, Marrara Stadium, Darwin, 10am (local)

Second Test: August 22-26, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 10am (local)

Australia squad: Pat Cummins (c), Scott Boland, Alex Carey, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Jake Weatherald, Beau Webster

Bangladesh squad (first Test): Najmul Hossain Shanto (c), Mehidy Hasan Miraz (vc), Soumya Sarkar, Shadman Islam, Tanzid Hasan Tamim, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Litton Das, Amite Hasan, Jaker Ali, Taijul Islam, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmud, Syed Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain Chowdhury, Musfik Hasan