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Details revealed as Aussie men's Test doco returns

A second season of Amazon Prime documentary 'The Test' will return viewers to the inner sanctum as Pat Cummins takes over the Australian side

The transition from the Tim Paine and Justin Langer era and the reshaping of Australia's Test side under Pat Cummins is the focus of the upcoming second season of 'The Test' documentary.

To be launched early 2023 again exclusive to Amazon's Prime Video, the four-part second season will take viewers inside the inner sanctum of the Australian men's Test team from Paine's resignation, the Ashes series win, Langer's exit and the tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

In a sneak peak published today to coincide with Prime Video's showcase event, Travis Head launches his bat across the Galle dressing room in the most eyebrow raising moment, while David Warner and Nathan Lyon are both shown having dressing room outbursts.

Warner is shown slamming a fridge door, cursing and then throws a water bottle he just collected at a wall, also in Galle where both Tests of a drawn series were played, while Lyon, in a Pakistan dressing room, says the unidentified match in progress is "the worst I've ever been involved in".

Tests in Rawalpindi and Karachi were high-scoring draws, with the Karachi Test in particular a frustrating one for the Aussies after taking a massive first innings lead then setting a target of 506, then saw Pakistan bat out 171 overs to draw the match.

The sneak peek opens with narration from Mitchell Marsh, who says: "We don't own the Baggy Green. We understand the privilege we have to wear the Baggy Green."

Most poignantly for an insight into the theme of the second season, the closing dialogue for the trailer, also from Marsh, intones: "We have a direction we want to go. Like, this is Pat's team. And this is our team."

Former coach Langer played a central role in the first series of The Test, around which the narrative revolved as it tracked the rebuild of the Australian Test team from the 2018 Newlands scandal through to retaining the Ashes on English soil in 2019.

QUICK SINGLE: Langer's coaching ride is doco's dramatic sub-plot

After reports of tension between the coach and players during his tenure, Langer resigned in February this year after he was offered a short-term contract extension.

Langer declined the invitation to be interviewed for The Test Season Two.

Paine's departure is covered in the opening episode with players in quarantine in Brisbane watching the wicketkeeper's emotional resignation press conference. Alex Carey is shown in the sneak peek with two Baggy Green caps in hand, trying one on.

The first two episodes are expected to cover the Ashes triumph, with an in-depth piece focussed on Scott Boland.

The historic tour of Pakistan is covered in the third episode, with in-depth look at the private life and multicultral background of Usman Khawaja, who enjoyed a super series with the bat playing in the country of his birth, while Langer's exite and the appointment of Andrew McDonald is also covered in this episode. 

The second season then finishes by documenting the tour of Sri Lanka, which ended with an innings defeat to draw the two-Test series played in Galle amid a constitutional and eceonomic crisis that gripped the country.

Amazon's publicity describes the docuseries as showing "an intimate side to the Australian men's cricket team as they strive to be the best in the world, in the face of disruptive leadership changes" and "an insight into modern leadership and empowerment at the highest level of sport".

Amazon's Prime Video is yet to confirm the exact launch date, or duration of each of the four episodes, but it will be available in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide 'this summer'.

Director Adrian Brown has returned for the second season, with a co-director in Sheldon Wynne. The docuseries is produced by Amazon Studios in collaboration with Cricket Australia and Whooshka Media.

Prime Video Australia head of content Tyler Bern said "commissioning a second season was an obvious choice" after the success of the first series.

"(The second season will give) global audiences a look inside the transition and growth of the side through the undefeated Ashes series, the historic return to Pakistan, the tour of the crisis-torn Sri Lanka, and a tumultuous time for leadership on the Australian men's cricket team."

Richard Ostroff, head of broadcast & production at Cricket Australia, said: “After the success of season one, we knew the bar was set high. Audiences across the country and around the world have shown they are gripped by the inner-sanctum access and machinations of Australia's most loved sporting team. Throughout the ups and downs of the past 12 months, the players demonstrated outstanding leadership and devotion to doing our country proud."