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Young guns stand tall in Test battle's heat

Four youngsters with 16 games and no Test centuries between them pushed Australia towards victory on day two

There was a time, not so distant in Australia’s proud Test cricket past, when blokes with fewer than five matches on their CVs were considered the novices who were apprenticed to those with already-built credible careers.

But these are days as remarkable as they are ephemeral, and so when the current iteration of the men’s Baggy Green brigade found themselves once again staring into the face of a batting disaster on Friday, it was to the greenhorns they were compelled to turn.

And it was those who 12 months ago would hardly have entertained a Test call-up in their own minds, let alone figured in the collective foresight of the wider cricket public, who answered the call and lifted their team to a position of dominance.

Australia are far from certainties to win just their second Test in a tumultuous 10 months but, at 162 runs in front and with nine Sri Lanka wickets in their path, they can be as buoyant as any time since the path for the men’s team was indelibly altered in South Africa.

That would be an altogether different tale if the batters with the least experience to call upon had not stood tall when the heat was applied.

Only four of Australia’s re-cast outfit managed to score 30 as they posted 323 today – just the second time they have gone past 300 in an innings since the sandpaper scandal of last March.

Aussie batters fire at the Gabba


All four of those were young men whose introduction to Test cricket came in the aftermath of that controversy, and who between them can claim an aggregate of only 16 matches and not a single Test century to boast.

That was almost remedied today when Travis Head (84) and Marnus Labuschagne (81) combined to contribute 166 for the fifth wicket, itself a feat unsurpassed in the current home season and the most productive union for any wicket since last summer’s Ashes triumph.

Which feels like it belongs to a different era, if not an almost unrecognisable outfit.

Buttressing those two stand-out performances against a Sri Lanka attack that often challenged but rarely threatened, was opener Marcus Harris’s 44 that had promised so much more when the day began.

As well as the assured debut of Kurtis Patterson, who batted two hours to compile 30 amid a difficult period that fused the second new-ball with the evening session.

Watch Pat Cummins' awesome final over


As impressive as the bald volume of runs that the quartet put on was the methodical, mature manner in which they went about compiling them.

The fear that was whispered ahead of this Test, after experienced middle-order duo Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb were jettisoned following the series loss to India, was that the greenness within the Australia batting line-up might render them susceptible.

The fact that Head (in just his seventh Test), Labuschagne (his fourth), Harris (fifth) and Patterson (on debut) did not own a Test century between them was also cited as a possible reason why experienced opener Joe Burns was preferred to another rookie, Will Pucovski.

As such, an additional burden of responsibility fell upon Burns and his Queensland captain Usman Khawaja to build the foundation before the young middle-order underbelly was exposed.

When neither of that pair reached 20, the spectre of middle-order failures (recently) past intersected neatly with the batting future to create an unknown present.

Yet the newbies proved a source of stability that the more battle-hardened troops were unable to muster, and the authority that Australia carries into tomorrow’s third day has been forged largely on their contributions.

Head, who was installed as one of the team’s new vice-captains (with Pat Cummins) ahead of this Test was effusive in his selfless praise of Labuschagne’s maiden Test half-century.

Head crafts Test-best 84 against Lankans

“It was enjoyable batting out there with Marnie, I thought he batted exceptionally well and left the ball beautifully,” Head said after play on day two.

“He obviously knows the Gabba really well, and I thought the way he played was outstanding.

“He showed that with the way he left the ball … you’ve got to leave the ball really well here.

“I felt that we were both very watchful, let them (Sri Lanka’s bowlers) come to us, then we were able to build a long partnership and keep them out there for a long period of time, and I guess, stem the flow.

“The way that Marnie played, especially at the start of the innings, to give himself an opportunity and let them come to him was probably the blueprint for batting at the Gabba really.”

Since the ignominy of Cape Town, middle-order batting collapses have become one of the few constants among the Australia men’s Test team.

In that infamous, controversy-scarred Test at Newlands they surrendered 5-25 in the middle of their first innings, and then 4-2 at the start of the second.

A week later in Johannesburg it was 3-6, followed by 5-12.

Lakmal stars with Gabba five-for

And on it went, into the two-Test series against Pakistan in the UAE – crucial spells during the middle of innings that repeatedly cruelled hopes of gaining a foothold as matches slipped away.

These were capitulations the scale of which are most usually seen among skittish line-ups in school cricket; 9-42, 7-75 and 4-7 as they slumped to a series defeat in the Emirates.

The habit could not be broken upon return to more familiar surrounds, as the recent home series brought further outbreaks of batting frailty – 5-82 and 4-71 at Adelaide; 5-68 and 5-122 in the Boxing Day defeat at the MCG; 5-70 in their only completed innings at Sydney.

Indeed, the only 100-plus union of a faltering home summer was the 112 runs that openers Harris and Aaron Finch combined to produce in the second Domain Test against India at Perth.

Coincidentally, that was the only Test win of Tim Paine’s captaincy that began amid the shadow of Cape Town 10 months ago.

But if Head and Labuschagne were daunted when they pooled resources with Australia 4-82 and the trembles of another collapses beginning to rumble around the outer, if not through the dressing room, then it didn’t outwardly show.

And Head confirmed that the communication was both simple, and comfortable.

“With Marnie (Labuschagne) it was about making sure that every ball was 100 per cent detail, making sure we were really sharp, knowing that the pink ball might swing,” Head said.

“Making sure we were as sharp as we can be for every single ball, keeping each other on that, playing good cricket shots and keep the partnership going as long as we can.

“And it was nice to bat with Kurt (Patterson).

“We played a bit of cricket with him through the Under-19s and (Australia) A tours, so it was nice to get back in the same team with him.

“He’s a very relaxed character, knows his game extremely well.

“He batted beautifully, and I thought he played a nice little role today.

“It looked like he’s up to the standard, and I thought he looked really relaxed and enjoying the moment.”

Just as the eager youngsters used to feel when they sat at the elbows of the past masters.

Domain Test Series v Sri Lanka

Australia: Tim Paine (c/wk), Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Marcus Harris, Travis Head, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Kurtis Patterson, Will Pucovski, Matt Renshaw, Jhye Richardson, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle

Sri Lanka: Dinesh Chandimal (c), Dimuth Karunaratne, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Dhananjaya de Silva, Roshen Silva, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Kusal Perera, Dilruwan Perera, Lakshan Sandakan, Suranga Lakmal, Nuwan Pradeep, Lahiru Kumara, Dushmantha Chameera, Kasun Rajitha

Jan 24-28: First Test, Gabba (D/N)

Feb 1-5: Second Test, Canberra