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Australia batter Travis Head has called for a collective batting effort from his team after a series of individual performances failed to prevent two heavy defeats in their last four Tests, highlighting the need to build substantial partnerships and handle pressure better.
Australia have struggled to find consistency with the bat in recent months, with their last four matches against Bangladesh and South Africa exposing a recurring problem. Across seven innings against the two sides, no more than one Australian batter has crossed the fifty-run mark in any innings. The issue was evident in Australia's nine-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in Darwin and their innings-and-31-run loss to South Africa in Gqeberha. While Cameron Green scored a second-innings hundred against Bangladesh, Head's 121 in the second innings against South Africa also came in a losing cause. "Think we've spoken as a group going into the series that we've sort of had one individual each time," Head said after his century in Gqeberha, according to Cricinfo. "They've always been different individuals and we haven't been able to get that collective batting day that we would desire as a team," he added. "That's what does win you games, individual performance, but as a collective we need to be able to also [do it]. I thought what Baz [Scott Boland] did [40 in over three hours from No. 6 in the second innings in Gqeberha] was exceptional for the team. A little bit more [of the] supportive roles go a long way; we just haven't been able to find that," said Head. Australia's batting struggles have persisted despite two victories in their last four Tests. Their innings win in Mackay was built around Mitchell Starc's bowling, while the batting line-up managed only 146 for seven, with Green the only batter to score a fifty. In Durban, Matt Renshaw's match aggregate of 272 runs stood out from the contributions of his teammates. Head said Australia had traditionally been effective at building partnerships but had been unable to replicate that strength in recent months. "It's something that the team have been really good at over a long period of time, is being able to build big partnerships, substantial partnerships that win games at cricket. We just haven't been able to find that in the last couple of months. It's very hard to put a finger on why. We're playing some exceptional attacks in some trying conditions, but it's not a lack of trying," he said, as per Cricinfo. Australia's problems with partnerships also extend beyond their recent defeats. Since the start of 2024, when David Warner's retirement prompted changes to the batting order, Australia have recorded only 11 century partnerships for wickets one to six, the second-lowest tally among World Test Championship nations, ahead of only the West Indies. The first-innings collapse for 99 in Gqeberha, Australia's lowest first-innings total since being dismissed for 85 by South Africa in Hobart in 2016, prompted coach Andrew McDonald to question the team's ability to absorb pressure. Head said the key was finding the right balance between defence and attack, particularly when opponents gain momentum. "The game's all about momentum," Head said, as per Cricinfo. "Trying to gain momentum, trying to withstand momentum, trying to put pressure back on the opposition and how you do that is in different ways: do you suck back and defend, do you push forward and fight fire with fire? So that's that balancing act. "Some would suggest sometimes it's not attacking enough, sometimes it's not defensive enough, so it's a two-edged sword with that sort of stuff. It comes down to decision-making, it comes down to a blueprint, it comes down to a plan and a method so when you're tested, that's when your method and your planning and your execution needs to be spot on and when it's not, that's when you see collapses and I think that's throughout cricket forever." Head also acknowledged the pressure on Marnus Labuschagne, who was dismissed for 64 in the second innings after sharing a 92-run partnership with him. Labuschagne had earlier survived an LBW decision on review, with the ball missing leg stump by less than five millimetres, before falling to Simon Harmer at mid-on. "I've been there before," Head said. "It's a tough place to be when you think you're batting well. I've probably been there more than anyone in my 30s and 40s and feel like you're close and then it's not quite there. "There's pressure on, it's pretty obvious to see, and obvious in the way he reacts. [He] got away with an [lbw] and you can see he knows it was a big moment and he's disappointed. Nothing's ever guaranteed in the game, and I can't speak on what happens in the future, but you know he's a good player." Head added that pressure was an inevitable part of international cricket, regardless of a player's experience or record. "Test cricket is bloody hard but we're in a performance-based game so everyone feels the pressure. I've felt the pressure over the last couple of weeks, I've been desperate for runs. So everyone feels that no matter what position. Steve Smith's got 11,000 test runs, I reckon he'll feel pressure at some stage. Everyone wants to score runs," he concluded. (ANI)
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