MITCHELL JOHNSON: Time for change among Australia’s battered batters following Durban

Australia might have won in Durban, but look at how.

Only one top-six batsman passed 50 in that Test, and it was Matt Renshaw, with 190 and 82. Apart from Nic Maddinson’s quick 48, nobody else in the top six got to 40.

After four days in Gqeberha, Travis Head was the only one to pass 50.

We know the story of recent years: The bowlers have saved this team. In Durban, it was Renshaw who did it with the bat. The Aussies need change in the batting department.

The biggest issue with Nic Maddinson isn’t Nic Maddinson. It’s the selection. Australia’s selectors picked a 34-year-old No.5 to open the batting who hadn’t played a first-class game for about 19 months. George Bailey said it came down to his flexibility, his play against spin, and the injuries to Cameron Green and Josh Inglis.

Matthew Hayden said the selectors were “disrespecting first-class cricket”. I understand why he said it. Opening in Test cricket is a tough job in the game, and a specialist position, the only real preparation for it is four-day cricket.

We know Maddinson’s story by now, but the selectors didn’t pick a story. They picked a 34-year-old with about 130 first-class matches behind him, a finished product who’s meant to be ready from ball one. So far, the evidence isn’t backing the call.

Kagiso Rabada got him in both innings in Gqeberha, a four-ball duck and then eight. That’s 56 runs in four innings this series, with two ducks. The selection isn’t his fault, but he is there to make runs and take the shine off the new ball to protect the No.3 and No.4 batsmen.

At three, it’s the same story for Marnus Labuschagne. To be honest, I’m over writing about it, but it still matters, because No.3 sets up a Test innings. Since the start of the 2024-25 summer, he’s averaged about 25 in 17 Tests without a hundred. Before that he averaged nearly 50. This series he’s made 37, 37, 14 and 39. He keeps getting in and getting out, and on day four he charged Simon Harmer and was caught at mid-on. That’s another start gone and a shot you see from someone without his experience.

I heard his former teammate Usman Khawaja say on Fox Cricket that Marnus won’t change his technique, and that the way his bat comes through the ball is just the way he plays. That’s fine. I’m all for playing your own way. But teams have clearly worked him out, so when does the call get made to move on and bring in the future?

It’s not quite the same, but when Brett Lee was asked about the bowlers’ ages, his answer was basically: If they’re performing, who cares? Well, the same goes for batters. Age or not, Marnus isn’t doing the job at No.3.

Every player in this Test XI is 30 or older. Let’s make the change and get through some of the pain now. There’s never a good time, but there could be a worse one, if a few of our experienced players decide they’ve had enough at around the same time.

And this isn’t a pile-on. Former Australian players and pundits have been writing and talking about this side’s batting for a while. Hayden questioned the Maddinson pick, and Ricky Ponting and Mark Taylor have both named young batters they want to see brought in. When that many people who’ve played the game see the same thing, it’s worth listening to.

So who comes in? Cooper Connolly is already in the squad, and Bailey has said he thinks Connolly will be able to bat three, it’s just a question of when.

Nathan McSweeney captained South Australia to last season’s Shield title. I’d get him in for the next tours.

I’ve heard Ollie Peake’s name mentioned, and at 20 he’s one for the future. And if age isn’t a problem, what about Kurtis Patterson? He made 114 not out in his last Test in 2019 and was never picked again, and he’s averaging 65 at three for NSW this season.

For Cape Town, if the selectors are happy to shuffle batters all over the place and out of position, then shuffle them with a plan and give them a real run at Test cricket, not a one-off.

If Inglis is fit, he opens with Renshaw. Steve Smith goes to three, Green comes in at four, Head at five and Connolly at six. Or if Connolly is up for it, bat him at three, he could really enjoy the challenge. Whoever they go with in the Cape Town Test, I feel there will be plenty of pressure mounting.

My message to Shield players, anyone in the top six, is simple: Score runs. You could be next. Some big decisions need to be made.