Australia must improve with the bat: skipper

AUSTRALIA’S batsmen are failing across all three formats, with Aaron Finch admitting the woeful performance in the T20 series against Pakistan was just the latest example of a frailty that has become entrenched in the national side.

The tourists slumped to a grim whitewash defeat to the world’s No.1 T20 side, losing the third and final game in Dubai by 33 runs. It was a dismal ending to a tour of the UAE in which they also lost the twomatch Test series 1-0.

The Australians fought valiantly in the drawn first Test, but the manner in which each of the remaining games played out will have alarm bells ringing ahead of home summer fixtures involving South Africa, India and Sri Lanka.

Australia crumbled to a 373run loss in the second Test against Pakistan, losing 7-75 in its first dig then 4-7 in the second innings.

In each of the T20s, Australia’s bowlers restricted Pakistan to gettable totals, which the visiting batsmen were unable to chase down after losing wickets in clusters.

Finch said Australia’s batting was clearly the main concern heading into the home summer, which starts with three ODIs against South Africa.

“We’ve struggled with the bat for quite a while now and it’s up to us guys who get first go of it in Perth next Sunday against South Africa to start rewriting that last probably 18 months,” Finch said.

“I think that when you have a bit of change in the side, it’s about starting to build a really good dynamic and a really good chemistry within that side.

“We’ve been trying new things; we’ve been out in the nets for hours. You can’t question it from that point of view. It’s just about making sure that we start to build partnerships again.”

Coach Justin Langer has made clear that technique will be a major focus in addressing batting collapses.