Batting trend, not one-off collapse, behind Australia loss to Bangladesh

Most read it as a humiliation: Australia, world number one, losing by nine wickets to Bangladesh in Darwin. Embarrassing, the commentary went. Calls for immediate overhaul.

Pat Cummins saw it differently. The batting wasn't a one-off collapse but a continuation of something deeper, a trend stretching back across recent series. Bangladesh's pace attack had squeezed Australia twice — low totals both innings — while Mehidy Hasan Miraz finished it off with five wickets. Selectors, Cummins suggested, might need to look at the structure before the second Test in Mackay, not just shuffle the chairs.

Cameron Green's 104 was the exception. Former players held it up as proof of what Australia's batting could look like when it clicked. It wasn't enough to save the match — Bangladesh claimed their first Test win on Australian soil — but it showed the template was there. The question now is whether the rest can follow it.