Axe hangs over Australian batters after Darwin ‘disaster’

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Australian players from left, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc walk from the field following their nine wicket loss to Bangladesh on day four of the first cricket test in Darwin, Australia. | Photo Credit: AP

Australia's humiliating nine-wicket loss to Bangladesh has accelerated calls for regeneration of its ageing Test team with opener Jake Weatherald and the inconsistent Marnus Labuschagne in the firing line.

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The clash in Darwin had been touted as a mismatch after Bangladesh crumbled to an innings defeat in their only warm-up game and went into the first Test without injured pace spearhead Nahid Rana.

But in one of the biggest upsets cricket has seen, the visitors pulled off a historic victory on Sunday (August 16, 2026) to leave top-ranked Australia shell-shocked and facing recriminations.

Australia have suffered surprise home defeats in the recent past, including an eight-run loss to the West Indies at the Gabba in 2024.

But the manner of this crushing loss, with Bangladesh dominating each of the four days, had Australian media Monday (August 17) slamming it as "a disaster" and the "most embarrassing" ever.

Former captain Ricky Ponting, who scored more than 13,000 Test runs, said it was time for tough decisions.

"I'm the last one to want to make change," he said when the Test was in its death throes.

"As a captain or as a player I wanted to keep a group together, so it has to get to a bad point before I start saying you've got to leave somebody out.

"But there's been enough evidence for me coming here [Darwin] to suggest they weren't going to lose anything, or much at all, by starting that regeneration, bringing in another opener, bringing in someone at three... I think that has to happen."

With the exception of Steve Smith (71 and 44) and second-innings century-maker Cameron Green, the Australian batting was poor with too many soft dismissals.

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