Marnus under pressure to deliver as Aussies need to tick off a few more boxes to be an all-time great team

We’ve had the Invincibles in 1948, there was the Dominators under Steve Waugh’s captaincy and this current Australian side can become an all-time great team if they tick a few more boxes in the next couple of years. 

Their demolition of Sri Lanka in the first Test was comprehensive, the kind of victories that great sides can dish out. 

I was interested to hear Nathan Lyon say the other day that he doesn’t feel like they’re great yet. 

But gee, they’re not far off. They’ve got some great players in that team who are going to be end up being Hall of Famers. 

I was lucky enough to be a part of that group that won 16 Tests in a row with Waugh as captain and John Buchanan as coach. That side broke records, got a couple of World Cups and had an aura whenever they stepped on the field. 

This team has got the talent and they’re starting to integrate new players into the mix.

That’s putting pressure on the incumbent players and Marnus Labuschagne is the one at the moment is feeling the pinch.

The Aussies are going to stick with him for this second Test in Galle when it starts on Thursday but he needs to fire with the bat because there’s suddenly a bunch of middle-order batters showing they’re up to the mark and Cameron Green looks like he will be right for the World Test Championship final against the South Africans at Lord’s in June.

There’s good signs with the next generation – Sam Konstas got a wonderful 60 on debut, Josh Inglis smashed a hundred in his first Test innings, Beau Webster did well at the SCG last month and potentially, Cooper Connolly will be debuting in this match.

It would be a big legacy for this team if they could defend the World Test Championship and beat England in the Ashes.

Winning in India and a series in England are probably the two final frontiers left on the list and if they can achieve those goals, this side deserves to be in the conversation with the champion teams that Sir Donald Bradman and Steve Waugh led to so much success.

GALLE, SRI LANKA - JANUARY 29: Marnus Labuschagne of Australia is seen during day one of the First Test match in the series between Sri Lanka and Australia at Galle International Stadium on January 29, 2025 in Galle, Sri Lanka. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

Marnus Labuschagne in Galle. (Photo by Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Images)

They hold every bilateral Test series, they’ve got the WTC crown and the ODI World Cup in the trophy cabinet so maybe they should be called The Accumulators. If anyone’s got a better suggestion, let me know in the comments.

It sounds like this pitch will be a lot drier for this Test so it’ll be tougher batting first. I’m not expecting another 600-plus total in the first innings – the team batting first might even get rock and rolled on day one. I think this will be more like Pakistan Test cricket, potentially a three-day Test. 

It’s an interesting one that they’re sticking with Marnus. They definitely want him to be their No.3 to provide stability there but he’s had a barren 18 months, averaging mid-20s. 

He knows he has to perform or any one of these new players knocking on the door will get his spot. 

If they give Connolly a go, it gives us a little bit of a look at what the future can hold. It’d be very unlucky for Webster if he misses out but he did not bowl in the first Test so maybe he’s not needed. There’s talk that Todd Murphy could be the player who makes way.

But if Webster does play and continue to get runs, I could see a team where Webster and Green both play in it. 

If Green can bat well, I can see him going up the order. And that could be a problem for Marnus if he bats three or even opens.

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Connolly looks a real bright prospect who plays in shots. And what it would do would give us an indication that when we need to regenerate, Connolly might be central to that. 

He doesn’t have a first-class wicket with his left-arm spinners but he broke his hand in the T20s so he would have played more Shield cricket this year, if not for that injury.

He looks an excellent prospect and it’s a chance to see how a young player plays against spin. If he has a promising debut, then he’s going to be able to be in that middle order against India in two years’ time and also provide some left-arm orthodox and be a gun in the field. Sort of like a Glenn Maxwell. 

I think they’re looking that he can play everywhere in the world and potentially a three-format option for Australia.

At the start of the summer, there wasn’t really many middle-order options, but now they’ve got three or four blokes who’ve emerged with Nathan McSweeney another batter on the rise.

And what it does, it puts pressure on the people that are in there. 

Cooper Connolly of Perth Scorchers hits a boundary

Cooper Connolly of Perth Scorchers hits a boundary. (Photo by Philip Brown/Getty Images)

I don’t think players will be able to have extended runs of poor form, knowing that we’ve got players who can come in and perform. 

So there’s a little bit of seeing what you’ve got, but also pressuring players that are in the team. 

Now there’s genuine pressure and genuine competition, which is a good thing. And something that the great teams have. 

When you think of the Dominators and the players that weren’t playing regularly then like Matthew Elliott, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller, it was a sign of how good that first-choice line-up was.

Speaking of Bevo, I was so happy to see him elevated into the Hall of Fame at the Australian Cricket Awards earlier this week.

I’ve been thinking the last couple of years, particularly when they chose Dean Jones, who was a fantastic Test player who averaged 46, but he a star one-day player. 

So I thought that was a little bit of a tick for white-ball cricket. And my gut feeling all along that Bevo should be in the Hall of Fame. 

Bevo, like Deanno, changed the way the game was played. He’s known as a finisher. And to this day, you have a finisher in just about all 50-over and T20 teams. So to create a legacy of a role that continues on once you retire is remarkable. 

He was so calculated in his run-chases, he was like a cricketing Rain Man, really. 

And then off the field, probably his greatest legacy was that players no longer have to have shared accommodation because of Michael Bevan.

It was almost impossible to room with him because he was that pedantic. 

He had to have, you know, 8.23 hours of sleep. He had to eat everything meticulously. He’s had the flu for about 55 years. 

So he had all his echinacea pills and everything. He wouldn’t drink, the smokers had to stay away from him. 

So I think in the end, he really did help the decision for the administrators to say cricketers need single rooms. 

So that legacy lives on as well. All the players who followed him that now don’t have to worry about roommates, you need to thank Michael Bevan.