Australia's Test cricket programme is in serious trouble, with the nation's batting unit in freefall after a damaging 2-1 series defeat in South Africa that has left selectors facing mounting criticism and the team's top-order credentials in tatters.
According to Sky Sports, former England captain Michael Atherton has warned that an "implosion" could unfold before Australia travel to the UK for next summer's Ashes, with the country's cricket establishment under intense scrutiny following a series of questionable selection decisions and alarming collapses with the bat.
The focal point of Australia's woes is Marnus Labuschagne, the No 3 batter whose form has become a symbol of the team's broader malaise. Labuschagne has now endured 49 innings without a Test century, a drought that The Nightly reported represents the longest such stretch by an Australian top-four batter, and he appears destined to be dropped ahead of the forthcoming home series against New Zealand.
The selection committee's handling of Labuschagne has drawn fire, particularly given their decision to persist with him through the South Africa tour. Australia coach Andrew McDonald defended the approach, according to The Nightly, saying selectors would reassess his position after the series while rejecting suggestions that repeated selection had damaged him.
Beyond Labuschagne's struggles, Australia's batting order has crumbled spectacularly. The team was rolled for 99 and 111 during the South Africa tour, collapses that saw South Africa displace them at the top of the Test rankings. The third Test in Cape Town proved particularly humiliating, with South Africa's Simon Harmer taking 6-16 in Australia's second innings to seal a decisive victory.
Compounding the selection headaches, the selectors also recalled Nic Maddinson, who had not featured in a first-class match since March 2025. The gamble backfired spectacularly, with Maddinson accumulating just 56 runs across four innings in South Africa, including a 33-ball duck before being discarded from the squad.
Australia's bowling attack, meanwhile, is ageing and faces an exhausting schedule. The team must compress a four-match assignment against New Zealand around Christmas, five Tests in India, and the day-night 150th Anniversary Test at home to England in March—scheduled for 11–15 March 2027 at the MCG—before embarking on the away Ashes next summer.
Atherton warns of potential collapse
Atherton articulated the scale of Australia's predicament when speaking to the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast, painting a picture of a nation teetering on the brink.
You could see it going horribly wrong, couldn't you?
England's Test team is far from flawless—the side could benefit from a frontline spinner as an option—but Joe Root's men will be drawing quiet satisfaction from Australia's travails in the longest format, even if public acknowledgement remains unlikely.
White-ball series offers England a chance to strike
The upcoming white-ball tour presents England with a golden opportunity to capitalise on Australia's vulnerability. The series comprises three one-day internationals and five T20 internationals, with the first ODI scheduled for Friday, 13 November at 3.30am UK time.
Australia have rested pace stalwarts Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins for all eight matches, though a number of Test players could feature in the ODIs, including Travis Head, Alex Carey, Cameron Green and Matt Renshaw. The squad selections also include according to the ICC, new faces such as Mahli Beardman, Oliver Peake, Jack Edwards and Liam Scott in the ODI squad, alongside Nikhil Chaudhary, Joel Davies, Lachlan Shaw and Sam Harper in the T20I contingent. Nathan Ellis was omitted from the ODIs while recovering from a side strain.
Atherton urged England to seize the moment and maintain relentless pressure on their rivals.
Although some of the big guns are not playing, it is a chance to keep some pressure on Australia now - pressure on their selectors after the decisions around Labuschagne and what have you, pressure on some of their big-name players and pressure on them to keep their results modest. The past players will start to go at them as they started to do, actually, after about day one of the Ashes in Perth last year, before England then let them off the hook.
David Warner, one of Australia's most prominent former players, wasted little time in adding his voice to the chorus of criticism following the third-Test defeat in Cape Town. Warner branded the batting capitulation as
terrible, disgraceful and un-Australianwhile analysing the wreckage for Fox Sports.
Australia's history of fighting back
Yet history suggests that writing off Australia would be premature and potentially dangerous. The nation has a proven track record of bouncing back when written off by the wider cricket community.
Before last winter's Ashes, many observers dismissed Australia as too old, only for the team to inflict a 4-1 defeat on a sometimes juvenile England side and retain the urn. Three years earlier at the 50-over World Cup in India, Australia were hammered by the hosts and South Africa in their opening two matches, only to rattle off nine consecutive victories and claim a sixth title.
The cautionary tale cuts both ways, however. England must remember their own capitulation at Perth at the start of the 2025-26 Ashes when, with the first Test seemingly in their grasp, they gifted wickets through brainless drives and collapsed to defeat inside two days. This white-ball tour begins at the same venue, and if England can avoid repeating that nightmare scenario, they may finally inflict some pre-Ashes damage on their rivals.
What happens next
The England white-ball series commences with the first ODI in Perth on 13 November, with the remaining fixtures running through the fifth T20I in Canberra on 2 December. The ODIs are scheduled for 3.30am UK time, while T20 matches begin at 8.15am UK time.
Following the white-ball tour, Australia will face New Zealand in a four-match Test series around Christmas, before travelling to India for five Tests. The 150th Anniversary Test against England in March will serve as a final dress rehearsal before the away Ashes campaign next summer.
