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Australia’s top five combined have made 11,370 Test runs at an average of 56. Whatever way you wish to interpret those figures, it’s hard to deny Australia’s batting is becoming intimidating and consistent.
The naysayers will have their predictable responses – the pitches are flat, Australia’s opposition is weak, umpiring decisions go in their favour repeatedly. But, surely, it is time we begin take the Australian batting line-up seriously.
New Zealand were not weak opponents at the beginning of the summer, when many pundits and fans had them as big chances to beat Australia in the first series and favourites to triumph in the return leg at home.
There was good reason for this optimism – the Kiwis had not been beaten in their past seven Test series and had a new ball attack rated by many cricket followers as elite.
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So it would be folly to retrospectively downgrade their talent and in doing so devalue the mountains of runs scored by the Australian top five this summer. There has been a reticence, even among many Australian cricket fans, to give full credit for the prolific performances of the Australian batsmen this summer.
That was prudent, to a point, because at home they were favoured by a disgracefully-flat WACA pitch against New Zealand and three Tests against a cardboard cutout West Indies team.
What cannot be dismissed is the runs the Australians piled up against the previously highly-rated Kiwis on sporting decks at the Gabba, Wellington and now Christchurch.
Australia’s commanding displays in those three Tests have confirmed their development with the bat is real and it is major. At the start of this summer Australia’s batting looked wafer thin.
They had just lost four long-term members of their top seven in Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Shane Watson and Brad Haddin, and boasted only two batsmen with any kind of experience or success in Tests – Steve Smith and David Warner.
It looked as though Australia would rely massively on that pair. Otherwise they had Usman Khawaja, talented but with an awful Test record, Adam Voges fresh from a giant Ashes flop, and rookie opener Joe Burns who the selectors had stiffed earlier in 2015.
Expectations on that group were very low. In particular, there was concern that they would be exposed on seaming decks in New Zealand.
At Wellington, Australia were in a precarious position at two wickets down for very few on a deck offering significant assistance to good fast bowling. It was exactly the kind of pitch on which the previous-era Australian batting line-up had flunked time and again.
But rather than folding, the new Australian line-up flourished. Notably, it wasn’t superstars Smith and Warner who led them to their mammoth total of 562 but the comparatively inexperienced Khawaja and Voges.
In this second Test at Christchurch, Australia were left reeling by a Brendon McCullum batting blitzkrieg and then lost Warner early on a pitch which again was rewarding quality seam bowling. Once more, Australia’s batsmen rallied and led them away from trouble into a position of dominance.
Once more, it was a lesser light who helped lead this charge. In the days before this Test, Burns had been in the spotlight with several media reports speculating his position in the team was getting shaky, while many fans online were criticising him heavily. It was wholly unjustified given he had averaged 42 with the bat this summer since returning to the Test team.
Yesterday, he played a monumental innings which should ensure we won’t hear questions about his value again for quite some time. Burns’ 170 has hauled Australia into a position from which they should win this Test.
What impressed most about his knock was the manner in which he grafted. In the morning session yesterday, New Zealand’s bowlers started brilliantly and had Burns tied in knots. The Queenslander showed admirable maturity in maintaining his focus and battling through this torrid period.
As so often happens in Test cricket, once such a storm is weathered, the waters smooth out and batsmen can cruise to the horizon. Burns did just that, looking increasingly at ease until eventually he held the Kiwi attack in his palm.
After 10 Tests, Burns has the wonderful record of 773 runs at 48, including three centuries. He is here to stay. So is Khawaja.
Throw in Smith and Warner, and the long-term future of Australia’s batting line-up looks many shades brighter than it did just four months ago.