How revolving door and worrying trend left Aussies’ problem team exposed

Australia’s men’s ODI team are staring down the barrel of a third straight series defeat, and a fourth straight series loss to South Africa, when the second ODI in Mackay begins at 2.30pm AEST on Friday.

Australia slumped to their worst home defeat in 34 years in the opening game as left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj’s five-wicket haul tore through the host’s top order to guide the Proteas to a 98-run victory.

Skipper Mitchell Marsh played an impressive rearguard action with 88 off 96 balls, the highest score in the match, but it was not enough to stop the Australians from having their backs thrown up against the wall for the remainder of the three-match series.

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Marsh was quick to dismiss any notion of Maharaj’s masterclass being a case of Australia’s batters having scars against spin from previous struggles against the turning ball, saying “Keshav is an outstanding bowler. You just have to take your hat off to him. He won them the game”.

“It wasn’t a lack of confidence. We’ve played spin well as a group. He bowled well,” Marsh added.

On Fox Cricket’s commentary, Australian Test and ODI great Mark Waugh slammed Australia’s decision to leave out their own left-arm spinner in Matt Kuhnemann in what were clearly spin-friendly conditions.

SA spinner reported for suspect action | 01:25

But regardless of the team selection and assessment of conditions, the batting collapse was emblematic of a concerning recent trend in the 50-over format.

In the almost two years since Australia’s unforgettable ODI World Cup triumph in 2023, the one-day side’s win is record 50 per cent in completed matches.

Australia’s recent form line is far more alarming, however, as they won five ODIs in a row against the West Indies and England following their incredible victory against India in Ahmedabad.

Since the beginning of last home summer, they have won just twice in nine matches.

Two of those fixtures ended in no result at the Champions Trophy - their match against South Africa was abandoned without a ball bowled, while they were 1/109 after 12.5 overs in pursuit of Afghanistan’s 273 before rain intervened in their final group game.

It is a small sample size, but it stands in stark contrast to the nation’s fortunes in the other formats.

In the same period of time, Pat Cummins’ Test outfit have won 14 of 18 matches, while the T20 side have won 24 of 34 completed matches, but Marsh’s short-form men have caught fire this year in particular, winning ten off 11 outings in 2025.

Maharaj wreaks havoc for SA vs Aus | 15:18

While the T20 firepower have been clearing the ropes seemingly at will, Australia’s ODI batting has barely given a yelp in recent times.

Cairns’ capitulation was the fifth time since the start of the last home summer that Australia have been bowled out for under 200.

Pakistan’s fiery fast bowlers Haris Rauf, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Naseem Shah kicked off the trend when they ran through the Australians for 163 in Adelaide and 140 in Perth, taking 23 wickets between them in November’s three-match series.

Sri Lanka’s spin trio of Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga then carried it over in February, picking up 14 wickets between them as they spun the Australians out for 165 and 107 after the Test side had played the turning delivery with aplomb.

Josh Inglis’ unbeaten century against England, that propelled Australia to the highest successful run chase in Champions Trophy when they reeled in a target of 352 in Lahore later that month, has proven to be the outlier of recent results.

The two other occasions in which Australia surpassed 200 in the same timeframe were when Pat Cummins got his side out of jail with the bat against Pakistan at the MCG as they reached the target of 204 with just two wickets to spare.

While the other instance was when they were knocked over for 264 batting first, a total that was never going to be enough, in the Champions Trophy semi-final loss to India.

All FOUR Travis Head wickets | 01:32

Poor returns with the bat have not been the only recent trend, however.

Making life harder for the Australians is that the ODI line-up has been somewhat of a revolving door.

Adam Zampa is the only player to feature in all six of Australia’s ODIs to date this year, as 17 others have also donned the Australian gold.

Of those 17, a dozen have occupied places in the top seven.

It has happened somewhat quietly, but the ODI line-up has been the first to undergo major renovation as several of the nation’s all-time greats phase themselves out of the international arena.

David Warner, Steve Smith and Glenn Maxwell, who all played in both the 2015 and the 2023 World Cup victories, have retired from the format, so too has all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.

While on the bowling front, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not played a 50-over international this year.

David's clutch innings fires Kings win | 01:02

Youngsters like Cooper Connolly (10 runs at 5 in three innings) and Jake Fraser-McGurk (98 at 14 in seven innings) have been tried, but were found wanting.

More experienced players have found the going tough too with Marnus Labuschagne (92 at 23), Matt Short (85 at 21.25) and Aaron Hardie (36 at 12) all not capitalising on their opportunities so far this year.

The Australia’s batting group is unlikely to change the second ODI at Great Barrier Reef Arena, a venue that has hosted three women’s ODI, but it’s only men’s ODI was a rained out fixture between India and Sri Lanka in the 1992 World Cup.

And greater stability may just need to the turnaround in form, that the top seven so clearly need.

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