'It’s a very embarrassing moment for Australian cricket'

Former Australian cricketers have described Australia’s stunning nine-wicket defeat to Bangladesh in the first Test in Darwin as an embarrassing moment for the team, with calls for changes to the batting line-up.

Bangladesh produced one of the biggest upsets in recent Test cricket on Sunday, beating Australia by nine wickets to register their first-ever Test victory on Australian soil.

Former Australia captain Ricky Ponting believes the defeat highlights the need for Australia to begin regenerating its Test side, something he had called for at the end of last summer.

“This ends up being a very embarrassing defeat. I think it’s inevitable they have to make change,” Ponting said.

“I was on the record at the end of last summer thinking that this was the ideal time to start to regenerate this team because the performances from some of the players …”

Ponting admitted he has traditionally been reluctant to call for changes to a successful team but felt there was enough evidence to suggest Australia needed to begin rebuilding.

“I’m the last one who wants to make change. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together,” he said.

“It has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out. But there had been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they weren’t going to lose anything, or much at all, by starting that regeneration – by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No. 3.”

Ponting was also surprised by the quality of Bangladesh’s performance, particularly the way their pace attack, spin bowling and batting stood up to Australia.

“I honestly didn’t expect Bangladesh to play cricket this well. The Bangladesh team genuinely shocked me,” Ponting said.

“The way they performed with their pace attack, spin bowling and batting was absolutely outstanding. They dominated Australia in every department and deservedly won the match.

“This is truly a historic and incredible moment for Bangladesh cricket. Their pace attack is genuinely one of the best. Just absolutely brilliant.”

Bangladesh’s victory was not simply the result of Australia’s mistakes. The visitors consistently put the hosts under pressure and dominated key phases of the match with both bat and ball.

Former Australia opener Matthew Hayden was equally stunned by the result and described it as an embarrassing moment for Australian cricket.

“I never expected this kind of performance from Australia. It’s a very embarrassing moment for Australian cricket. Full credit to Bangladesh – they played excellent cricket,” Hayden said.

Former Australia batter Mark Waugh believes changes could now be made to the team, with Jake Weatherald among those under pressure.

“I think Weatherald’s the one under the most pressure, and it wouldn’t surprise me if there were two changes,” Waugh said on Kayo Sports.

“I just think with the South Africa Test series after that, it’d be nice to give someone a Test match before South Africa if you’re going to change the batting order.

“I think you’ve got Inglis, Renshaw, McSweeney. I think they’re the next three batsmen.

“Renshaw, I know, hasn’t been picked in recent times, but he was picked as an opener originally. I think he’s playing pretty well at the moment.”

Former Australia opener David Warner also suggested the batting order could require another reshuffle if the current combination fails to deliver.

“If things don’t pan out down the middle, and Head might have to reshuffle back down there, you have to start all over again,” Warner said.

The defeat has therefore raised serious questions over Australia’s Test combination, with former players increasingly calling for a fresh approach after Bangladesh exposed weaknesses across the hosts’ batting and bowling departments.