Sheffield Shield shootout to decide Australian Test team overhaul

As many as six positions could be up for grabs for the third dead-rubber Test in Adelaide in what shapes as a Shield century shootout, after a fired-up and emotional Australian captain Steve Smith declared he was “embarrassed” by arguably the team’s worst loss on home soil in nearly a century.

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The dressing room sat in shell-shocked silence in Hobart on Tuesday as players were addressed by past greats like Shane Warne and Mark Taylor and Cricket Australia’s big bosses James Sutherland and Pat Howard.

But by far the most powerful call to arms came from the current skipper himself, as Smith spelt out in no uncertain terms that soft players who aren’t willing to fight for the baggy green would have no future in his team.

The mere 558 balls Australia’s mentally fragile and at times inept batsmen managed to survive at the crease in Hobart was the fewest since Don Bradman’s debut way back in 1928, but if Smith’s team hasn’t reached rock bottom yet after five straight massive losses, they will next week in Adelaide should they fail to stave off the first whitewash ever on home soil.

Adam Voges has played his last Test match after a horrendous dismissal in the collapse of 8-32. Meanwhile, Callum Ferguson, Joe Mennie, Nathan Lyon, Joe Burns and Peter Nevill could also face the axe as part of the most comprehensive overhaul of the playing ranks since the mid-1980s when the likes of Steve Waugh and Dean Jones were blooded.

The problem is there is no standout candidates in the domestic first-class competition, meaning hundreds in the Shield round starting on Thursday could instantly be rewarded with baggy greens when the squad is announced at match end on Sunday.

“There’ll definitely be change,” declared coach, Darren Lehmann.

“The guys have got to play Shield cricket. By the end of the Shield game we’ll have a squad for you.

“It’s an important round for all players around the country, not just the 11 who played in this game. Everyone is playing bar the three fast bowlers (Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Joe Mennie).

“We’ve got to make sure we go in the right direction for Australian cricket because at the moment we haven’t been. We’ve got to stop the rot to start with and play some good cricket again.”

The soul-searching for Australia began almost as soon as South Africa started celebrating the milestone of being crowned the first team since the mighty West Indies to clinch three consecutive series down under.

Smith described the mood as demoralising, but Lehmann said the message from past greats Warne, Taylor, Michael Slater, Ian Healy and Tom Moody, as well as from the big brass Sutherland and Howard was encouraging.

“That’s about going forward and sticking together,” he said.

“Everybody is hurting in the rooms. I haven’t seen it as quiet after a loss.

“I know there’s a lot of criticism out there and that’s deserved … we have to cop that and live with that. For us it’s about stopping that and turning it around.

“Only way we can change it is by playing better.

“They work hard, they’re trying their bollocks off every day.

“We don’t have all the answers so you have to ask different people how you go about it, and the players might pick up on a thing from a Mark Taylor or Shane Warne or whoever it might be.”

The sight of South African players raucously singing their team song on the Bellerive Oval pitch hours after dismantling their opponents inside the first session on day four, rubbed salt into the wounds of an Australian side currently clueless as to how they might turn around their worst start to a home summer since 1988.

Smith said it was clear Australian cricket was broken and had reservations about the depth selectors would have to choose from in reinventing the team.

It would appear certain Australia would look to their youth, with Kurtis Patterson, Nic Maddinson, Cameron Bancroft and Jake Lehmann — son of Darren — leading contenders.

“When you lose five Test matches in a row as an Australian team that is demoralising and I know that questions are going to be asked of everyone,” Smith said.

“We need guys in state cricket to really step up and jump out of the pack. I don’t think there’s anyone doing that — no one averaging 55 or 60.

“There’s obviously going to be questions asked in all different ways. I’m disappointed and we need to do things a lot better than we are.”

Originally published as Six vacancies: Immediate start required