Australia’s ideal team for South Africa tour still no clearer than before Bangladesh visit | Geoff Lemon

<p>The quick-fire series in the Northern Territory did little to answer batting line-up questions and the top of the order remains an almighty jumble</p><p>Cricket Australia didn’t host a Bangladesh Test for 23 years for a simple reason: it would have cost money to stage and earned less money back. That wouldn’t have been a concern for whichever generation of players would have taken the field, but for the suits, the equation was lose-lose. Now that the mandate of the World Test Championship has forced administrators to end that long wait, the result for Australia’s current batting outfit was also been lose-lose, even if the series scoreline ended up lose-win.</p><p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/16/australia-bangladesh-first-test-darwin-match-report">Defeat in the Darwin Test</a> will remain a punchline at Australia’s expense, especially if the upcoming cavalcade of cricket against South Africa, New Zealand, India and England goes poorly. The <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/23/australia-bangladesh-second-test-mackay-match-report">follow-up win in Mackay</a>, no matter the ruthlessness of concluding it in five sessions, won’t provide corresponding solace, given the manner in which it was built.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/25/australia-cricket-team-south-africa-tour-bangladesh-defeat">Continue reading...</a>