Decline in runs from Australia's tail cause for concern ahead of the Ashes

When Peter Siddle walked out to bat at Edgbaston in 2019, he had some prescient words ringing in his ears from none other than Steve Waugh.

Australia were perilously placed at 122 for 8 on the opening day of the Ashes series on the brink of a disastrous loss from which there may have been no return. Siddle joined Steven Smith, who was unbeaten on 42, begging for someone to stay with him.

Waugh, who had been brought in as a consultant for the tour by then coach Justin Langer, had had a quiet word to the bowlers the previous day.

"He spoke to all the bowlers, not so much about what we can do with our bowling, but how valuable we can be with contributions with the bat throughout the series," Siddle told ESPNcricinfo. "And that was literally the day before that first Test.

"He spoke about hanging out there, especially if there's a batter there, just hanging with him and ticking the runs over, rotating the strike."

Waugh's chat had also come hot on the heels of a similar speech from then-Australia assistant coach Brad Haddin, who had pulled all the bowlers aside at the now infamous cut-throat pre-tour intra-squad match at Southampton and told them that there would be a huge focus on their batting at training on the tour because lower-order contributions would be vital.

"Hads [Haddin] has always been a big one on that, obviously with him being a keeper batting at seven through his career, a lot of his batting tended to be with the lower order," Siddle said.

"It's always been a big emphasis for him to have those batters around him. So there's always a strong focus and he was one of the coaches that would be willing to stay around and keep working with you to get that extra hit in knowing how important it was to him when he played, but how important it was just in general for the team to push that total up a little bit more."

The speeches and the added batting work paid dividends immediately. Siddle, not for the first time in his 11-year Test career, contributed a vital 85-ball 44 in an 88-run stand with Smith. Nathan Lyon then batted for another hour at No. 11, helping Smith race past his century and add 74 for the final wicket to help Australia post 284 after winning the toss.

They would still concede a first-innings lead, but it was only 90, before Smith and Matthew Wade made second-innings hundreds and James Pattinson smashed an unbeaten 47 at No. 8 to help set up a victory that would put them on course to retain the Ashes.

Mitchell Starc would also make an unbeaten 54 at No. 9 in Australia's only other win of the series at Old Trafford, sharing a 51-run stand with Smith who made 211, and adding 59 more with Lyon to help Australia post a match-winning total of 497 for 8 declared.

Fast forward nearly four years and Starc's 41 in the World Test Championship final at the Oval on Sunday was just the second 40-plus score by an Australian bowler in a Test match since his half-century at Old Trafford. Australia's Nos. 8-11 have contributed just four 40-plus scores in four years, with two of them belonging to Alex Carey when he twice slid to No.8 after the use of a nightwatcher. The only other 40-plus score by a bowler came from Todd Murphy in Ahmedabad this year.

Only Ireland and Afghanistan's tails have made fewer 40-plus contributions in that time, having played just four and three Test matches, respectively.

In the 2021-22 Ashes, Starc did make four important scores of 35, 39 not out, 24 not out and 34 not out in the first four Tests. But aside from that, it has been slim pickings. And the lack of contribution from Australia's tail compared to their opponents has been a decisive factor in the only five losses Australia have suffered in that time, four of which came at the hands of India who possess the strongest batting tail in the world.

Australia's bowlers did face the challenge of barely being required to bat in the last home summer against West Indies and South Africa to being asked to score runs in the most extreme of conditions in India, which also exposed their specialist batters.

But the gradual decline of the batting contributions of Australia's main four bowlers is cause for concern and has been noted within the Australian camp. Just like in 2019, there was an emphasis put on Australia's bowlers getting plenty of batting work in at the pre-departure camp in Brisbane with Starc's return at the Oval an early dividend.

But the question remains why the extra batting work isn't a constant. It is one of the challenges in the modern era, where the management of bowlers' training loads has become a top priority to the point where they do have full rest days from optional sessions, whereas some of Australia's premier batters in Smith and Marnus Labuschagne will almost always bat on those optional days.

The opposite is true for Australia's batters with their bowling. Smith and Labuschagne both began their Test careers as better-than-part-time legspinners capable of making breakthroughs and holding an end to ease the burden on the frontline bowlers. But both have focussed so heavily on their batting that their legspin has fallen by the wayside, to the point where both have been bowling part-time offspin in first-class cricket recently. The only difference is that batters do not have to bowl in Test matches, but bowlers always have to bat.

"It is tough," Siddle said. "At the end of the day, we are bowlers, we've got to be ready and prepared as well as we can to do our first job which is to bowl and take wickets in that Test match, so it always does take precedence getting that work done.

"Most bowlers really love batting. That's probably the most fun part of the game that we have in Test matches. Everything else is hard work.

"But it does take up a lot of time and I think if you're batting at the end of a training session, you're tired, you've been there for a few hours, the motivation can be low.

"But it's definitely something that I've noticed a lot more that tail-enders, lower-order batters do a hell of a lot more batting and there's a lot more time and effort put into it than when I first started playing."

One thing Australian coaches have found difficult is allocating time and resources to improving the bowlers' batting. Batters are facing more balls than ever in the nets leaving the coaches who throw balls exhausted by the time the bowlers are ready to bat.

It was noticeable at times during Australia's recent tour of India how often bowlers were left to bat unsupervised against net bowlers when they arguably need more specialised coaching, more volume, and a greater focus on batting fundamentals if they are going to survive and contribute to key partnerships in games. That is where Siddle thinks some lateral thinking and personal responsibility need to kick in.

"Definitely, that's probably the biggest issue," Siddle said. "The batters do take up a lot of time and coaches get tired.

"I think it's just finding the right moments to get that extra work in. Sometimes, it's not at the end of sessions because the fatigue on everyone is so great because the session has been long.

"I think it's about getting the opportunities and sometimes the best ones were during Test matches. Once the batting innings starts, if the facilities are available, getting out to the nets with the batting coach during the game...I think sometimes they were some of the best sessions that I had. You can get out and focus a bit better, knowing that you're going to bat at some stage either that day or the next. That last little top-up session was very valuable."

One other major challenge facing bowlers globally, and Australia's bowlers in particular, is the development of T20 batting. Bowlers who are multiformat players, as all three of Australia's main quicks are, can add millions to their T20 franchise value if they can power-hit.

In January 2019 Pat Cummins was averaging 21.12 in Test cricket having just made his second half-century against India. He was also facing an average of 45 balls per Test innings, which was part of the reason he was elevated in front of Starc in the order 12 months earlier, with Starc facing an average of just 26 balls per Test innings for 21.44 runs per dismissal, even though Starc had seven more half-centuries including a Test 99.

At the same time, Cummins wasn't a regular in Australia's T20 side and was averaging 14.09 in T20 cricket with the bat, striking at just 124.

A greater emphasis on honing his power-hitting skills since that point has seen Cummins average 21.05 in his last 59 T20 innings, striking at 152.67 with three half-centuries, helping his IPL auction price go through the roof.

Over the same period, Cummins has not passed 40 once in 40 Test innings and has averaged just 11.71. He has now moved back behind Starc in the order.

"The format changes have brought this dilemma for batters in general but more so probably tail-enders and I think the new generation of player tends to be more of a power-hitter in the way they play anyway," Siddle said.

"Obviously, Pat and Mitch are players that have developed their game around both different formats.

"The new generation, they're learning how to be power-hitters first. As the years go by and there's more T20 cricket played, the lower-order players want to be able to whack the ball and clear the ropes and they're going away a little bit from the basics of hanging in there, having a good solid defence, keeping everything tight and valuing your wicket."