Over the years, the Australian cricket team has been blessed with various high-quality test batters.

We have had silky-smooth Mark Waugh, Greg Chappell, Kim Hughes and Damien Martyn. Hard-hitting but technically adept Ricky Ponting, Mathew Hayden, Ian Chappell and Adam Gilchrist. Doughty batters like Allan Border and Geoff Marsh – just to name a few.

The Australian cricket system produced a generous mix of orthodox and unorthodox batters to serve their team.

They all seemed to jump effortlessly from domestic Shield cricket to international Cricket.

However, this assembly line seems to have gone out of whack over the last decade. Australia does not seem to produce high-quality Test batters for those following only international cricket.

In the last decade, a motley crew of underachievers has occupied the opening slot, including Cameron Bancroft, Marcus Harris, Aaron Finch, and Joe Burns.

Usman Khawaja is the only batter who finally settled in as a test opener. However, he is 38 years old – not many years to go before his retirement.

The Australian establishment invested a lot in Will Pucovski, who had to quit test cricket following repeated hits to his head.

The latest addition to this list of new test openers is Nathan McSweeny, who had a torrid time against Jasprit Bumrah in the Perth Test. However, one needs to give him time to prove himself.

At No.3 and No.4, Marnus Labuschagne and Steven Smith produced the goods for the Aussies over the years.

Smith, the last great Australian batter, is anything but a classical batter and Marnus started as a classic Test batter before adding goofiness to his game, trying to mimic his mentor, Smith.

Marnus and Smith are going through an extended lean patch in Test cricket, and there are no ready replacements for them knocking the door down.

Travis Head and Mitchell Marsh are the in-form batters in this Australian test team. Head is an unorthodox test batter who has established himself in the team after floundering for a few years at the start of his career.

Marsh’s Test career has been on a decade-long roller coaster. He finally established himself in the team after good performances in the Ashes.

However, even a fan of Marsh will accept that his technique against the turning ball is suspect.

Marnus Labuschagne. (Photo by Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images)

Cameron Green is a genuine test all-rounder and the last good talent Australia introduced into the Test arena after COVID-19.

Green had started to flower into a solid middle-order batter, great gully fielder and good fourth seamer before a back injury sidelined him.

The surprising lack of emerging test talent in the Australian system might be due to the influence of T20 cricket. The young Jake Fraser-McGurk seems to be a white ball-focused find.

One isn’t sure when the next Ponting, who is technically sound, is going to burst onto the test scene and enthral the cricket audience.