3 Issues Australia must address before Ashes 2023

Australia were recently crowned the World Champions of the longest format following their win in the World Test Championship (WTC) Final for the 2021-23 cycle. The Kangaroos dropped a dominant performance that saw them win by a mammoth margin of 209 runs. The Ashes 2023 stands in the way of the World Champions as their next challenge in Test. As such, here are three issues they need to address before the start of the marquee series.

1. Top-order batting woes:

The first major thing Australia needs to address is the batting woes on the top of the order. The top three, David Warner, Usman Khawaja, and Marnus Labuschagne are all out of touch. While they succeed in getting decent starts, they have not mostly converted their starts into major knocks.

The Australian batting lineup has been too dependent on their middle order. The likes of Steve Smith, Travis Head, and Cameron Green have been handy with the contributions that generally take them to competitive scores. This is the first major issue they need to tackle.

2. Conceding a lot of Extras:

The second problem is about bowling. Australia tend to leak a lot of extra runs with skipper Pat Cummins at the very forefront of it. In the recently concluded World Test Championship final, there were two instances in which a ‘no ball’ prevented a wicket that would have been valid if the deliveries were legal.

First it was Ajinkya Rahane and next Shardul Thakur. The Australian bowling contingent is one of the most lethal ones in World Cricket right now. It just needs a little more discipline to help them control the number of runs they concede in extras.

3. Slow over-rate:

The final problem has to do with post-match issues. In the recently concluded WTC Final, both teams were charged with fines for a slow over rate. As such, Australia, and especially the skipper Pat Cummins would like to do away with such needless headaches.

Although such problems would not affect on-field performances, it still is a hit to healthy team morale and can be a significant financial hit. Checking the over rate would be beneficial for the Australians, they are the world champions and should be trendsetters in complying with the rules of the game.