Concerns over Australia as Mere Front-Runners Grow After Collapse vs. Pakistan

Australia have been labelled many things during their existence in international cricket during the past decade or more.

Through both excellence and indifference, the nation's representatives have been characterised at various junctures as imperious champions, bullies, role models, sore losers, valiant combatants, antagonists, leaders and spoilt celebrities.

Perhaps more regularly than any other team in the game, Australia have oscillated between positive and negative public perceptions. As dominant as the country's cricketers have been at times, they've been equally polarising; their feats have been often achieved with a disposition that others have found uncomfortable to embrace. 

None of it, though, has ever appeared to bother the Australians. They are who they are and they haven't deviated from it.

But if there's a label that wouldn't sit at all comfortably with Australia, it's being identified as front-runners. The view, regardless of its strength, that they're incapable of winning the hard way is at odds with the nation's collective psyche. 

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No matter how distasteful such a label is, however, there's a growing concern that this current Australian outfit is exactly that: a group of front-runners.

Friday saw that perception heightened a little further, as Michael Clarke's side slumped to a 151-run first-innings deficit against Pakistan in Dubai after being dismissed for 303.

At one point, the visitors looked to be cruising when the opening stand between David Warner and Chris Rogers reached 128. But the hosts' bowling attack of vast inexperience captured 10 wickets for just 175 from that point, with Warner's 133 the sole individual Australian score above 38. 

The collapse while behind in the game adds to a growing trend for Clarke's men, who, despite enjoying a renaissance in the Test arena since last November, have habitually struggled to mount a challenge after being backed into a corner. 

It started during the 2013 Ashes series on English soil when all three losses occurred when batting second. On the only such occasion during the return series in Australia, they were bundled out for 204 in their first innings—the game's second—by England in Melbourne, but they were handed a victory when the visitors' collapsed so comically on the third afternoon.

And when they went to South Africa, the same theme ensued at Port Elizabeth, the site of their only loss of the tour and the one Test they took to the crease after their opponents. 

	Matches	Wins	Draws	Losses	Win %
Batting First	8	6	2	0	75%
Batting Second	5	1	0	4	20%

Start Date	Opponent	Venue	Toss	Result	Margin
10 Jul 2013	England	Trent Bridge	Loss	Loss	14 runs
18 Jul 2013	England	Lord's	Loss	Loss	347 runs
9 Aug 2013	England	Chester-le-Street	Loss	Loss	74 runs
26 Dec 2013	England	Melbourne	Win	Win	8 wickets
20 Feb 2014	South Africa	Port Elizabeth	Loss	Loss	231 runs
22 Oct 2014	Pakistan	Dubai	Loss	-	-

Even throughout their recent triumphs over England and South Africa, doubts over the depth of Australia's current batting stocks have continued to linger.

For some—particularly those partial to Australia—those doubts have been unwarranted, given the development witnessed in Warner and Steve Smith and the ongoing excellence from veterans such as Clarke, Rogers and Brad Haddin.

But the reality is that questions have continued to exist. Many remain unconvinced by the Australian top six. And the persistence of that perception has owed itself to the inability of Australia's batsmen to conjure a steely response when presented with pressure stemming from the scoreboard. 

	Inns	High	Low	Ave
Batting First	8	570	295	435.75
Batting Second	6	303	128	238.50

Total	Start Date	Opponent	Venue	Toss	Result
280	10 Jul 2013	England	Trent Bridge	Loss	Loss
128	18 Jul 2013	England	Lord's	Loss	Loss
270	9 Aug 2013	England	Chester-le-Street	Loss	Loss
204	26 Dec 2013	England	Melbourne	Win	Win
246	20 Feb 2014	South Africa	Port Elizabeth	Loss	Loss
303	22 Oct 2014	Pakistan	Dubai	Loss	-

It's both staggering and alarming that Australia's first-innings differential between batting first and batting second since last July stands at almost 200.

The total of 303 reached on Friday against Pakistan might have been Australia's largest in such a situation, but not only was it 151 short of that compiled by the home side, it was 132 shy of the team's average first-innings total when getting first use of a pitch. 

For Australia, the trend is unavoidable. As domineering as they've been, there's an obvious chink in the armour; a soft underbelly, that if exposed, can be fed upon. 

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

There have, of course, been extenuating circumstances.

Many of the occasions in which Australia have been forced into the field first—and subsequently struggled—have coincided with the presentation of wickets vastly unsuited to the boisterous Australians.

In England in 2013, the strips on offer in Nottingham and Durham—the venues for two of the team's three losses—were excessively dry and sluggish, designed to maximise the effectiveness of the home side's trump card in Graeme Swann.

When they arrived in Melbourne on Boxing Day, the MCG's drop-in pitch, as it's sadly become, was as lifeless as any found around the world.

A similar featherbed was offered at Port Elizabeth in South Africa, while much the same can be said for the surface on offer in Dubai this week. 

Australian cricketers have never been—and are unlikely to ever be—entirely comfortable in such conditions. 

But it's these challenges that Australia must overcome. Triumphing in the face of adversity has been a point of pride for Australia; a goal or a benchmark, that when reached, has been viewed as the pinnacle of one's achievements. 

Climbing to victory after being behind constitutes much of that—a feat that's escaping the men under the baggy greens right now.

Australia are beginning to carry the front-runner tag, and it's one they'll be desperate to lose.