Alarming trend in Australia's Test slump

If Australia are to capitalise on the inherent advantages they carry into the last two Tests against a euphoric South Africa the turnaround must come from the moment they touch down in Tasmania tomorrow afternoon.

So says captain Steve Smith who has seen a pattern develop in the sequence of four consecutive Test losses stretching back to Pallekele in Sri Lanka's hill country four months ago.

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A run that has delivered four lost coin tosses, four final innings run chases, and four defeats by more than 150 runs after the Australian bowlers had exerted a dominance that – in many an era past – would have traditionally proved unassailable.

But even though the home side may take a measure of solace knowing that no South Africa Test team has played, let alone won, in Tasmania, and no South Africa team has played a pink ball day-night Test (as will be the format for the third match in Adelaide), there are many items of concern to work through on the long flight across the continent.

Which the Australians will undertake with aching muscles after being subjected to many long, hot hours in the field, and the Proteas will tackle with slightly sore heads after their skipper Faf du Plessis mandated a few rounds of celebratory drinks to toast their Perth triumph.

Smith identified the opening morning of the second Commonwealth Bank Test at Bellerive Oval on Saturday as the moment that his under siege team must seize.

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"If we want to stay in this series we're going to have to turn it around straight away in Hobart," Smith said in the aftermath of Australia's 177-run loss at the WACA Ground.

"The guys will work hard at training over the next couple of days to make sure that on the first morning of that Test match, we're ready to go."

But recent history suggests it's not the first morning that has been an issue for a team that prior to the Sri Lanka tour was ranked number one in the world, but hasn't won a Test from four starts since then and has slipped to number three.

On the first morning at Pallekele, Sri Lanka were humbled to 4-43 and bowled out for 117.

On the first morning at Galle they were 2-9 and then 3-31 in their second dig.

At Colombo, they were 5-26 in the opening hour.

And at the WACA last Thursday South Africa crashed to 4-32 before lunch and were dismissed before day's end.

But on every occasion the Australians contrived a way to relinquish the grip they had taken, only to find themselves facing a hefty fourth-innings run chase that they rarely looked like achieving.

"The most disappointing thing was we were in a position to drive the game," Smith said when asked which element most alarmed him about yet another squandered Test match.

"The batters really have to continue to work hard to try and rectify what they're doing out in the middle there.

"We need to form more partnerships and get big first-innings totals.

"A majority of these last four Test matches we've had opportunities to capitalise.

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"I think we dominated the first day of a few of those Test matches but we haven't been able to dominate day two and get ourselves in front of the game.

"When we get those opportunities in the future we're going to have to take them and make sure we're able to build a lead.

"If we were able to build quite a big lead on that (Perth) wicket it could have been a different story."

As has been the case in all four of those Tests, the Australians will make at least one change to the starting XI that failed at its previous task.

In this instance, it's a change that's been forced upon them due to the finger fracture sustained by the luckless Shaun Marsh.

Although the fact that opener Joe Burns and middle-order bat Callum Ferguson have been added to the expanded squad suggests Adam Voges' hamstring tendonitis might also be a factor in the final make-up.

Smith maintains that morale and self-belief have not been badly bruised by the string of defeats that is the worst losing streak the Australians have suffered since the disastrous 4-0 whitewash in India of 2013.

But he's not suggesting for a moment that everything is sailing smoothly.

"Every aspect of the game needs some improvement," he said tonight. "I can't fault the guys' work ethic, we work extremely hard at practice and do all the right things.

"It's just about when we get out in the middle, we've got to do the things better.

"We haven't been able to do that for a while."

In glaring contrast, the South Africans make their journey east ahead of an inaugural Test visit to the nation's southernmost capital with if not a clearness of head, a lightness of spirit.

Filling in for injured captain AB de Villiers, du Plessis – a hero of the defiant Adelaide Oval win that set up the team's series win when they subsequently triumphed at Perth four years ago – rated day two at the WACA as among the most cherished of his career to date.

That was the day when he lost his strike bowler Dale Steyn to a shoulder fracture when Australia already held the match by the throat, only to have the undermanned tourists fight back to the point they were never again headed over the remaining days.

"To have a seamer down for pretty much the whole Test match and do what we've done," du Plessis said as he sat triumphant alongside his auxiliary strike bowler Kagiso Rabada at game's end.

"We always joke that if you lose a seamer in a three-seamer attack it's 99 per cent impossible to try and win a game of Test cricket, because it's just too much of a workload on the bowlers.

"Somehow we managed to do it, there's a lot of credit goes to (Rabada) because he put up his hand and bowled really well and also to Keshav (Maharaj, the left-arm spinner making his Test debut) as well.

"We said we wanted to make sure that Australia doesn't get back in the Test match at all, if we could put pressure on them once, and just stay on top and make sure whatever they tried that we were relentless.

"On day three we rocked up and said we didn't just want to have one good day, we wanted to make sure we kept the foot on the gas.

"And we said this morning that we wanted to take it to tea, that we wanted to be the team that fights all day.

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"We're not expecting it to be easy and it wasn't, so it's a proper game of Test cricket and just how we wanted it to finish."

It was on the stroke of tea that the win was completed, the adjournment having delayed by 20 minutes with the Australians reeling at nine down.

Over the previous four hours, as he searched for the final six wickets that were to secure the win, du Plessis had wrangled his bowlers to maximise his reduced resources.

Although acknowledging there were times when he had no option but to throw the ball to his bits-and-pieces players, including Temba Bavuma who had never before rolled over his arm in the Test arena.

And who should have plucked a wicket the very first time he did, but for a no-ball call that ruled it out.

"I like strategic challenges where you can test yourself and make sure you do little things out of the box and try things when it's not expected," du Plessis reflected.

"Luckily most things worked this Test matches, there's going to be days when it doesn't work but it was a tough challenge with two seamers.

"Hopefully I don't have to deal with too often in my captaincy.

"And it's important to celebrate games like this, Test matches are very special and every time you win a Test match you must celebrate it.

"It will be a few drinks and enjoy the occasion and share the guys' success, I'm really looking forward to that – we worked hard for it."

"But obviously there's a bigger picture for us.

"We've got one step in the right direction but we're very far from winning the series."

That journey resumes when they get to Hobart tomorrow.

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