Aussie bats too 'timid' in Perth: Lehmann

Coach Darren Lehmann has called on Australia to be less timid with the willow and has pinpointed mental lapses as the cause of their recent batting woes.

Australia suffered a collapse of 10-86 in their first innings of the first Commonwealth Bank Test against South Africa, handing over the ascendancy at the WACA Ground.

Skipper Steve Smith, who recorded the fourth duck of his Test career on Friday, insisted pre-match that recent collapses outside Australia would not be replicated.

Smith declared his batsmen were a different - and for more confident - beast at home.

David Warner and Shaun Marsh backed up those words in a 158-run opening stand but their good work was undone by the collapse that followed.

Lehmann conceded it was a concern, especially given similar collapses were a feature of Australia's 3-0 series loss to Sri Lanka in August.

"It's happened the last few Test matches. They do all the prep, they're great young men ... it's just a case of making little mental lapses at times," Lehmann told ABC Radio.

"We've got to rectify that and play a lot better ... batters know they have to stand up.

"Stats will show we haven't batted as well as we would have liked in the last few Test matches. There's no hiding the fact we've got to bat better.

"That's always there (frustration) for me. We're in the middle of a Test match so there's no point ranting and raving."

Lehmann felt some members of the XI were guilty of going back into their shells on Friday as the wickets tumbled.

"Probably not playing our natural game at times, especially to say the left-arm spinner (Keshav Maharaj)," he said.

"Peter Nevill and Peter Siddle did a good job of that - get the field back and take the ones.

"We were probably maybe a little bit timid at times and not looking to score and rotate the strike."

Lehmann acknowledged the heat is on his misfiring charges to deliver some runs, but he reiterated there will be no changes to the 12-man squad before the second Test starts in Hobart on Saturday.

"The 12 is the 12," he said, meaning Joe Mennie is the only potential inclusion if no players succumb to injury.

Regarding the prospect of a run chase that will require Australia to set a new record in Perth, Lehmann noted confidence wouldn't be an issue.

"They'll believe they can win from anywhere," he said.