No shock, only awe: Steve Smith's rash dismissal exposes Australia's batting collapse in Gqeberha

A batting fiasco that felt like it had been coming

Has Steve Smith played a more injudicious shot as a Test batter? Chances are he has, given the length of his career. But it is unlikely he has played one that felt so out of character. Attempting to hoick a length delivery from Kagiso Rabada that pitched around fifth stump, Smith sky-ed a catch towards mid-wicket, where Matthew Breetzke fumbled it as Temba Bavuma looked away.

It came in only the third over with the second new ball. Travis Head's brilliant century had ended less than eight overs earlier, and Australia still had the best part of a session to bat out and save the second Test at St George's Park.

Two days to forget

In many ways, Smith's dismissal on Thursday afternoon was the perfect culmination of a two-day batting fiasco. It bookended a hearty partnership between Head and the reliable Scott Boland, and laid bare a side that has long battled batting frailties and often relied on individual brilliance, such as Matt Renshaw's heroics in Durban, or scratchy rearguards to bail them out.

Australia's first-innings total of 99 all out in Gqeberha was a day of reckoning for a line-up that had tiptoed around the precipice for too long. The 42.3 overs on the fourth morning had the makings of a perfect storm: a charged-up South African attack led by Rabada's fieriness and Marco Jansen's menace, a surface that was largely unthreatening yet still held enough for a skilled pace attack, and a batting order that felt under siege. Their most important batter also struggled for much of it with a neck issue.

Scrutiny on the top order and beyond

Marnus Labuschagne's attempt to hit Simon Harmer over mid-on in a strong gale drew heavy scrutiny, reopening questions about his lack of Test centuries since the middle of 2023. Beau Webster's diminishing returns in recent Tests also came under the spotlight after he played all round a regulation off-break from Harmer. Nic Maddinson's struggles against Rabada in his first spell added to the concern.

Smith, who had survived a dropped catch from Ryan Rickelton and changed his bat, then chose a reckless option that offered little chance of success and made little sense in the match situation. The shot, the critics argued, was the final sign that the confidence around this Test batting line-up as a whole had tipped over the precipice.

The verdict

It was one of the worst collective batting displays by an Australian Test team this century. But for many observers, the collapse was less a shock than a long-building problem finally brought into the open. There was awe, but no shock.