How Australia are measuring Test runs in a challenging era

Australia head coach Andrew McDonald has said the team measures Test batting performance by a player’s percentage of the team’s total runs and their impact in matches, rather than relying on individual batting averages alone. McDonald made the comments during Australia’s training camp in Brisbane.

McDonald acknowledged that conditions have made run-scoring harder across the board, pointing out that even leading Indian players have seen their averages fall in recent times.

“We measure in terms of percentage of runs [of the team’s total] and their impact in games. We’ve been challenged by the conditions that we play in, and that’s no excuse. The players always want to perform at a higher level. Yeah, they want to average 50 if that’s the benchmark. But I think in recent times, people have seen some of the conditions that we’ve played in, and you’ve even seen greats of the game decline in terms of their averages,” McDonald said as quoted by Cricinfo.

Why does Australia still back players with lower averages?

McDonald defended several Australia batters who have faced external criticism for not averaging what observers expect. He argued that the team’s win record justifies the internal approach to evaluating performance, and that context around conditions is essential before drawing conclusions from raw averages.

“Some of our players that aren’t averaging what the outside think they should, if you get some context in that, they’re still contributing to the team in a way that we’re winning games of cricket, and this team’s been able to win a lot of games at cricket across the journey. Albeit they haven’t made the contributions that even the players themselves would say that they wanted, it’s still functioning at a decent level. And there’s always going to be players under the pump externally. But I suppose we value different things internally, and the function of the team has been a pretty high performing team across the journey,” said McDonald.

McDonald also addressed the state of Australian domestic cricket, noting that Shield batters are currently averaging in the mid-30s while seam bowlers are averaging under 20, with spin overs also down. He compared this to conditions around 2005, when domestic batters might have averaged 50 and bowlers around 30, a difference of roughly 20 runs in each direction.

“[The current Shield batters] haven’t got the runs that potentially previous generations have, but put a bit of context around that. They’ve been challenged as well in terms of the scores and the average totals across the board, and it’s been well documented,” said McDonald.

On the quality of emerging talent, McDonald expressed confidence in Australia’s young batting talent and noted that an Australia A tour to India would give younger players a chance to show what they can do.

“I think they’re there, and I think sometimes not enough recognition is given to the quality of our Shield and domestic set-up. There’s been some heavy runs made in those, and maybe that’s just a reflection of the surfaces that they’re playing on there compared to their own states,” said McDonald.

What lies ahead for Australia in Test cricket?

Australia face a demanding schedule over the next 12 months, with 20 Tests and 14 white-ball internationals confirmed. The programme includes a five-Test tour of India, a one-off Test against England to mark the 150th anniversary of Test cricket, and a five-Test Ashes series in England. McDonald, whose contract runs to the end of 2027, will oversee the team through this period.

McDonald made clear that his focus remains on solving the problems that conditions and opponents present, rather than engaging in broader debates about pitch preparation or the state of the game globally.

“I think there’s a broader discussion going around the surfaces that we’re playing and the state of the game. That’s not for coaches to lean into. Our job is to solve the problems that present with the conditions that are there, the opponent that’s there,” McDonald concluded.