Australia wrapped up their nine-match white-ball tour of Pakistan and Bangladesh with a 3-0 T20I whitewash which adds some positives to a disappointing tour overall. Conditions were different to what Australia are planning for at the 2027 ODI World Cup, the 2028 Olympics and a home T20 World Cup while there were also a number of key players missing. But there were still some key takeaways from the tour that Australia's selectors viewed as valuable for the future.
Connolly arrives in international cricket
Cooper Connolly announced himself at the IPL in 2026 but before this tour he had done very little to repay the investment Australia's selectors had made in him across the international three formats over the past two years. Prior to the third ODI against Bangladesh in Mirpur he was averaging 12.61 across 16 international innings, having reached double figures just five times with one notable score of 61 not out against India in a winning ODI chase in Adelaide last year. His highest List A score was just 64 and his only professional century had come in the IPL a few months ago.
However, he made a statement in Mirpur with a stunning 149 from 134 opening the batting to guide Australia home to a nervy consolation win chasing 275 when the next highest score in the chase was 29. There had been some questions about his ability on different surfaces given his abnormally high false shot percentages even on the batter friendly pitches in the IPL. But this innings was from the top shelf. He went up and down the gears, picked his match-ups, stayed calm under pressure and executed against both pace and spin.
He followed that with another quality 47 from 27 in the first T20I in Chattogram to help Australia chase 132 on a tricky pitch. That was also his highest T20I score. He is still yet to return to bowling due to a back injury but his performances with the bat will delight selectors from an otherwise disappointing tour and should give Connolly a lot of belief that his game belongs at international level.
Questions on Labuschagne, Green and Australia's ODI middle order linger
While the six ODIs were played in conditions that will be vastly different to southern Africa next year, the tour was viewed as important for the likes of Marnus Labuschagne and Cameron Green to find some runs and bed down key roles within the ODI team heading to the World Cup. Green showed glimpses with two half-centuries including one in Australia's only win in Pakistan. But his overall strike-rate of 62.83 across six innings was the second slowest of any of Australia's batters on tour.
Labuschagne was the only one who was slower striking at 57.67 with his 55 not out in the second ODI in Mirpur ending a 14 innings, two-year drought without an ODI half-century. Australia's heirarchy also had to move him to No. 7, a role he is not suited for, to find him some runs.
While Australia had the likes of Mitchell Marsh, Travis Head and the big three quicks unavailable for the ODIs, their other first-choice ODI batters in Labuschagne, Green, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey and Matt Renshaw were all on tour and all had lean trips overall. Fringe ODI batter Matt Short also had a very difficult tour and lost his place with three straight ducks. Oliver Peake showed positive signs in his four outings but beyond he and Connolly, the selectors have been left with more batting questions than answers with 15 months to go before the World Cup.
New-ball depth remains a problem
The absence of Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood has not been a problem for Australia's Test team in recent times with Scott Boland and Michael Neser filling the breach beautifully. But take those two out of Australia's white-ball teams, as well as Mitchell Starc from the ODI team, and the attack can look toothless. Australia's quicks took just six powerplay wickets across six ODIs with Nathan Ellis taking four of them. Xavier Bartlett, a new ball specialist, took two with an economy rate of 6.20. Spinners Matt Kuhnemann and Matt Short managed the same number at nearly half the cost per over.
Riley Meredith, Billy Stanlake, Ben Dwarshuis, Liam Scott and Green all failed to take a powerplay wicket on the tour. It would be easy to blame the conditions, except that Pakistan and Bangladesh seamers took 10 powerplay wickets against Australia's batters across the six games at a cost of 21.90 apiece and an economy rate of just 5.09.
New-ball wickets are crucial in modern white-ball cricket to curtail scoring rates given the way most teams bat. In Australia's case, without them the ability for Ellis and Adam Zampa to apply pressure in the middle-overs becomes exponentially harder. Australia are due to play six ODIs in Zimbabwe and South Africa in September and may welcome back the big three for those games. But they need some depth behind them given their age and injury history, with 20 Tests, possibly 21, to be played between now and the 2027 ODI World Cup.
Fresh T20 faces show bright future
The T20Is against Bangladesh were viewed as long-term development opportunities for Australia and there were plenty of positives to take from the three comprehensive victories. All-round spin depth has been concern for Australia with Glenn Maxwell nearing the end of his career. Joel Davies and Nikhil Chaudhary both made their debuts and bowled very well across the three games. They also showed glimpses with the bat and improved Australia's athleticism in the field with some excellent catching.
On top of that, Renshaw's development as a T20 offspinning allrounder is a huge positive. He was outstanding with bat and ball making 89 not out off 52 and taking 1 for 13, including a powerplay wicket, in a player of the match performance in game two. He also took 2 for 26 from three in game one, including another powerplay wicket.
The return of Spencer Johnson from injury was another positive. He took 1 for 10 in the opening game and 2 for 6 from four overs in game three to rock Bangladesh top order twice and set up low chases. Australia's selectors will be hoping he can build his overall fitness to be able to do similar things in ODI cricket, however he has a long way to go after spending over a year on the sidelines with stress fractures in his back.