Phil Hughes inconsistency is typical of Australia's batting woes in the first two Ashes Tests. Source: Ryan Pierse / Getty Images
BOWLERS have always been cricket's downtrodden and on this Ashes tour they have been shown a fundamental lack of respect by Australia's slipshod batsmen.
The hard-working pacemen who make up a quality attack should never have to buy another meal on tour.
Peter Siddle should have paid-for pints delivered on silver trays.
Having busted a gut to dismiss England for below par scores in the first innings at Trent Bridge and now Lord's, the bowlers also have to do an unreasonable share of the batting.
They papered over the cracks in the first Test thanks to Ashton Agar's brilliant 98 on debut but could not do it again in this match.
It may be a small sample but one and a half Tests into this series the averages highlight Australia's batting embarrassment.
Phil Hughes may be leading the averages with 41 after the first three innings of this series but a closer inspection highlights the problem.
He scored a fine 81 not out in the first innings at Trent Bridge, batting in a record 163-run last wicket stand with Ashton Agar as the teenager made a breezy 98 on debut. In his two innings since, Hughes has managed just one run.
Besides Hughes, the only other players with averages above 30 are Agar (38) and James Pattinson (37).
On that evidence there is every justification to turn the batting order on its head.
There are many bad aspects of Australia's dreadful collapse in this match, including the fact that it gave the bowlers so little rest.
Australia's first innings lasted less than four hours. Ian Bell batted more than five hours for his hundred at Lord's and six and a half hours for his hundred at Trent Bridge.
On both occasions Bell played to the conditions and circumstances.
It was tough at Trent Bridge on a slow and uneven pitch later in the game so he tailored his innings accordingly.
What an embarrassment that already twice in this series an Englishman has batted longer than the entire Australian team could manage on Friday.
The debacle has completely overshadowed more fine bowling from the Australians.
To lunch yesterday Peter Siddle had 11 wickets at a bowling average of under 22 and a strike rate of under 45 - world class figures by any measure.
And Ryan Harris, 33, made a brilliant return to Test cricket after more than a year out of the game with more injury problems.
His 5-72 gave him five wickets in an innings for the third time in just 13 Tests and took his wickets to 52 at an average of 23 - again world class.
Harris and James Pattinson also both made double figures in a last wicket partnership of 24, second only to the 42 Shane Watson and Chris Rogers made opening the innings in what proved to be the calm before the hurricane.
Australia has a high quality group of fast bowlers, which is clearly the squad's greatest strength.
It will make no difference how Siddle, Pattinson, Harris, Mitchell Starc and Jackson Bird are rotated throughout this series if the batsmen don't make runs.
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