Melbourne, Australia

Former Australia captain Aaron Finch has pointed fingers at the middle-order batters after his side suffered a narrow defeat in the two-match Test series against the West Indies on Sunday. Australia who needed 216 runs to win the second Test in Brisbane lost by eight runs after a frantic effort finally saw Shamar Joseph scalp seven wickets. According to Finch, it is the bowlers and top order batters like Usman Khawaja and Mitchell Marsh who have bailed the side out of difficult situations while the middle order batters have been a disappointment, including veteran Marnus Labuschagne.

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Finch points finger at middle-order woes

"Think the bowlers have been the ones who have got them out of jail a few times, but also Usman Khawaja…and Mitch Marsh is also pulling his weight in that regard. They're not great numbers for a middle order that I think have got some much talent." Finch told ESPN's Around The Wicket show. 

"The hundreds column is a concern for me. Guys are getting starts, and that's reflected in the numbers, it's not like they're averaging six.”

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"If you have a bad series in two Tests like Marnus [Labuschagne] that's okay, everyone will have that at some point, but there's not enough hundreds. There's a few cracks that have been papered over from Usman Khawaja and the bowlers who have done a brilliant job for a long time."

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Labuschagne in the two-match Test series scored 18 runs and averaged 28.25 across all five Test matches played during the Australian summer. Interestingly, Travis Head has also been short of numbers, having scored a best of 119 with his second-best innings being 40 runs.

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The win for West Indies meant they leapfrogged England in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings. The Caribbean side currently sits seventh with a win percentage of 33.33 from four matches. The win was also their first in the ongoing WTC cycle in four matches with two defeats and a defeat as well.

Despite the defeat, Australia continue to lead the charts in the WTC standings and have a win percentage of 55.00 after 10 matches. They have so far registered six wins and a draw while they have been on the receiving end of a defeat on three occasions.

The defeat for Aussies was also their first in the summer and saw the two-match series finish at 1-1 having previously beaten Pakistan 3-0 at the start of the year.