Pressure on the Australian cricket team and its support staff is mounting after the sides humiliating innings defeat in the second test match against South Africa in Gqeberha.

A host of controversial selections including the recall of opener Nic Maddinson and persistence with embattled no. 3 batsman Marnus Labuschagne backfired as the Australian batting line-up was decimated on days four and five.

After weather permitted just 43 overs of play across the first two days, in which South Africa had limped to 5/97 in their first innings, the hosts appeared to have no credible path to victory when play began on day three.

But a stunning counterattack spearheaded by captain Temba Bavuma (179) and supported by lower order bats Marco Jansen (85) and Simon Harmer (82) took the Proteas to 9/425 when they declared in the shadows of stumps on day three.

Needing to reach just 226 to force South Africa to bat again and guarantee a draw, the Australian batting line-up not for the first time collapsed spectacularly, turning the spotlight firmly onto chief selector George Bailey.The Aussies were rolled for 99 in just 42.3 overs on the morning of day four and could only manage 295 in their second innings after being asked to follow on. Travis Head’s 121 in the second innings was the only score by an Australian above 50 in the match and prevented further embarrassment.

The Australian batting line-up would have watched in embarrassment as night-watchmen Scott Boland occupied the crease for 187 minutes, facing 166 deliveries for his 40 runs. The fast bowler’s stoic rearguard action starkly contrasted the flimsy performance of his batting counterparts.

“We were nowhere near our best across the board really,” said Australian captain Pat Cummins in the aftermath.

“Clearly, we need to be a lot better than that if we want to compete”.

The greatest pile of mediocrity that we’ve seen in a generation of cricket.

Matthew Hayden, former Test batsmen

Australia’s performance on day four was the side’s worst in five years under Cummins and is being viewed by some as an indication of the side’s aging player profile.

Chief selector Bailey and head coach Andrew McDonald picked the two oldest Australian sides in over a century for the tour matches so far, with not a single player under the age of 30 featuring for Australia.

Speaking on the All Over Bar the Cricket Podcast last month, former star opening batsman Matthew Hayden launched a tirade at the selectors, after Maddinson, 34, and Labuschagne, 32, were included in the squad for South Africa, with Hayden accusing Bailey of “promoting the greatest pile of mediocrity that we’ve seen in a generation of cricket”.

Labuschagne is now without a test century in over three years and 47 innings and has averaged just 25.34 in 25 test matches across that stretch.

After 33 test matches the no.3 boasted an average of 59.43 with 10 centuries, and his past form has been the rationale for the Australian selectors’ continued persistence in him. However, many now seriously question whether he can ever recapture that form.

Adding to the selector’s woes are Maddinson’s failures. Having been parachuted in to open the batting after more a decade in the wilderness and 18 months without an appearance in first class cricket, Maddinson has managed just 56 runs across four innings this series, including two ducks.

Bailey and McDonald have been able to justify their faith in the current generation of batsmen based on the side’s winning record, with the board of selectors opting against blooding younger players in the belief the experienced line-up offers the best chance of immediate success.

With tours of India and England on the immediate horizon, though, a loss in the third and final test of this series would send tremors through the Australian set-up.

Main image screenshot courtesy Fox of Steve Smith skying a shot to be out in the second innings for three.