Is Australia’s greatest bowling combination losing its edge?

Four celebrated bowlers, years of dominance and an increasingly difficult question: has time finally caught up with Australia’s formidable Test attack? | Photo Credit: Getty Images

When Australia played South Africa in Cape Town in 2018, it was only the third time Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon had bowled together in a Test. That game eventually changed the course of Australian cricket. Not only because of the sandpaper-gate scandal and the subsequent revamp of its cricketing identity, but also because the quartet has since become one of the best bowling units in the game, picking 673 wickets in 39 Tests.

But when Australia landed on South African shores for a Test series nearly eight years later, its ageing quartet was already under scrutiny over whether it could still pack the same punch. After 15 days of gruelling cricket, with fortunes ebbing and flowing across three Tests before South Africa clinched the series 2-1, those questions remain unanswered.

Starc was the leading wicket-taker of the series with 15 scalps, while Hazlewood picked 10. However, the Australian duo was separated by Simon Harmer (14) and Marco Jansen (13) in the bowling charts, while Kagiso Rabada and Wiaan Mulder also took 10 wickets each.

Australia dropped Lyon for the second Test, while Cummins struggled to consistently threaten the South Africans. Both ended the series with six wickets.

That perhaps proved crucial in deciding the outcome of a series in which both batting sides struggled collectively, losing wickets at an average of 31.26. Individual brilliance, however, repeatedly provided the impetus for fightbacks.

Matt Renshaw produced one such effort in the first Test, scoring 190 off 397 balls after Australia had slipped to 124 for six on the opening day. In the second game, Temba Bavuma hit 179 after South Africa was reduced to 110 for six. Ryan Rickelton and Mulder then scored centuries in the second innings of the third Test after South Africa had conceded a 100-run lead. In all three games, the side that initially struggled went on to win.

Across the series, Australia induced a false shot nearly every seven balls, while South African bowlers did so every five deliveries.

It wasn’t that the Australians lacked quality, but their threat fluctuated across different phases. Starc and Hazlewood did their best to create chances with the new ball for the most part, but Australia struggled to sustain that pressure through its third, fourth and fifth bowling options.

South Africa, by contrast, found contributions from across its bowling attack. Rabada’s return gave it a spearhead, Jansen provided the left-arm angle and bounce, while Mulder offered a dependable third seam option. Harmer, meanwhile, ensured there was little respite at the other end.

“I think our bowling attack; it’s been the backbone of our team. It’s been a big part of why we’ve been successful; when the wicket suits the fast bowlers, we have the guys to do so. And when the spinners come into the game, we also have that ability,” Bavuma said after the series win.

The Rabada effect

For South Africa, Rabada’s return in the second game helped restore order. He claimed six wickets across two innings in that Test and added four more to his tally in the third, including a memorable spell on the final morning when he picked up two wickets in the very first over to dent Australia’s 288-run chase.

“Makes the job a lot easier. A guy like KG, just his value that he brings in, his ability to assume the responsibility and pressure from the bowling attack and kind of allow the other guys to do what they naturally can do. So, he’s of massive value,” Bavuma had said after the win in the second Test.

“He gives you that little bit of extra confidence. It’s just maybe how he is in and around the guys and how he is on the field and off the field. He always reminds you what you’re doing well,” said Jansen, who was adjudged Player of the Series for his 198 runs and 13 wickets, about Rabada.

Harmer outbowls Lyon

While the pacers enjoyed favourable conditions, off-spinner Harmer quietly outbowled Lyon in the series, picking up 14 wickets to the Australian’s six. With the pitches offering little assistance to the spinners, Harmer was more proactive in using different angles, trajectories and variations in pace to extract whatever he could from the surface.

He got the ball to turn more often, with six of his wickets coming off deliveries that deviated more than 4.5 degrees. Cameron Green was one of the victims of Harmer’s accuracy and dip.

On the final day of the Test, Green came down the track to feel the ball, but the 81 kmph delivery turned and went through the gate, cleaning him up.

Lyon, too, displayed his incredible control, dismissing Bavuma in both innings of the final Test. One delivery went past the right-hander’s outside edge, while another beat the inside half of the bat. Such moments, however, were sporadic, with the pressure easing in between.

Twilight zone

For a long time, Australians thrived in such moments and made them their own. This quartet, in particular, has had opposition batters on all fours, capitalising on the momentum it generates. However, this tour served as a reality check for the Australian management: the heroes of the last decade have entered their twilight, at least as a quartet, if not individually.

Cummins (aged 33), Starc (36), Lyon (38), and Hazlewood (35) aren’t getting any younger. But does the quartet still have the “aura” left in it? Jansen certainly thinks so. “Every single time they make a bowling challenge, it’s not a sigh of relief. It’s actually more pressure and more pressure, and then the wicket deteriorates, and then there’s one that squats or one that dips. Mentally, you’re always on edge. You always have to think, you always have to adapt, and that’s what you get playing against a team like this.”

A single series shouldn’t determine whether Australia needs to pull the plug on the quartet, particularly with a couple of high-profile assignments against New Zealand at home and India away on the horizon. However, the age debate has certainly caught up with the management.

“But we’re always going to have decisions to make, in particular around the age profile of our team. We’re probably asking ourselves the same questions as you guys are,” head coach Andrew McDonald said after the series.

Australia has slipped to No. 3 in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings following its 2-1 series defeat. The loss in the series decider in Cape Town also cost it the No. 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings, with South Africa taking over at the top.

Bavuma’s side climbed to second in the WTC table, behind New Zealand, which occupies the top spot.

Australia’s next Test assignment will be against New Zealand, with a four-match home series beginning with the first Test in Perth on December 9.

South Africa, meanwhile, has a two-week break before hosting Bangladesh for a two-Test series in November. Bavuma’s side is the defending WTC winner, having clinched the title at Lord’s last year.

This Test series was a reminder that when members of a bowling unit aren’t operating at their full potential, it becomes difficult for a side to sustain pressure over long periods. McDonald’s post-match comments suggest that a transition could be on the cards. But when that happens, will Australia be ready?

Published on Nov 03, 2026

Latest on Sportstar

1. Live Blog 2026-11-03T09:24:28+05:30

   Ranji Trophy live score, round 4: Mumbai bowled out for 396 vs Railways; Pradosh Ranjan Paul scores double ton for Tamil Nadu
2. Is Australia’s greatest bowling combination losing its edge?
3. ISSF Shooting World Championships 2026: India wins team gold in non-Olympic men’s 50m pistol; Ravinder clinches individual silver