Batting against spin big problem: Lehmann

Australia is doomed to fail on the road unless they can urgently fix their ongoing batting woes against spin bowling, coach Darren Lehmann says.

In Sunday’s embarrassing capitulation to minnows Zimbabwe, six batsmen fell victim to offspinners and run-scoring screeched to a grinding halt in turning conditions at Harare Sports Club.

Australia have thrived on the fast bouncy wickets at home and in South Africa of late, but Lehmann says it’s not rocket science for opposition coaches to work out where they’re weaknesses lie.

Zimbabwe have unashamedly taken the pace out of the wicket in Harare, just like England did on their way to a 3-0 win on last year’s Ashes tour of the UK.

Not only does utilising such tactics with the pitch dim the impact of spearhead Mitchell Johnson on a game, but it exposes an obvious flaw in Australia’s batting that just won’t go away.

“That’s what I’d do,” admitted Lehmann.

“We’ve got to learn really quickly because teams are going to see that (weakness) and they’re going to react to it.”

Of immediate concern to the Australian coaching staff will be October’s Test tour of the UAE against Pakistan.

The slow conditions are set to test an Australian side who could yet miss their captain Michael Clarke, the best player of spin in the team, due to a hamstring problem.

Pakistan will be particularly dangerous if their best bowler Saeed Ajmal is cleared by the ICC for a suspect bowling action and is made available.

Lehmann said the way Zimbabwe’s little-known spin battalion tore through the top order on Sunday to leave them 5-97 at one point was a clear illustration of how far Australia have to go.

Phil Hughes, the only left-hander in the top six, looked all at sea.

Aaron Finch and George Bailey were both bowled by balls that beat their outside edge.

“You only have to look at (Sunday),” said Lehmann.

“The off-spinners gave us trouble and seven out of our top eight were right-handers.

“They shouldn’t be giving us too much trouble.

“We’ve got to improve our play.

“Because if we don’t then we’re going to have performances like that, and we won’t accept that as a team.”

Australia have taken steps to address their spin issues, with Sri Lankan great Muttiah Muralitharan working with the team in the UAE and special soil being flown in to prepare turning wickets at Cricket Australia’s High Performance Centre in Brisbane.

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