Australia vs Sri Lanka 2019: Hope for Generation Next as Australia put visitors to the sword
The Australians have undoubtedly endured a torrid year both on and off the field. The heavily publicized Cape Town saga as well as a mix of underwhelming performances have taken their toll, whilst creating a vacuum of hopelessness and a lack of confidence where the national side is concerned.
As the home season has rolled on, the public has had to cope with much of the same in regard to poor batting performances and a lack of accountability from both senior players and their junior counterparts.
But this is a much improved showing in Canberra after a shaky start, with Joe Burns being unbeaten at the close of play on 171* and the young, bullish and flashy Travis Head carving out an impressive 161. There is now a glimmer of hope that consistency and maturity in the batting is not that far away.
The most impressive element of these performances is the circumstances that these two players found themselves in and how they responded.
With Marcus Harris and Usman Khawaja showing too much intent and giving their wickets away to rash, unnecessary shots, one could almost sense another humiliating collapse was in progress. So often in the recent past the Australian top six have faltered when put under increased pressure; they lack match awareness and indeed have lacked accountability when asked to play their respective roles.
Yet with this gritty showing from Burns and Head, there is a sense that there are players within the set-up that can apply themselves by batting time, putting away risky shots and most importantly, not wilting under the pressure.
Head has shown glimpses of promise ever since his selection in the UAE, managing to get himself in throughout most of his innings to date. Yet there has always been a tendency throughout his Shield and Test career to throw it all away by trying to force the pace combined with the inability to put away his beloved shots behind square.
With the tighter, more compact technique shown in Canberra, and the ability to wait for the bad balls and not flash at anything wide, Head has shown a hint of maturity and learning so important for a successful career in Test cricket.
Burns on the other hand has always had the ability and potential to make it at this level. He now has four centuries in a stop-start 16-Test career. That's a good record for someone so often relegated to the bench when the selectors need to choose a whipping boy after a bad team performance.
Yet the patience and resolve shown in this innings is a marked improvement when compared to many of his other successful innings. His ability to steal singles, rotate the strike and bat time when all around him were falling apart smacks of confidence and an ability to adapt to the match conditions - two things that had been missing for so long with this team.
This is an impressive performance from such a maligned player, and one that you sense will be the making of him as a Test cricketer if he can manage to repeat his efforts with regular consistency.
It may have been only one day of Test cricket, against a second string Sri Lankan attack and with plenty of reprieves in regard to catches, but there are signs of improvement and maturity that bodes well for future campaigns. With both Steven Smith and David Warner expected back into the fold for the Ashes, Burns and Head have proved themselves worthy of a lengthy stint no matter who is available for selection.
One senses that these showings are now a performance benchmark for Burns and Head, as well as the team as a whole. They can take many learnings from this day to bring Australian cricket back to relevancy and, more importantly, back higher up the rankings and to consistent success.