Darwin: Australia’s first day of Test cricket since January left them badly shown up by Bangladesh and will make the brutal 20 matches in 12 months look like a tour of duty set to end more than a few careers.

Watched by a well-oiled Top-End crowd of 5233 at Marrara Stadium, this was a sobering day for the Australians, who now face a stiff task to fight their way back into the match – an unimaginable notion when the tourists were bowled out for 54 in their warm-up game.

At the same time, the sluggishness on display will only enhance the suspicions of many that the selectors may have been better off including one or two younger, hungry names in the squad to provide a sense of forward-thinking.

“Right now, there are a couple of chinks in the armour and the selectors decided to stick with what they know,” former captain Ricky Ponting said on Seven. “At the end of last season, I thought the time was right now to blood a couple of youngsters into these two Test matches.”