Pat Cummins said there were "no excuses" for Australia's shock loss to Bangladesh in Darwin, and hinted that changes could be considered ahead of the second Test in Mackay next weekend.
Bangladesh secured a historic nine-wicket victory shortly before tea on then fourth day, having dominated throughout the game. Cummins' decision at the toss when he opted to bat will come under scrutiny as conditions eased later during the opening day. Australia were bowled out for 198 before Bangladesh responded with 426.
"I thought our preparation was pretty much spot-on. I thought it was excellent, so, yeah, no excuses," Cummins said at the post-match presentation. "They [Bangladesh] played really well. I thought the day one wicket, [there was] a little bit [in it] early but obviously [we've] got to try and find a way to bat a little bit longer than we did, and then just couldn't penetrate with the ball."
"They outplayed us in all facets. I thought they were really patient and quite disciplined. Once we were behind, it was really hard to get back."
Jake Weatherald made 23 and 0 opening the batting, while Marnus Labuschagne couldn't convert a second-innings start to leave them both under scrutiny. Officially, Australia named a squad for both Tests, and when asked about potential changes, Cummins said it was too soon to say given he had just left the field but conceded such a defeat leaves issues to be discussed.
"I think every time there's a game like this, you always kind of look at your match-ups and your make up with the team for the next one. But we only just finished, [so] we'll have a think about it," Cummins said. "We're pretty good at bouncing back, so no doubt the batters and every group will get together and have a good think about this one and where we can improve."
The two high points for Australia were the performances of Josh Hazlewood, who passed 300 Test wickets during his haul of 6 for 89 in the first innings, and Cameron Green with his first Test century on home soil having been one of the batters under pressure heading into the series.
"Josh, he hasn't had a great run for injuries the last couple of years, but he's one of the hardest workers and just showed his class on a wicket that didn't have too much in it seam-wise, still picking up six really important wickets," Cummins said. "So he was fantastic. Then Greeny, I thought his tempo this innings showed how good he is. Just needed a couple of us to hang around with him, but he was fantastic."
Speaking before the start of the fourth day, former captain Ricky Ponting felt that changes would have to made for the second Test.
"I think it's inevitable they have to make change," Ponting said on Channel 7. "I was on the record at the end of last summer thinking that this was the ideal time to start to regenerate this team because the performances from some of the players. I'm the last one I want to make change. As a captain or as a player, I wanted to keep the group together. So it has to get to a bad point before I start saying you ought to leave somebody out.
"But there had been enough evidence for me coming here to suggest that they weren't going to lose anything or much at all by starting that regeneration, by maybe bringing in another opener, by maybe bringing in someone at No. 3."