If Katich’s words seem strong for a side 1-0 up in the series, this South African subsidence was the latest example of an Australian batting line-up only consistent for its inconsistency.
Bowled out for 132 in the first Test of the Ashes last winter, they piled up 511 in Brisbane in the next.
They scored 567 at the end of the Ashes, but were bundled out for 198 by Bangladesh in their next Test en route to a shock defeat.
Even the highs of Matt Renshaw’s 190 in the first-Test win in Durban were countered by the fact no other Australian made 50.
And after another failure, Marnus Labuschagne appears the most at risk. He will not get another chance to bat for his place before Cape Town hosts the third Test from 27 October.
After edging a drive to third slip for 14 off Anrich Nortje in the morning, he gave it away by hitting spinner Simon Harmer to long-on after tea for 39 – his third dismissal in the thirties in the series.
It was made worse by the fact he had only survived an lbw decision on review just three balls earlier.
It is now 47 innings since the 32-year-old, once the leading batter in the world, has made a Test century.
“Only he knows what was going through his mind when he tried to take Harmer down the ground, against the breeze, when Australia are trying to play for a draw,” added Katich.
“How will the Australian selectors view that dismissal?
“He’s been given plenty of rope over the past few years, when plenty of others haven’t, but he has.”
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald said he was “disappointed” with Labuschagne’s dismissal.
“You saw what we saw,” he said.
“For me, the option is there if the ball is the right area. It is a strength of this, but in that scenario there probably are some shots that players would take back.
“He did a lot of hard work once again. I feel like I am on repeat around the amount of 30s that he has got. That has become a danger period for him.
“We had a good partnership going and were starting to claw ourselves back into the game, albeit a long way behind.
“When you do that hard work you’ve got to cash in and unfortunately that wasn’t to be the case for Marn. We were disappointed and he will be too.”
