The honeymoon period is over for Steve Smith, who is facing his greatest challenge since being appointed Australia's skipper.
The tour of New Zealand will be a measure of the side's progress since Michael Clarke's retirement, which came at the end of a 2015 Ashes campaign chock full of angst.
It is exceptionally early in the trip, the success of which will be measured by whether Smith's men come home with the No.1 Test ranking after that two-match series.
However, the visitors could hardly have made a worst start in Wednesday's opening ODI.
They were embarrassed in Auckland, skittled in a record-breaking 24.2 overs.
Smith must attempt to conjure up confidence among the 14-man squad before Saturday's second ODI in Wellington.
The 26-year-old, not afraid to deliver some home truths at the best of times, tried to do exactly that in the bowels of Eden Park after the demoralising 159-run loss.
"We had a good chat about it last night," allrounder John Hastings said.
"It was Steve. It was mainly player-led. The coaches sort of took a back seat.
"Steve just said we need to improve in a number of areas.
"He was fairly measured. He made it very clear we won a World Cup a year ago so we still are a very, very good cricket team.
"We just beat India 4-1 as well, so it's definitely not panic stations by any means but we do have to improve."
A scarcely believable collapse of 5-8 turned the match but Smith made it clear that it wasn't just the batting that disappointed him.
"In the field, we were a little bit sloppy so if we can tidy that up - look a bit more energetic out there - obviously not losing clumps of wickets at the start," Hastings said.
"They were some of the sorts of things he talked about.
"It was really about just putting that one to bed, coming out and playing as best we can in the next couple.
"It wasn't an ideal start to our tour ... we got beaten pretty comprehensively."
Smith's reign has otherwise been success after success - Test series wins over India, NZ, the West Indies plus ODI series triumphs over England and India.
It's hard to measure what impact the recent absence of Darren Lehmann has had on the squad but the no-nonsense coach has always been about player empowerment.
Classy right-hander Smith has cherished the responsibility too, having scored a mountain of Test runs against India in 2014-15 when he filled in for hamstrung captain Clarke.
Smith's value to the ODI team has also been profound since the start of 2014.
He averages 66.47 from 27 wins in that span and 16.66 from nine losses.
Meanwhile, the expected return of Usman Khawaja should boost Australia's hopes of squaring the three-match ODI series.
"It's hard to fit guys in, everyone's aware of what good form Uzzy is in and everyone knows how good a player he is," veteran batsman George Bailey told radio station SEN.
"He's got the right attitude about it."
Share
