Ricky Ponting has blamed the "passengers" in the Australian team after South Africa yesterday stunned the hosts with the second-biggest run chase in Test history.
Allan Border medallist Brett Lee could be dumped for the second Test starting on Boxing Day after South Africa reached the target of 414 with more than a session to spare and six wickets in hand. Australia will now have to do what no home team has done for 40 years — come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the series.
Ponting admitted it would be difficult to recover to win the series between the best two Test nations.
There is even a chance Australia could relinquish world championship status. A 3-0 win would make South Africa the official No. 1 Test nation.
"There is no doubt it will be hard for us to bounce back and win the series," Ponting said after his second consecutive defeat at the WACA.
"Being 1-0 down in a three-match series is a situation we haven't been in very often but we have to look at ways to give ourselves the best chance of bouncing back."
Man of the match AB de Villiers produced a display of breath-taking stroke play under enormous pressure to remain 106 not out while debutant JP Duminy hit the winning runs and brought up his half-century as South Africa reached 4-414 before tea.
The West Indies scored 7-418 against Australia at St John's in Antigua in 2002-03 in the only bigger chase in Test history.
Jacques Kallis (57) was the only wicket to fall yesterday.
Not since 1968-69, when Australia lost to the West Indies in the first Test before winning 3-1, has the home team come from behind to secure a series.
And it has been 20 years, when the West Indies visited at their peak in 1988-89, since Australia last lost the first match of a home series.
Ponting, who took a swipe at several senior players at the post-match ceremony when he said Australia could not afford to have so many passengers, warned that Lee could be dumped as Australia sought greater impact with the new ball. He suggested that NSW left-armer Doug Bollinger was in the frame to make his debut at the MCG on Friday.
"We expect Brett to have some impact, particularly with the new ball, and that wasn't there this game," Ponting said after his senior bowler took 1-132 in the match.
"His pace wasn't there as we would have liked. We have to look at the bowlers we have in the side at the moment and the style of bowlers we have in the side at the moment.
"We have to work out if they are the guys to win us the next two games, and if they are not, then we will have to make some changes. Mitchell Johnson was the only one who looked like taking a wicket for us."
Ponting said that Lee was certain to be in the squad for Boxing Day but was not guaranteed to play.
"But he is a champion player and one thing I have learned in this game is that you don't write champion players off," Ponting said. "Bollinger will definitely come into calculations because he was so impressive with all the work he did in India."
Bollinger boosted his chances with a six-wicket haul on a lifeless SCG pitch yesterday to spearhead NSW to victory in their Sheffield Shield clash against South Australia.
Ponting backed embattled opener Matthew Hayden, who has scored just 48 runs this summer, to regain form.
- JOHN TOWNSEND