3 minute read

The first chance for the Australian Test Cricket team to venture out since the madness of the Ashes and the wonder of the World Cup comes up in Perth with Pakistan venturing Down Under.

Check out the Racing And Sports Preview for the Test this summer with a few betting ideas at the end.

AUSTRALIA v PAKISTAN

1st Test

14 – 18 December 2023 @ Perth Stadium

The great golfer Walter Hagen once said "You're only here for a short visit. Don't hurry. Don't worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."

Clearly adhering to those very tempered views has not infiltrated the cricketing world. Bazball had been a mantra for all to follow. But would it bring ultimate success? Or will it be the pain of lost opportunity?

Well it's hard to believe so much can be packed into the last few months – and with that rapidity at its core too.

A World Test Championship victory and a World Cup Triumph, both against India, wrapped around an extraordinary Ashes Series sees the Australian Team on whatever is above Cloud Nine.

While moral victories were not needed, they were certainly more enjoyable than having to put up with a certain English loudmouth pundit's offerings.

Strangely, for all that speed, Australia won the World Cup playing with essentially a Test team via what was closer to the historic ODI style. Smith and Labuschagne were employed to shore up the middle order and the middle overs.

Cummins as captain around Hazlewood's metronomics and Starc's white ball excellence, were still trundling in November as they were back in an English Summer.

It was clearly this generation of Australian players' pièce de résistance. To go into that lion's den, faced with more than 100,000 baying for blood and demanding instant gratification was likely a bridge too far.

To walk out with six still in the sheds was something almost unrelatable. It wasn't Kohli or Rohit that set Ahmedabad alight. It was Head and shoulders above anything they brought.

The big issue for this Australian Test Team now is can many of those players translate and transform themselves back to some degree of cricketing normality.

Playing in the 'V' and leaving the red cherry has become as extinct as the dodo. Surely it must become at least the ideal as Australia now tackles Pakistan at home for the first time since 2019.

However it was only 18 months ago that these two were forced to bore each other senseless on some of the most dour and censored 22 yards you could wish to imagine.

Were it not for a grand spell of fast (and non-fast) bowling by the Skipper and Nathan Lyon at his best, all three Tests would probably have landed as the biggest yawns in history.

Usman Khawaja was sublime with 496 runs @ 165 and the rest batted around him with nowhere near that level of concentration nor quality.

You could not blame the bowlers for falling asleep. Only a King's Speech would send you to sleep quicker.

So what type of Australian team will shape the present and the future. Despite all that positivity in terms of silverware, it must be noted they DREW the Ashes 2-2 and lost the last Indian Test Series 2-1.

Going back to Sydney in January, from their last 11 Tests, the record shows 4 wins, 4 losses and 3 draws. Not exactly utter domination.

How do the selectors meld this team? There has to be generational change soon. Four of the Top 6 from The Oval are 32 or much older and that eternal attack are heading in the same direction.

I guess one thing you'd expect that won't have to be worried about is any 'slightly erroneous' changes of ball. That was nothing but amusing. Moral victories and spirit of the game and all.

But seriously the new ball will be a big watch this season with that batting line up. Khawaja and Warner are near the end and knicking off early can become endemic.

And the latter has had his own battles even before a pill has been released in anger. Nothing is as respectable (not) as a spat between ex-teammates played out in the public arena. So dignified from both sides of the Johnson/Warner fence it was.

Even if Warner does make it through to Sydney (and the big conundrum is should he?) could the opening spot be sitting right in front of our faces. Cam Green has a good enough technique to play there and we've seen many players known as middle order specialists transition atop the order.

Boon, Blewett, Hussey, Khawaja, Watson, Katich just some of those that spent time coming in after a few were lost who became highly proficient and/or great test openers.

Green is slightly different given his bowling responsibilities but he isn't bowling massive amounts of overs. His body may well enjoy that anyway.

From this Summer's perspective, the big question is can Pakistan take advantage of any fragility? While it's not the WACA, you'd hope Perth Stadium has some life in it. Drop-Ins can be bland but they should be well prepared by now.

This side has been playing Tests on the subcontinent since August 2021 in the Caribbean. England's wipe-out of them at home was not an historic high point a year back.

They've had an upheaval since last playing (not uncommon in Pakistani cricket) with the removal/resignation of Babar Azam as Skipper. If his captaincy had issues, his batting does not.

From July last year, he's made 921 at 54. And while that is all on the low bouncing decks around home, consider his record here last time. He made a hundred in Brisbane and 97 in Adelaide.

Add on that he made 390 runs in that 2022 series and you can imagine him playing rather nicely now freed from the burdens of leadership.

At least he got some time at the crease in the Prime Minister's XI match at Manuka as did their new leader Shan Masood with a strong hundred.

They will need good, consistent and penetrative fast bowling from Shaheen Shah Afridi and Mir Hamza. But in many ways successful sides down under have spinners that keep things tight and scare the batting.

They will hope Abrar Ahmed can produce some strong googly action. A long term Aussie ethos is to attack the opposition spinner and knock their confidence. Travis Head is generally the chief fire starter and he arrives with the loftiest of self-assurance.

You would have to suggest Australia will do what they generally always have (bar against India) and go bullying opposing sides with plenty of pace and dominating batting from the off.

Sitting alongside that is going after the opposing Skipper. It was the old West Indies doctrine and quickly became the Aussie way. Shan Masood will need that form to keep flowing.

The deck will play the biggest influence but it might be fun to see Lance Morris let loose at home. If Green is left out he might well play. It's time we had fresh blood and at genuine tempo too.

If you feel like a gamble, you might as well stick with horses for courses. Marnus Labuschagne has played twice at Perth Stadium. His four scores are 143, 50, 204, 104*. Think we'll back him for 50+.

With deference to Walter Hagen, this Summer could well be played in a more subdued manner. That may not enliven the masses but the game is played in many and varied ways. We are the better for it.

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