Pakistan set to write next morbid chapter in sorrowful story of Asian cricket teams on Australian tours

SOME truly brutal and sorrowful statistics define the endless tale of agony of Asian cricket teams on Australia tours, a story which seems set for another morbid chapter, writes Robert Craddock.

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA - DECEMBER 16: Yasir Shah of Pakistan appeals to the umpire during day two of the First Test match between Australia and Pakistan at The Gabba on December 16, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

THE numbers are simply brutal. Years of toil: 69. Series contested: 29. Series wins: 0.

These sorrowful statistics define the endless tale of agony of Asian cricket teams on Australia tours, a story which seems set for another morbid chapter if this Pakistan tour goes the way we think it will.

India (11), Pakistan (11), Sri Lanka (six) and Bangladesh (1) have played 29 series in Australia without winning one since Bill Brown took block against India at the Gabba in the first Test here against a side from that region 69 years ago.

It’s quite extraordinary. You don’t expect the visitors to win the majority or even many … but a doughnut?

Yasir Shah was near wits end on day two after three dropped catches of his bowling.

Even if this gifted yet fragile Pakistan team won a trophy this tour it would be a waste of time – they’d drop it.

Australia’s bounce does to the Asian teams what their spin does to Australia in Asia.

But while Australia sometimes bats with all the poise of beached whale in Asia they have at least dug out 12 series wins there.

LISTEN: Robert Craddock and Cate McGregor discuss Pakistan’s stunning collapse on day two of the first Test in Brisbane, with Australia closing in on a crushing win.

Of course the bounce of Australian decks is an excuse for Asian teams - it is easier for batsmen to adjust downward for in bounce in Asia than up in Australia - but to use that as the escape hatch for all blame is off the mark.

Pure desire is a big issue and it tells in the most basic skills of all – fielding and catching.

Dean Jones got a deafening silence on radio yesterday when he asked could any name a genuinely brilliant Pakistan fieldsman from any era?

It’s sad. Their wonderful bowlers deserve better. Leg-spinner Yasir Shah would smile if his car broke down but he was near wits end on day two after three dropped catches of his bowling.

Just as Australian teams often have a certain defeatist vibe about them on the Indian subcontinent, so teams from India and Pakistan often walk out to bat here looking like tourists to Rio de Janeiro worried about getting the pockets picked.

It’s not been the easiest of rides for Pakistan so far

How much do they really want to win here? Is Australia just another exotic port on the never ending treadmill?

Are the Pakistan slips cordon prepared to put in the hours taking catches with their fingers pointing to the sky rather than downwards like at home?

To win in Australia you normally have to be driven to the point of obsession.

A few weeks before Faf du Plessis’ South Africans landed here for their victorious tour I spoke to a South African journalist about spinner Tabraiz Shamsi’s Test prospects and he said “he’s playing in Adelaide only.’’ And so he did.

The South Africans spent months thrashing out every last detail of “Mission Australia’’ and they got their just rewards. They were driven men. There is no other way to win here.

The chances of Pakistan winning in Australia are actually receding by the tour as schedules tighten.

Warming up for Australia at the Gabba with just a solitary three-day game against a group of up and comers in Cairns was like preparing to face Floyd Mayweather by facing a local flyweight.

Originally published as Pakistan set to write next morbid chapter in sorrowful story of Asian cricket teams on Australian tours