Australia tour of Pakistan: Hosts confirm first Test pitch was designed to nullify Aussie quicks
Anger over the pitch which ruined Australia’s return to Pakistan has reached political levels, with a close ally of Prime Minister and cricket legend Imran Khan lashing out.
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The state of the Rawalpindi pitch has become a political issue with a senior government Minister condemning the surface which was questioned by Pat Cummins but defended by PCB chief Ramiz Raja.
Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Raja conceded Cummins was right and the historically bad pitch at Rawalpindi was designed to blunt the Australian bowling attack.
“Extremely disappointed on PCB choosing a dead wicket for a historic Test match,” Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Fawad Hussain, said on Thursday.
“With such a furious (Pakistan) pace attack why would we need such dead pitches?
“Test match after 24 years and look at the pitch, hope they will give positive cricket a chance in next matches.”
Fawad is a close ally of Prime Minister and former Test star Imran Khan who took a helicopter to meetings in Karachi on Wednesday to ensure his cavalcade would not inconvenience the Australians who were making their way from airport at the time.
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Australia’s fast bowling attack is considered best in the world but was given no chance on a wicket which provided little seam and slow bounce.
There bowling average of 283.3 a wicket was the worst in cricket history as the home side made 4-935 in the draw.
The PCB chair claimed injuries to some Pakistan seamers and having two inexperienced openers was another reason for doctoring the wicket and ruining the contest.
“I understand the frustration of the fans – undoubtedly it would have been very good if we had a result, but this is a three-Test series, and we need to understand that a lot of cricket still remains to be played. Just for the heck of it, we can’t prepare a fast pitch or a bouncy pitch and put the game in Australia’s lap,” he said.
“It’s important that when we play at home, we play to our strengths.
“We also had limited resources, unfortunately. Our opening-ball pair was disturbed because Hasan Ali and Faheem were both unfit. Similarly we had a brand-new opening pair – Abdullah Shafique had only played 2-3 matches, and we were keeping a worrisome eye on his form, and whether he could handle such a good bowling attack or not. Imam-ul-Haq was also making a comeback.
“So when your opening batting pair and bowling pair are both disturbed and raw, you can’t take chances. Our legspinner wasn’t ready, Yasir Shah was unfit, so we got on the field with an under-resourced 15, and Australia, don’t forget, are a global powerhouse, and were coming here after winning the Ashes. We respect their talent. So we couldn’t go into experimental mode so early, keeping our strengths in mind.
“I understand that we have gained a lot of confidence from this performance. The batting has sparkled, and on the bowling front, a spinner [Nauman Ali] has taken six wickets. So these are bright points.”
Faheem Ashraf missed the first Test through injury and will miss the second after testing positive to Covid.
Ramiz asked for patience as he promised to improve wickets around the country but conceded that the plan was to limit the effectiveness the Australian attack on a wicket which traditionally favours pace then win the series on the spinning decks at Karachi and Lahore.
Speaking after the match Cummins was diplomatic but clearly annoyed by the home side’s tactic in the first Test Australia had played in Pakistan for 24 years.
“It wasn’t a super fair contest between bat and ball,” he said.
“Turning up to a pitch that’s probably not a traditional pitch you would get here in Rawalpindi, and it’s probably clear they’ve made an effort to try and nullify the pace bowling.
“I think that’s a positive. And, subcontinent conditions, coming away with a draw it’s not a bad result.”
Ramiz said when he took over the job last year that Pakistan’s pitches needed an overhaul and had defended the wicket before making the concession about ensuring Australia not win the match.
Only 14 wickets fell across the five days of the match which featured a string of batting records.
“A drawn match is never a good advertisement for Test cricket, and I totally understand that we need to get a result in five days these days, and we get it 90% [of the time], but I want to remind you of 2-3 things,” Ramiz said.
“First of all, a number of headlines were in relation to the comments I made when I took over [as chairman] that pitches in Pakistan need to be redone, massively redone, but I took over in September and the season had already begun.
“It takes 5-6 months to prepare pitches, and during the off-season, you will see – soil is coming from Australia; we’ve experimented, consulted soil experts and prepared soils, and we will redo 50-60 pitches all over Pakistan once our season ends in March-April.”
Ramiz seemed to have a bet both ways in the strange video.
“Fans should understand that we will make every effort to have a result-oriented series, but you can’t wave a magic wand and get green pitches or result-oriented pitches,” he said.
“We need to beat Australia, and we need to prepare our strategy accordingly, and the strategy is for low-bouncy tracks where reverse can happen, where lbw and bowled will be in play, where our spinners can show their performance, and where the batters, who have grown up on low-bounce pitches, can utilize that advantage.
“I want to say again that it wasn’t a good advertisement, but keep your morale high and keep watching. It’s a big achievement to have brought so many great Australian players here, and on an individual level there’s a lot to look forward to, from both the Pakistan team and the Australian team. I hope that this series, going forward, will become more interesting, but only one match is done, so don’t jump the gun, there’s a lot of cricket to be played.”
NO BAITING, NO ABUSE: TOURING AUSSIES IN FAN HEAVEN
David Warner can’t wipe the smile off his face. The Australian team is not used to being celebrated as heroes away from home. Jeers not cheers are the norm where ever they go.
The opener, who entertained the enthusiastic crowd on the fifth day with dance moves, winks and waves, is having the time of his life in Pakistan.
Warner was one of the players more hesitant about what they would find in Pakistan, but he came on the assurances of the administration and the encouragement of his childhood friend Usman Khawaja.
“The fans have been amazing,” he said. “It’s unreal.”
Pat Cummins might have been disappointed by the Rawalpindi pitch but he is of the same mind as Warner when it comes to everything else.
“They were fantastic – the crowd,” he said. “Really passionate for Pakistan but really respectful and great for our players as well. I loved that. Every time we walked onto the field, they’re chanting and trying to get waves from our players, which is awesome.”
The welcome the side has received cannot be overstated, the security provided is excessive but not as claustrophobic or alarming as you might think – players have become accustomed to the bubbles – but the warmth and excitement of the locals is overwhelming.
The Australians are not used to be lauded in another land. In England, India, and South Africa they are baited and abused – mostly with good humour but it can often be ugly.
There has been none of that in Pakistan thus far. Historically Pakistan shared a reputation with India as one of the worst tours in terms of crowd behaviour, although often the riots that would break out in the crowd related to other matters.
And in recent history, Australian cricket gained a deserved reputation as a self-interested citizen, one the most reluctant to tour, the least likely to see beyond it’s own self interest.
Chief executive Nick Hockley, who fly home on Wednesday, says that if this tour continues in the manner it has started Australia will be sending its women's, Under 19s and A sides on tours.
“I understand where that (poor) reputation has come from historically,” he said.
“One of the greatest disappointments during my time in the role is that we’ve been unable to go to South Africa last March. That was a different set of circumstances, and that was because we weren’t vaccinated (for Covid), so there was a very real health risk. That’s now changed.
“I think that we have demonstrated since that we’ve toured the West Indies, we’ve toured Bangladesh, in white ball tours. That was a very challenging time during the pandemic, but at that point we were vaccinated. I’d like to think that it in that time, if you take this tour (of Pakistan), if you take those tours, we’ve started to change that perception.
“And more broadly if you look at the likes of Pakistan, Bangladesh, it feels here that 220 million people have been glued to this, it’s a really emerging cricketing power in that sense. So, I can only see that, with the relationships that we have built through the course of this process, I can only see us wanting to tour more often.
“What that means is not necessarily just the Australian men’s team, but the U19s, the Australian women’s team, (men’s) A tours etc. We’re talking about a whole range of different collaborations between the two boards. This was just a really, really important first step.”
Australia has a poor reputation of another sort in Karachi. Touring teams have lost five of the eight Test matches they have played in the sea port to the south west of the first venue.
Cummins indicated selectors would be looking to play two spinners if the conditions present as they traditionally do – something he believes twas not the case in Rawalpindi.
Mitchell Swepson is the man most likely to put the baggy green on his head for the first time, although Ashton Agar is another option.
Josh Hazlewood is assumed to be the seamer who will have to make way for the 28-year-old Queensland leg spinner.
Swepson has played seven T20 internationals for Australia and squeezed in three Sheffield Shield games for his home state in February with limited success.
He impressed with 17 wickets at 38 in his debut summer (2015-16) with Queensland but has only played 14 first-class matches.
Swepson caught the eye of Shane Warne in the BBL and was called into the Australian squad in January 2020 as a second spinning option at the SCG but not used.
Hazlewood in danger as Cummins hints at key changes
Australian captain Pat Cummins believes the ground staff at Rawalpindi sedated the pitch in the first match, but indicated it was in some ways a compliment to the Australian seam attack.
The skipper said he would be leaning toward playing two spinners in Karachi and Lahore for the second and third Tests which leave selectors with a tough choice on who to leave out of the XI which played the first.
It could be bad news for Josh Hazlewood, with Mitchell Starc’s left arm point of difference giving him an edge over the ever reliable seamer who is ranked eighth in the world and has 215 wickets.
Hazlewood missed four Ashes Tests in the summer with injury.
“We’ll have a look at the wicket first,” he said.
“I think they may have been helpful here, but that didn’t make too much difference.
“Here you are probably expecting more up and down bounce and reverse swing, which lends more support to fast bowlers rather than spinners.
“Karachi and Lahore two spinners is probably the way to go but we will have a look.”
Cummins tried not to be too critical of the benign pitch which destroyed any chance of a result in the historic Rawalpindi game.
Only 14 wickets fell in the Test in which Pakistani batters posted a number of records.
“It wasn’t a super fair contest between bat and ball,” he said.
“Turning up to a pitch that’s probably not a traditional pitch you would get here in Rawalpindi, and it’s probably clear they’ve made an effort to try and nullify the pace bowling.
“I think that’s a positive. And, subcontinent conditions, coming away with a draw it’s not a bad result.”
Cummins worked hard to ensure he did not put too much workload into his quicks and said the game provided a number of positives for the visitors with most of the top order scoring runs — even if none reached triple figures.
“I think we all tried different things,” Cummins said.
“I think all the quick bowlers, although we’ve spent the best part of three days out in the field, I think we’ve all bowled around about 25, maximum 30 overs each, which in comparison to a lot of Australian Test matches is actually a pretty light workload.
“Didn’t get a huge look at reverse swing this Test, but that might come into it later on. But I was really happy with how everyone went and everyone’s come through unscathed.”
The Australian captain said the side enjoyed experience of being part of the first Australian Test team to play in Pakistan for 24 years.
“They were fantastic, the crowd,” he said.
“Really passionate crowd for obviously Pakistan but really respectful and great for our players as well. I loved that. Every time we walked onto the field they’re chanting and trying to get waves from our players, which is awesome.”
The Pakistan batters made the most of the conditions.
Only 14 wickets fell in the entire match.
Imam-ul-Haq became the 10th Pakistani batter to score centuries in both innings of a Test.
Openers Imam and Abdullah Shafique’s set a record for the most runs (357) scored by an opener pair in partnership against Australia.
Shafique (136no) and Imam (111no) put on the highest partnership against Australia for Pakistan.
It was the first time in Test history a match featured three consecutive first wicket century stands.
Australia’s wickets cost an average of 182 a piece — the second highest ever.
“I thought the Pakistani batters batted really well the whole game,” Cummins said. “Got themselves in and then once they got themselves in they were able to just tick over the score.
“We’ll spend the next couple days reviewing it having a look at maybe different plans ahead of Karachi, expecting probably different conditions as well.
Originally published as Australia tour of Pakistan: Hosts confirm first Test pitch was designed to nullify Aussie quicks
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