Gilchrist: Aussies must be more patient

Cricket great Adam Gilchrist says Australia’s main issue is a mental one ahead of Thursday’s second Test against Pakistan Abu Dhabi.

The 96-Test veteran watched Australia’s 221-run loss in last week’s first Test while he was in Dubai for a university promotion.

Gilchrist is famous for his big-hitting style including his 57-ball hundred – the second-fastest in Test history – against England in Perth in 2006.

But the 42-year-old Gilchrist says Australia need to show more patience in the United Arab Emirates on the slow-paced pitches.

“I don’t see it as a skill issue,” the former wicketkeeper/batsman told “The National” newspaper.

“I see it as a mental issue.

“What Pakistan did was play good, old-fashioned, patient Test cricket.

“Culturally, as a cricketing nation, we find it hard to make that adjustment, particularly initially.

“We are a fast-paced cricket team and have been for decades.

“Attack is our best form of defence, but there are times when you have to realise the need to shut down. It is not our natural instinct to do that.”

Former Pakistan allrounder Mudassar Nazar, who works for the ICC Academy in Dubai, says Pakistan’s style of play contrasts sharply with Australia’s.

“Pakistan in subcontinental conditions play at a different tempo to other teams,” Nazar told AAP before the first Test.

An example of this was Younis Khan’s first-innings score of 106 came in five hours and 18 minutes in Dubai, setting up a match-winning total of 454.

Australia are still talking up the need for aggression, with coach Darren Lehmann saying after the Dubai Test that his side were timid at times with the bat.

Lehmann is concerned his players aren’t watching the spinning ball closely enough, but he’s also demanding an attacking approach.

“It’s about having that belief in watching the ball, reading the ball off the wicket and playing an aggressive brand,” Lehmann said.

“We were a little bit timid at stages and we’ve got to be a little bit more aggressive I would think.”