Australia will field arguably their weakest Test line-up of the past 25 years against Pakistan in October, missing four of their six world-class players.
Already greatly weakened by the one-year bans handed to their two best batsmen, Steve Smith and David Warner, Australia have now lost gun quicks Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins, leaving them in an awfully vulnerable state.
Australia at full strength are only a middling Test team and now they’ve been left with only two world-class Test cricketers in left arm quick Mitchell Starc and off-spinner Nathan Lyon.
The remainder of their team to play the two Tests in Pakistan will be made up of rookies and a handful of veterans like 35-year-old Shaun Marsh, 31-year-old Usman Khawaja and 33-year-old Tim Paine. That trio will be handed huge responsibility in this series, but there is reason to doubt their ability to carry that load.
Marsh, at 35 years old, has a fantastic Test record in Sri Lanka but was an abject failure in his most recent series in Asia, averaging 19 across four Tests in India last year. The left-hander laboured badly against India’s tweakers and was again troubled by spin in Australia’s most recent Test series against South Africa, with Keshav Maharaj dismissing him three times.
Khawaja, meanwhile, has a famously awful Test record away from home, averaging just 25 from his 15 Tests outside Australia, and his returns are even worse in Asia where he’s averaged just 14 from five Tests. Then there’s Paine, who has not played a first-class match in Asia since eight years ago when he played the third and fourth Tests of his career in India.
Judging from Australia’s last Test tour against Pakistan four years ago, this veteran trio will be buffeted by spin across the upcoming two Tests. Back then, the Aussies were riding high after a 5-0 Ashes win and a 2-1 series win over a star-studded Proteas team in South Africa.
This time they’ll limp into the series missing four star players and fresh off the most tumultuous period in the modern era of Australian cricket.
Australia will also have a batting line-up which pales in comparison to the one which was humiliated by Pakistan in 2014. On that disastrous tour, which saw Australia handed consecutive Test hammerings, Australia had not just Smith and Warner, but also the masterful play of spinner Michael Clarke and consistent veteran Chris Rogers.
Yet still they fell in a heap against Pakistan’s spinners, with leggie Yasir Shah and left arm finger spinner Zulfiqar Babar combining to take 26 wickets at 22. This October, the pitches are expected to be similarly dry and spin-friendly and Pakistan will surely play two spinners against an Australian side renowned for its frailty against slow bowling.
While Australia competed well in India last year, their batting relied enormously on the genius of Smith, who put together one of the great series by a visiting batsman in India, amassing 499 runs at 71, including three tons.
Warner, meanwhile, was Australia’s best batsman on the last tour against Pakistan, averaging 60. It is very hard to see how Australia can put up even reasonable totals against Pakistan’s spinners without that duo.
Particularly when none of their three most experienced members of the top seven in Marsh, Khawaja and Paine have any recent successes against spin.
On the bowling front, Australia will greatly miss Cummins, who was outstanding in his Tests in Asia last year. The 25-year-old showed a very rare ability to wring life out of slow Asian pitches and was easily Australia’s best quick across the back-to-back series in India and Bangladesh.
With Hazlewood also ruled out of the Pakistan series through injury, Australia have no attractive pace option to pair with Starc. The likes of Jackson Bird and Chadd Sayers would seem likely to be innocuous on such lifeless pitches, while alternatives such as Jyhe Richardson and Chris Tremain would be making their Test debuts.
Australia’s chances of taking 20 wickets per Test will rest on the backs of Lyon and Starc, both of whom have had several moments of success in Asian conditions. With the bat, however, Australia have not one player who I can be confident will prosper in this series.
Australia will field a Test line-up which will be as weak as any I’ve seen in the past 25 years.
Larry1950
Guest
I hope they pick Billy Stanlake for this series, even if he doesn't play all tests. His height and bounce will trouble any batsman & the experience will do him the world of good. Pick a backup worker paceman to do the hack bowling, give Billy stints of 6-8 overs and get him into test cricket. I also reckon we'll see Renshaw cement his spot as a future leader in the side with the experience gained in England.
Rob
Guest
Whilst i understand the low expectation of many I'm with you Nudge. I would hope the players take the challenge of performing as an opportunity to secure their position in the team. Renshaw is a fantastic prospect and if you look at how well he preformed in the intial Test in india and against Pakistan at home he capable of setting a platform. Maxwell should bat no lower than 4 IMO. Shaun Marsh at 5.
Broken-hearted Toy
Guest
Jimmy Anderson said that there was something in it the pitch for the bowlers and the conditions overhead were ideal for the English bowlers. It was humid, overcast and wet on and off. The best batting day was Saturday and England were batting that day. Murali Vijay is probably the worst of the Indian batsmen for English conditions but gee, there is some stiff compeition.
Broken-hearted Toy
Guest
Everybody had a poor series in SA. If he can bowl I assume they will pick him. There is no way they'd let him skipper Aus A without him being in serious consideration for test cricket.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Some fine fighting establishment players back then who were often successful. Hughes, Yallop, Wood, Yardley, Higgs, Hurst, Hoggy.
George
Guest
The pitch was dry and India picked 2 spinners. Surface was hardly unfair.
DTM
Guest
I tried but I couldn't find it - anything on the Roar about the 2nd test at Lords. Plenty of articles on Stokes court case but no "news on the cricket" The ICC needs to reconsider test cricket - we have 2 of the best test cricket nations playing each other and the game was effectively over at the toss of the coin. Congratulations to England and I have no sympathy for India but is this really how we want test cricket to be going forward? If the home side prepares the wicket, the away side should have the option of batting or bowling first. Alternatively, install independent curators and create a fair playing surface.
Peter
Roar Rookie
Brings back memories of those heady days, when I was a wee tacker, of Craig Serjeant and Gary Cosier.
Matt H
Roar Guru
It's a long shot, but maybe he should be looking at forging a second career as a batsman. He has the technique, but of course his focus has always been bowling. And if his body allows he might be able to roll his arm over as a support bowler in the Shane Watson mould.
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Ah well. They'll just have to do their best.
Cantab
Guest
Will be an interesting series for sure. You never know what you’ll get when you play Pakistan.
Timmuh
Roar Guru
I fear you may well be correct, but hope he can still get a couple of years in. If all he can do without too much risk is the T20 circus, fair enough, but such a waste.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Yes. However, these boys have shown what they are capable of and all they need is to start the season in hot form and the world is their oyster.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
I'm a fan of Cartwright but he is in a deep and long form trough right now. In his last 20 first-class matches he's averaged just 25 with the bat.
mrrexdog
Roar Guru
Injury
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
The other one that most probably haven't heard much about but has also missed one and a half seasons with injury is Cameron Green. Great debut and then injury struck.
Don Freo
Roar Rookie
Some regularly achieving younger batsmen who could easily step up without a hiccough include Weatherald, Cartwright, Ashton Turner, Marcus Harris and Marnus Labuschagne. The younger blokes that could really stamp themselves include Will Pucovski, Jake Doran and Ben McDermott.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
Would love to see Paris get a full season of cricket in this summer, he's got huge talent. WA have three guys with serious Test potential who just can't stay fit - Behrendorff, Coulter-Nile and Paris.
Ronan O'Connell
Expert
You could be right but I think a 28-year-old with Pattinson's high level of all-round talent could improve massively if he just focused on the shorter formats. The shorter formats have always been a clear distant priority for Pattinson, who has always talked about focusing on his Test career.
Dom
Guest
Nudge, Probably the best batting line up we can muster without Smith and Warner. Similarly the bowlers you've selected will do a job without Cummins and Hazelwood. My only concern is the lack of a genuine 5th bowling option. Granted the spinners will most likely do the bulk of bowling however if one doesn't perform that places a lot of pressure on the two quicks. Maxwell isn't a genuine test option in my view.