By Saj
December 12 2004

A summary of the tour of Australia so far, a look at whether the Pak youngsters are prepared for this tour and also a look ahead to the 1st test match which starts on 16th December. In all honesty I would say I was never truly looking forward to the Australian tour and events since Pakistan touched down on Australian soil have made me cringe even more. A defeat to a Western Australian 2nd XI and defeat inside 3 days to the Western Australia first team obviously do not bode well for the upcoming series.

The wait for the test matches to commence is like the dentists appointment wherein you know that one of your teeth are going to be extracted and there is not much you can do about it, other than just wait for the day to arrive and get it over and done with. The tour of Australia and the visit to the dentist have another thing in common – both could be very painful experiences, and both could result in a feeling of numbness afterwards.

To say that this tour of Australia has arrived 2 years too early for this Pakistan team is of course an understatement. The current crop of players are extremely inexperienced in Australian conditions with only a handful of them having toured Australia previously. We often talk about the PCBs lack of foresight and planning, well here is a prime example of it – surely Australia is a place that most, if not all of the current players should have played in by now either at senior level or at “A” level. The fact that overseas “A” tours in recent times have concentrated mainly on visiting other Asian countries and Kenya speaks volumes for the PCB and their total lack of foresight and planning. The bottom line is that players such as Salman Butt and Danish Kaneria should not be playing cricket in Australia for the first time in their careers and to expect “miracles” from them on their first visit down under is almost criminal. Whilst we expect a lot from our cricketers I do firmly believe that the pen pushers at the PCB really need to look at themselves and their role in hindering the progress of Pakistani cricket.

The saving grace for Pakistan and a straw to clutch is that we are supposedly a “Big Match” outfit and should not be written off. Well they do not come any bigger than 3 tests against the best team in the world. The warmup matches have been a total disaster but Pakistani fans should be accustomed to this sort of debacle at the start of an Australian tour, as this is of course a regular occurrence and has been the pattern for decades. Former Pakistani players are giving the team no chance and the vast majority of fans all around the world are expecting heavy defeats in all 3 tests. However at the end of the day its not the fans or the former players who can cause an upset, but the players themselves. I for one, and no doubt many other fans am a realist and realise that whilst we may have the occasional good session against the Australians and may ruffle their feathers occasionally, but in reality their firepower and home advantage will be too strong.

At the end of this test series I hope we can look back and say yes the boys tried their best but were beaten by a better and stronger team, instead of recalling incidents where our team just gave in and just completely folded at every opportunity. Technically and collectively the Australians are a far superior outfit to the tourists, but remember cricket is played on grass and not on paper. What the Pakistanis need to do is to fight for every wicket, for every run and every catch – even that may not be enough, but nobody will begrudge them if they have given 100% in every session. The effort or lack of it, will be closely scrutinised by the millions of Pakistani fans watching the action all around the globe.

The inability to cope with the bounce on Australian and South African wickets has been the achilles heel of past and present Pakistani batsmen. Better players than Imran Farhat, Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed and Asim Kamal have struggled in the past, so why should we expect any better from this bunch? The message I would convey to the Pakistani batsmen is that on wickets such as Perth you can leave the ball on length rather than the line of the delivery, so the majority of short of a length deliveries can be left alone. However the Pakistani batsman prefer the sound of leather on willow and feel the incessant need to try to connect with the ball as often as possible. Reports from the warmup matches suggest that the Pakistani players were pushing at deliveries that they did not need to play at and were edging these deliveries to the slip and gully region. A change in planning and approach is much needed and Mr Woolmer will need to enforce this upon the players, otherwise the averages of Messrs McGrath, Gillespie and co. will receive a major boost and the hands of Messrs Warne, Hayden and the other slip fielders for Australia will be regularly warmed by thin edges.

The Australians will undoubtedly target the outside off stump line and it remains to be seen if the Pakistani players have the patience to make the Australians change their approach. All the Aussie “big guns” are waiting to fire whilst the Pakistani big guns seem to be without the touch paper required to help them fire back. A battle of firepower or a mismatch remains to be seen.

The key players for Pakistan in my opinion are no surprises, Inzamam ul Haq, Yousuf Youhana, Shoaib Akhtar and Danish Kaneria are the aces who need to be on top of their game in the test series. The captain and vice captain need to hold together a brittle looking batting lineup and the 2 aforementioned bowlers hold the key to Pakistan bowling the home team out twice. However, fitness concerns are clouding over Shoaib Akhtar, Inzamam has had a horrible tour with the bat and Yousuf Youhana has had a mixed bag, so the garden of Pakistani does not look very rosy at the moment.

I am of the opinion that the opening partnership is vital to Pakistans challenge and given the negativity and concerns surrounding numbers 1 and 2 in the batting order, a partnership of 50 would be a major milestone in Perth and would raise morale and confidence in the remaining batsmen.

Pakistans bowling in on this tour so far has been erratic to say the least and it will be interesting to see if the Pakistani think tank responds by taking a gamble on one of the rookie pacemen Asif or Khalil, rather than the frightening thought of Abdul Razzaq being first change. Shoaib Akhtar will be looked upon to provide the hostile spells and attempt to rattle the cages of the Aussie batsman, however it is imperative that the likes of Mohamed Sami now fulfil early promise and rise to the challenge of playing against a solid, experienced and resolute batting lineup. It is definitely time for Sami to step up and prove his worth to the Pakistani test team, as a bowling average of 45.34 does not do justice to his potential and whilst the coach and skipper always back Sami, the selectors may not be as patient with him, should he have a poor tour.

The tour in itself is a huge challenge for the Pakistani team and despite the negativity surrounding the team from most quarters Inzamam and his men or shall I say boys, needs to get the practice matches out of their heads, realise that it is eleven versus eleven and for them to focus on playing good competitive cricket. The skippers role will be vital and his body language and general demeanour needs to be positive and alert. Too often in the past he has hidden himself away at slip and let his charges simply get on with over after over of mediocre cricket – however Inzamam your country needs a super tour from you with both bat and as captain !

Well, the holidays from work are booked, the Sky subscription renewed, the coffee supplies have been purchased and the snacks have been bought so lets bring it on !