A decision to prioritise the Test series left Australia ‘exposed’ against Pakistan who ran through the home team’s second-choice batting line-up in the series deciding ODI in Perth with more questions than answers about the next generation.
Being steered by fill-in skipper Josh Inglis, who was named in the Test squad on Sunday morning along with seven players who started the ODI series but didn’t finish it as Cricket Australia’s priorities were spelled out for all to see, two Australian players faced their first balls in international cricket on a shambolic Sunday.
A third failure in as many games from opener Jake Fraser-McGurk was the catalyst for a collapse which ended with Australia all out for 140, the lowest ODI score against Pakistan in 24 years with a suspected broken hand to second-gamer Cooper Connolly compounding issues which go beyond the result of the gam
As Pakistan quick Haris Rauf ran riot again, taking his wicket-haul to 11 with 2-24 in a likely man of the series performance , the frailties of what was really an Australia A batting line-up, save for Glenn Maxwell, who made a second duck in three games, was laid bare, all out for just 140 in the 32nd over.
Selectors made five changes to the line-up which was beaten in near record fashion in Adelaide on Friday, including installing Inglis as captain on the same day he was named in the Test squad with seven players who started the ODI series but didn’t finish it.
Cricket Australia jammed the matches into the November window to give ‘clear air’ for the Big Bash in January, but the readiness for many of the Australian players, and fans, could be questioned.
Three totals of 8-208, chasing at the MCG, 163 all out in Adelaide, and finally the series low 140 were way below par returns for the reigning World Cup winners, and the meagre crowds who mustered the energy to go watch.
Fraser-McGurk had one innings, making two for South Australia in a one-day game, in seven weeks before the series began, and his score of seven gave him only 36 series runs in the absence of Travis Head.
Then Aaron Hardie, elevated to number three, having made 23 runs in three innings for West Australia leading into the series, was out for a streaky 12, playing and missing more than once as Pakistan pace ace Shaheen Shah Afridi dialled in.
Four of Australia’s top five had a combined 27 ODI games under their belt but even Inglis, the most experienced and only one with an international century, couldn’t withstand the onslaught from the visiting quicks.
Out for only seven, after facing 19 balls of rapid-fire, his dismissal brought Connolly, in ODI number two, having made a duck in his last ODI for his state, to the crease in front of his home crowd.
Cooper Connolly (R) makes his way off the field after being hit on the hand (Photo by David Woodley / AFP) /
‘I’ve never seen an Australian batting line-up look so exposed,’ shocked former England captain Michael Vaughan said in commentary for Fox Sports as Australia slumped to 3-56 in the 10th over.
It was 4-75 when the second opener Short, the man most likely to be the full-time ODI replacement for David Warner, was out for 22 and then Connolly was rattled by a sizzling delivery from Mohammad Hasnain.
Looking distressed after being hit on the left hand, the 21-year-old was taken from the field by medical staff, and sent to hospital for scans.
When Glenn Maxwell, whose lead-in included a second XI red-ball game for Victoria, was out for a second duck in three innings, dismissed by Rauf for the third time in a row, and Marcus Stoinis, recalled for his first ODI in over a year, was out for eight, the bottom order was exposed.
Spencer Johnson and Lance Morris faced their first balls in ODI cricket with only Sean Abbott’s 30, including the only six of the Australian innings, the lone resistance.
FIRECRACKER FIZZLES
The excitement around 22-year-old Fraser- McGurk’s potential has been overwhelming through Australian cricket, including his ODI teammates who enthuse about the swashbuckling batter being ‘so exciting to watch’.
His stunning debut in the IPL in 2024, given his chance as a replacement for David Warner, as he has been in the Australian white-ball line-ups, delivered an ultra-impressive 330 runs in nine innings, during which he blasted 28 sixes, a team-high for the tournament.
But his selection in the ODI squad was more hopeful than earned, given his run haul this domestic summer totalled just two, in his only one-day game for South Australia, and he made just 81 runs in seven matches in the Major league cricket T20 tournament in the USA after his IPL heroics.
He finished the ODI series with 36 runs, lasting just 36 balls, but should have the T20 series to win back any trust lost through his unflattering performances for Australia since his electric 41 against the West Indies in February set tongues wagging.
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