The decision to prioritize the Test series left Australia “exposed” against Pakistan, who went through the home team’s second-choice batting line-up in the ODI series decider in Perth with more questions than answers about the next generation.
Led by stand-in captain Josh Inglis, who was named in the Test squad on Sunday morning along with seven players who started the ODI series but did not finish it as Cricket Australia’s priorities were spelled out for all to see, two players Australians faced their first balls in international cricket on a chaotic Sunday.
A third failure in as many games from opener Jake Fraser-McGurk was the catalyst for a collapse that ended with Australia all out for 140, the lowest ODI score against Pakistan in 24 years with a suspected fracture in the second bowler’s hand. Cooper Connolly, which aggravated the problems. that go beyond the result of the game
As Pakistani quick Haris Rauf went on a rampage again, taking his wicket haul to 11 with 2-24 in a likely man-of-the-series performance, the weaknesses of what was really an Australia A batting line-up, barring Glenn Maxwell, who took a second duck in three games, was exposed, all out for just 140 in the 32nd over.
Selectors made five changes to the line-up that was almost record-breaking in Adelaide on Friday, including installing Inglis as captain on the same day he was named in the Test squad with seven players starting the ODI series but not finishing. he.
Cricket Australia packed matches into the November window to give “clean air” for January’s Big Bash, but the readiness of many of Australia’s players and fans could be questioned.
Three totals of 8-208, chasing at the MCG, 163 at Adelaide, and finally the series low of 140 were well below par returns for the reigning World Cup winners and the sparse crowds who mustered the energy to go to look.
Fraser-McGurk had one innings, making two for South Australia in a one-day game, seven weeks before the series began, and his score of seven gave him just 36 runs of the series in the absence of Travis Head.
Then Aaron Hardie, elevated to number three, having made 23 runs in three innings for Western Australia before the series, was out for a spell of 12, bowling and failing more than once as Pakistan ace Shaheen Shah Afridi marked.
Four of Australia’s top five had a combined total of 27 ODI games under their belt, but even Inglis, the most experienced and the only one with an international century, could not withstand the onslaught of the quick visitors.
Out for just seven, after facing 19 rapid fire balls, his dismissal brought Connolly, in ODI number two, having taken a duck in his last ODI for his state, to the crease in front of his home crowd.
Cooper Connolly (right) leaves the field after receiving a blow to the hand (Photo by David Woodley / AFP) /
“I’ve never seen an Australian batting line-up so exposed,” said shocked former England captain Michael Vaughan in commentary for Fox Sports as Australia fell to 3-56 in the 10th over.
It was 4-75 when 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 rocked by a sizzling delivery from Mohammad Hasnain.
Looking distraught after receiving a blow to his left hand, the 21-year-old was carried off the field by medical staff and sent to hospital for scans.
When Glenn Maxwell, whose start included a second red-ball , was out for eight, the lower order was exposed.
Spencer Johnson and Lance Morris faced their first balls in ODI cricket with just 30 from Sean Abbott, including the only six of the Australian innings, the only resistance.
The firecracker disappears
The excitement around 22-year-old Fraser-Mcgurk’s potential has been overwhelming across Australian cricket, including his ODI teammates, who enthused that the swashbuckling batsman is “so exciting to watch”.
His impressive IPL debut in 2024, given his opportunity as David Warner’s replacement as he has been in Australian white-ball lineups, produced an ultra-impressive 330 runs in nine innings, during which he hit 28 sixes. , a record for the team in the tournament.
But his selection in the ODI team was more hopeful than deserved, given that his domestic haul this summer amounted to just two, in his only one-day game for South Australia, and he made just 81 runs in seven matches in T20 cricket. the Major Leagues. tournament in the US after his heroics in the IPL.
He finished the ODI series with 36 runs, which lasted just 36 balls, but should have the T20 series to regain the confidence lost by his unflattering performances for Australia since his electric 41 against the West Indies in February set tongues wagging.