- The Australian ODI team lost in embarrassing fashion on Sunday
- Most of the team was rested ahead of the India Test series.
Australian captain Pat Cummins was nowhere to be found when his team was beaten in embarrassing fashion on Sunday, and what he did instead will infuriate cricket fans.
Just under 20,000 die-hard Australian fans attended the ODI series decider against Pakistan at Perth’s 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium.
That figure was likely inflated, as cameras revealed the large number of empty seats in the stadium.
The fans’ reward was that Australia waved a huge white flag, opting to drop Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood from the lineup ahead of the Test series against India.
Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head were also absent to be present at the birth of their respective children, but Cummins was in Sydney to attend a Coldplay concert with his wife Becky.
The piecemeal Australian team was dismantled 9-140 in 31.5 overs, rising star Cooper Connolly suffered a broken hand and the visitors cruised to victory with time remaining for the Australian fans to return home for dinner.
Former Australian great Mark Waugh criticized the match as “pointless” and said removing so many top players cheapened the Australian cap.
Pat Cummins posted a photo of him and his wife Becky attending a Coldplay concert while the Australian ODI team was being thrashed by Pakistan.
Cricket Australia has been accused of cheapening the value of the Australian team after resting a large number of players for the ODI against Pakistan with the series on the line.
There were large spaces of empty seats at Optus Stadium as cricket fans stayed away en masse after the Australian selectors sent a second-string team.
Cummins posted a photo of him attending the Coldplay concert with Becky, who posted the caption “Excitement levels are high” along with a selfie on Instagram, as excitement levels for the Australian ODI team hit an all-time low.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke led the chorus of disapproval of the performance and the selections, saying Cricket Australia “doesn’t care about losing”.
“I’m a bit confused, so 11 days between now and the first Test, why can’t the Australian boys who are part of this Test series play in one day?” he said on his Big Sports Breakfast radio show. .
‘They will go to training and they will be whipped.
“If Australia had won the first two matches then you can understand why they rested their big fish, but it was a series on the line.
‘You can’t expect fans to want to come and watch cricket in one day. We are packing one day cricket, no one comes, no interest, wonder why.
‘I feel like we obviously don’t mind losing that series. If you don’t care, we won’t care.
‘I think we were wrong. I understand resting for Test cricket, I love that, but it’s a one-day game. In training they will play more than that.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke (pictured) was furious with the current team for resting so many players with the series still live.
The terrible defeat marked the first time that no Australian batsman has recorded a half-century in an ODI series of three or more matches.
Pacer Sean Abbott saved Australia from further humiliation with a late 30th goal.
“Very disappointing,” alternate captain Josh Inglis said.
‘We clearly didn’t get enough runs on the board, and our entire batting line-up didn’t really click throughout the series.
“We probably all need to look at ourselves individually and find ways to improve and continue to improve.”