Tour of UAE to play v Pakistan  2014-15           Captain: Michael Clarke

Australia’s 93rd Test tour

(October - November 2014)

14th Test-playing tour to meet Pakistan by Australia

(previous tour to play Pakistan:  

               2010 in England)

Australia had not toured Pakistan since 1998. The two previous Test series abroad against Pakistan were on neutral territory, the last in 2010 when the teams met in England in the ‘Spirit of Cricket’ series, which was drawn one-all.

As part of their preparations, a pitch was designed in Brisbane to imitate the spinning conditions expected and Muralitharan was hired as a spin bowling consultant to guide both the bowlers and batsmen.

While this may have helped achieve four consecutive victories in the limited-overs section of the tour, Australia was heavily beaten in the first Test match by two spinners new to Test cricket though having long experience in Pakistan’s domestic cricket.The second Test turned out even worse, for Australia were completely outplayed in every department and set a target of 603! So Pakistan put right the humiliation suffered twelve years before when Australia bowled them out for 59 and 53 in Sharjah, by consigning them now to a 356-run defeat.

Other Australian Tours

Previous tour

South Africa 2013-14

Next tour

England 2015

Next tour of Pakistan

none scheduled

Members of the Test tour party (15  + 1)

Opening batsmen  Chris Rogers, David Warner

Middle-order batsmen: Michael Clarke, Alex Doolan, Steve Smith, Philip Hughes

All-rounders  Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell

Wicket-keeper  Brad Haddin

Spin bowlers  Nathan Lyon, Steve O’Keefe

Fast bowlers: Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson, Mitchell Starc

State representation

 Sheffield Shield teams

NSW   New South Wales (7)

Qld  Queensland (0)

SA   South Australia (0)

Tas  Tasmania (2)

Vic   Victoria  (4)

WA  Western Australia (1)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(20 October 2014) :

   29 yrs   2   months

ODI - member of the squad for ODI series.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Clarke 105,  Johnson 59,  Haddin 57,  Siddle 53,  Lyon 33,  Warner 30,  Hilfenhaus 27,  Hughes 26,  Smith 20,  Rogers 14,  Starc 12,  Doolan 3,  Maxwell 2,  Faulkner 1,  O’Keefe 0,  M R Marsh 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

Rodney Marsh  (national selector),  Trevor Hohns,  Mark Waugh,  Darren Lehmann (coach).

Selection

Unavailable :  Ryan Harris  (following knee surgery),  Shaun Marsh (elbow ligament injury);  Ashton Agar (knee tendon); Pat Cummins (for the T20), playing for Kolkata Knight Riders

Test team announced:  8 September 2014.

Withdrawal   Shane Watson withdrew from the tour on 21 September because of a calf injury. Ben Hilfenhaus replaced him for the Test series, and Kane Richardson came in to the limited-overs squads

Michael Clarke withdrew from the one-day side to give more time rest his left hamstring, and Philip Hughes took his place in the squad while George Bailey became the captain for the three ODIs

Time between selection and departure from Australia

   days

 (8 September -  September)

Travel

  Q

The Australians trained on a specially-prepared spinners pitch in Brisbane as part of their preparations.

1st match  3 October 2014

Clarke travelled to UAE a week before the rest of the Test specialists to get fit in time for the Test series. Doherty arrived in Sharjah on Wed 8 October

Time spent in U A E

   x days

(September - November)

On-tour selection

Reinforcements

Xavier Doherty was added to the ODI squad when Mitchell Marsh withdrew because of a hamstring pull.

On 11 October James Faulkner, already on tour with the limited-overs squad, was added to the Test squad, as cover for Mitchell Marsh

Fixtures/Results

⊕(T20)  Twenty/20

§  one-day international

Time spent in UAE before First Test:

  x days

(September- 20 October)

Test appearances on tour

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

⊕ T/20 international

∙  played for opposition

W won  L lost  D drawn   N no result   A abandoned   u unknown result

All members of the Test squad except Warner played in the match against Pakistan A

Australia’s six previous Test tour results:

in South Africa 2014 (3 Tests)

 -  won 2-1

in England 2013  (5 Tests)

 - lost 0-3

in India 2012-13 (4 Tests)

 - lost 0-4

in West Indies 2012 (3 Tests)

 - won 2-0

in South Africa 2011 (2 Tests)

 - drawn 1-1

in Sri Lanka 2011 (3 Tests)

 - won 1-0

in India 2010-11 (2 Tests)

 - lost 0-2

Highlights

•   Geoff Marsh presented his son Mitchell with his Australian cap, the second of his sons to play Test cricket.

•   Chris Rogers and David Warner opened with 128 for the first wicket, Warner going on to a century (133)

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to Australia

Q

2nd Test ends  3 November.

Time away from Australia

  x days  

(1 October to November )

Finances

Postscript