Cricket Australia chief executive Nick Hockley has responded to the drama between former teammates Mitchell Johnson and David Warner, saying he’s confident the Test side will “do their talking on the pitch” ahead of the first match against Pakistan.
Hockley also said the freak storm that hit Canberra and ended the Prime Minister’s XI match against Pakistan was “really unfortunate”, with the tourists unimpressed with the standard of the pitch at Manuka Oval in what was their only practice match ahead of the Test series starting on Thursday.
Runs flowed in Canberra for the first three days before a wild electrical storm on Friday night blew the covers off the pitch and exposed it to heavy rain, which forced umpires to call the game off.
Former all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been appointed head coach and team director for the tour and made it clear that he was not happy with the lifeless pitch that was nothing like what the visitors will experience at Optus Stadium.
“We ticked most of the boxes as a team, but obviously really surprised and disappointed with the arrangements in Canberra,” Hafeez told reporters on Monday.
“The pitch we received for the practice (match in Canberra), that was the slowest we can ever, ever play on as a visiting team in Australia.”
Shan Masood made the most of the conditions to hit an unbeaten 201 for Pakistan before the wild weather ruled out any chance of a miracle result on the final day.
“I think it was really unfortunate that the game couldn’t be completed,” Hockley said on Tuesday morning.
“There was some serious weather coming in overnight ahead of the last day of play, but I think there were two really big scores from both sides, so there was a great amount of preparation and it was a confidence builder for Pakistan.
“I thought their captain batted beautifully to get 200, so hopefully that was good preparation for the Test series to come.”
Meanwhile, Hockley is confident the tourists can put aside the off-field drama to challenge the best Test team in the world.
“We saw how competitive these two teams are when we toured Pakistan last March,” he said.
“We’ve seen the passion of Pakistan fans not just on that tour but when they made it to the final here in the T20 World Cup last year, they had incredible support.
“We would love for as many of the Pakistan fans that are living here in Australia to come out in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
“We saw in the Prime Minister’s XI game – while there wasn’t a result in that match – it was a great opportunity for the Pakistan batters to spend some time in the middle in Australian conditions.
“We’re expecting it to be a competitive series, and we expect a huge amount of support from Pakistan fans living here in Australia.”
Hockley refused to comment on the ongoing drama caused by former fast bowler Mitchell Johnson, who ripped into David Warner in one of his columns, with the CA boss backing the Aussies to do all their talking on the pitch.
“A fair amount has been said, and everyone’s entitled to their own opinions,” he said.
“I think what you’ve seen over this year and the last two years is the current men’s team in all formats playing in great spirit.
“The success of the World Cup is being hailed as arguably the greatest World Cup victory out of the six to beat India in India.
“I know that this team really wants to do its talking on the pitch.”
Discussion about this post