Rod Marsh tells Aust to get on with it

Australia’s only warm-up game ahead of their two-Test series against Pakistan is over and key players who missed out with the bat will just have to get on with it, chairman of selectors Rod Marsh says.

Test opener Chris Rogers faced six balls in the four-day game in Sharjah against Pakistan A who scored a 153-run win on Saturday after bowling Australia out for 185 in their second innings.

Back-up opener Phil Hughes (65), tailender Peter Siddle (41) and uncapped Test hopeful Mitchell Marsh (35) were the only batsmen to reach 20.

However Australia rested Steve Smith and Alex Doolan who scored 58 and 104 respectively in the first innings.

Test captain Michael Clarke made 10 and five, having skipped the one-day series with a sore hamstring.

David Warner missed the game against Pakistan A with a groin strain, but appears set to play in the Dubai Test on Wednesday.

Test specialist Rogers, desperate for runs after a first-ball duck in the first innings, was run out for three.

“Failing him coming out here and playing club cricket in the UAE, he had no other option,” Marsh told reporters on Sunday.

“Maybe 30 years ago if you came to play a Test series here you might have had three warm-up games before the first Test.

“That doesn’t happen any more.

“It’s not ideal for everyone but you live with it and you get on with it.

“We would have liked Michael Clarke to make runs.

“We would have liked everyone to make runs, but it hasn’t happened.

“So we’ve just got to sit down and nut out what is the side that we think is best-prepared to win in these conditions.”

Mitchell Marsh strained a hamstring on September 30 and was eased into the tour match.

Paceman Marsh bowled seven overs for 18 runs in Pakistan A’s second innings, after not bowling in the first innings.

The chief selector says Clarke, 33, and Marsh, 22, are both fit to play in the first Test.

Rod Marsh ruled out Mitchell Marsh playing as a batsman only in the Dubai Test.

“He’ll play as an allrounder if he plays,” Marsh said.

While Australia’s side appears almost finalised with debutant Marsh at No.6 and another new cap Steve O’Keefe set to partner fellow NSW spinner Nathan Lyon, Marsh says that’s not the case.

“Anything is possible. It really is,” he said.

“We haven’t even come close to saying this is what the eleven will be.

“We’d like to think that the day before we would know.

“There might be one spot up for grabs.”

Pakistan’s side is expected to include two specialist slow bowlers plus spin-bowling allrounder Mohammad Hafeez.

Marsh isn’t prepared to concede the pitch will be a spinners’ paradise.

“We won’t know what that pitch is like really until the morning of the game,” he said.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!