Australia have begun their warm-up for the Twenty20 World Cup with their worst batting performance since 2005.
How a total of 89 against Pakistan would give captain George Bailey the idea his side can have an impact in the tournament, which starts in Sri Lanka in less than a fortnight, is puzzling.
Australia were finalists in 2010 but they’ve slipped to ninth in the rankings and could fall even further – below Ireland – if Pakistan sweep their three-match series.
Pakistan brushed aside the determined efforts of Australia’s bowlers to score 3-90 off 14.5 overs in reply, inflicting Australia’s heaviest loss ever by balls remaining.
Excluding Dan Christian, the squad members not selected for game one – Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Brad Hogg, and back-up quick Alister McDermott – are all bowlers.
That leaves little room for trying different batting combinations, with Glenn Maxwell potentially a vital member of the side at No.8 if he can fire with bat and ball.
Medium-pacer Christian is a challenger to Maxwell’s spot if the allrounder stumbles in his debut series.
Another question for selectors is what to do with 41-year-old Hogg, who’s a genuine strike bowler with his left-arm wrist-spin.
His possible inclusion for Friday’s game two could come at the expense of fellow spinner Xavier Doherty (0-12).
Vice-captain Shane Watson says the Dubai pitch is going to be even more helpful for the slow bowlers in the final two games.
“I’m sure there’s a good chance Brad Hogg will play. He certainly is a wicket-taking bowler,” Watson said on Thursday.
“There’s no doubt the wicket is only going to turn more.”
On a slow-paced pitch similar to what Australia might find when they meet World Cup opponents Ireland in Colombo on September 19, Australia succumbed to spin trio Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and 20-year-old debutant Raza Hasan who took two wickets each.
Umar Gul (1-17) and fellow quick Sohail Tanvir (3-13) were also damaging.
Bailey said 140 would have been a reasonable score batting first.
“You don’t ever want to be setting those sorts of records,” he said.
“But in terms of the group we’ve got together and what we’re capable of, it certainly hasn’t altered my thoughts that we can still be a very good team.
“I still think we can win it. I certainly don’t think we’d win if we played like we did today.”
Watson was blunt about Australia’s hopes.
“We’ve certainly got to play a lot better over the next couple of games to be able to build the performances that we know we’re going to need over the next month,” he said.
