It was a disappointing defeat but it wasn’t a disaster.
So says Australian captain Michael Clarke, who has appealed to the cricketing public and the media to put last week’s 221-run loss to Pakistan in the first Test in Dubai into perspective.
Pakistan go into Thursday’s second and final Test of the series full of confidence, while Clarke’s men are attempting to rebuild theirs after spinners Zulfiqar Babar and Yasir Shah claimed seven wickets each in Dubai.
Australia have won just one of their 14 Tests in Asia since legspin great Shane Warne’s retirement in January 2007. Pakistan have won seven and lost only two of their 14 “home” Tests in the United Arab Emirates since 2009.
Those stats don’t point to an Australia win in Abu Dhabi in Thursday’s second Test.
But Clarke would prefer to draw upon his side’s victory in the series-deciding third Test against South Africa in Cape Town in March 2014.
Pairing last week’s performance with Australia’s 4-0 loss in India in 2013 is like comparing an apple to an orange, it seems.
“If you’re trying to sell a newspaper it’s an absolute disaster and you’ll mention India,” Ashes-winning skipper Clarke told reporters on Wednesday.
“If you’re part of the Australian cricket team then you’ll look at the last 12 months and how we’ve played and accept that we’ve lost a game.
“We need to be realistic and respect that we’ve played some fantastic cricket over the past 12 months.
“It was disappointing to lose that second Test in South Africa as well. But the way we bounced back was extremely important and I think this Test is the same.
“I don’t think we should get too caught up in the fact we lost the Test.”
Clarke’s men have struggled with the slow pitches of the UAE and it has been a learning experience, the skipper hopes.
Certainly Australia can’t hope to be competitive when No.3 Alex Doolan and No.4 Clarke score five runs each in a Test match as they did in Dubai.
Offspinning allrounder Glenn Maxwell would seem the obvious selection rival for wicket-less allrounder Mitchell Marsh, although Australia already have two spinners in their side and debutant Steve O’Keefe was their leading wicket-taker in Dubai.
Clarke is expecting the pitch to offer less turn than in Dubai.
“It’s going to be more lack of bounce,” he said.
“Here we’ve got to try and force ourselves to get forward to prevent the lbw.
“That’s to the quicks.
“To the spin, using our bat more.”
Clarke said Australia’s “batting group” had a meeting after the Dubai Test, as they normally would.
Asked if it was a crisis meeting, Clarke said: “Those days are gone.”
AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN IN TESTS
* Played: 58
* Aust won: 28
* Pakistan won: 13
* Drawn: 17
IN 2014
* Aust: won 3, lost 2
* Pakistan: won 2, lost 3
LAST TIME THEY MET IN TESTS:
* 1-1 drawn series in England in 2010
LAST TIME THEY MET IN UAE (2002)
* Aust won series 3-0 after 1 match in Colombo, Sri Lanka and 2 in Sharjah, UAE
RESULT OF LAST WEEK’S FIRST TEST IN DUBAI
* Pakistan (454 and 2-286 declared) beat Australia (303 and 216) by 221 runs
STARS OF SERIES SO FAR
* Most runs: Younis Khan (Pak) 209, David Warner (Aust) 162, Ahmed Shehzad (Pak) 134
* Most wickets: Yasir Shah (Pak) 7, Zulfiqar Babar (Pak) 7, Steve O’Keefe (Aust) 4
POSSIBLE LINEUPS FOR SECOND AND FINAL TEST IN ABU DHABI (1700 AEDT THURSDAY):
* Australia: Chris Rogers, David Warner, Alex Doolan, Michael Clarke (capt), Steve Smith, Mitchell Marsh, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Steve O’Keefe, Nathan Lyon
* Pakistan: Misbah-ul Haq (capt), Ahmed Shehzad, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Rahat Ali, Imran Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed, Zulfiqar Babar, Yasir Shah.
