"I was surprised and disappointed at the four-day match surface offered at Canberra": Mohammad Hafeez

The Bald Eagle

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Nov 25, 2023
Runs
6,934
Pakistan Team Director Mohammad Hafeez speaking to the media:

Pakistan Men’s Team director Mohammad Hafeez thinks Pakistan are ready for the Test series challenge against Australia. He vowed that Pakistan are not here to compete but to beat Australia.

The first Test match between Pakistan and Australia starts at Perth Stadium on 14 December.

Addressing the media after Pakistan’s first practice session in Perth, Hafeez said, “I was surprised and disappointed at the four-day match surface offered at Canberra. It was a slow wicket that might be part of Australia’s strategy, but we are still fully ready for the series.”

Hafeez stated, “This Pakistan Test team is well settled and they have done well for the country in the past. It is heartening to see that these guys are excited to take on challenges and doing well in Australia will be a top priority.”

On the excitement to face Australia, Hafeez expressed confidence in beating the home team and said that Pakistan have enough talent to do that. “We have ticked most of the boxes in our training. Everyone on the team is excited to showcase their ability and eager to win. Unfortunately, Abrar Ahmed is unfit but everyone else is fit and ready to take on Australia.”

Abrar Ahmed has been ruled out of the Perth Test and undergoing rehabilitation. Abrar is expected to be fit and available for the second Test.

Hafeez also talked about Nathan Lyon’s return to Australia’s Test team. “Lyon is a great bowler. He has won Test matches for his team but we generally play off-spin well and we have scored a lot of runs against him in the last few series. I hope our batters will do well against him in this series as well.”

"It is no surprise for me to see Shan as a captain because he is not only a good player but also a good leader who will lead this side really well. He has an exceptional relation with the players and also his captaincy skills have improved a lot in last few years especially his two year stint in the county cricket has very much improved his time management skills. The big point is that we are a confident unit and will try to play together as a team and Shan will lead them."

"As a team director I am really happy to see new youngsters coming into the side. The appetite and hunger of our youngsters to do something big is really special for me. Our bowlers are ready to grab every opportunity and are physically and mentally prepared for this battle. There is no Junior senior culture in our dressing room.All people in dressing room are friends and Everybody backs each other and they are hungry to showcase their good performance."

Source : PCB
 
Last edited:
Aussies wanted us to feel at home so rolled out a pitch similar to Pindi.
 
Alot of talk already by team director hopefully they will speak with their performances as well, one might wonder whether Hafeez is aware that Australian attack has 1300+ Test wickets under their belt, so what does he wants a green mamba to pay homage to Centurion 49ers
 
Not excuses, Hafeez thinks that they were not given a surface reflective of the match conditions. Right comment considering how Australia whines of the same when they visit India.

What did he expect?

Also who stopped Pakistan from going early and playing/arranging more games for themselves?
 
Aussies playing their cards close to their chest. Part of strategy. Why let opposition get used to conditions?
 
What's worse is the team couldn't even perform on a subcontinent type pitch the bowlers didn't do anything and only shan scored.

If they can't perform on their own type of wickets what chance do they have on pitches with pace and bounce ?
 
Its seems like a strategy from Australia to provide them flat wicket on practice game to misjudge the pitch behavior because most of the Pakistani players have never played in Australia yet.

Next game would be on mighty green wicket now !
 
Wasim Akram believes Pakistan can't read too much from practice match ahead of 1st Test in Perth

He said:

"Canberra is too early. OK, the captain got 200 ... they got some runs, so there's a bit of confidence. (But) new management, new captain. It will take time, especially at the first Test match in Perth. We know the pitch is very bouncy, different pitch altogether from Canberra. It'll be a big Test for this team."
 
All the talk for the first test is that it will be a really spicy wicket reminiscent of WACA.

Good luck Pakistan. That might be our only chance to take 20 wickets this series.
 
Kohli on the 2018 SA tour as captain refused to play the practice match and instead ordered the team to practice hard in the nets against the toughest possible pace, bouncy pitches because he knew full well the practice match would be played on a wicket which would not be anywhere near reflective of the pitches they were going to play in the test matches therefore there was no point in wasting time.

Pakistan should have taken a similar approach.
 
All the talk for the first test is that it will be a really spicy wicket reminiscent of WACA.

Good luck Pakistan. That might be our only chance to take 20 wickets this series.
Match is not at WACA, I guess it's at Optus Stadium in Perth.
 
Hafeez can say what he wants, he doesn't have to go and bat against Cummins and co :p
 
Well try and get into a position where you aren’t surprised and disappointed when the actual Test comes round.

But the odds are against that too, IMO.
 
Its seems like a strategy from Australia to provide them flat wicket on practice game to misjudge the pitch behavior because most of the Pakistani players have never played in Australia yet.

Next game would be on mighty green wicket now !
Theres no strategy here. Places like Manuka Oval rarely see international cricket and is pretty much always slow.

Maybe Pakistan could have asked for a different venue but the pitch itself was nothing outrageous.
 
Let's play positively and there is a small chance we may cause a surprise. Babar and Shaan have to score but the lower order looks awful.
 
Let's play positively and there is a small chance we may cause a surprise. Babar and Shaan have to score but the lower order looks awful.
On just two players you cannot compete with a team like Australia. We need more players to step in and take responsibility.
 
On just two players you cannot compete with a team like Australia. We need more players to step in and take responsibility.
I agree but if these 2 fail, the others will fold. The Aussiee will target Shaan,and Babar is the big wicket. Babar isn't in a good place but hopefully he will show that he is amongst the best going
 
Doesn't matter where we play our bowlers will bowl short and get smashed.

Do we have a local guy to tell these guys how to bowl on these hard Aussie tracks? They will get excited and bowl either short or too full.

They should study Ryan Harris' bowling considering their short length.
 
Dear Mohammed Hafeez,
I was neither surprised nor disappointed by the surface Pakistan was provided with at Canberra. I predicted it, and the PCB should have rejected the proposed itinerary rather than rolling over and accepting it.

Cricket Australia was always going to try to secure an advantage by sending a late-arriving Pakistan team to the slowest, least bouncy wicket in the country to prepare for a Test the next week on the fastest, bounciest track.

It's your fault.

Australia has a Plan A and a Plan B for teams who start with a Test match in Western Australia.

Plan A is to send the team on a long and pointless trip to the East Coast, to ruin their preparation by giving them slower, flatter pitches.

Plan B is what is given to serious Cricket Boards who refuse Plan A. You play a Festival Match on a fast track at Lilac Hill in Perth, followed by 1 or 2 matches in Perth on fast decks at Optus Stadium or the WACA.

A tour like Australia requires preparation and hard negotiation about the itinerary to ensure that you get Plan B. I don't care that you weren't appointed until a week before the tour - if you had an ounce of professionalism yourself you would have said "it's too late for me to prepare this tour, but I'm happy to sign up from 1 February. Use Mickey Arthur and Grant Bradburn for this tour - you are still paying them after all."

The PCB should have rejected the Canberra proposal out of hand. They should have said "if the First Test is in Perth, you need to start our tour at Perth, and we will be happy to play a minimum of 2 side-matches, either at Optus Stadium or the WACA, but nowhere else. And if you don't schedule that, the tour is off".

It appears to me that what is happening with the tour is the same chaos that surrounds your own last minute appointment. An opaque process, with last minute planning leading to both an unfit for purpose schedule and an unfit for purpose unqualified coach who has to be called the Team Director to try to conceal the fact that he has neither the qualifications nor the experience for the position.

Best of luck. You are facing an Australia team which is their oldest ever team, with numerous players who aren't secure in the side. Yet your pathetic preparation means they will steamroller you.

Best wishes,

Junaids
 
Pakistan team should have came one week before as they were free after 12 November.
 
Imran Khan for the 1992 WC ensured the Pakistani team arrived 6 weeks in advance and leading up to the WC the team had played around 10-12 warm up games. It is my understanding that the PCB paid for the warm up games and the team's lodging expenses for coming early to Australia. We also took a much larger pool of players so that we can see which players were in form and were the right fit for the Australian, New Zealand conditions.

Don't think we have ever had a captain or coach prepared to take such ownership for the team's results before.
 
Yes, the pitch offered at Canberra was slow and it had nothing for bowlers while batters were feasting on this track. The pitch had to be somewhat similar to what it was going to be like in Perth or the Pakistan team could have played this tour game in Perth as well. Coming late to Australia was also not a good thing, they should have been there way earlier than that.
 
CA CEO Nick Cummins responding to Pakistan's gripe about the tour game in Canberra:

“Look I think it was really unfortunate that the game could not be completed because there was very significant weather coming in overnight before the last day of play. I think we saw really big scores from both sides, and as I said, it was a great amount of preparation and a confidence builder for Pakistan. The captain played beautifully to get 200 Hopefully, it's a good preparation for the test series to come.”​
 
Perth will be totally opposite to what Pakistan had in Canberra. They have to reset the whole game plan for Perth. What they did in the Canberra pitch will not work in Perth even though it also didn't work in Canberra LOL.
 
Shan Masood during Pakistan vs Australia 1st test pre-game presser:

"Look, as a team, we talk about adaptability. Whether we play in Canberra, Karachi, or Perth, how quickly can guys adapt to the conditions is more important to me. Good cricketers are always adaptable; they adapt very quickly to the conditions, and it will be the same because when we talk about these three venues Perth, MCG, and SCG, all of them are different, and a challenge for our guys would be to adapt as quickly as possible."​
 
Back
Top