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Pakistan batting coach Adam Hollioake speaking to the media after close of play on Day 3 of the 1st Test against Australia:
Q: There's a fair bit of variance between the way Shah Masood said Pakistan would bat and the way it eventually panned out. Why do you think that was?
AH: "Well, there's a number of reasons. Obviously getting used to the pace and the bounce of this wicket was a little bit hard. So, although we've prepared well, coming from Canberra where the wicket was quite low. And then, obviously, there are the Australian bowlers. Their bowling attack is, arguably, one of the best fast-bowling attacks that we've seen in recent history. So, they bowled well, and they put the ball in good areas. I felt the openers did really well to see off the new ball and we'd still getting used to the Australian pitches. So, I think coming forward, I think we'll have learned from that and try and put a bit more pressure on them once we've seen that new ball off. So overall it was a good start, but I think we could have probably put a bit more pressure on their attack. But it's easily said sitting here. It's a different thing against those bowlers. They are three great bowlers, or four if you include Lyon as well."
Q: Plenty of the Pakistan batters got starts but then got out, which is encouraging, but at the same time perhaps frustrates you as well.
AH: "Yeah, I think it is frustrating, but again, it comes back to the fact that they have four world class bowlers, they can get you out at any time. So, you got a guy there who's got almost 500 wickets all around the world in all conditions, and then three outstanding fast-bowlers, all slightly different, left-arm and right-arm, both all bowl different lengths. So that's the hard thing. That's probably why they're the number one side in the world. So, you got to try and find a way of counteracting that. I thought we did that well at the beginning, but when we tried to accelerate, it was hard."
Q: How challenging is it to force yourself not to let your concentration waiver? Talking about Imam, who kind of fell after digging in for more than three sessions, playing the shot that perhaps wasn't there?
AH: "Well, that's the danger, isn't it? When you get tied down, they don't give you a lot of stuff to hit, so you have to take a risk at some stage. So, I guess it's just about balancing up when you take that risk and the risk versus reward. So, I think he'd be disappointed getting out like that after doing all that hard work. But like I said, this attack, they can get you out at any stage.
Q: And when Pakistan gets a chance to bat again, do you think that they will take the same approach?
AH: "Well, I mean, obviously, seeing off the new ball is important. And as we saw we bowled well tonight with our new ball, and it's quite hard to bat against pace and bounce on this wicket. And the Aussie bowlers have got good pace. Our guys tonight caused some problems with the new ball as well, so you have got to get through that period. And then after that, it's that fine balance of trying to push on and put some pressure back on the bowlers, but then trying to preserve your wicket. So that's the magic formula, really, just in terms of the pitch."
Q: Do you think there's a few demons (on the pitch) in there and what do you expect going forward?
AH: "Well, I walked out there in between innings and there is an area on a good length. I think it's between 6 meters and 7 meters. Batting at this end, bowling from the far end. It's a little bit outside off stump, but the rest of the wicket looks in good order. There's a little bit of movement. It's a spot which it might hit, it might not. Let's just see. It's held in together pretty well. There's a bit of grass on there, so I was surprised to see those. And it's small at the moment, but let's see if that opens up."
Q: And in your eyes, what's a chase book total at the moment?
AH: "We have just got to bowl as well as we can. Just keep the pressure. I thought we bowled well tonight. Just see what the day brings tomorrow. Both innings have gone in a similar way. There's been good opening starts and then it's been harder as the ball's got older for some reason. So, let's see if that happens again tomorrow. At the end of the day, we just got to bowl as well as we can and try and bowl Australia out. Can't control when they declare, so I'm presuming if they declare, they're going to think that that target's hard to get. So, we've got to try and bowl them out if we want to win the game."
Q: Do you guys take some satisfaction from roughing them up a bit with that short bowling and actually, like, making an impact and making your presence felt?
AH: "Yeah. Well, we've spoken about being aggressive as a team with the bat and with the know. We haven't got the tallest bowling attack in the world, although we've got Shaheen. And then I was up there with Hafeez, and I said that the bowling attack reminded me of the 'Anthill mob'. If you remember those guys from Wacky Races - they're not the tallest guys, but they're skiddy, so therefore they're hitting the stumps. So, you just got to make use of what you've got. But often with short bowling attacks, it's harder to bowl that containing kind of role that the three tall Aussie bowlers do, who are always hitting the splice. So, yeah, we just got to work with what we've got."
Q: That spot, six or seven there. For a right hander or left hander?
AH: "It's for a right hander, and it's not very wide. Probably fourth stump line. But if you come wide on the crease, then it probably can bring the stumps into play. If you go out there, it's not hard to find. It's a plate, and there's two sides of. It's probably a bit bigger than a plate, but there's two sides of it. It's not as bad as some of the ones we've seen in history at the WACA. It's not alarming, but it's something to aim at, I think. And it'd be in the batsman's mind a little bit.
Q: Some of the little indentations. Are they firming up?
AH: "No. I saw those yesterday and I went. I was interested, but I think they were more grass. The indentation was more in the grass rather than in the clay. I was wondering if they would start making it go up and down but I don't think they've come into play. Not sure. We'll see."
Q: There's a fair bit of variance between the way Shah Masood said Pakistan would bat and the way it eventually panned out. Why do you think that was?
AH: "Well, there's a number of reasons. Obviously getting used to the pace and the bounce of this wicket was a little bit hard. So, although we've prepared well, coming from Canberra where the wicket was quite low. And then, obviously, there are the Australian bowlers. Their bowling attack is, arguably, one of the best fast-bowling attacks that we've seen in recent history. So, they bowled well, and they put the ball in good areas. I felt the openers did really well to see off the new ball and we'd still getting used to the Australian pitches. So, I think coming forward, I think we'll have learned from that and try and put a bit more pressure on them once we've seen that new ball off. So overall it was a good start, but I think we could have probably put a bit more pressure on their attack. But it's easily said sitting here. It's a different thing against those bowlers. They are three great bowlers, or four if you include Lyon as well."
Q: Plenty of the Pakistan batters got starts but then got out, which is encouraging, but at the same time perhaps frustrates you as well.
AH: "Yeah, I think it is frustrating, but again, it comes back to the fact that they have four world class bowlers, they can get you out at any time. So, you got a guy there who's got almost 500 wickets all around the world in all conditions, and then three outstanding fast-bowlers, all slightly different, left-arm and right-arm, both all bowl different lengths. So that's the hard thing. That's probably why they're the number one side in the world. So, you got to try and find a way of counteracting that. I thought we did that well at the beginning, but when we tried to accelerate, it was hard."
Q: How challenging is it to force yourself not to let your concentration waiver? Talking about Imam, who kind of fell after digging in for more than three sessions, playing the shot that perhaps wasn't there?
AH: "Well, that's the danger, isn't it? When you get tied down, they don't give you a lot of stuff to hit, so you have to take a risk at some stage. So, I guess it's just about balancing up when you take that risk and the risk versus reward. So, I think he'd be disappointed getting out like that after doing all that hard work. But like I said, this attack, they can get you out at any stage.
Q: And when Pakistan gets a chance to bat again, do you think that they will take the same approach?
AH: "Well, I mean, obviously, seeing off the new ball is important. And as we saw we bowled well tonight with our new ball, and it's quite hard to bat against pace and bounce on this wicket. And the Aussie bowlers have got good pace. Our guys tonight caused some problems with the new ball as well, so you have got to get through that period. And then after that, it's that fine balance of trying to push on and put some pressure back on the bowlers, but then trying to preserve your wicket. So that's the magic formula, really, just in terms of the pitch."
Q: Do you think there's a few demons (on the pitch) in there and what do you expect going forward?
AH: "Well, I walked out there in between innings and there is an area on a good length. I think it's between 6 meters and 7 meters. Batting at this end, bowling from the far end. It's a little bit outside off stump, but the rest of the wicket looks in good order. There's a little bit of movement. It's a spot which it might hit, it might not. Let's just see. It's held in together pretty well. There's a bit of grass on there, so I was surprised to see those. And it's small at the moment, but let's see if that opens up."
Q: And in your eyes, what's a chase book total at the moment?
AH: "We have just got to bowl as well as we can. Just keep the pressure. I thought we bowled well tonight. Just see what the day brings tomorrow. Both innings have gone in a similar way. There's been good opening starts and then it's been harder as the ball's got older for some reason. So, let's see if that happens again tomorrow. At the end of the day, we just got to bowl as well as we can and try and bowl Australia out. Can't control when they declare, so I'm presuming if they declare, they're going to think that that target's hard to get. So, we've got to try and bowl them out if we want to win the game."
Q: Do you guys take some satisfaction from roughing them up a bit with that short bowling and actually, like, making an impact and making your presence felt?
AH: "Yeah. Well, we've spoken about being aggressive as a team with the bat and with the know. We haven't got the tallest bowling attack in the world, although we've got Shaheen. And then I was up there with Hafeez, and I said that the bowling attack reminded me of the 'Anthill mob'. If you remember those guys from Wacky Races - they're not the tallest guys, but they're skiddy, so therefore they're hitting the stumps. So, you just got to make use of what you've got. But often with short bowling attacks, it's harder to bowl that containing kind of role that the three tall Aussie bowlers do, who are always hitting the splice. So, yeah, we just got to work with what we've got."
Q: That spot, six or seven there. For a right hander or left hander?
AH: "It's for a right hander, and it's not very wide. Probably fourth stump line. But if you come wide on the crease, then it probably can bring the stumps into play. If you go out there, it's not hard to find. It's a plate, and there's two sides of. It's probably a bit bigger than a plate, but there's two sides of it. It's not as bad as some of the ones we've seen in history at the WACA. It's not alarming, but it's something to aim at, I think. And it'd be in the batsman's mind a little bit.
Q: Some of the little indentations. Are they firming up?
AH: "No. I saw those yesterday and I went. I was interested, but I think they were more grass. The indentation was more in the grass rather than in the clay. I was wondering if they would start making it go up and down but I don't think they've come into play. Not sure. We'll see."
