Just a mere few hours after arriving in Islamabad, Pat Cummins, smiling through his bleary eyes, got on yet another zoom call and said there were going to be some “unlucky” selection decisions.
“That’s professional sport,” he closed off his first interview after arriving in the cricket obsessed country of Pakistan.
Twenty four years after playing their last Test in Karachi, a Test they drew with three spinners and just Glenn McGrath as the lone quick, Australia is back in Pakistan.
Once again, they have brought three specialist spinners with them in an 18-man touring party.
The question is, will they play two or even three?
Just by matter of not playing an overseas Test since the 2019 Ashes, Australia has got used to playing three quicks and a spinner.
More recently, they have had the luxury of using Cameron Green as a fourth quick option.
But even after touching down in Pakistan ahead of the first Test in Rawalpindi, questions remain over the make-up of the team with all eyes on what deck they will be greeted with.
You might think that a dominant four-nil series win against England would make the equation simpler.
A simple look beyond the result though and it will become clear that 15 players played across the five-Test series and seven different specialist quicks were given the ball.
In the subcontinent though, six quicks do not go into three or perhaps two, should a second spinner be played and Green given more responsibility with the ball.
Throw in Josh Hazlewood’s return to full fitness after missing the final four Tests of the Ashes and the selection is a welcomed headache.
“It’s going to be a tough one,” Cummins said.
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“Scotty Boland came in and bowled fantastically. We know how good Joshy is, Starcy. Of us four quick bowlers, you can probably own three, so I’ll leave that to the selectors.
“There’s going to be some tough calls.
“It’s one of the blessings of having 15-16 guys who have all performed recently and done fantastically well, there’s going to be some unlucky decisions made but that’s professional sport.”
Perhaps the biggest indication into selection came in Cummins’ final line on a question specifically about selection, which has an intriguing element when you throw in Australia’s first overseas Test in more than two years and in a cricketing nation that has hardly hosted internationals in a decade.
“I think it’s striking that balance, you want to pick your best XI side for each game,” Cummins said.
“The real changes over here in the subcontinent are normally the conversation over two spinners or three quicks.
“But we’ll get out to the ground in the next few days and have a look.
“There are some unknowns, but there’s also been some Test cricket played here and we feel really confident in our squad that we’ve got all bases covered. But you don’t need to look into it too deeply unless the conditions are really, really telling you something else.
“How JL (Justin Langer’s departure) changes (the selection equation), I’m not sure to be honest. Andrew McDonald comes in as interim coach and will have a seat at that table.
“I doubt you’ll be seeing any huge changes.”
If there are changes to the XI, it will likely be in the bowling department.
That’s not because of any apparent weakness, but rather a plethora of options up their sleeves unlike with the bat.
Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey did not bring three spinners for the sake of it.
Throw in the more than handy leg-spin of Marnus Labuschagne and Steve Smith, both of whom made their debuts on the knowledge of their all-round ability, and Australia has options up their sleeves.
Interestingly, though, if there is a Test that could see Australia play three specialist quicks, it is Rawalpindi.
Of the 11 Tests at the venue, pace bowlers have a lower average (29.3) than spinners (39.9) compared to the other two venues Australia will play at.
Although in their Test at the venue in 1998, Australia’s spinners Stuart MacGill and Colin Miller took 12 wickets between them as the tourists won by an innings.
More recently, in South Africa’s 95-run defeat to Pakistan 13 months ago, quick Hasan Ali took 10 wickets for the match, including five in the second to go alongside new ball partner Shaheen Shah Afridi who took four to seal the victory.
Proteas fast bowler Anrich Nortje also took first-innings figures of 5-56.
On that basis, Australia could easily return to the quartet that has done the business before: Mitchell Starc, Cummins, who is a lock as captain, and Hazlewood after bursting back to form against Sri Lanka with the white ball, and veteran Nathan Lyon.
That selection would come with the added benefit of ensuring team harmony remains strong, with the quartet having been the glue of the side for the best part of a decade.
Yet could the emergence of Green change that?
The all-rounder was the breakout star of the Ashes and his right-arm seamers are more than serviceable, with Michael Vaughan comparing him to a young Andrew Flintoff during the summer.
Australia is cautious not to over bowl him, particularly at the start of the series, but were he to play as a third quick it would allow either leg-spinner Mitch Swepson to debut or Ashton Agar to return.
Given the early signs are the pitch could favour the quicks more, the accuracy and left-arm finger spin, as well as the added depth with the bat, could see Agar preferred ahead of the Queenslander’s leg-spin.
Agar would tie up an end and would take the ball away from the right-handed heavy Pakistan side.
And while questions were asked about why he was opening the batting against Sri Lanka in T20 cricket, the reality is he is a more than capable bat and would strengthen the order.
Former Australian all-rounder Brendon Julian, who toured Pakistan as a one day player in 1997, believes Agar could play an important role throughout the series, and even threw up the possibility of him playing ahead of Lyon.
“I think Ashton Agar is a good move because I think the finger spinners are sometimes harder to face, especially on the subcontinent,” he told foxsports.com.au.
“They’re a lot quicker through the air.
“The question will always be, would you rather face Mitchell Starc or Mitch Swepson? Because if you’re going to play two spinners, one of the quicks drops out and that’ll be either Starc or Hazlewood. That’ll be the tough one.
“You’d be making that decision on the morning of the first day.
“It may not turn as much as you think, but you’ve got back-up; you’ve got Cameron Green and Marnus and Steve Smith.
“But Agar’s not a bad option though.
“Don’t always think that Nathan Lyon will be the first picked. I think they’ll be open to a Swepson or an Agar coming into the side in front of Lyon because sometimes the left-arm spinner to the right-hand bat is lethal at times and the ball going away from the bat.”
Regardless, Julian believes Australia should continue to be flexible in their thinking - a factor, which like India in 2020-21, perhaps advanced their cause.
“You’ve got to be flexible and look at the pitches you’re going to play on,” Julian said.
“The Boland selection at the MCG, that was a great selection because he suited that kind of wicket.
“I would think the extra pace is better than Boland on those wickets. It should be a horses for courses approach over there. It gives you great flexibility.”
While the formation of Australia’s attack is one of the hot topics, Cummins will be hopeful his batsmen deliver on the subcontinent.
Tours to India and Sri Lanka, and to a lesser extent the UAE, have been a hell hole for Australia’s batters and only Steve Smith has performed consistently in the region since the 2004 conquerors.
David Warner, who will open the batting, has only scored two centuries in the region and both came against Bangladesh, while Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne and Green have yet to play a Test in the subcontinent.
All four will likely form the top five, with Head surely assured a place after his stunning Ashes campaign, while Usman Khawaja is expected to open.
Khawaja, who scored a famous century against Pakistan in the UAE, is expected to partner Warner ahead of Marcus Harris.
How the duo perform will likely play a strong part in the overall result of the series.
“Australia will go in there with a lot of confidence, but I think it’s 50-50,” Julian said.
“Pakistan will play really well; their batting is good and their bowling is strong.
“I don’t think it’ll be one-sided at all.
“I don’t think England was a great test.
“Playing away is always hard and I think the biggest challenge is going to be the batting. I wouldn’t worry about our bowling. Our biggest issue is what are we going to do with our batting? Khawaja will open the batting. They’ll go with Travis Head, they’ll go with Cam Green, the same as the last Test, but that’ll be the challenge.
“Batting won’t be easy and they’ll need to score big runs.”
Meanwhile, Alex Carey will likely wear the gloves again in what will be his second series after taking over from Tim Paine.
The spotlight will be on the South Australian though, with Josh Inglis in the squad.
Inglis was hardly a find from the recent T20 series against Sri Lanka, but his class was on display as he timed the ball better than anyone throughout the five matches.
His strong start to his international career comes after Carey’s up-and-down Ashes.
Carey was clean as a whistle at the Gabba, but put down a number of chances as the series went on, particularly when standing behind the right-handers.
He also finished the series averaging 20.33 with the bat, which aren’t dire but also not replicating his ability with the willow either.
On a number of occasions, Carey’s desire to up the tempo came back to bite him as he threw his wicket away. He wasn't helped by Cummins’ decision to send him out at the SCG for what would have been a quick dash, but ultimately the numbers come home to roost.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/cricke...s/news-story/00926523f7f669b57bb2be293ac715ed
horrible decision, insane really. 
