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Ricky Ponting picks uncapped batter to start home summer (against Pakistan)

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Former captain Ricky Ponting says only three Australia batters are certainties for the start of the home summer as the tourists stare down the barrel of a monumental run chase following a "sloppy" performance in the fifth Test.

Ponting says Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne and David Warner, despite having a historically poor Ashes series, are the only locks for the first Test at the Gabba against Pakistan, starting November 12.

Smith (125.16) and Labuschagne (56.50) are the only Australian batters to average more than 28 in this Ashes series, and given the disappointing returns of the middle order, Ponting would like to see young Victorian batter Will Pucovski handed an opportunity on home soil.

"Warner's going to be a lock," Ponting told cricket.com.au. "I don't care if he gets another duck in the second innings of this Test match, he's going to be a lock for the Australian summer.

"Marnus is an absolute lock. Smith's a lock.

"(There are) still question marks around the guys in the middle, (Matthew) Wade and (Travis) Head.

"(Opener Marcus) Harris has looked tested against good quality fast bowling in this series. (Tim) Paine will continue as the captain but there are a few spots in the batting order that they'll be thinking about for the Pakistan series.

"With so many gaps like that, I'd like to see somebody like a Pucovski get an opportunity.

"Everyone's talked about him for a long time. He was in the Test squad back in Australia, he was in the Australia A squad over here.

"He hasn't got an opportunity yet but apparently he's quite an impressive young man.

"A couple of years before the next Ashes series you want to try and blood someone in that No.6 role and he'd be the obvious candidate."

Pucovski has enjoyed a brilliant start to his first-class career, scoring three centuries, including 243 against Western Australia last summer as part of Victoria's successful Sheffield Shield campaign.

He was part of Australia's Test squad to face Sri Lanka on home soil last summer and scored a century for Australia A in a 50-over clash against Gloucestershire in July before playing in the four-day intra-squad clash in Southampton ahead of the Ashes.

The 21-year-old has spoken in the past about his challenges with mental health but said on the Australia A tour he has taken positive steps in managing his wellbeing.

But a possible Test debut for Pucovski is still months away as the Australians fight to win the fifth Ashes Test and, with it, their first Test series on English soil since 2001.

As it stands after stumps on day three, Australia trail England by 382 and still need to pry out two more wickets before they set out on what will be record Ashes run chase.

While Ponting is far from confident Australia can get out of this fifth Test with victory, he says the batter-friendly pitch gives him a glimmer of hope Paine's side can break the 18-year drought.

But it would need another heroic batting effort from Smith, who already has three centuries this series and a whopping 751 runs in just six innings.

"Steven Smith has been outstanding, they're going to need him to get 150 at least in the second innings if they are to chase these runs down," Ponting said.

"The one bit of confidence I can take is the wicket hasn't really played too many tricks today. It will spin, (England left-arm spinner Jack) Leach will pose some questions to the left-handers, I don't think he'll be too difficult to the right-handers.

"Australia are going to have to play really well now. They’ve played poorly for the first three days of this game.

"They were really sloppy day one. The batting yesterday, to get bowled out for 225 on that wicket was a pretty poor performance.

"If they want to win the series, rather than just retain the Ashes, they have got a lot of work to do."

While Ponting can't put his finger on why the Australians – who have dominated most of the series to find themselves 2-1 up – have dipped so dramatically at The Oval, he is not questioning the attitude of the visitors.

But multiple catches have gone down, Paine has struggled again with the Decision Review System and the batting has been lamentable, which has all led to Australia facing a mountain to climb on the last two days.

"They've just been sloppy," Ponting said. "Talking to Justin (Langer, Australia men's head coach) before the game, he was really comfortable with the way they've trained and prepared.

"He said they probably trained better than they had for any other Test match coming into this one.

"I'm not for a second going to doubt their hunger or commitment because I know what it’s like around the team.

"They've just had one of those games where not much has gone right. They've got the referrals wrong again today twice, they dropped three catches on the first day – that's unlike them – they've had no batting partnerships on a good wicket when they had opportunities.

"It's just been a sloppy performance."

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/ric...ll-pucovski-wade-head-smith-harris/2019-09-15
 
Looks like Usman Khawaja won’t find a spot in the squad, forget batting line-up.
 
The Pakistan series is just a warmup for Australia before the real event of their home season: the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Hence, it would be a good opportunity to test a few young and fringe players.
 
The Pakistan series is just a warmup for Australia before the real event of their home season: the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Hence, it would be a good opportunity to test a few young and fringe players.

Just like how they were warm ups for us in UAE.
 
Am sure who ever Aussies pick they will score runs at home against pakistan. Another beating in Australia will occur for pakistan.
 
Pak neither have the bowling nor the batting to compete in Australia or South Africa. A hard and bouncy track is our kryptonite.
 
Pakistan is going to win the series...

Shaheen Shah will announce himself in Test matches.

Just wait and watch.
 
They will surely experiment with some new batters as their batting line up has not been convincing in the ashes.
 
Wade is a lock.

Warner
_______
Labuschagne
Smith
Wade
_____
Paine
Cummins
Starc/Pattinson
Lyon
Hazelwood
 
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Horror series for Australia's openers:<br><br>Players used 3<br>Innings 20<br>Runs 197<br>Average 9.85<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ENGvAUS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ENGvAUS</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1173300721023901696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
No Pakistani bowler has the ability to stop smith, that too in home conditions.
Another whitewash on the cards.
 
Smith just showed in Ashes how India got lucky last time they toured Aus when he wasnt their and its not easy to beat a full strength Aus at home.

It would be tough surely for Pakistan but Aus would be foolish to take anything lightly and I am sure they are not taking it.

It would be great to watch how Babar Azam and Shaheen Shah perform in Aus for Pak fans.
 
Will Pucovski was already rated highly before this season which is supposedly his breakthrough one. If it would not have been for his health issues, he might have played for Aus earlier. He even got selected but didnt get the match.
 
Justin Langer issues fresh challenge to Australia before next Test series against Pakistan

Having witnessed - in the decisive Manchester Test that ensured Australia retained the Ashes - how his team can rebound from stinging defeat, Justin Langer believes their immediate challenge is to bounce back better after winning.

In the wake of the men's team's loss to England at The Oval that ensured the Ashes series ended deadlocked at 2-2, Langer admitted to feeling "a bit hollow" even though the terracotta urn remains notionally in their keeping.

He assessed that reaching the semi-final stage of the ICC World Cup followed by not surrendering the Ashes in England for the first time since 2001 represented a successful northern summer for his group.

However, he looked back on the way the Test team struggled through the second match at Lord's after their triumph in the series opener, and faltered again in the final Test just days after securing the Ashes as low points.

That contrasted with the spirit the group showed in responding to the devastation of the third Test loss at Headingley, by grabbing a hard-fought last-day win in the decisive fourth Test at Old Trafford.

The coach and his men will now enjoy a deserved break before setting their sights on a packed Australia summer, but Langer identified dealing with success as a priority before the next Test assignment (against Pakistan) begins in November.

"That probably comes with the maturity of the group as well," Langer said of the poor performances that immediately followed each of the Ashes Test victories.

"To fight back from a tough loss (at Headingley) is admirable, and I said how proud I was with everyone for that.

"But also, over the last couple of years, we haven’t necessarily performed at our best after a win.

"We had a really good opportunity after winning the first Test, but we didn't necessarily turn up to the Lord's Test as well as we could have, and we didn't turn up to this Test (at The Oval).

"Really good teams do that (continue winning).

"I think that’ll be part of the maturity of our side.

"The way we were in this series, we aren’t a great team yet.

"We are a good team, we are a maturing team and we've got some great players in it, but we’re aspiring to be a great cricket team.

"You got to work hard and get consistent results to achieve that."

Langer conceded that the shortfalls in Australia's top-order batting provided his over-riding regret of the Ashes campaign.

But the positives he took from his first Ashes series as coach, apart from keeping hold of the trophy, were the sense of camaraderie fostered within the squad and the potency shown by the complement of six fast bowlers.

He predicted that if the batting talent available across the nation can realise its potential and provide regular and significant support for Ashes player of the series Steve Smith, then Australia could become a force in the ICC's new World Test Championship competition.

"There's a real challenge for young Australian batters," Langer said.

"The ones who want to step up and score lots of runs and work hard on their footwork patterns and techniques and ability to score runs - it's a pretty exciting time.

"That's a big challenge moving forward.

"But with this exciting fast bowling group we've got, if we start batting well we'll win a lot of games of cricket."

The priority afforded Australia's men's Ashes tilt in an attempt to redress four failed campaigns since the most recent series win in 2001 can be deemed successful given the urn's retention.

But while the newly introduced Test Championship – which sees Australia and England currently tied in equal fourth position behind leaders India and Sri Lanka and New Zealand (tied for second) – ensures the long format remains front of mind, the T20 game now assumes much greater focus.

That's because Australia will host the women's (early next year) and men's (later in 2020) World T20 championships which means planning for those tournaments steps up several gears.

Cricket Australia Chief Executive Kevin Roberts spoke last weekend about the need to incorporate greater T20 expertise into the operations of the men's team selection panel.

And Langer indicated he would actively consider utilising the expertise of rival Ashes coach Trevor Bayliss, who completed his tenure as coach of England at the conclusion of The Oval Test, if the former New South Wales representative was available and interested.

In his farewell media conference on Sunday evening, Bayliss indicated that the only international coaching role that would interest him (having led England to their first World Cup win this year) was the Australia men's team job.

However, he hastened to add that post was in "safe hands" with Langer although he did not rule out taking on a formal role within the Australia structure if an opportunity presented itself.

"There'll be a real focus on T20 cricket coming up," Langer said.

"Certainly Trevor Bayliss, from a personal point of view and as a mentor I’m sure I can learn a lot from TB if he’s open to it.

"He’s a seasoned campaigner, he’s an Australian and I know he’s done a great job for England.

"But I know he loves Australia as well, so who knows what will happen there."

https://www.cricket.com.au/news/jus...ustralia-fifth-test-the-oval-video/2019-09-16
 
What about Kurtis Patterson and Joe Burns? They both got tons in their last baggy green appearance.
 
What about Kurtis Patterson and Joe Burns? They both got tons in their last baggy green appearance.

Joe Burns can open with Warner:

Warner
Burns
Labuschagne
Smith
Pucovski
Wade
Paine
Cummins
Pattinson/ Starc
Lyon
Hazlewood
 
Some fear in Australian camp but Pakistan will not challenge them in their current state.
 
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