Revenge is on the mind of Australian vice-captain Mitchell Marsh, coming into the two test series against Pakistan in UAE this month.
Marsh made his Test debut in the corresponding series four years ago, and even though it was an impressive debut for him personally with the bat (164 runs at 41.0) it was a bitter experience for Australia as they were well beaten in both Tests.
“We’re really excited about the opportunity to play them,” said Marsh on Monday after scoring 162 in the drawn warm-up four day match against Pakistan A at the ICC Academy.
“I’ve played here once and we didn’t have much success but I think from the last team we played (in 2014) they (the 2018 team) are quite young.
“I don’t want to throw the word vulnerable out there but we are certainly looking forward to the opportunity to play them.”
‘Conditions here dictate patience’ – Mitchell Marsh digs in for warm-up hundred https://t.co/KEVs1ejTtp pic.twitter.com/HeWgqT38RC
— World News Port (@newsportdotcom) October 2, 2018
Pakistan did themselves no favours selecting a very young side to take on the Australians in the warm-up – a move that allowed the tourists to get in some quality batting practice, racking up 494 for four wickets in their only turn at bat.
As well as Marsh’s big total his brother Shaun knocked up 94, in a third wicket partnership that was worth 207 runs, and Travis Head 90 not out.
Pakistan did not play a quality spinner in the match, thereby not allowing Australia’s batsmen to acclimatize to the turning ball on UAE pitches.
“For us it’s actually irrelevant,” said Marsh on the non-selection. “We’ve faced plenty of spin (in the game) but ultimately you’ve still got to play each ball on its merits and you’ve still got to make runs and spend time in the middle.
“So for us it’s been really good practice facing their quicks. They’ve had it reversing for a little while and that’s going to come into play in this series so we’ve still had a good work out.”
Marsh refused to concede that playing a weakened attack had backfired on Pakistan.
“It’s a tactic you see around the world these days, that’s for sure (hosts playing a weakened line up in warm up games)”, he said.
“We haven’t spoken about it at all. We’re here to get on with the job and we’ve prepared really well for this tour.
“So I think if we got to this practice game and we needed to face spin we’d probably be in a bit of trouble. We’ve had a long time to prepare for this series so we’re raring to go.”
