[ad_1]
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood showed no hesitation in electing to bat after Pat Cummins lost the toss for the third and final Test of the series.
Meanwhile, Warner’s search for his beloved baggy green cap continues – with the thief branded a ‘scumbag’ by the retiring star’s father.
Follow along for all the action from day one.
10.40AM: WICKET! HAZLEWOOD DELIVERS, PAKISTAN IN MAJOR TROUBLE
Welcome to Test cricket, Saim Ayub.
The Pakistan debutant has copped a lovely delivery from Josh Hazlewood, on a perfect length and gets it to nibble away from the left-hander – it takes the edge, and Alex Carey does the business behind the stumps with a good, low diving catch.
A two-ball duck, and Pakistan are 2-4. This is a disastrous start to 2024 for the tourists after winning the toss.
Babar Azam – who endured a difficult 2023 – joins his skipper at the crease, with Pakistan in desperate need of a lift.
10.32AM: WICKET! STARC STRIKES IMMEDIATELY
A wicket! With the second ball of the day, Mitchell Starc removes Abudllah Shafique – who is having a nightmare summer.
Shafique offers a loose drive, taking a thick edge which flies to Steve Smith at second slip, and he’s gone for a two-ball duck.
It’s been a tough series for Shafique, with the hands especially, and that is a disaster for him and Pakistan on what looks like a tremendous batting day.
The tourists are 1-0. In comes the skipper Shan Masood.
10.20AM: ‘MAKES ME LAUGH’: SELECTION BOMBSHELL MOCKED BY PAKISTAN GREAT
By Lachlan McKirdy
Pakistan legend Waqar Younis has criticised the visitors for their decision to rest star bowler Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Afridi claimed six wickets in the Boxing Day Test and was slowly getting back to his best form at the MCG.
However, the 23-year-old has been managed ahead of the upcoming Pakistan T20 series in New Zealand, making way for right-arm spinner Sajid Khan.
“That makes me laugh, to be honest,” Younis said on Channel 7.
“Because that’s what we play for, we play for Test match cricket. We don’t play for T20s or one-day cricket.
“And if you’re missing Test match cricket purely because you are being rested, I do not understand.
“That’s a real shocker for me because I was expecting him to be a part of this Test match because he looked good in the previous match. He started feeling like the old Shaheen Afridi and started to swing the ball and the pace was getting better.”
The Sydney Test is the first time that Pakistan has selected an out-and-out spinner this series with captain Shan Masood confirming in his pre-match press conference that he felt the SCG wicket would be more conducive to spin.
10.00AM: PAKISTAN WIN TOSS, BAT FIRST
David Warner’s farewell party has been put on hold, with Pakistan winning the toss and electing to bat first at the SCG.
Pakistan skipper Shan Masood showed no hesitation in electing to bat after Pat Cummins lost the toss for the third and final Test of the series.
Australia named an unchanged XI from the team that captured a 2-0 series lead, but they might have their work cut out for them early on a sunny Sydney day and a wicket that looks built for runs.
“It’s just how things are done at the SCG,” Masood said of his decision to bat first.
“Hopefully we can put in a good first innings score and just see how it plays.”
9.45AM: WARNER SNR SLAMS ‘SCUMBAG’ BAGGY GREEN THIEF AS HUNT GOES ON
– Ben Horne
David Warner’s baggy green caps have failed to turn up before his farewell Test, with his father taking aim at the “scumbag” who stole it from his son’s bag this week.
Warner issued a desperate plea for whoever had taken the backpack containing his baggy greens out of his luggage en route from Melbourne to Sydney, to return his treasured caps with no questions asked.
Qantas launched a full scale search for video footage which might give clues for how the bag disappeared, and Cricket Australia and players’ association chiefs also added their voices to Warner’s pleas for the items to be returned.
Speaking on SEN Radio with Jimmy Smith and Michael Carayannis, Warner’s father Howard predicted his son’s caps would end up dumped somewhere by the thief.
“I haven’t heard anything this morning. His video went viral I know that much – everyone in Australia knows about the baggy green,” Howard Warner said on SEN.
“Whatever scumbag has taken it is going to have to lay it off very shortly. They’ll find it dumped somewhere.”
Howard Warner said his son was emotional about the theft, with the baggy green a sacred item for most Australian Test cricketers.
It’s extraordinary that it would disappear days before his last Test.
“I know he’s emotional. He would love to walk out with the baggy green on,” Howard said.
“(But) if he can’t, he can’t. Again, what do you do.”
Former Test captain Kim Hughes said the disappearing caps was a “kick in the guts” for Warner ahead of his momentous 112th and final Test.
Speaking on Fox Cricket, Warner reiterated his plea to have the caps returned.
“I haven’t found my caps,” he said.
“As I said in my video, if you have got my back pack, I’ll give you my back pack, all I want is those baggy greens back, please.”
9.00AM: BAGGY GREEN ‘DISTRACTION’ WON’T OVERAWE DAVID WARNER
– Jacob Kuriype
Kerry O’Keeffe has backed David Warner to overcome the loss of his baggy green in his final Test match.
Warner took to Instagram on Test match eve to plea for the return of his baggy green caps, and confirmed on Fox Cricket ahead of day one that he was still waiting for good news.
O’Keeffe was in little doubt the baggy green loss would weigh heavily on Warner’s mind, but expects the opener to still fire at the SCG.
“This is a distraction, because your baggy green is your membership card to an exclusive club,” O’Keeffe said on Fox Sports News.
“The only piece of memrobillia I have in my house is my baggy green – No.253. I treause it because of the 10s of millions of Australians that have stared playing cricket, under 500 have gone on to get that cap.
“Davey Warner has a capacity to dismiss the outside noise, but this is a distraction. He values that cap above any other and to have them missing on the eve of his final Test match will hurt him.
“But we know with Dave how strong a character he is and how uncomplicated he is, he should be able to rise above it.”
8.00AM: PAKISTAN SKIPPER OPEN TO MOVING SLIPS FIELDERS
– Julian Linden
Pakistan’s hard-nosed skipper has warned his butter-fingered slips fielders they may find themselves patrolling different parts of the Sydney Cricket Cricket Ground in the third and final Test against Australia.
Already 2-0 down, the tourists have been left wondering what could have been after they contributed to their own downfall with their sloppy fielding, including several dropped catches that have proved critical.
They have made two changes to the starting side, dropping opener Imam-ul-haq and resting left-arm seamer Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Saim Ayub will make his debut at the top of the order while specialist spinner Sajid Khan comes in for Shaheen.
One of the main culprits has been Abdullah Shafique, who has been fielding at first slip.
Normally regarded as a safe pair of hands, he’s been guilty of grassing a number of chances, including a sitter off Mitch Marsh that proved decisive in the Boxing Day Test.
Under pressure to replace Shafique in the slips cordon, Pakistan captain Shan Masood was keeping his cards close to his chest when asked whether he needed to reshuffle his catchers behind the stumps.
“Abdullah Shafique has been a good slips man for us and those are the guys that practice for hours every day,” Masood said.
“So if on the basis of one catch or two catches, even if you change someone, you’re also knocking the confidence down.
“But sometimes like you do with batsmen or bowlers, they need some time away from that and then you give them that time and allow them to come back again.”
Pressed on whether he might consider replacing Shafique with Babar Azam at first slip, Masood – who also dropped a catch in the second test – said he was tempted but might see if he can find a diplomatic solution before wielding the axe.
“(Shafique) is a brilliant slips fielder. He’s got age on his side. You’ll see him standing in the slips more often,” Masood said.
“But I think if he doesn’t feel comfortable, Babar is a decent first slipper so we’ll put Babar there. Babar took a great catch over there as well.
“You also have to see, I think maybe on this track you might not need three slips all the time. So it might make our decision a bit easier and, and we’ll again see how Abdullah feels.
“In a game, your hands are tied because slips are very specialised. A lot of fielding places in Test cricket are very specialised. You can’t be moving people around to the slips. We had four genuine quick bowlers, so it was hard to get them into the slips.”
PAKISTAN’S TEAM FOR THIRD TEST – Saim Ayub, Abdullah Shafique, Shan Masood (captain), Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan, Salman Ali Agha, Sajid Khan, Hassan Ali, Mir Hamza, Aamir Jamal.
[ad_2]
