Andrew McDonald, Australia’s interim head coach, is optimistic about his team’s preparations for the historic visit to Pakistan.

He believes his team has covered all of the basics in preparation for the unfamiliar challenges.

On his return to his native nation, Usman Khawaja will keep his place in Australia’s XI, but there is a chance that the other selections may be more flexible against Pakistan.

Since Australia’s senior team has not toured Pakistan since 1998, and only five Test matches have been played in Pakistan since cricket returned to the country in 2019, data is sparse, and no warm-up matches have been arranged prior to the series.

There’s a good chance Australia will use the same lineup as in the Ashes, with three pacers and a spinner alongside Cameron Green.

The pace has averaged 29.61 and the spin has averaged 39.41 in the five matches since 2019, but Andrew feels the team can adjust.

“We are taking some educated guesses based upon what we’ve seen in recent times,” Andrew McDonald said.

“Looking at the PSL, looking at the squares…it’s at the back end of their season. Our preparation takes on a greater range and is probably less specific than what we’d do if we knew exactly what we were getting.

“We are covering all bases, from turning wickets to wickets with grass on – they have a sensational pace attack, so we’ll be tested with that – there are many ways that they can play it and they are in control of their conditions. We feel as though the squad is balanced with enough options for whatever the case may be.”

Mitchell Marsh was also addressed by McDonald, who stated that Australia may benefit from having an extra pace resource.

“If it did go that way, Cameron Green would bowl a lot more overs in the first innings than potentially what he normally would, but over the course of a game, the spinners would probably pick up a lot more of the work in the second innings. So it would probably level out to be similar loads,” McDonald said.

“We are cautious it’s a long-term journey for Cameron, but what he’s been able to deliver has been second to none so far, so we are excited about the fact that he could do that role. Then you’ve got other options in terms of Mitch Marsh, [could] play two allrounders, so we’ve got great flexibility.” He added.

Only the opening duo of Khawaja and David Warner is likely to be disputed ahead of the first Test. In the Ashes final Test, Khawaja returned to the Test line-up and struck two hundreds in Sydney.

Marcus Harris was dropped to make room for Khawaja, but he will travel to Pakistan with the team, having scored 55, 5, and 91 runs in the Sheffield Shield, as well as an undefeated 102 in the Marsh Cup.

Haris and Marsh will most likely serve as backups in the event of an injury or a Covid Strike, and McDonald feels Harris can play multiple positions in the batting order.

“Usman you would say is a fair chance to start in the first Test match after what he did during this summer,” McDonald said. “But we’ve got some options, some competition for spots, and that’s always healthy.

“We know what [Harris] can do. Can he fit into the middle order if something were to go awry there? That’s a potential as well. If he was to be called upon, or he were to start, for whatever reason, we feel as though you could do a job. No doubt about that.”

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