Lahore: The Australian cricket team will make history when it steps into the Gaddafi Stadium later on Tuesday for the first of the three-match ODI series against Pakistan, as they will become the first men’s side to wear Indigenous designs overseas.
However, the Aaron Finch-led side will not be first Australians to don the new design, with Australia’s women’s team having worn it during the ODI component of the recently-completed Ashes series, according to cricket.com.au.
The jersey was supposed to make its debut in a three-match ODI series against New Zealand in February, but it got postponed due to stringent border controls in the Trans-Tasman country due to Covid-19.
“The design follows on from last summer’s predominantly black Indigenous-themed kit, which the men’s team wore against India in three T20s,” the report said, adding that the artwork was a collaboration between the manufacturers and two Indigenous women.
“The kit may also return next summer so the men’s team can wear it on home soil, but the 2022/23 summer schedule is yet to be confirmed,” the report added.
Australia, who will play their first white-ball match on Pakistan soil since 1998, will field one of the most depleted white-ball sides in a long time. The team is shorn of some of the biggest names, including Test captain Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and top-order batters Steve Smith and David Warner.
To add to their woes, Mitchell Marsh — with 63 ODIs to his name and Australia’s second-most experienced player on the tour behind skipper Finch (132 ODIs) — has been ruled out of the first ODI and possibly the entire series due to a hip flexor injury sustained at training on Sunday.
While Travis Head is back in the mix, it remains to be seen how he shapes up, given that he hasn’t played ODI cricket since 2018. Among others, Cameron Green has played just one, Sean Abbott two, while Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Josh Inglis and Mitchell Swepson would all make their ODI debut if selected.
–IANS