- Australian ODI side lost in embarrassing fashion on Sunday
- Most of the team was rested ahead of India Test series
Australian captain Pat Cummins was nowhere to be seen as his team were pummeled in embarrassing fashion on Sunday – and what he did instead will infuriate cricket fans.
Just under 20,000 die-hard Australian supporters attended the deciding match of the ODI series against Pakistan at the 60,000-capacity Optus Stadium in Perth.
That figure was likely inflated, with cameras revealing the vast number of empty seats in the stadium.
The fans’ reward was Australia waving a massive white flag, opting to remove Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood from the line-up ahead of the Test series against India.
Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head were also absent in order to be present for the births of their respective children – but Cummins was in Sydney taking in a Coldplay concert with his wife Becky.
The piecemeal Australian side was dismantled 9-140 from 31.5 overs, rising star Cooper Connolly suffered a fractured hand and the visitors romped to victory with time left for Aussie fans to make it home for dinner.
Former Australian great Mark Waugh blasted the match as ‘meaningless’ and said withdrawing so many topline players cheapened the Aussie cap.
Pat Cummins posted a photo of him and wife Becky attending a Coldplay concert as the Aussie ODI side was getting thrashed by Pakistan
Cricket Australia has been accused of cheapening the value of Australian selection after resting a host of players for the ODI against Pakistan with the series on the line
There were vast bays of empty seats at Optus Stadium as cricket fans stayed away in droves after Aussie selectors sent out a second-string side
Cummins posted a photo of him attending the Coldplay concert with Becky, who posted the caption ‘Excitement levels are high’ along with a selfie on Instagram, as excitement levels for the Aussie ODI side reached an all-time low.
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke led the chorus of disapproval over the performance and selections, saying Cricket Australia ‘don’t care about losing’.
‘I’m just a bit confused, so 11 days between now and the first Test, why can’t the Aussie boys who are part of this Test series play in the one-dayer,’ he said on his Big Sports Breakfast radio show.
‘They are going to go to training and get flogged.
‘If Australia had won the first two games, then you can understand why they rest their big fish, but it was series on the line.
‘You can’t expect the fans to want and come and watch one-day cricket. We are bagging one-day cricket, no one is turning up, hasn’t got the interest, I wonder why.
‘I feel like we obviously don’t care about losing that series. If you’re not going to care, we’re not going to care.
‘I think we have it wrong. I understand resting for Test cricket, I love that, but it’s a one-day game. They are going to bowl more than that at training.’
Former Aussie skipper Michael Clarke (pictured) was furious at the current side for resting so many players with the series still live
The horror loss marked the first time no Australian batter has registered a half-century in an ODI series of three or more matches.
Paceman Sean Abbott saved Australia from even further humiliation with a late knock of 30.
‘Very disappointing,’ stand-in skipper Josh Inglis said.
‘We clearly didn’t get enough runs on the board, and our whole batting line-up really just didn’t get going at all throughout the series.
‘Everyone’s got to probably look at ourselves individually and find ways to get better and keep improving.’
