Australia hail Pakistan over No 1 spot

SOUTHAMPTON, England: Australia’s cricket chiefs are expecting that there will be an added interest in their home series against Pakistan later this year after the rise of Misbah-ul-Haq and Co. to the top of the world Test rankings.

On Tuesday, a day after Pakistan toppled old rivals India to become the number one Test team, a top Cricket Australia (CA) official said that Pakistan’s rise will add extra spice to their home summer.

James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, hailed Pakistan on their rise to number one spot, which has come despite them being unable to play matches on home soil for more than six years.

“I’d just like to acknowledge that effort of Pakistan being the No.1 ranked team for the first time in Test cricket,” Sutherland said. “It’s quite a remarkable effort and very significant in the context of them not being able to play matches at home.

“And on behalf of everyone in Australian cricket, I say congratulations to Pakistan.”

Pakistan’s No 1 status will be challenged later this year when they travel Down Under for a Test series in New Zealand (featuring Tests in Christchurch and Hamilton in November) and then Australia for matches in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney over the festive period. While Pakistan have a winning record in New Zealand — they’ve lost just five of 29 Tests they’ve played there since 1965 — they will have to reverse more than five decades of history if they are to have success in Australia, where they’ve won just four of 32 Tests.

But their recent performances in unfamiliar conditions in England, where they were victorious in Tests at Lord’s and The Oval to draw the series 2-2, have given the tourists belief that they can win away from their adopted home in the UAE.

“We very much welcome their tour here this year,” Sutherland said. “It does add a lot of extra interest for us to be playing the No 1 Test team... over the course of the summer. It promises to be something very exciting.

“They’ve done very well in the last couple of months in England... and we look forward to hosting them this summer,” he said.