Dean Jones: “Do they honestly feel playing a three-day match at night and a two-day match in Perth will get them ready to be competitive against Australia?”

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Former Australia batsman Dean Jones believes Pakistan have prepared extremely poorly for the upcoming two-Test series against the Baggy Greens.

The tourists, who have never won a Test series in Australia, lost 2-0 in the three-match Twenty20 series and played a day-night practice match against Australia A at Perth Stadium.

They are now involved in a two-day game against the Cricket Australia XI at the WACA in Perth.

However, Jones questioned why Pakistan are playing practice matches in Perth when their two Tests against Australia will be held in Brisbane and Adelaide respectively.

“I blame Pakistan’s cricket board for their horrendous scheduling of this Test series,” Jones wrote in his column for the Sydney Morning Herald as quoted by Reuters. “Pakistan have not played a Test match since early January. Do they honestly feel playing a three-day match at night and a two-day match in Perth will get them ready to be competitive against Australia?

“(The) Test matches will be played in Brisbane and Adelaide and their bounce will be completely different to Perth. Why didn’t Pakistan schedule a three or four-day match when their T20 matches against Australia were on in Adelaide or at the Gabba?

“Pakistan could have easily put together a decent team to take on a state side while the international T20s were on. Asian players need at least three matches to get used to our conditions and this itinerary will not help them much.”

The two-Test series between Australia and Pakistan will begin on November 21 in Brisbane.