WATCHING Australia play Pakistan takes me back to 1956 when the two nations first met in a Test at the National Stadium in Karachi.

Having lost the Ashes after they were destroyed by Jim Laker in a Test at Old Trafford where the England off-spinner took 19 wickets in the match — ten in the first innings and nine in the second - Australia had come to Pakistan on their way back home.

They endured similar fate in the only Test at Karachi where unable to cope with the lift and movement on a matting wicket, Australia were thrashed by Pakistan by nine wickets with lion-hearted medium-fast bowler Fazal Mahmood being the standout performer, bagging 13 wickets while conceding just 114 runs.

Great Australian cricketers like Victor Trumper, Don Bradman, Bill Ponsford, Stan McCabe and Bill O’Reilly had always fascinated me and so did players of great merit like Keith Miller, Ray Lindwall, Richie Benaud, Neil Harvey and Alan Davidson.

Although Trumper, Bradman, Ponsford, McCabe and O’Reilly had long retired, Miller, Lindwall, Harvey and Davidson were in the squad which visited Pakistan.

As a college student and a cricketer, I just couldn’t miss the opportunity to watch them live as I travelled from Hyderabad, my hometown, to Karachi where Pakistan bowled the visitors out for a paltry 80 runs in the first innings and in reply made 15-2 on the first day at the stumps. The 95 runs scored in the day’s play remains the lowest ever recorded in a Test on a single day.

There was no pavilion back then, nor any stand except that there were marquees (shamianas) for the VIP’s where the players had their dressing rooms. Sitting right across the ground, opposite to the present pavilion on a hill, I watched Fazal bowl his swinging deliveries and vicious leg-cutters as the Australian batsmen perished.

It was also a delight to watch Miller and Lindwall bowl in tandem — Miller was tall and handsome with Lindwall of medium height with a dream run up to the wicket. It was disappointing for me, though, to watch Hanif Mohammad fall in both innings without contributing much (0 and 5), caught once off Miller and then in the second innings off Davidson. Similarly, Harvey’s failure was disturbing too.

But Pakistan captain Abdul Hafeez Kardar (69) and Wazir Mohammed (67) helped Pakistan get a handsome 119-run first innings lead with Fazal on song in the second innings as well to wrap up the match.

Over the years, Australia have remained one of my favourite teams for the players they have kept on producing. Pakistan have had their full share triumphs and tribulations against them, both at home and away, but not as much success as the Australians achieved against them.

Hanif Mohammed’s solitary tour of Australia when he hit a hundred in the first innings and 93 in the second of the Melbourne Test in 1964 as Pakistan captain was one of the moments to cherish.

So was Imran Khan’s 12 wickets at Sydney in the 1976-77 series which earned Pakistan’s first win on Australian soil, Sarfraz Nawaz’s nine wickets in an innings in another Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1979 and a century each by Imran and Wasim Akram in a Test at Adelaide in 1989.

Other memorable occasions include Dennis Lillee running out to bowl with Jeff Thomson as his partner and that fine innings of 182 by Greg Chappell in his last Test against Pakistan at Sydney in 1983.

The current Australian side may not have the charisma of the teams which included the likes of the Chappell brothers, Ian and Greg, Alan Border, Steve and Mark Waugh, Mark Taylor, Ricky Ponting, Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath but they certainly have that kind of air about them to assert themselves.

Pakistan also suffers from lack of star attraction but not for lack of effort. They have with them a team which is struggling to find its feet for various reasons but mainly because of its nomadic existence, being unable to play their international cricket at home for security reasons.

It was here in the UAE that Australia had bowled them out for their lowest Test total of 53 in 2002. Here at Dubai and in Abu Dhabi, Misbah-ul-Haq and company will no doubt need more than blessings to stand up against them.

Low and slow tracks may turn out to be an advantage against a stronger opposition but to compete on equal terms they would need a lot more than they are able to offer.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2014