In the defeat of Afghanistan, Wade batted at the top of the order and contributed a battling 75 before snaffling catches. He was noticeably drained by the finish, but would be stretched even further with only the dinner break between keeping wicket and opening the batting in a chase.Rixon made it clear he would welcome the chance to send Hussey up the order, though he demonstrated his value in the middle order with a rapid-fire 49 from 37 balls to be sure Australia reached a powerful total against Afghanistan. The captain Michael Clarke, promoted to No. three, and the floating George Bailey are other options to open the batting.
Nevertheless, Clarke was keen to emphasise the importance of handling and using spin bowling as critical to the result of the series. Xavier Doherty, Glenn Maxwell and Steven Smith may be used primarily in support of Mitchell Starc, James Pattinson and Mitchell Johnson, but Clarke did not require to underplay their importance to a winning combination.Ahead of Australias first meeting with Pakistan since the 2011 World Cup, Rixon suggested that Australia needed to play to the pace strength demonstrated against Afghanistan, though it is known that Pakistan will stack their side with up to slow bowlers of quality.
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