Australia players 'jumping on the plane' to Pakistan, clear that it's going to be safe and exciting: Interim head coach

The Australian players are rearing to go as they prepare for a historic tour of Pakistan and completely focused on how they will play, the team's interim head coach has said.

Australia players are convinced that their historic upcoming tour of Pakistan is going to be “safe and exciting” and are focused on how they will play in the country, the team's interim head coach Andrew McDonald has said.

This will be Australia's first tour of Pakistan since 1999.  (AP)

The tour starts with a three-Test series on March 4 and will mark the first time that Australia will play in Pakistan since 1999.

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"They’re jumping on the plane. So that to me says they’re ready to go and they are clear in their mind, that it’s going to be safe and it’s an exciting tour and they’re getting their heads around the cricket as opposed to the other things that potentially can pop into their mind,” McDonald said in a virtual press conference.

While star players like Test captain Pat Cummins, David Warner and Josh Hazlewood are set to miss the three-match ODI series and the one-off T20I, they are all set to play in the Test series.

McDonald said that they are expecting a different challenge to the one they have to deal with when facing Pakistan in Test matches in the UAE.

“Yeah, well, it’s difficult to tell in terms of Pakistan and Pakistan is different to Pakistan in the UAE. You know, they’ve got some great options, spin bowling options that, you know, fastball. Shaheen Shah Afridi, you know, keeps getting better every year. Left-arm pace, swings the ball, can reverse swing the ball as well, so they got some exciting players,” he added.

“Equally, we’ve got some really exciting players as well. Mitchell Starc and Cummins and Hazlewood and Cameroon Green and our bowling attack is equally exciting. So I think it’s going to be a really good contest. Yeah, you say that Pakistan is unpredictable, but I think in their own conditions is an element of predictability. They like to draw games out. You know, they play the long game, they’re patient and they play their conditions well,” he explained.