Australia vs Pakistan: first men's one-day international – live | Australian cricket team

Important events

Pat Cummins won the toss and Australia will bowl first at the MCG

That means we'll have to wait for the fireworks from young master Fraser-McGurk and settle for the biggest fast bowling cartel in the cricketing world. The players take to the pitch at the MCG and we will have the first ball soon.

Pakistan have long been an unpredictable cricket team and few predicted their Test series victory against England last month. Having completed a total of over 500 innings in the first innings, they seemed set for victory but capitulated spectacularly, losing the first Test by an innings margin. But under the calm, determined leadership of Gillespie they fought back and won the next two Tests. This is how James Wallace understood this madness…

Regardless of who wins the toss, many cricket fans will be hoping to see Australia's 22-year-old batting superstar Jake Fraser-McGurk unleashed.

Despite being the new coach of Pakistan, Jason Gillespie is a popular figure in Australian cricket. “Dizzy”, the great-grandson of a Kamilaroi warrior, is considered our first male indigenous Test cricketer.

Born in Sydney and raised in Adelaide, Gillespie produced 259 wickets and a further 142 scalps from his 97 ODIs in his celebrated 71-Test career. With his magnificent mullet, magnificent mustache and the sneering grin of a fast bowler who could curdle a batsman's marrow at 10 paces, he was a dream to look at and a nightmare to face.

Oddly enough, Gillespie's most famous moment came with the bat: his first Test century was a hard-to-believe unbeaten 201 in Bangladesh – the highest score in the history of a night watchman and an innings of 574 minutes and 425 balls.

Mohammad Hasnain will be familiar to some Australians. The beanstalk fast-spinner with the lightning-quick right arm was first spotted on these shores in 2019 when he made his ODI debut as an 18-year-old. At the time he was regularly hitting the speed gun at 150km/h, but injuries derailed his career and affected his speed. Five years later, as a 24-year-old, he makes a welcome return for his tenth white-ball game for Pakistan.

Hasnain looked pretty good in the nets at the MCG on Saturday as he bowled under the watchful eye of Pakistan's new Australian coach Jason Gillespie…

preamble

Angus Fontaine

Greetings cricket fans! Welcome to the Guardian's live coverage of the first men's one-day international between Australia and Pakistan. This is game one of a three-match series and today's action comes to you from the Melbourne Cricket Ground. I'm Angus Fontaine and I'll take you through the first few salvos of the action.

Although these countries met for a Test series in January, which Australia won 3-0, it has been more than a year since they last faced each other in the ODI format. This clash took place in the 2023 World Cup clash in Bengaluru and Australia won by 62 runs after a mammoth 259-run opener between David Warner and Mitchell Marsh.

Much to Pakistan's relief, none of these veterans will be in the Australian squad today. Warner has finally retired and Marsh is on ice (i.e. paternity leave) for the upcoming Test series against India, where he will have to shoulder the bowling load of the injured Cameron Green. With master blaster Travis Head also enjoying the momentum of fatherhood, it will be Matt Short and Jake Fraser-McGurk who open the Men in Gold.

Pat Cummins returns as captain for Australia for this series, leading an impressive XI consisting of Matt Short, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Steve Smith, Josh Inglis, Marnus Labuschagne, Aaron Hardie, Glenn Maxwell, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Starc and Adam Zampa .

Pakistan have just clinched a rousing Test series win over England in England and have a new white-ball captain in Mohammad Rizwan, the 32-year-old from Peshawar, in his 73rd ODI for Pakistan. They also have some new blood in their matchday XI: batsman Muhammad Irfan Khan will make his debut and Kamran Ghulam will play his second ODI. Their four-man attack consists of Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf and the six-foot-tall Mohammad Hasnain, who has reached a speed of 155.1 km/h!

Australia is experiencing a late spring heatwave, so we have a warm, cloudy day in Melbourne and a clear forecast for revelers this evening. The game starts at 2:30pm AEST and you can always email me with interesting stats and stories, words of encouragement or explanations of any mistakes as I rattle away.

Until then, hold on tight and buckle up, because the action isn't far away.

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