First Test wash-up: Every player rated

Australia player ratings: Mike Hussey

Legendary Australia batsman Mike Hussey saw the action unfold at the Gabba and below he calls it how he saw it.

David Warner 6/10

It wasn't Warner's most memorable match with scores of 32 and 12 but with a player of his calibre, you know a Test like this just brings him one knock closer to a century. It sounds like he's put a lot of effort into his one-day cricket and improving his record there, and he's managed that brilliantly, so it's not as if he's out of form; these things happen in ebbs and flows so the big runs will come in due course. As always, he was outstanding in the field, with a good run out and a real presence patrolling either the infield or the boundary line.

Matt Renshaw 7/10

I was really impressed with Renshaw in the first innings during his 71 – he was positive and he seemed more relaxed than in Adelaide, when he could be forgiven for being pretty emotional. He still would have been nervous playing in front of his home crowd and people he knew, but he handled that well and played some nice attacking shots, particularly off his pads. Continued catching well in the slips to round out a good match.

Usman Khawaja 7/10

He missed out in the first innings but Khawaja showed his class once again in the second knock, forging what was an important partnership with Steve Smith. Australia had lost two quick wickets and he was able to firstly weather the storm by staying calm under pressure against some good bowling, and then finish up with a really good contribution.

Steve Smith 9/10

A pretty darn good Test match really! Player of the match in my eyes, and it was fitting that he finished it off with that direct hit run out. What was really important was the partnership with Pete Handscomb, when Australia didn't lose a wicket in the final session of day one. Pakistan lost seven wickets the following night so that was the difference in the match right there. He's just so difficult to bowl to when he gets going, he can score anywhere, so the only blemishes on his performance were a couple of dropped catches.

Peter Handscomb 8.5/10

This guy has had a dream start to his Test career and he seems to have a real presence out in the middle. During his hundred he would've benefited from having the captain at the other end for the majority of the time, just calming him down and encouraging him to keep sticking to his game. Looks like he handles all situations well and it was a brilliant game for him. 

Nic Maddinson 3/10

If Handscomb's had a dream start, Maddinson's has been a bit of a nightmare but I hope the selectors persist with him for the second Test. He's young and talented and was on a hiding to nothing in the second innings, losing his wicket as he chased fast runs for the team's cause. It's a real plus that he put the team ahead of himself and with Shaun Marsh not fit for Boxing Day, I think he deserves one more chance. He got a really good ball in Adelaide, did the team thing in the second innings here, so in some ways we're judging him on one innings. You never know what he might do in Melbourne.

Matthew Wade 5/10

It was a pretty quiet game for Wade, who made seven in the first innings and was one not out in the second innings when the Aussies declared. With the gloves, he was pretty solid but he missed that stumping off Nathan Lyon and it's always the mistakes that people notice when it comes to 'keepers. He hasn't been making the runs that he'd like but he's a fighter so you can expect him to come to the party when Australia really need it.

Mitchell Starc 8/10

I wrestled with this rating as he doesn't seem to me to be quite at his best but he still finds a way to get wickets, which is a huge positive. He bowled very quick in the final session of day four but there's not that late, dramatic swing we've seen from him when he's at the very top of his game. But that said, he's taken seven wickets which is a massive contribution to the team.

Josh Hazlewood 8/10

Hazlewood continues to be ultra-consistent and was Australia's best bowler in both innings. He didn't get as many wickets as Starc but just the quality of his bowling has been superb. He got the big wicket of Younis Khan first ball in the first innings which really triggered that huge Pakistan collapse, and was going at about one run per over through most of the second innings before probably tiring a bit late on day four, when he also had centurion Asad Shafiq dropped.

Nathan Lyon 6.5/10

Lyon scored some important runs, bowled pretty well to take a couple of important wickets and I reckon he must've saved about 20 runs in the field, so I'll give him an extra point for that. Put all that together and it's a good match, and he'll be happy that they're coming out pretty well. He'll also want to pocket these fans and take him everywhere he goes – they loved him!

Jackson Bird 7.5/10

Bird bowled really well in the first innings, taking 3-23, and backed it up by constantly landing it in good areas in the second innings. Like Lyon, he didn't get a swag of wickets but it's a good match for him because he's becoming super reliable. He's disciplined and consistent in these sorts of conditions, does his job and really complements Starc and Hazlewood to make this a well-balanced attack. 

Pakistan player ratings: Mazher Arshad

Pakistani statistician and cricket.com.au writer Mazher Arshad offers his expert assessment of Pakistan's performances in Brisbane.

Sami Aslam 5/10

In the first innings that witnessed Pakistan getting out for a paltry 142 he batted the longest (100 balls and 134 minutes) but scored just 22 runs. He did well to see off the new ball under lights but struggled to rotate the strike. He looked more comfortable in the second outing and hit two boundaries off Starc but soon after that edged him to first slip. He came into the match off the back of his highest Test score in the previous innings (91 in Hamilton) and Pakistan were expecting a better performance from him. 

Azhar Ali 7/10

He may have been playing for six years but it was his first Test in Australia and despite a heap of experience behind him he, just like any other Pakistan batsman, looked nervous in the first innings and was dismissed for 5. However, he came back strongly in the second attempt. Even a nasty blow on the head by a Josh Hazlewood bouncer could not stop him from scoring 71, Pakistan’s second highest score in the match. He also bowled 12 overs in the match and induced an edge from Smith’s bat. 

Babar Azar 4/10

The 22-year-old batsman failed to put in any considerable performance in either innings. However, unlike some of the other batsmen playing their maiden Test in Australia, he didn’t seem nervous and looked in a good shape before edging in the slip going for a drive one too many and his wicket triggered a collapse reducing Pakistan from 1-43 to 8-67. He got a good start in the second innings but again edged to the slip cordon, becoming Nathan Lyon’s first victim of the match. 

Younis Khan 6/10 

The veteran batsman was under pressure coming into the series after a poor performance in New Zealand where his highest score in four innings was just 11. Knowing his struggles against the moving ball it wasn’t a surprise when he bagged a golden duck on the second day but if there ever was a Pakistan batsman who could make a comeback from such a precarious position it was him. He had a scratchy start to his second innings and then returned strongly with a 65. The innings however could have been better if not for his reverse sweep off Lyon that ended his stay with a catch at slip. The former Pakistan coach and Wide World of Sports commentator Waqar Younis described it a "ridiculous" dismissal on air. 

Misbah-ul-Haq 4/10

The Pakistan captain collected his worst returns, just nine across the two innings, in 22 Tests going back to 2014. It won’t be wrong to say that he looked the least impressive among all the batsmen, save Maddinson, in the match. He scored a 29-ball duck in the warm up game in Cairns and never looked comfortable on the Gabba wicket either. In both innings he was undone by Jackson Bird, who twice found his edge, one landing in the slips and the other in Wade’s gloves. 

Asad Shafiq 9.5/10

There was never a doubt on his batting ability but very few would have thought, after five ducks in the year, that the best innings of the match and one of the best ever on Australian soil would come from his bat. There were calls to axe him from the team after the first innings debacle but he silenced everybody scoring a resilient 137 and batting beyond expectations with the tail. He added 92, 66 and 77 with Aamir, Wahab and Yasir that took Pakistan to just 40 runs shy of the target. He earned the player-of-the-match award for his efforts and told cricket.com.au that it was the best innings of his career.

Sarfraz Ahmed 6/10

Misbah said following the match it was Sarfraz's effort in the first innings (unbeaten 59) that instilled a belief in the other batsmen that these are bat-able conditions. Pakistan were staring at a sub-100 total when he took the guard but his fifty took them from a pesky 8-67 to a somewhat respectable 142. He also scored 24 in the chase but his work with the gloves was mediocre. He dropped Smith on 53 who would go on to make 130 in the first innings. 

Mohammad Amir 8/10

You would trust him to bowl well and take wickets but he grabbed the headlines with his batting as much as he does with bowling. He produced his highest Test score of 48 in the second innings and was part of a 92-run partnership, Pakistan’s highest in the match, for the seventh wicket with Shafiq. Nor was he was ordinary with the ball. His 4-97 was his best bowling figures since returning to Test cricket and he also dismissed a dangerous looking Warner in the second innings. The only time he looked off colour in the field was when he dropped Smith on 129. 

Wahab Riaz 7/10

The left-arm quick was pick of the Pakistan’s bowlers removing four of the six top order Australia batsmen in the first innings. He also delivered fast and hostile bowling spells and troubled the batsmen at regular intervals and earned 4-80, the best ever figures by a Pakistan bowler in Brisbane. He also played a handy 30-run innings on the penultimate day taking Pakistan close to their target. 

Yasir Shah 7.5/10

Although he was not as impressive as Pakistan were expecting him to be on a bouncy Brisbane surface, the leg-spinner’s figures (2-129) does not do justice to his effort. He provided an early breakthrough with the wicket of Khawaja but was largely used to contain runs. His cause was also not helped by the fielders, with two catches dropped off his bowling – one each by Amir and Azhar. He scored a crucial 33 in the intense chase but was run out in a careless manner handing Australia a hard-fought 39-run win.

Rahat Ali 3/10

He was least impressive of all the bowlers in the match and didn’t justify his recall into the playing XI. He went wicket-less in the first innings when he also failed to contain runs, a role he often plays in Misbah’s planning. The left-arm pacer looked in slightly better shape and rhythm in the second outing, accounting for two wickets, but by that time it was too late and the damage had been done. It will be surprising if he retains his place in the Boxing Day Test. 

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