Mystery Aussies must solve as Cummins response reveals bizarre pre-Test scenario

Australia will cross a strange new frontier this week as it plays its first-ever Pink Test away from home, while using something it has also never faced — a pink Dukes ball.

More than half of the 23 mens day/night Tests in history have taken place in Australia (13), while the nation hasn’t featured in a single one on foreign soil.

That standoff will end on Sunday in Jamaica where the third and final Test of the Frank Worrell Trophy will take place at Sabina Park.

The match will see a pink Dukes ball used, giving the Australians a major unknown to tackle in preparation.

Australia captain Pat Cummins revealed after the second Test that the team had made early attempts on the tour to try and close that knowledge gap.

At the time of his speaking, however, those attempts had proved futile.

“Absolutely (we) haven’t had a look at them,” Cummins said with a laugh.

“I think we’ve been triyng to get our hands on some but we haven’t got some yet, so hopefully they’re waiting for us in Jamaica.”

Why Australia hasn’t been able to acquire the balls is unclear, but it’s worth noting that the Pink Dukes is decidedly rare in world cricket.

Only the West Indies, England and Ireland use the Dukes ball. Of those nations, only England and the West Indies have hosted a day-night Test, with the former only doing so once in 2017.

‘SCARIEST’: AUSSIE TEST WEAPON HITS PEAK

Alex Carey has become one of the “scariest” players for opposition teams, according to Cummins, as the keeper enjoys a career-best run with the bat ahead of a blockbuster Ashes summer.

Carey was named man-of-the-match in Australia’s second Test win over the West Indies in Grenada on the back of 93 runs across two innings, with his 63 in the first dig as the top-order battled pivotal in the victory.

Only Travis Head has more runs than Carey’s 166 runs through the opening two games and it’s a fact not lost on Cummins, who has seen the 33-year-old build into a formidable middle-order prospect with an ability to take the game away from opponents.

Carey, who was handed duties to lead the team song after wins from Nathan Lyon, evidence of his importance to the team, has racked up 521 runs in his last 10 red-ball innings, including centuries in the final two games of the Sheffield Shield season, with only one score below 23 in that run.

He failed to pass 50 in only one of those past 10 games, in the World Test Championship final at Lord’s where he still made scores of 23 and 43.

It’s a run of runs that moved Cummins to declare Carey had become the type of player other teams would now fear.

“I mean, he’s about four or five years into his Test career. I think in the last year or so, it’s probably been his most prolific,” Cummins said.

“He looks really settled and any opposition that kind of has a No.7, it’s normally a keeper, but walks in and they’re kind of in good form, they can move the game quickly. They’re some of the scariest players and we’ve got Kez in our side that does that.

“He’s great, he’s keeping really well also but always seems to contribute.”

Carey’s run comes ahead of the Ashes, with his opposite number, English keeper Jamie Smith, blasting Indian bowlers during their current series, including an unbeaten 188 in a losing effort in the second Test at Edgbaston.

Cummins said Carey had turned himself in to a player who contributed “time and time again” and in a manner that gave his teammates confidence.

“It’s a really tricky period to walk into bat, at No.5, six or seven,” he said.

“The game’s normally in the balance and time and time again him along with a couple others seem to take the game away from the opposition.

“And bowling to him as well, he’s just looking really sharp and really hard to bowl to.

“He’s been unbelievable for South Australia when he played the Shield games, and he’s just carried on to international cricket, so he’s just a guy that knows his game really well.

“He’s confident and is enjoying a really good patch at the moment.”