Recent pace battles hold Wade in good stead

If Matthew Wade wants a taste of what to expect from Pakistan's young and feisty pace attack, he need only cast his mind back to his most recent Test innings two months ago.

That was when Wade found himself in a torrid battle against England's rookie fast bowler Jofra Archer, a duel that saw the sometimes teammates trade blow-for-blow across almost an hour before Wade completed a deserved century.

Wade finished this year's Ashes campaign as Australia third-highest runs scorer (behind Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne) with his 337 runs at 33.7 including two hundreds.

And while his compelling contest with Archer in the final Test at The Oval remains one of the stand-out moments of a memorable campaign, Wade held a clear idea of what was coming from the Barbados-born paceman.

Not only had he encountered Archer in the previous three Tests of that Ashes summer, the pair played together for two seasons with Hobart Hurricanes in the KFC Big Bash League.

By contrast, the new-look pace attack that Pakistan are expected to take into the Domain Test Series starting at the Gabba on Thursday will be unfamiliar to Wade who has not played against them in Tests since they last toured Australia three years ago.

Certainly, a bulk of Pakistan's bowling line-up is expected to be players who have not previously experienced Test cricket here.

Wade has already indicated he's not one to study hours of video footage of his prospective rivals, among them uncapped 16-year-old quick Naseem Shah who impressed with his speed and aggression during Pakistan's recent tour match against an Australia A outfit in Perth.

The reborn Test batter also expressed similar reservations about revisiting the highlights reel of his bouncer battle with Archer, during which he was struck a painful blow on the shoulder amid his array of audacious strokes.

"Not really, I don't want to watch that too much," Wade said today, recalling that duel.

"He was bowling good pace."

However, he has tapped into the insights of Test teammates including Cameron Bancroft and Travis Head who were part of the Australia A XI in Perth, to gain an understanding of what awaits when it's his turn to bat at the Gabba.

"We had a chat yesterday about their bowlers," Wade said, following Australia's training session at Allan Border Field in Brisbane this morning.

"We had a few guys – Bangers (Bancroft) had a bit of time out in the middle to see a few of them, so he told us what he saw.

"(Perth Stadium) is a wicket where it flies through, and it was pink ball so those games we know are very different to red ball.

"So you can take a bit out of it, but not too much.

"But we take some good confidence out of facing Jofra and Broady (England's Stuart Broad), and the guys over there (in the UK) bowled really well.

"So if we can come back here and bat to the best of our abilities, and bat close to what some of the guys did in England that will hold us in good stead for the Australian summer."

Having earned a recall to the Test team as a specialist batter after two seasons of irresistible form for Tasmania, Wade made an immediate impact in his first Ashes outing.

The 31-year-old scored 110 in the second innings of the opening Ashes Test at Edgbaston, paving the way for his team's 251-run victory that was crucial in them retaining the urn.

Like so many of his teammates – with the notable exception of Steve Smith – he then experienced a lean run against England's dominant bowlers before his counter-punching knock on the series' final day at The Oval.

The form that he displayed in England has him confident of maintaining his resurgence as a Test player, even if he has seen little of the Pakistan bowlers he will face at the Gabba this week.

If he required any sharpening of reflexes against quality fast bowling, it came during this morning's two-hour training session at Allan Border Field.

In addition to time in the practice nets, Wade and his fellow specialist batters rotated through concurrent centre-wicket preparation conducted on adjacent playing fields.

On the main arena, pace quartet Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Starc and Michael Neser put batters through a searching workout, while on the neighbouring Ray Lindwall Oval spinners Nathan Lyon and Marnus Labuschagne operated in tandem.

For the next two days, Australia will train at the Gabba where the nets will closely mirror the pace and bounce of the Test match pitch.

And while Wade keenly awaits his first Test appearance on home soil since a vastly different Pakistan squad toured here three years ago, he knows that getting through the next couple of training sessions presents its own challenge.

"I'm just itching to get started, to be honest," Wade said today.

"This is probably the worst part, the next couple of days.

"Part of why this is the hardest part of the build-up to the Test series is you've got to face those guys in the nets, and they're running in.

"They've been terrific bowlers for a long period of time.

'Josh and Patty and Starcy have played a lot of test cricket in this country, and they looked really good today.

"We know that if we can get enough runs on the board they'll take care of business, along with Gazza (Lyon)."

Domain Test Series v Pakistan

Australia squad: Tim Paine (c), Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns, Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Michael Neser, James Pattinson, Steve Smith, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

Pakistan squad: Azhar Ali (c), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan Snr, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Musa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah.

Warm-up match: Australia A v Pakistan, match drawn

Warm-up match: v Cricket Australia XI, November 15-16, WACA Ground

First Test: November 21-25, Gabba (Seven, Fox & Kayo)

Second Test: November 29 – December 3, Adelaide (d/n) (Seven, Fox & Kayo)