There’s a renewed call for the return of the international cricket one-day tri-series amid concerns Australian caps after being handed out too cheaply on the back of the sorry capitulation to Pakistan. The tourists won the three-game shoot-out 2-1 – their first series win in Australia since 2002 – following big wins in Adelaide and Perth in front of modest crowds.

The Australians were comprehensively outplayed in games two and three and only just snuck across the line in the opening match at the MCG. The home side went into Sunday’s series decider with half their side missing – Steve Smith, Marnus Labuschagne, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins all put on ice ahead of the first Test against India – while Mitchell Marsh and Travis Head were absent on paternity leave.

The hosts fielded a team full of fresh faces and paid a heavy price, going down by eight wickets as Pakistan ran through the Australian top order before feasting on a poor effort in the field. Former Australian great Mark Waugh, who played 244 ODIs, says playing meaningless series when the best players are not available is cheapening the game.

When it was suggested the absence of so many frontline stars opened up opportunities for less experienced players to be blooded, Waugh told Fox Cricket: “It does but players have to earn that right to play for Australia – or your country – by the same token. A series like this, what does it mean?

“To the individual player, it means more for some than others. It means more for some countries than other countries – (for) Pakistan, this is a great boost for them to win out here – (but) I don’t think you could say this has been an outrageous success, this series. Just from the interest (levels) and Australia not being able to put out a full-strength team…it’s a tricky one.”

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Calls for return of one-day international tri-series

Waugh would like to see a return of the tri-series to the Australian summer to reignite interest in the one-day format. While champion keeper-batsman Adam Gilchrist blames the deluge of T20 tournaments for reducing 50-over cricket to a sideshow.

He said: “I’m not completely certain the cricket public are getting into it (one-day cricket) as much as what they used to be. T20 encroaches so much into the (cricketing) calendar. If you want people to come to one-day cricket and pack it out, you’ve got to get it in the window where it means something.”