Cricket: Aussies 'need to adjust' to heat and 2am finishes

Cricket Australia chief James Sutherland says Michael Clarke's side will simply have to adjust to the late playing hours and 40C heat for their approaching series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates.

Australia will play an ODI international against Afghanistan in Sharjah on August 25, followed by three ODIs and three T20 matches against Pakistan in Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The ODI matches in Sharjah and Abu Dhabi in the UAE won't finish until almost 2am local time, in a bid to avoid the hottest part of the day.

"It'll be hot but the sun's not going to be shining and that's probably the really important factor there," Sutherland said yesterday. "In terms of the hours, it's not ideal but ... the players will need to adjust ... It's the same for both teams.

"There are many people in the world who work different hours and these will be different hours for our players, unconventional hours for cricket perhaps.

"But the game's only going a couple of hours later than it would ordinarily so I'm not sure that adjustment is really that significant."

Pakistan have been forced to host series' outside their country because of security concerns in recent years.

However, international cricket has never been held in the UAE in the August-September period, which is the hottest time of the year in the country.

Australian Cricketers' Association chief Paul Marsh says he's not particularly comfortable with aspects of the tour. "We're concerned about the heat and we're not comfortable with the playing hours," he said.

"There are issues there with the players playing sport at that time of night. How aware are players going to be? Are there any safety issues of playing sport at that time of the night?

"If you're standing there facing someone bowling at 150 kilometres an hour, are you going to be more tired at that time of day than you [otherwise] would be?"

Marsh said the tour had been put on for commercial reasons, not necessarily cricket reasons.

"That's why there's ongoing frustration from our perspective," Marsh told the cricinfo.com website.

- AAP