Much of the build-up has been dominated either by ex-paceman Mitchell Johnson’s simmering feud with opener David Warner, and more recently a planned pro-Palestine protest by Australia’s Usman Khawaja being shut down.

But for an Australian team fresh off a World Cup victory, and a successful Ashes campaign before that, rounding out the calendar year with more glory is essential.

We’ll bring you all the latest news and live action in our blog throughout the day.

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WEST TEST CROWD BELOW EXPECTATION

Predictions of a day one crowd of 25,000 at Optus Stadium have proven optimistic, with early crowd figures showing about 13,000 people have turned out in Perth.

The match has been rebranded the ‘West Test’ as part of a big marketing push to bring more people through the turnstiles at the opening Test of the summer.

Outgoing WACA chief executive Christina Matthews flagged the 25,000 figure recently, but early figures had the day one crowd between 11,000 and 13,000 spectators.

SEN reported the latest available figure as 12,909 at the second session.

Large sections of the 60,000-capacity stadium are empty as Australia piles on the runs.

4.20PM: SHAHEEN BREAKS THROUGH

The opening partnership ends at 126.

Pakistan has fought back well in the early part of the second session and gets its reward when Usman Khawaja edges behind.

Khawaja was caught on the crease, gets an edge low on the bat and Sarfaraz Ahmed takes a catch down low.

3.20PM: LUNCH — AUSTRALIA 0-117

That was a demolition.

Apart from the dropped chance which should have removed Khawaja, Australia has absolutely bossed the opening session of the Test summer.

David Warner goes to the break on 72 off 67 balls, while Khawaja is 37 from 84 balls.

If there was any doubt about Warner making it to his planned farewell in Sydney, you can forget about it.

He played one shot which had the commentators in awe, falling to the floor as he lap swept Shaheen Shah Afridi for six.

“He’s thrown some really good punches today. Played beautifully,” Ricky Ponting tells Channel 7.

“Looked to be more and more aggressive as the first session went on. So might be a bit more pain coming up in this middle session for Pakistan.”

2.58PM: PAKISTAN BURNS A REVIEW

That was optimistic, to say the least, from Pakistan.

Shaheen Shah Afridi, who produced a wayward opening spell earlier, hits David Warner on the pad and convinces Shan Masood to send it upstairs.

Replays show the ball hit Warner above the pad and it comes as no surprise when it’s heading over on ball tracking.

2.38PM: COMICAL DROP GIFTS KHAWAJA A LIFE

Usman Khawaja has been gifted a let off thanks to a disastrous drop from Abdullah Shafique.

The Pakistan opener was running back with the flight of the ball after Khawaja skied a pull shot over the slips.

He didn’t have to move far but didn’t even make contact with the ball which hit him in the chest and went for four.

“His eyes are completely off the ball,” the Channel 7 commentators note.

2.36PM: WARNER FIFTY

David Warner has motored to a 41-ball fifty in the first of his farewel Test matches.

The Aussies are 0-74 and apart from a few edges over the slips, Pakistan hasn’t looked like taking a wicket.

This already has the makings of a very long day in the field for the visiting team.

2.15PM: JOHNSON AT PERTH TEST, RESPONDS TO WARNER FEUD

Robert Craddock

Mitchell Johnson appeared at Optus Stadium today declaring he had moved on from the volcanic week which detonated the summer.

Former Test paceman Johnson did a ground report with Callum Ferguson from just beyond the boundary rope for Triple M but did not appear to run into any Australian players who were 50m away near the centre wicket.

Johnson’s explosive criticism of David Warner in his column for The West Australian a fortnight ago has been a massive talking point leading up to the Test.

“Look, I wasn’t meant to be here from what I was told,’’ Johnson quipped, referring to media reports that he would not be part of the Triple M team.

“I was happy to be here. It has been an interesting time. I have given my opinion. I have said what I have said and we move on.’’

1.30PM: KHAWAJA’S SILENT PROTEST

Australian opener Usman Khawaja has vowed to challenge the ICC over its stance to ban his planned ‘All Lives Matter’ shoe protest on the opening day of the Test summer.

Khawaja had planned to wear boots emblazoned with the message ‘All Lives Matter’ and ‘Freedom is a Human Right’ on day one of the Test series against Pakistan in Perth.

But that protest was silenced by Cricket Australia and the ICC, a point which rankled Khawaja on Thursday.

“I will try to (challenge the ICC) as soon as possible, whenever it is possible,” Khawaja told Channel 7.

“There already has been a precedent set in the past that ICC have allowed. A precedent set where players have done stuff in the past where the ICC hasn’t done anything.

“I find it a bit unfair that they have come down on me at this point in time where there definitely has been precedents in the past of similar things.

“I am a grown man I can do anything I want, but I think the ICC will keep coming down and giving me fines and at some point it will detract from the game.

“I stand by what I said, I will stand by that, I think forever. For me, I need to get out there and concentrate on what I am doing but it is right at the forefront of my mind.”

Khawaja is wearing a black armband while batting in what appears a silent protest.

Khawaja told Fox Cricket he found it unnerving how many people had been unsettled by his stance.

“I don’t really see the controversy of ‘all lives matter’ and saying ‘freedom is a human’ right. I don’t see where it becomes political,” he said.

“I don’t really see the controversy of ‘all lives matter’ and saying ‘freedom is a human’ right. I don’t see where it becomes political.

“I find it hard to accept where people find what I said distasteful. No one is every going to agree with everyone, and I accept that. But it makes me feel a bit uneasy that people find those words uneasy.

“(But) I’ll always stand up for what I believe in even if people don’t agree with me and don’t like me saying it.”

12.55PM: CUMMINS WINS TOSS, ELECTS TO BAT

Australia will start the summer with the bat, after captain Pat Cummins won the first toss of the series against Pakistan.

Cummins confirmed Australia’s line-up on Wednesday, with Nathan Lyon coming into the team for Todd Murphy in the only change from the team that finished the Ashes at the Oval.

It means that David Warner will walk out with Usman Khawaja in half an hour for what shapes as his farewell series.

In what could be a big toss to win, Pakistan captain Shan Masood confirmed he’d also have opted to bat had things fallen his way.

But there is a decent amount of grass on the pitch that could offer Pakistan’s fiery attack something to play for in the early stages of play today.

On Lyon, who is chasing his 500th Test wicket, Cummins said it was an enormous boost to the side to welcome back their star spinner.

“It’s no secret he’s the main guy in our bowling line-up, it’s great to have him back in there,” Cummins said.

12.25PM: THE TRUTH BEHIND WARNER’S FAREWELL DEMANDS

David Warner has challenged the theory that he nominated his farewell date – a point which was strongly criticised by ex-teammate Mitchell Johnson.

Heading into the final summer of his Test career, Warner will play his final Test at the SCG next month – if he remains in the team.

Johnson said Warner did not deserve a summer-long farewell tour, owing to his role in the infamous Sandpaper incident against South Africa.

But Warner said he’d never made any assumptions about how the final days of his international career would play out.

“If you look back and read my comments, my ideal scenario was to finish in Australia. But you’ve still got to perform, you’ve still got to score runs,” Warner told Fox Cricket.

“Lord’s was going to be my last Test if I wasn’t scoring runs in England. But we managed to keep winning, going really well, so selectors kept the faith in me.

“It’s one of those things where you’ve got to perform, I wanted to keep the media focused about the team, and the Ashes and the World Test Championship.

“I was sick of it all being about me. It’s not about me at all, it’s about the team. And if we’re winning and succeeding, and I’m doing my job, so be it.”

11.45AM: THE ‘NON-NEGOTIABLE’ FOR AUSTRALIA THIS SUMMER

By Daniel Cherny

Pat Cummins says Australia must get a move on if it is to defend its maiden World Test Championship crown with the Aussies languishing mid-table.

Cummins described the need to win the upcoming home Tests against Pakistan and the West Indies as a “non-negotiable” as the Aussies seek to qualify for the next WTC final in mid-2025.

Over rate points deductions led to Australia missing qualification for the final of the inaugural WTC in 2021, however a commanding home record over the past two summers helped ensure Australia made this year’s final, won over India at The Oval.

This year’s gripping Ashes series was marred by slow over rates from sides, with England and Australia docked 19 and 10 points respectively.

While still relatively early in the two-year WTC cycle, Australia sits fifth on the table, with Pakistan and India occupying the top two slots.

Speaking on the eve of the first Test against Pakistan in Perth, Cummins noted the urgency for Australia to win this summer’s Tests against relatively low-profile opposition.

“We need to. I think we’re sitting about mid-table,” Cummins said.

“I think if last campaign was anything to go by, you’ve got to be able to win your home games. That’s almost a non-negotiable. And then obviously you’ve got to do well on a couple of overseas tours.

“If want to be in the final again, basically need to win home games, so that’s ahead of us.”

However the star paceman said he did not expect over rates to remain an issue.

“The Ashes was such an anomaly really. We never really had over-rate issues anywhere else in the world,” Cummins said.

“Felt like changing field every single ball. Obviously Lyono (Nathan Lyon) didn’t play the last few games, there was a lot more pace being bowled, a lot more bouncer plans, probably even more intense scrutiny, which makes everyone kind of step towards things a little bit slower.”

Australia has made just one change to the side that lost the fifth Test at The Oval, with Lyon returning from injury at the expense of fellow off-spinner Todd Murphy.

9.30AM: ‘EMBARRASSING’: LEGEND PINPOINTS PAKISTAN DOWNFALL

By Daniel Cherny

Pakistan legend Wasim Akram has condemned the at times “embarrassing” management of

cricket in his homeland and taken aim at Mohammad Hafeez after the former all-rounder took on the dual roles of team director and head coach for the tour of Australia.

Akram, in Perth to commentate on the first Test between Australia and Pakistan this week for Fox, bemoaned ongoing turmoil within Pakistani cricket.

Pakistan’s World Cup flop led to the axing of the national selection committee, that had been headed by former great Inzamam-ul-Haq, while head coach Grant Bradburn and team director Mickey Arthur have effectively been stood down.

Disgraced former captain Salman Butt was earlier this month briefly appointed as a selection consultant before having that role pulled.

“The problem is in Pakistan we are a one-sport nation, Pakistan, Australia multi-sports. Everything is available, organised, sorted,” Akram told this masthead.

“Pakistan, one-sport nation and you can’t even organise that. And that’s embarrassing at times.

“You know we have one job to do, but we can’t do it properly. And that’s where the problem is. If the leadership is not there, and obviously it trickles down to the whole management, the team and everything.

“The cricket director became a coach as well. I don’t get it. If you’re cricket director, hire a coach. Why do you have to coach as well. Why put extra pressure on yourself?

“And that’s where the problem is. People think in Pakistan, they can do everything.

“Unfortunately they can’t but I wish them all the best. Being a Pakistani I want them to do well.

“You can’t take two jobs. You are cricket director of Pakistan, not just Pakistan cricket team.

“Hafeez became cricket director, and then he said ‘OK I’ll become coach too.’ Why, why you become a coach? Hire a coach, man. But that’s where the problem is in Pakistan.”

Asked how Hafeez had been allowed to take on both positions, Akram said: “That’s a mystery. Pakistan is full of mysteries, as we know.”

Among the post-World Cup changes was the replacement of captain Babar Azam with Shan Masood.

The new skipper promised the tourists – who had not yet settled on their XI when Masood spoke on Wednesday afternoon – would play an attacking style of cricket.

“You have to be positive,” Masood said.

“It’s picking your battles, it’s being sensible, and it’s about seeing the requirement of the games and seeing what are the ways we can save time in the game and create a situation where taking 20 wickets would be easy.”

“We all love playing Test cricket. It’s the ultimate. It’s the pinnacle. I think by being a side that is a winning side, that produces results at home and overseas, we might get more Test cricket in the future.

“For us it’s about the bigger picture. We want to come into these conditions and see what are the best ways to win a cricket match. We’ll make mistakes, we might not get over the line, but it’ll be a great learning for us.”

Pakistan hasn’t won a Test on Australian soil since 1995.

Originally published as Australia v Pakistan: Live stream, coverage, teams, when does first Test start?