The odds are that Pakistan will again go down in a big way to the Australians and lose the three-Test series, such is the gulf between them.
Team coach John Buchanan, the mastermind behind Australia's modern-day cricket dynasty, said it was up to the other Test nations to catch up with the all-conquering Australians rather than Ricky Ponting's team marking time.
There is concern that Australia are proving just too good for the other Test cricket-playing nations after annihilating New Zealand and Pakistan in recent Test matches.
For Pakistan to have some measure of parity with the Australians, then their batsmen must occupy the crease and score runs in partnerships.
Their bowling, led by the "Rawalpindi Express" Shoaib Akh-tar and Mohammad Sami, weren't the problem in Perth, but Inzamam, Yousuf Youhana and Abdul Razzaq must take more responsibility to lead the batting.
Australia have lost just three away series in the past seven years -- to India (in 1997 and 2001) and Sri Lanka (1999) -- and have not lost a home series since the West Indies won 2-1 in 1992 to 1993.
NZ vs Sri Lanka: preview
Sri Lanka have turned to world rankings for motivation as they enter their one-day cricket series against New Zealand with limited preparation, without proven match winner Muttiah Muralitharan and facing a stark climate change.
At stake in the series is the world No. 2 one-day ranking behind world champions Australia, and Sri Lanka's build-up has been wrecked by rain.
Their tour opener against Central Districts was abandoned on Tuesday early in the second innings, and the second scheduled match against Northern Districts was cancelled without a ball being bowled yesterday.
The visitors will play five one-day internationals and two Tests in New Zealand.
The home team are full of confidence after their most successful period in 32 years of one-day internationals. They have 18 wins from 22 games this year, including a tied series with world champions Australia earlier this month.
Until their arrival in New Zealand it had also been a positive year for Sri Lanka, winning 20 of 27 one-dayers and currently ranked second in the world.
But their hopes of an easy adjustment to New Zealand conditions have been washed away by rain, leaving skipper Marvan Atapattu to cite the rankings as a source of inspiration.
"They do matter for us," he said. "Everybody is trying to get to the top. That is one way of measuring how you are doing."
New Zealand is experiencing an unseasonably wet and cold summer and an unsettled forecast for much of the country may have an impact on the opening one-day international in Auckland on Sunday.
With temperatures hovering around 20?C, Sri Lankan coach and former Australian opener John Dyson pointed to climatic change as the biggest factor his young side had to contend with.
To add to Sri Lanka's discomfort, opening bowler Nuwan Zoysa dislocated a finger and needed stitches during the opening tour match.
Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene are among the top 15 run scorers in Test cricket this year.
Jayasuriya needs only a further 147 to reach 10,000 runs from 332 one-day internationals -- a feat achieved by just two other players, Sachin Tendulkar who has scored 13,431 runs in 340 matches, and Inzamam-ul-Haq with 10,267 from 328 matches.
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