***Official*** Pakistan in South Africa

[TT Boy]

No need to worry about Shoaib to at least the second test...

http://www.supercricket.co.za/default.asp?id=201044&des=article&scat=supercricket/international

 

[Pup Clarke]

What is the likely Pakistan line up if anyone knows.Really annoying as I have a fantasy team and the squads haven't been updated. Latest news I heard is that Shoaib is out of contention for the 1st test. Would anyone confirm this?.I imagine that means Gul will probably be fit to take his place alongside Asif,Nazir and Kaneria which still looks a decent attack enough to cause problems to the likes of Gibbs who's test career could hang in the balanced if he has another bad series. Feel Kaneria will be a huge player for Pakistan and when the ball gets softer I imagine he will bowl alot of overs with the other 3 seamers rotating.He will be both a containing and a wicket taking bowler and have a sneaky prediction he could be leading wicket taker in the series seeing as how poorly SA played Warne whenever he bowled to them.
This I what i think the 2 lines ups will be
SA
Smith
De Villiers
Amla (Will probably keep his place}
Kallis
Gibbs
Prince
Boucher
Pollock
Nel
Ntini
Steyn

Pakistan
Hafeez
Farhat
Younis Khan
Hameed
Inzamam
Kamal
Akmal
Nazir
Gul
Asif
Kaneria

Will be a cracking series but I feel SA have the edge as they have an exceptional pace attack.

 

[marc71178]

Were all missing the bigger picture here. Shoaib and Asif have been punished. They have been unable to play cricket from early October to early December. Thats two whole months of cricket that they have been unable to participate in and that has included two international tours. More than enough punishment, IMO.

Or maybe not.

 

[adharcric]

You havent got a clue what ur talking about!!!!! PCB should be the main target on this issue, you cant blame a couple players just becuase they've been set free without any sort of charge or ban......the problem lies with the PCB. Do you know of any sportsman who recently (himself) accepted taking drugs?

First, didn't they admit to taking the drugs? Second, how does them not getting banned absolve them of cheating? The reason guys who cheated and underwent bans shouldn't be hated is because they served a punishment for their crime. Asif and Akhtar have not done that. Ideally, they should voluntarily sit out for several months but that won't happen.

 

[adharcric]

To my US buddies: Does anyone know who's showing the series on TV? I've got Dish Network but don't think they're showing it...

Did you end up getting any access? You have plenty of options if you're willing to watch on a computer (or on a TV through a s-video cable, which costs 5-10 bucks).

 

[Dravid]

PCB being blamed is fine, as long as you make clear that PCB's corruption does not absolve Asif and Akhter's wrong-doing. Just because they know/think their board is willing to look the other way, doesn't mean they should break any rule they can. The ultimate blame will always be on the players for breaking the rule in the first place.

Agreed. PCB can be blamed for not giving out punishments, but not the reason for Asif and Akthar taking drugs. That was their decision, and they are still cheats.

 

[Jono]

Haha, going by Asif's warmup game and Akhtar's supposed fitness, you guys may just become BFF.

I get the distinct feeling Asif doesn't put his all in domestic/first class/practice matches. I believe I've read it somewhere too, but can't be sure.

That doesn't dismiss his bad performance necessarily, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got a bag in the 1st test.

 

[TT Boy]

Dale Steyn will be rested for the first test against Pakistan, still has some difficulties with his thigh. Andre Nel will replace him with Paul Harris also likely to be ‘dropped’, considering the surface at Centurion predominately favours pace. According to Cricinfo, Andrew Hall will be his replacement but according to some South African media outlets Morne Morkel will come in, for he offers extra pace and showed at Durban that he can hold a bat (Sourav Ganguly’s).

The South African bowling attack should change considerably over the course of this test series, Haroon Lorgat has said that key players will be rested and with back to back tests, the likes of Ntini and Pollock will not be featuring in all of the games.

Cricinfo's probable sides...

Pakistan - Imran Farhat, Mohammad Hafeez, Younis Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Kamran Akmal (wk), Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria

South Africa - Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, Ashwell Prince, Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher (wk), Shaun Pollock, Andrew Hall, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini

 

[silentstriker]

Doesn't matter what the surface favors, if SA want to develop a long term spinner, they need to play him every test.

 

[Prince EWS]

Doesn't matter what the surface favors, if SA want to develop a long term spinner, they need to play him every test.

Winning test matches is more important than developing players.

 

[silentstriker]

Winning test matches is more important than developing players.

Obviously. But you have to have trust in your bowlers to succeed in different conditions. Kumble averaged 17.22 in seam friendly conditions of the first two tests. It's not impossible, if you adjust your bowling.

 

[Prince EWS]

Obviously. But you have to have trust in your bowlers to succeed in different conditions. Kumble averaged 17.22 in seam friendly conditions of the first two tests. It's not impossible, if you adjust your bowling.

Kumble's bowling is a bit different though, as you noted in the South Africa/India tour thread. Rather than turning pitches, Kumble is usually most effective on pitches with inconsistent bounce... and these pitches are usually regarded as "seam friendly" for the assistance they would give skiddy fast bowlers.

Harris didn't impress me much to be honest. He's worth a game if the pitch is likely to turn, but at this stage I'm sure Hall would be a better option on a pitch that favours the quicks.

 

[Fusion]

Did you end up getting any access? You have plenty of options if you're willing to watch on a computer (or on a TV through a s-video cable, which costs 5-10 bucks).

Yeah SS sent me a link that should do.

 

[shankar]

Obviously. But you have to have trust in your bowlers to succeed in different conditions. Kumble averaged 17.22 in seam friendly conditions of the first two tests. It's not impossible, if you adjust your bowling.

Yeah, but those figures are misleading as most of his wickets came against the tail.

 

[nightprowler10]

Did you end up getting any access? You have plenty of options if you're willing to watch on a computer (or on a TV through a s-video cable, which costs 5-10 bucks).

Gimme! Gimme! Something till I get Directv. You've got my email.

 

[silentstriker]

What is it? I can email you the same thing I emailed Fusion.

 

[nightprowler10]

What is it? I can email you the same thing I emailed Fusion.

Email me at usmangreat at hotmail dot com. No McGrath related spam please.

BTW, did you get the DirecTV set up for free or did you have to pay for installation. If so, then how much?

 

[silentstriker]

Email me at usmangreat at hotmail dot com. No McGrath related spam please.

BTW, did you get the DirecTV set up for free or did you have to pay for installation. If so, then how much?

Free.

 

[silentstriker]

Sent.

 

[godofcricket]

Asif and Akhtar have not done that. Ideally, they should voluntarily sit out for several months but that won't happen

Thats the thing i want to point out at, why would anyone want to accept that they've taken such drugs??? For them it was choosing between 2 paths, one of them led to their careers being ruined and the other one was the backing of PCB and they continue to play cricket.......its a simple conclusion. How can u not understand that?