***Official*** Pakistan and England in UAE

[Xuhaib]

the selectors are convinced Alam can't handle anything above waist height and will never succeed in test cricket the 3 dayer might his only chance for a long time to play against a test standard bowling attack he better get some runs there.

 

[slowfinger]

He seemed to fair well 2 years ago against SL on bouncy tracks... 200 on his debut was it?
FAWAD ALAM

 

[Xuhaib]

that was in SL.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

But how is he against bounce? Are the selectors right that he can't play anything above waist height?

 

[slowfinger]

But how is he against bounce? Are the selectors right that he can't play anything above waist height?

I really don't see that as much of an issue... Anymore of an issue than Umar's temperament or Misbah's batting speed... I really just think the selectors envy him.

 

[theegyptian]

Yes Trott was favoured over Carberry, but that seemed the obvious choice as leaving Trott or any of the middle order out was not really an option and the last man in was going to be the first man out without a massive score on debut.

I would hope England would replace an opening batsman with another opening batsman should we lose Cook or Strauss, presuming the absence was before a squad was named. Carberry seems a more than adequate short-term replacement, and I see no good reason to be tinkering with moving Trott up and bringing in an alternative number three or making even more changes to a settled batting line-up.

Would like to see another good season from Alex Hales with Notts in 2012 to strengthen his claims for the future spot.

there really is no-one if one of strauss and cook break down. Hales is a bit of a moron and has some pretty big technical deficiencies meaning he misses a load of straight balls and gets lbw/bowled a lot. i doubt he'll make it anywhere near the test team. might be a good odi player though.

joe root is the one guy i'm quite excited about. Still has a long way to go but is good technically and seems to accumulate runs well- and level headed. Also bowls some useful offspin which could be a real bonus.

 

[smash84]

so ypu are rooting for root

 

[Woodster]

there really is no-one if one of strauss and cook break down. Hales is a bit of a moron and has some pretty big technical deficiencies meaning he misses a load of straight balls and gets lbw/bowled a lot. i doubt he'll make it anywhere near the test team. might be a good odi player though.

joe root is the one guy i'm quite excited about. Still has a long way to go but is good technically and seems to accumulate runs well- and level headed. Also bowls some useful offspin which could be a real bonus.

Alex Hales averaged over 51 in the CC last season (scoring over 1,000 runs), so if he is doing that with those big technical deficiencies, if he sorts them out he should be some player! I've not seen a lot of Hales in first class cricket, but in the one-day games I've seen him I think he's been impressive.

He is only 23 tomorrow and is not the finished article by any stretch of the imagination. His opportunity may come at ODI level initially because the Test openers and batting line-up in general is very settled, in the one-dayers they are far more likely to change things around and they don't have anything like a settled opening combination. Another strong CC season behind him and Hales will be knocking on the Test door, imo.

 

[vic_orthdox]

The thing with Hales is that he's a notoriously bad starter. Not really a feature that you want in your Test match opener.

 

[slowfinger]

The thing with Hales is that he's a notoriously bad starter. Not really a feature that you want in your Test match opener.

He's really young, looks incredibly talented, haven't seen an Englishmen take on a whole bowling attack like him for a while...

 

[GIMH]

Fixed more matches probably.

Overstepped by a suspiciously large margin is my guess.

Nah, it's a loss to cricket & Pakistani cricket in particular, but you lie down with dogs, etc.

I think both are also proof that intelligence isn't necessarily a prerequisite for being a great bowler too.

Was feeling a bit grim when I saw Flem wrote what I wanted to but the fact that Brumby had similar thoughts means I can put this down to an abberation from Flem, perhaps he left himself logged in at the library and someone else made the post

 

[theegyptian]

He's really young, looks incredibly talented, haven't seen an Englishmen take on a whole bowling attack like him for a while...

he does strike the ball extremely cleanly. hopefully he can be a similiar odi opener to trescothick.england for sure could do with a quality clean striking opener.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Riaz is back and apparently he is bowling at 150 kph

Pakistan v England 2011-12: Wahab Riaz relieved to be back after unexplained break | Cricket News | Pakistan v England | ESPN Cricinfo

That is great news..and with Junaid reaching 140 plus, Pakistan will finally have a genuine pace attack. My pick would be new ball with Gul and Junaid, Riaz at first change and Ajmal as the spinner.

All Pakistani cricket fans should know by now that raw ingredients alone are only part of the pre requisites needed to be a top player.

Sami never struck me as a smart bowler, he had one trick alone, which became am even bigger issue when he changed his style.

Sami's problem was his inability to bowl according to the field..add that with tendency to over pitch or bowl short and if you bowl like that at 90 mph to Sehwag, he will smash you at 100 mph. That is what happened with him and it destroyed his confidence and spirit as a bowler. Lack of proper guidance unfortunately. Story of many cricketers and bowlers in Pakistan.

Anyone else wondering what Asif and Amir could have done on the type of pitches being rolled out worldwide lately?

I make a conscious effort to not think about that. It only makes me sad.

Asif had amazing wrists and could cut the ball miles. He is a bigger loss than Amir.

If Imran Khan says Aamer is the most talented bowler he has seen at that age, I will pick Aamer as the bigger loss..also you have consider his age..the time he had..just how much he could have improved.

Younis

33 games, 219 wickets @ 19 with SR 36...all before he hit 23

Official age? Because his official age is 40 years now..his real age is like 44-45.
I met him a few weeks back here in Sydney and he told me he left cricket at 36. He left cricket in 2003, which means he would be 44-45 now..but his official age on cricinfo is 40 years.

so guys Umer Akmal or Asad Shafique for #6.

Another option could be to bring in Fawad Alam, Ayub Dogra or Usman Sallahuddin who ever performs the best in the 3 dayer before the first test

Asad Shafiq. Umar hasnt done enough to win back his place. The only way he will improve is if he is made to work extremely hard to win back his place..that is when he will start to value his wicket.

Fawad Alam is a talented player no doubt but I doubt the team management would change the combination and bring in someone who hasn't played test cricket in over 2 years. The only change I see happening is Umar Akmal in place of Shafiq if Shafiq fails in the first test.

 

[superkingdave]

Hmm apparently the ICC game is being streamed on the internet but you have to pay $9.99

 

[smash84]

dude you need to dig a bit deeper and you will find the free sites

 

[Black_Warrior]

I hope this does not turn out like the 'teesra'

Ajmal’s special delivery ‘not very far’ | Sport | DAWN.COM

 

[smash84]

we are hearing of this since last year

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Yeah, he was saying that he would use it in the world cup.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I am a bit concerned with the frequency of his doosra..if he bowls it too often, it will no longer be a surprise delivery...and people will start picking it.

 

[smash84]

that happened to Saqlain towards the end