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

[Furball]

Hmmm.

If we can restrict Pakistan to about 330 then I'm not too worried. Anything above that and we need to get a time machine and bring Cook and Trott back from Brisbane.

 

[Eds]

Was he able to keep a straight face?

I assume not, considering it's Ajmal.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

It feels good to put the likes of Butt and co behind us and move on.

 

[Uppercut]

Likeliest prediction for tomorrow is Pakistan finishing at about 350 for 3 afaics.

Can see Younis just batting until he gets bored.

 

[r3alist]

It feels good to put the likes of Butt and co behind us and move on.

With toffee and professor butt is certainly in the past, just the English press dredging it up again, and typically so.

 

[Daemon]

Think Pakistan will get to around 250-300.

 

[Xuhaib]

haha...what an interview by Ajmal.WAG

 

[MW1304]

Maybe..just maybe, England aren't all that great after all

I mean, this is the English cricket team for ****sakes!

The hypocrisy in this thread is quite amusing. You are coming to your conclusions just as hastily as you think England fans are - it was one innings. This side has barely failed as a batting lineup over the past year and a half, one poor performance doesn't change that. If there's continual problems against Ajmal then fair enough, you can start to question them against good spin, but not after one innings.

Bleurgh.

 

[Spark]

It's generally the delusional who don't see clearly that England's star is shining bright in a dim sky.

England lucky to be where they are.

No real skill shown by England, they had no response to good tight bowling, englands loose shots were a product of good bowling, not loose shot play, they were never in control enough to call it a loose shot, it was bound to happen.

Geez, England fans are so predictable, sour grapes already out, pathetic really.

With toffee and professor butt is certainly in the past, just the English press dredging it up again, and typically so.

So if you want to make a post that isn't aimed at antagonizing our English contingent here, please, be my guest. Else, cut it out.

And no this is not an invitation to start a debate on the subject matter.

 

[r3alist]

My bad for expressing my opinion on a public forum.

Hafeez is really the only batsman who can score at a decent rate, the longer he sticks around the more confident I am Pakistan will score an imposing total.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well that could have gone better. Can't moan too much as it is just one horribly bad day at the office and I seem to remember we batted crap on day 1 of our last overseas tour and that turned out ok in the end so no need to panic.

As to the debate as to whether Ajmal chucks, there is no debate. Until an umpire calls him we can't get at him. Anyway regardless of whether he chucks or not we should have just played him better like Prior did.

Keep them under 300, bat better and set them a target. Simples.

 

[L Trumper]

They can score 500, then ENG will draw like in brisbane. England doesn't need to worry at this moment

 

[tooextracool]

The hypocrisy in this thread is quite amusing. You are coming to your conclusions just as hastily as you think England fans are - it was one innings. This side has barely failed as a batting lineup over the past year and a half, one poor performance doesn't change that. If there's continual problems against Ajmal then fair enough, you can start to question them against good spin, but not after one innings.

Bleurgh.

To be fair they havent really been tested over the last year and a half. India cobbled together a pretty tame attack last summer, Sri Lanka doesn't have much to speak about in terms of bowling quality and Australia were rank during the winter. The last time they played a good bowling attack was the Pakistan attack from 2010 and I think its fair to say that they didn't exactly excel against them.

My feelings about the England batting card are that it isn't poor but isn't really anything special either. There is a clear weak link at 6, Strauss has struggled over the past couple of years and Pietersen has *started* to make amends for a fairly ordinary few seasons but still not proven anything against a quality attack. This series is a real test for all of them and I'd be interested in how some of them fare. The ace that this batting holds is their strength in depth, that they bat down all the way till 9 or 10.

 

[tooextracool]

Well that could have gone better. Can't moan too much as it is just one horribly bad day at the office and I seem to remember we batted crap on day 1 of our last overseas tour and that turned out ok in the end so no need to panic.

As to the debate as to whether Ajmal chucks, there is no debate. Until an umpire calls him we can't get at him. Anyway regardless of whether he chucks or not we should have just played him better like Prior did.

Keep them under 300, bat better and set them a target. Simples.

Prior is arguably the best player of spin in our side and it sometimes goes unnoticed. A bit surprised that Strauss was *that bad* against the spinners yesterday. He's now a veteran in the side having made several visits to the subcontinent but he batted like a novice yesterday.

 

[dfx-]

What happened the last time England had a bad day at the start of a series?

Without rushing to conclusions from a day's play..

 

[smash84]

Total domination by the Pakistanis.

England being showed up as the most mediocre #1 team since... well, India. But before that...

Borderline Gambhiring.

Likeliest prediction for tomorrow is Pakistan finishing at about 350 for 3 afaics.

What you are forgetting is that Pakistan is the team most likely to suffer brain farts.

I remember this gem from Geoff Boycott in the commentary box "Pakistan is the only team I know who regularly lose the game through their own stupidity"

This side has barely failed as a batting lineup over the past year and a half, one poor performance doesn't change that. If there's continual problems against Ajmal then fair enough, you can start to question them against good spin, but not after one innings.

Bleurgh.

Agreed.

But have to agree with TEC's analysis as well. Whenever the English side has come across a half decent bowling line up, they haven't really excelled.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

I will be happy as long as the series in interesting and competitive, unlike the RSA-Lanka and India-Aus series.

 

[Jarquis]

Is anyone else sick to death of Michael Vaughan's bleating about how England have never faced a bowler like Ajmal before? Y'know... besides Ajmal himself. Moron.

 

[Jarquis]

What a fine knock by Prior - the number of times he makes runs when we're struggling is quite something.

SoC to argue

 

[M0rphin3]

Wow, barring Prior just ****ty batting that was. I don't think Pakistan will fold under 400 under either. Only hope being an epic brisbanesque second innings performance, which seems unlikely too tbh.