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

[sachin200]

KP will not score even a fifty in this series

 

[salman85]

Pakistan will take this match with an innings victory.England's bubble had to burst,and here's the series where it will happen.The pitch is hardly one where 192 can be considered a par score.England were outdone by some magnificent bowling by the best offspinner in the world.Reckon the best allrounder in the world will score a century tomorrow,and maybe even go on to a bigger score since he's played a solid 22* today.I don't see the 2nd best spinner in the world causing a lot of damage since our middle order is equipped with very good players of spin.What i really want however,is for the best no.3 batsman in the world to add to his 1 test century.

The best team in the world 1-0 England.

Thankyou very much.

 

[smash84]

Yeah good post. If Ajmal is 0/85 today no one would have said much (barring Brumby). Say it once or twice and move on.

Ajmal's action is dodgy. No doubt. But constantly panning it when he is making your team llook foolish appears like sour grapes, even when it isn't meant to be like that.

awta

Pakistan will take this match with an innings victory.England's bubble had to burst,and here's the series where it will happen.The pitch is hardly one where 192 can be considered a par score.England were outdone by some magnificent bowling by the best offspinner in the world.Reckon the best allrounder in the world will score a century tomorrow,and maybe even go on to a bigger score since he's played a solid 22* today.I don't see the 2nd best spinner in the world causing a lot of damage since our middle order is equipped with very good players of spin.What i really want however,is for the best no.3 batsman in the world to add to his 1 test century.

The best team in the world 1-0 England.

Thankyou very much.

lol.....the pakistani version of turbinator is back

 

[Cricketismylife]

Trott is not boring imo, I don't mind watching him work the ball through midwicket, he does it much more stylishly than someone like Collingwood. Cook I find is much more boring than Trott, even when he scores fast it looks a bit mechanical.

It has to be said we could be in for some very slow scoring tomorrow, of the 6 Pakistan batsman Hafeez and Younis score at a moderate pace, Azhar Ali, Misbah, Shafiq and Taufeeq are all very slow, which could lead to problems for Pakistan. Personally, I like Shafiq but I can see a problem developing where with him scoring slowly from the number 6 position, he will be left not out, with a weak keeper batsman in Adnan Akmal at 7, and tail which is nothing special.

I think Hafeez is very overrated atm, he hasnt really scored heavily at any stage of his career and the runs he does score are against generally poor attacks, so he has a lot to prove in this series. If it wasnt for his bowling contribution I would be tempted to drop him and open with Azhar Ali and Taufeeq, make Shafiq bat at 3, Younis at 4, Misbah 5 and Umar Akmal 6. I think team Pakistan needs Umar Akmal in the side sooner rather than later.

 

[Woodster]

Excellent day for Pakistan, and could have been even better but for some resistance towards the end especially in the form of the mightily impressive Matt Prior and a decent cameo from Graeme Swann. The Pakistan openers also did a fine job towards the close, not simply content to get through to stumps without any damage, they batted with purpose and jumped all over anything loose with England lacking a bit of the familiar penetration.

It seemed an ideal start winning the toss and batting and as we've seen so frequently with the England side in recent times we then generally go on and get some serious runs on the board, not today. Having read several of the pages in this thread, it does seem Ajmal's doosra and teesra are causing the usual debates of legality, but he was clearly the difference between the two sides today. The pitch looks excellent for batting, there was little or no movement throughout the day which will bamboozle Flower even more when he reflects on how the batsmen have gone about their business today.

At lunch I thought we were far too circumspect, but I also appreciate the difficulties in attacking slow bowling when you're new to the crease. Batsmen tried giving themselves a chance by getting set and used to the pace of the pitch, flight variations, etc, before changing gears, but there was nothing happening off the pitch. We could have shown more intent without being wreckless. With so little happening for the quicks or spinners it emphasises how well Ajmal bowled to get 7-55, though he was helped by some poorly executed shots and mis-judgements, but let's praise the skill of the bowler to deceive.

Prior proved his versatility today, when he reached his 50 he had only hit two boundaries, very un-Prior like but he kept working the ball and batting with his brain. One of his most impressive innings for England imo.

So today it was all Pakistan, now we need to bowl them out for under 300 (under 250 would be a real result) to get ourselves back in it. The pitch in the past has not deteriorated, flattened out if anything, so we can recover but we must play Ajmal much better in the second innings and not allow Rehman to build up the pressure by bowling good tight lines, which he did today.

 

[Fusion]

England unconcerned by Ajmal's action - Prior

Kudos to Prior!

 

[Woodster]

Trott is not boring imo, I don't mind watching him work the ball through midwicket, he does it much more stylishly than someone like Collingwood. Cook I find is much more boring than Trott, even when he scores fast it looks a bit mechanical.

It has to be said we could be in for some very slow scoring tomorrow, of the 6 Pakistan batsman Hafeez and Younis score at a moderate pace, Azhar Ali, Misbah, Shafiq and Taufeeq are all very slow, which could lead to problems for Pakistan. Personally, I like Shafiq but I can see a problem developing where with him scoring slowly from the number 6 position, he will be left not out, with a weak keeper batsman in Adnan Akmal at 7, and tail which is nothing special.

I think Hafeez is very overrated atm, he hasnt really scored heavily at any stage of his career and the runs he does score are against generally poor attacks, so he has a lot to prove in this series. If it wasnt for his bowling contribution I would be tempted to drop him and open with Azhar Ali and Taufeeq, make Shafiq bat at 3, Younis at 4, Misbah 5 and Umar Akmal 6. I think team Pakistan needs Umar Akmal in the side sooner rather than later.

There's no doubt Trott can play some very stylish strokes. As you point out there are few that play with such elegance through the legside.

I think Umar Akmal will be a big player in Test cricket in the years ahead, not sure now is the right time to bring him back. They need a player that can take the game to the opposition and he has all the strokes in the book, but I wonder whether he has learnt anything about the longer format since he has been dropped, in terms of building an innings and the right tempo to play at at various stages of his innings. I know he put a couple of good scores on the board for his club, but then went off playing in the Hong Kong sixes ??

Think it would harsh dropping Hafeez, I like his style and is one of the few batsmen in their order that plays with a modicum of freedom, he's an attractive batsman that's had a good last 12 months averaging over 40 and has formed a decent enough opening partnership with Taufeeq, something Pakistan cannot afford to mess around with. Also you can't take his bowling off him, he is very useful and no doubt helps having an extra string to his bow.

 

[Woodster]

England unconcerned by Ajmal's action - Prior

Kudos to Prior!

Tbf, it shouldn't concern the players, whether he's chucking it or not, he's been cleared and our batsmen have to play him much better than we did today. Our batsmen will just be focused on trying to read his variations and work out areas to score off him, they cannot afford to lose the focus and look at whether he's throwing it or not.

 

[smash84]

Ajmal such a gun too

 

[Woodster]

Ajmal such a gun too

Yes did really well today, imagine when it starts spinning for him!

The doosra he got Bell with was a beauty, landed in the perfect area to have Bell poke at it tentatively first ball without having had a look at him today, just one of those you hope you don't nick it or that Akmal drops it.

 

[Daemon]

rfrfgregg.mpg - YouTube

Haha, love the guy. Would like to hear him speak in Urdu about his gameplan though.

 

[Cricketismylife]

Fair point Woodster it would be very harsh to drop Hafeez, and I think off the field he is someone who comes across as hardworking, committed and controversy free, which cannot be taken for granted in Pakistan teams. And I think the team consider him an essential player for them, on an off the field.

But his primary role is still ultimately an opening batsman, and Id like to see him contribute consistently against better quality attacks. As an opener he has to realise that he will get a good ball here and there, so when he gets in he cant afford to make 30s and 40s. He averages around 36/37 which drops to around 30 when Bang/Zim are not included, which is simply not good enough for an opening batsman. No amount of fielding, team spirit and part time/semi-allrounder bowling can make up for that.

As I said I rate all 3 newer players in the Pakistan side, Azhar Ali, Shafiq and Umar Akmal and find it a shame that all 3 cant fit in. I do hope for Hafeez and Pakistan's sake that he turns into a dependable opening bat, because they struggle to produce openers, and he definitely isnt dependable at the moment.

 

[smash84]

lol......the teesra wasn't used much here

 

[Woodster]

Fair point Woodster it would be very harsh to drop Hafeez, and I think off the field he is someone who comes across as hardworking, committed and controversy free, which cannot be taken for granted in Pakistan teams. And I think the team consider him an essential player for them, on an off the field.

But his primary role is still ultimately an opening batsman, and Id like to see him contribute consistently against better quality attacks. As an opener he has to realise that he will get a good ball here and there, so when he gets in he cant afford to make 30s and 40s. He averages around 36/37 which drops to around 30 when Bang/Zim are not included, which is simply not good enough for an opening batsman. No amount of fielding, team spirit and part time/semi-allrounder bowling can make up for that.

As I said I rate all 3 newer players in the Pakistan side, Azhar Ali, Shafiq and Umar Akmal and find it a shame that all 3 cant fit in. I do hope for Hafeez and Pakistan's sake that he turns into a dependable opening bat, because they struggle to produce openers, and he definitely isnt dependable at the moment.

Yes I agree Hafeez has to turn promising starts into something more significant on a more consistent basis, this series is an opportunity for Hafeez to prove how far his game has come in recent times against decent opposition. Hope he doesn't though!

 

[Cricketismylife]

Anyone know if the pitches for the second and third test are historically as flat as this one?

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Can't drop the Professor.

 

[Uppercut]

The whole teesra thing is pretty funny imo. He spent the whole build-up talking about his "new delivery"... then it turns out just to be a shy at the stumps that's comically illegal and not especially effective. But England's batsmen were spooked anyway and spent the whole day missing nothing breaks, collapsing to SFAao on the flattest, slowest, direst of pitches. Then Bob Willis gets furious.

Straight from the Shane Warne school of winding up the English cricket team. Ajmal

 

[GIMH]

It's gonna be tough waking up at half 5 everyday.

I do it every day....and it doesn't get any easier

ANyways. Mark my words ****ers. England will win this match.

 

[Woodster]

The whole teesra thing is pretty funny imo. He spent the whole build-up talking about his "new delivery"... then it turns out just to be a shy at the stumps that's comically illegal and not especially effective. But England's batsmen were spooked anyway and spent the whole day missing nothing breaks, collapsing to SFAao on the flattest, slowest, direst of pitches. Then Bob Willis gets furious.

Straight from the Shane Warne school of winding up the English cricket team. Ajmal

Can't imagine England lost any sleep over this Teesra, and you can see why, it must still be under development. Unfortunately the doosra, off break, and the straight delivery has caused us no end of problems.

 

[r3alist]

The whole teesra thing is pretty funny imo. He spent the whole build-up talking about his "new delivery"... then it turns out just to be a shy at the stumps that's comically illegal and not especially effective. But England's batsmen were spooked anyway and spent the whole day missing nothing breaks, collapsing to SFAao on the flattest, slowest, direst of pitches. Then Bob Willis gets furious.

Straight from the Shane Warne school of winding up the English cricket team. Ajmal

i would be impressed if it were mind games because i doubt ajmal & co are that smart or confident.

you still need the talent to back it up (ala shane warne), so either we are saying the world number one team can be mentally ruffled, or ajmal is like another warne, both are probably unpalatable conclusions for many on this forum