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

[Agent Nationaux]

This is the best team (no matter what PEWS says)

Hafeez
Umar Akmal (agree with Salman)
Azhar
Younis
Shafiq (Shafiq scores at a quicker rate so need him between Misbah and Younis)
Misbah
Hammad
Afridi
Adnan/Sarfraz (would rather have Sarfraz but he isn't in the squad)
Gul
Ajmal

 

[Agent Nationaux]

I am starting to actually consider PEWS's proposal to have Sami in the ODI's and T20's. He does have a good record in both.

 

[salman85]

What makes you say that based on his (small) international cricket exposure? I would love to hear you (detailed)views on Hammad.

He's right about Hammad.

He showed a lot of performance initially,but a lot of that seems to have fizzled away off late.Plus when you hear the word 'fast bowling all-rounder' associated with a Pakistan player,the first thought that comes to your mind is Imran Khan,and poor attempts to brand someone the next Imran.

Hammad has never been spoken of as the next Imran.And there's a reason behind it.He's a decent cricketer,but not one who will set the world on fire.He's not express with the ball,and only bowls on the brisk side of medium.He got whacked around a lot the last time i saw him bowl in a domestic competition.He's a much better batsman though,but not good enough to make it to the team as a specialist.

He's a very bits and pieces player.Reminds me a lot of the long list of bits and pieces players England produced in the 1990s.I hope Hammad does go on to become an asset to our team,but i don't see that happening.However the positive part is that he's still only 20,and does have tons of room for improvement.But he's not the finished article,and he won't do wonders right now.He's rated very highly by a lot of Pakistani supporters,but i feel a lot of it is down to the fact that we've not produced a fast bowling all rounder since Razzaq and Azhar Mahmood,and a young player who can play this role will obviously interest people.

I sincerely hope Hammad proves me wrong.But that doesn't look likely.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Nobody is asking for an Imran because there will never be another Imran. Hammad is a good batsman who can bowl. But with international exposure he can improve as a bowler.

We could always ask Azhar Mahmood to comeback. He has been doing really well in county cricket.

 

[salman85]

But his ass swings more than the limit stated by ICC for bowlers.

ICC states 5 degrees.I'm pretty sure Azhar touched 115 degrees recently.

 

[Xuhaib]

sending Umer to open will be a disaster. He's technically inadequate to handle 2 new balls and also has a habit of throwing his wicket away in the power plays. Best position for Umer is 5 between Misbah and Younis.

 

[slowfinger]

sending Umer to open will be a disaster. He's technically inadequate to handle 2 new balls and also has a habit of throwing his wicket away in the power plays. Best position for Umer is 5 between Misbah and Younis.

Better than Fart.

 

[Prince EWS]

Better than Fart.

No doubt but that's not the point; it's not like he's currently not in the team. He's better where he is than he would be opening.

 

[Rasimione]

Pardon my ignorance, but why does the asian teams find it so hard to produce good, not great but decent seam bowling alrounders? In South Africa they seem to fall of trees. Even in youth cricket i could mention a few. With pakistans talent pool surely they could find a few. Reading some the above post i get the feeling that Azam is bits and pieces player. And not even a good one.

 

[Daemon]

We have a couple of average ones like Imran Khan, then the greats like Dhoni and Virat Kohli.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Coming from a team that has had to rely on Steyn once the top 6 fail.

 

[Prince EWS]

Coming from a team that has had to rely on Steyn once the top 6 fail.

No it isn't; it's coming from a Cricket Web member. He's not warmongering so neither should you.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Oh come on it was in jest. Warmongering is a bit of an extreme word to use.

 

[Prince EWS]

Oh come on it was in jest. Warmongering is a bit of an extreme word to use.

No it isn't; it's exactly what you were doing. One of the worst things on CW - a member makes an observation and then has the team he happens to follow randomly attacked in rebuttal, completely ignoring the actual point he was making. This is a place for discussion; not the battleground for the almighty war of Test cricket fans. CSA didn't make the post.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

OK, I apologise for my comment.

 

[salman85]

sending Umer to open will be a disaster. He's technically inadequate to handle 2 new balls and also has a habit of throwing his wicket away in the power plays. Best position for Umer is 5 between Misbah and Younis.

Umar doesn't have any technical flaws.The only issue he has is poor short selection every now and then.Someone who has all the shots in book,oozes confidence and has a natural knack of belting the bowlers will do a much better job up the order.He might even get away with the regular rush of blood he has if he bats up the order.Infact he would probably use it to his advantage.

Either way,someone with so much natural talent needs to be given as much time as possible on the pitch.In his current position he usually comes in after the 30th over,which does the team more harm than good.

 

[Rasimione]

u will only play for south africa if you can hold your worth in the team either as a batsmen or as bowler. The value you add with you other descipline is a bonus. As for the Dale steyn comment, you do know that he is averaging over 30 with the bat for 2011. And yes PEWS right, i just askd a quiz. I did not intend to inflame things whatsoever.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Yeah I agree that Steyn has been very impressive with the bat. That's why I said that you guys have been relying on him lower down the order.

 

[NasserFan207]

u will only play for south africa if you can hold your worth in the team either as a batsmen or as bowler. The value you add with you other descipline is a bonus. As for the Dale steyn comment, you do know that he is averaging over 30 with the bat for 2011. And yes PEWS right, i just askd a quiz. I did not intend to inflame things whatsoever.

Ashwell Prince?

 

[Rasimione]

Lol for Prince the tribe has spoken!