**Official** Pakistan and England in the UAE 2015/16

[hendrix]

Hetfield-Hammett/Marilyn Monroe batsmen:
Warner
Mccullum
Gayle
Sehwag

Etc etc

 

[smash84]

what is Pak's likely XI?

Masood
Shahzad
Younis
Azhar
Misbah
Hafeez/Malik
Sarfaraz
Rahat
Yasir
Zulfi
Imran Khan

 

[mr_mister]

are Riaz and Junaid out of favour?

 

[mr_mister]

but anyway, Pak has really impressive batting stocks at the moment. Pity the two best are on the verge of retirement

 

[Dan]

I think in ODIs he's unsure of how to best approach them. T20s his thinking seems to be pretty clear: smash it. For whatever reason he doesn't seem capable of doing the same in the longer form.

I'm not too worried about him; has scored near enough 2,000 FC runs at over 50 in the last 2 seasons hasn't he? If you're not picking him on the back of that form, when are you picking him?

Never, because I don't think he's good enough.

I'd rather open with Ansari, with his 771 runs @ 36, than I would Hales, with his 1021 @ 53. Just because Hales has scored lots of runs doesn't mean he has to be selected; he's not the right player for the job. Ansari looks like he can make the step up, Hales, I think, has found his level (and it ain't the international one).

Yeah, domestic runs are an indicator of Test success. But, quite rightly, England's selectors don't pick the top five England-qualified Div 1 county runscorers for the England team -- we'd all agree that's absurd, there's more to selection than "oooh he's made a lot of runs this year" flavour-of-the-month thinking. Ceteris paribus you certainly take the guy with more FC runs at a better average. But in this case, all else is definitely not equal.

 

[Dan]

Never, because I don't think he's good enough.

I'd rather open with Ansari, with his 771 runs @ 36, than I would Hales, with his 1021 @ 53. Just because Hales has scored lots of runs doesn't mean he has to be selected; he's not the right player for the job. Ansari looks like he can make the step up, Hales, I think, has found his level (and it ain't the international one).

Yeah, domestic runs are an indicator of Test success. But, quite rightly, England's selectors don't pick the top five England-qualified Div 1 county runscorers for the England team -- we'd all agree that's absurd, there's more to selection than "oooh he's made a lot of runs this year" flavour-of-the-month thinking. Ceteris paribus you certainly take the guy with more FC runs at a better average. But in this case, all else is definitely not equal.

The bolded, I must add, is exactly what Australia is doing at the moment too. And it's almost certainly going to backfire.

 

[smash84]

are Riaz and Junaid out of favour?

riaz is injured and junaid has become a trundler after injury and was dropped in the last test against SL

 

[TheJammyTurtle]

Riaz named in the test squad,so expect him to play in that.Also cricket_u has just tweeted that Masood and Shehzad will be the openers for that 1st test and that it will be very hard for Hafeez to find a place in the team as a specialist bat.Also Fawad Alam is back in the test squad which is random.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well I get the feeling Ansari is this touring squads Samit Patel, picking a guy not good enough with bat or ball simply because he is a spinner as we need one. Bit gutted for the lad if he misses out though due to injury, very unfortunate and this might be his only chance. Hope that Alec Stewart was just being pessimistic because he is on a downer because his beloved Chelsea are playing crap at present.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

Selection of Fawad Alam seems weird. Good to see Wahab in the squad.

1. Shehzad
2. Masood
3. Azhar
4. Younis
5. Misbah
6. Shafiq
7. Sharfraz
8. Zulfiqar
9. Wahab
10. Rahat
11. Yasir

 

[morgieb]

As weird as it seems...Fawad really should be in the Test side, so it's good to see him playing.

 

[Franco Vazquez]

England can attack Babar in Pak bowling

 

[Daemon]

Is tredders an option?

 

[smash84]

As weird as it seems...Fawad really should be in the Test side, so it's good to see him playing.

Yep, quite agree. And its not that weird

 

[theegyptian]

Never, because I don't think he's good enough.

I'd rather open with Ansari, with his 771 runs @ 36, than I would Hales, with his 1021 @ 53. Just because Hales has scored lots of runs doesn't mean he has to be selected; he's not the right player for the job. Ansari looks like he can make the step up, Hales, I think, has found his level (and it ain't the international one).

Yeah, domestic runs are an indicator of Test success. But, quite rightly, England's selectors don't pick the top five England-qualified Div 1 county runscorers for the England team -- we'd all agree that's absurd, there's more to selection than "oooh he's made a lot of runs this year" flavour-of-the-month thinking. Ceteris paribus you certainly take the guy with more FC runs at a better average. But in this case, all else is definitely not equal.

There are at least 10 names I'd prefer to open the batting with Cook for England than Ansari - if you are purely selecting on the basis of their batting qualities. Ansari himself this week has played down his chances of opening and suggested there are better candidates. Also if Ansari plays he's likely going to be bowling a lot of overs. To put the burden of opening the batting and potentially bowling 20+ overs a day on a debutant in foreign conditions doesn't seem the best policy.

I have no problem with your stance on Hales but I can't believe you've seen much of Ansari if you think he is a test match quality opener now or in the near future.

 

[Niall]

Masood
Shahzad
Younis
Azhar
Misbah
Hafeez/Malik
Sarfaraz
Rahat
Yasir
Zulfi
Imran Khan

Shafiq batting at six is an absolute cert.

Fawad is the most obvious choice to replace Misbah once he retires so makes sense he is in the squad.

 

[Niall]

Never, because I don't think he's good enough.

I'd rather open with Ansari, with his 771 runs @ 36, than I would Hales, with his 1021 @ 53. Just because Hales has scored lots of runs doesn't mean he has to be selected; he's not the right player for the job. Ansari looks like he can make the step up, Hales, I think, has found his level (and it ain't the international one).

Yeah, domestic runs are an indicator of Test success. But, quite rightly, England's selectors don't pick the top five England-qualified Div 1 county runscorers for the England team -- we'd all agree that's absurd, there's more to selection than "oooh he's made a lot of runs this year" flavour-of-the-month thinking. Ceteris paribus you certainly take the guy with more FC runs at a better average. But in this case, all else is definitely not equal.

How can you say this? He has been in division 2 for a few years now and has played **** all international cricket.

 

[theegyptian]

Well I get the feeling Ansari is this touring squads Samit Patel, picking a guy not good enough with bat or ball simply because he is a spinner as we need one. Bit gutted for the lad if he misses out though due to injury, very unfortunate and this might be his only chance. Hope that Alec Stewart was just being pessimistic because he is on a downer because his beloved Chelsea are playing crap at present.

Patel iirc was selected to allow them to potentially play two spinners whilst not having to drop a seamer - Balance issues. The current squad has plenty of options in that regard. Stokes, Ali, Rashid all allow them to have different options with the bowling and batting lineup so I don't think they're selecting another allrounder for that reason specifically. And I don't think they've selected him because they think he can open. He's basically gone as the best young spinner who is progressing in the right direction - and spins it in the opposite direction to the main spinner Ali.

Sure his superior batting and fielding may have allowed him to edge out Kerrigan (or maybe they just think that mentally Kerrigan isn't quite up to it) but who else is there out there to select? If there was some guy bowling well and turning it with control but couldn't bat and field he'd still be on the trip instead of Rashid or Ansari. For Instance Monty Panesar. But there isn't.

I'd have taken Gareth Batty last winter and was happy enough when they took Tredwell - but I seemed in the minority in that regard.

One thing is that Ansari is only in his second full year of first class cricket and is improving year on year. How far he can go is up for debate but I doubt this will be his only chance if he is injured.

 

[tooextracool]

Bigger concern for me than Ansari would be why we have three reserve fast bowlers in this squad in the UAE? I would rather have bolstered the middle order with Ballance than have someone like Plunkett who is almost certainly going to be carrying the drinks there for the duration of the tour.

 

[JRC67]

Bigger concern for me than Ansari would be why we have three reserve fast bowlers in this squad in the UAE? I would rather have bolstered the middle order with Ballance than have someone like Plunkett who is almost certainly going to be carrying the drinks there for the duration of the tour.

6 quicks on for the UAe on wickets where you really need 2 or 3 spinners seems like overkill. Can't imagine us having more than 3 seamers in the team for any of the tests. I think in part it reflects that neither Finn or Wood was 100% convincing as the 3rd seamer over the summer. Of the 6 options Plunkett is the one who consistently bowls the fastest, so could be most successful on a pitch which offers no lateral movement. Of the current England squad you'd say only Cook, Anderson, Broad and Root are 100% international class. Bell was but may now be in terminal decline. Ali and Stokes have done enough overall to warrant selection in the medium term, but have to perform more consistently in one area of there game to be secure in the longer term. There are openings for at least 4 players to hold there hands up and claim a starting spot.

Hope Ansari makes the squad as it would be an awful way for him to miss out on selection and even if he's unlikely to play it should help his development. Just had a look at reports on him as I've never seen him live and it does seem the bowling side of his game has started to develop this season. Not too sure if he sees himself as a batsman who can bowl, or a bowler who can bat, but long-term England need a decent left arm spin option.