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

J

JRC67

U19 12th Man
wpdavid said:
I think it's fair to say that Stokes is there as much on potential as performance at this stage.
I'm happy enough with him in the side as a fourth seamer who will occasionally bowl a golden spell at this stage. And I can live with him at six with a bit of insurance at7,8 and 9.
tbh the performance of most of our batsmen nowadays doesn't convince me there are better alternatives in the wings. Apart from Root, most newcomers have struggled.
And I do suspect he's mentally knackered after the Ashes, as was Buttler.
I've said before he reminds me of Flintoff a year or so before he became consistently good at test match level.
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I'd agree with the bit about the batsmen, but I'd also say at the moment moment Finn and woods haven't shown enough to say they are consistently better bowlers. We are very reliant on 2 bowlers and 2 batsmen and badly need other players to start stepping up.
 
theegyptian

theegyptian

International Vice-Captain
flibbertyjibber said:
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.
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theegyptian said:
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.
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Looks like you were right and I was wrong given that they've called Samit up as Ansari's replacement.

Not a fan of Samit.
 
grecian

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I'm not against him TBH, bowled okay this year, batted not great, hard to know who is any better.
 
P

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Better to do what though? We really don't need him at all. He is not going to be picked as a batsman and he should not be picked as a spinner. The only situation in which I can see him play is if Moeen got injured. Ansari made sense as the best young spin bowler around pick, his batting was a bonus.
 
grecian

grecian

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Pothas said:
Better to do what though? We really don't need him at all. He is not going to be picked as a batsman and he should not be picked as a spinner. The only situation in which I can see him play is if Moeen got injured. Ansari made sense as the best young spin bowler around pick, his batting was a bonus.
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Different bowling type to moeen and Rashid. We wanted a SLA, depressingly he maybe the best we've got.
 
theegyptian

theegyptian

International Vice-Captain
It says a lot for English spin bowling that Matthew Carter (Matthew Carter | England Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo) debuted (in the same team as Samit) and took 10 wickets in the game and yet hasn't played since. He was dropped for the next game and got injured sub fielding during that game but he's been fit for a couple of months and hasn't played.

I don't think Notts have lost since that game so it's hard to find criticism with their approach, but just the fact you can take 10 wickets in a game and 7-56 in one innings and not get another game for the rest of the season kind of sums up why there are no spinners.
 
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P

Pothas

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Mason Crane not bee seen for a couple of games either, and you know he won't start next season in the side.
 
Niall

Niall

International Coach
smalishah84 said:
who do we have other than Yasir Shah to look forward to in this series (in bowling)?
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Well as I think England will handle Babar very comfortably and Riaz while talented doesn't really run through teams, Rahat will be absolutely crucial as he is definitely best of the rest. He can be erratic, but has shown lots of potential, he needs a big series as apart from Yasir I don't see where the match winning spells are coming from.
 
smash84

smash84

The Tiger King
Niall said:
Well as I think England will handle Babar very comfortably and Riaz while talented doesn't really run through teams, Rahat will be absolutely crucial as he is definitely best of the rest. He can be erratic, but has shown lots of potential, he needs a big series as apart from Yasir I don't see where the match winning spells are coming from.
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That's true actually. In test matches I don't have much confidence in Riaz. Babar should be a walk in the park. Rahat is extremely hot and cold though. World class one spell and pedestrian the next.

I wouldn't mind having Imran Khan ahead of Riaz. He's bowled decently so far and had a 5fer in the series decider in SL
 
weldone

weldone

Hall of Fame Member
Have faith in Yasir Shah to run through England more often than not. Riaz will do ok.

Among England's bowlers, I expect Anderson to get less than 8 wickets in 3 matches. A lot will depend on Adil and Moeen. Broad can do well too.
 
Black_Warrior

Black_Warrior

Cricketer Of The Year
smalishah84 said:
who do we have other than Yasir Shah to look forward to in this series (in bowling)?
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Junaid is in the test squad, I am hoping he will come good.. Riaz, while these are not the most conducive conditions for him, is still a force, his spells in Sri Lanka helped Yasir get wickets from the other end.

England's batting on the other hand other than Root is quite a big question mark. They won the Ashes on the top of their excellent seam bowling and Root...England's batting will give competition to Pakistan's on being the weakest batting line up in the world today.

I expect low scoring games but let's see.
 
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