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*Official* Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016
- Thread starter Grumpy
- Start date
Niall
International Coach
Very much so, I think his spell in the second test in the UAE was fantastic, but so often he does somewhat underwhelm in test cricket. The back up seamers is tough to call, Sohail never played a test and dire fitness, Imran no experience in England and not exactly fast and Rahat who is very weak mentally once you get in top of him.
Wouldn't be astounded to see Hamza play a test here or in Australia.
, this tour is going to be an absolute disaster for him.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
Nice of Sussex to declare and give Pakistan another day to bat.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
Wahab has always been wayward with the new ball. He himself has said that he finds it difficult to control the newer and harder ball. Ideally Wahab should be your third, possibly fourth seamer on occasions, who comes in after the new ball has picked up a few wickets and he is up against newer batsmen. He came back strongly in the second spell with the older ball, cranking it up and picking up a few wickets.
This is Andrew Macglashan on Wahab's second spell
Wahab returns for a second burst. Important spell for him
Wells goes for 93! Flat-footed drive at Wahab and edges behind. Wahab has pushed himself this spell, good pace: 212-1
Wahab getting some movement this spell. Challenging with plenty of deliveries. Almost yorked Machan 1st ball, then beat the edge
Two balls later and Finch is out! Driving at Wahab and edges to slip for 103. 228 for 2. Wahab in a groove
This is also why Rahat and Wahab are a good combo because Rahat can keep it tight and economical and maintain the pressure. Problem is if you play both Rahat and Wahab, you are playing 3 left armers and Misbah is not in favour of that. Imran I thought was decent yesterday, and I wouldn't really trust Sohail as he might fall apart during a long day.
The ideal attack would be
Amir
Rahat/Wahab
Imran
Yasir.
But Mickey Arthur backs Sohail and was impressed with him when he was at Karachi Kings at PSL. Misbah likes Rahat, Arthur likes Sohail. Let's see what combination they decide on.
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Jono
Virat Kohli (c)
Wahab Riaz targets England's 'fragile' middle order | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo
Love Wahab, he is such an aggressive mofo. Problem with this of course is Pakistan's batting order is even more fragile. Will be lucky to pass 200 most of the tour.
Love Wahab, he is such an aggressive mofo. Problem with this of course is Pakistan's batting order is even more fragile. Will be lucky to pass 200 most of the tour.
OverratedSanity
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Yeah, their batting is pretty good. The openers are a massive weakness, but Younis, Azhar, Misbah and Shafiq are an excellent middle order on paper.
Largely unproven outside SC conditions though.
Niall
International Coach
It is.
2 lads opening who most expect to fail very hard especially Hafeez who has contributed nothing in the warm up games. Azhar did okish in England before, but he can get bogged down quite easily, he needs to figure out how to score a little quicker this tour rather than in uae where he has all the time in the World. Younis? Who knows, clearly a gun batsman, but hasn't really ventured outside the SC for years and is getting on. He also will probably be batting much earlier than he is used to due to the gruesome twosome at the top.
Misbah is 42, the guy is a good bloke, but hasn't really ventured outside the SC in years and their is serious doubts over him handling pace in England. He also like Younis won't get as much protection as he would like and is used to in the UAE due to the openers failing.
Shafiq is very good, it just depends if anyone can hang around to keep him company, and it will be a culture shock, its one thing coming in at 250/4, its another at 50/4 which he will probably have to in this tour.
Sarfraz went of the boil recently so not sure what to expect their either.
Not much runs in the tail either especially if Wahab does not play.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
I know Pakistan's batting order is expected to fall apart this time based on previous evidence of overseas tours and it is justified. But if you look at the two sides, Pakistan's middle order is actually on paper stronger and more experienced with better records. But what evens this out is the fact that the middle order, as good as they are, would frequently be exposed to the new ball at 10/2 and that's when you know a collapse is just round the corner.
If you compare the two sides player by player, Cook is obviously ahead of both Pak openers combined. Middle order goes to Pak but the non existent opening buffer kinda makes it vulnerable. But where the real difference in batting between the two sides for me is the lower middle order through to the tail. Bairstow, Woakes, Ali is far far ahead of anyone Pakistan can possibly have at those positions. Pakistan basically bat till 7 and then 8-11 are all basically number 11 batsmen. If you compare with England, Broad at 9 is still far ahead of all 4 Pak bowlers combined.
So I would expect Pakistani to collapse frequently in this series say from 200/5 to 210 all out whereas England at 200/5 can in all likelihood add 100 valuable runs or more. This will make the major difference between the two sides in my view. I can see Pak bowlers tiring out against England's lower order just like in UAE and Bairstow, Ali or Stokes (when he plays) will get some runs this series.
If you compare the two sides player by player, Cook is obviously ahead of both Pak openers combined. Middle order goes to Pak but the non existent opening buffer kinda makes it vulnerable. But where the real difference in batting between the two sides for me is the lower middle order through to the tail. Bairstow, Woakes, Ali is far far ahead of anyone Pakistan can possibly have at those positions. Pakistan basically bat till 7 and then 8-11 are all basically number 11 batsmen. If you compare with England, Broad at 9 is still far ahead of all 4 Pak bowlers combined.
So I would expect Pakistani to collapse frequently in this series say from 200/5 to 210 all out whereas England at 200/5 can in all likelihood add 100 valuable runs or more. This will make the major difference between the two sides in my view. I can see Pak bowlers tiring out against England's lower order just like in UAE and Bairstow, Ali or Stokes (when he plays) will get some runs this series.
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Howe_zat
Audio File
Pretty much agree with BW, but think there is so much we can't really predict about this Pakistan team to begin with. Hafeez you can highlight as a weakness but it's six months since he made 150 against us. Amir we have no idea about, Wahab blows hot and cold on a pretty consistent basis and the last time this batting order left Asia, Ricky Ponting was still playing.
theegyptian
International Vice-Captain
No guarantee that England's bowling (which is normally their strength at home) isn't poor this first test. How good they will have to be is debeatable given the pakistani batting.
One debutant; Finn who couldn't even make the ODI side and was poor at the start of the summer (although apparently was showing slight improvement in this last championship game); Woakes who is far from proven even if he did have a good last two tests; Ali bowling with no confidence against a lineup who has slaughtered him in the past; and Broad you'd presume the one reliable bowler. Looks a vulnerable bowling unit to go a with a vulnerable batting lineup.
One debutant; Finn who couldn't even make the ODI side and was poor at the start of the summer (although apparently was showing slight improvement in this last championship game); Woakes who is far from proven even if he did have a good last two tests; Ali bowling with no confidence against a lineup who has slaughtered him in the past; and Broad you'd presume the one reliable bowler. Looks a vulnerable bowling unit to go a with a vulnerable batting lineup.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
Yeah but what's troubling me is Broad usually steps up a few country miles when Anderson is out. If Broads takes out Pak top 4 for 20 runs, you can have another 60 all out on the cards and then from then onward, everything else becomes irrelevant.
Xuhaib
International Coach
My Series Predictions
Pakistan will bat decently: Everybody expects Pakistan batting to fail miserably this won't happen I seriously believe Pakistani is one of the better test batting units albeit unproven outside Asia. Hafeez, Azhar and Asad will come away with their reputation enhanced. Hafeez will gun it and will be the best batsman.
Amir will do okish:Lack of pressure 5 day cricket for past 6 years will hurt Amir and he will fall away as the series progresses may even be injured by 3rd or 4th test. It will take him some time to get back to top performance level if ever.
Yasir will be a mixed bag: Will have couple of poor tests but also one big game when he spins Pakistan to win or close to a win. Shane Warne will keep on talking unnecessarily about him even when he's not in action
Series result -2-1 or 3-1 to England
Biggest controvery: Shane Warne and Yasir Shah *** tape will be leaked
Pakistan will bat decently: Everybody expects Pakistan batting to fail miserably this won't happen I seriously believe Pakistani is one of the better test batting units albeit unproven outside Asia. Hafeez, Azhar and Asad will come away with their reputation enhanced. Hafeez will gun it and will be the best batsman.
Amir will do okish:Lack of pressure 5 day cricket for past 6 years will hurt Amir and he will fall away as the series progresses may even be injured by 3rd or 4th test. It will take him some time to get back to top performance level if ever.
Yasir will be a mixed bag: Will have couple of poor tests but also one big game when he spins Pakistan to win or close to a win. Shane Warne will keep on talking unnecessarily about him even when he's not in action
Series result -2-1 or 3-1 to England
Biggest controvery: Shane Warne and Yasir Shah *** tape will be leaked
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
God I really hope Shane Warne is not in Sky Sports commentary this summer
flibbertyjibber
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Not the only one who thinks that.