*Official* Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016

[Nauq]

Watched most of the match, even though was working overtime but luckily I was able to watch the match at work while working.
Its great to see Pakistan on the winning side. Doesn't happen much these days.
Now I hope Eng don't win the rest of matches. I wanted Pakistan to win 1 test match or at least draw one.
England are good enough side to come back and win.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Ballance always looks terrible, but he was probably the only guy in the lineup who was done by two excellent deliveries, and not by his own stupidity.

 

[smash84]

Why the **** is hafeez in the team? He's useless in these conditions and doesn't help the team cause by shelling chances

 

[hendrix]

Why the **** is hafeez in the team? He's useless in these conditions and doesn't help the team cause by shelling chances

Who else would you pick?

Dunno, if England rolls out another dead pitch he's about as useful as any other pakistani player. His fielding is far from the worst in the team.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Atleast he got a 40 in the first innings, which was a pretty important little innings. On a more sporting pitch, he's probably going to be awful, but he does fine when there's not much movement.

 

[smash84]

They should try somebody like sami aslam or some of the other domestic openers. Hafeez is useless if there is 0 movement or the ball bounces above penis height. At least others will get a chance to perform other than this tried and tested failure

 

[Black_Warrior]

So that's 6 wins out of 7 games against England. And it all started with GIMH's visionary prediction of 3-0 back in 2012.

 

[Jono]

This is exactly why I was surprised anyone thought this series would be competitive B_W

 

[Black_Warrior]

This is a really good piece on YK's struggle and his exaggerated crouch and jittery innings. A much better analysis than what we got from the Sky commies.

On Saturday, he was not idiosyncratic though. He was just ugly. Not a single ball of the 95 he faced, did he play with any certainty let alone grace. Not for a single minute of the 135 he was at the crease did he look like it was his home, or at least a place and situation he was familiar with.

Crouched so low in his stance that he was almost squatting, his every movement thereafter had to be exaggerated. That, incidentally, is a consequence of Pakistan’s place on the international calendar, where they do not often tour England or Australia.

Consider that since his last series in England, a decade ago, Younis has played in only three Test series in conditions that are not subcontinental in nature – South Africa twice and New Zealand once.

Year after year, series after series of batting on low, slow pitches, on surfaces in the UAE especially, he has gotten lower in that stance, all the better to be closer to the ball as you drive.

On faster surfaces with more bounce, problems arise. Partly they explain the strange pirouettes and flamingo leaves of Saturday, and also the first day (where he looked better). His feet looked unsure beneath him, as if unable to grasp the surface they were standing on.

Time and again his back foot slipped back and upwards. Time and again he was airborne at point of impact, which is not unusual for him but is not perhaps a workable ploy on these surfaces. It looked for all the world as if he had turned up not only at the wrong place and time, but also for the wrong sport. Instructively, the England Cricket Board’s social media account put together a package of his leaves, played to a classical music soundtrack and captioned it “The balletic Younis Khan".

England v Pakistan cricket: Younis Khan’s knock at Lord’s ugly but admirable | The National

 

[TheJediBrah]

Still don't understand why Gary Ballance is playing Test cricket again, let alone in a side that is supposed to be one of the better going around

 

[Daemon]

 

[Black_Warrior]

Still don't understand why Gary Ballance is playing Test cricket again, let alone in a side that is supposed to be one of the better going around

He batted pretty well actually in the second innings. You can't fault a guy for getting bowled to a delivery like that.

 

[Jono]

 

[Jono]

This is a really good piece on YK's struggle and his exaggerated crouch and jittery innings. A much better analysis than what we got from the Sky commies.

On Saturday, he was not idiosyncratic though. He was just ugly. Not a single ball of the 95 he faced, did he play with any certainty let alone grace. Not for a single minute of the 135 he was at the crease did he look like it was his home, or at least a place and situation he was familiar with.

Crouched so low in his stance that he was almost squatting, his every movement thereafter had to be exaggerated. That, incidentally, is a consequence of Pakistan’s place on the international calendar, where they do not often tour England or Australia.

Consider that since his last series in England, a decade ago, Younis has played in only three Test series in conditions that are not subcontinental in nature – South Africa twice and New Zealand once.

Year after year, series after series of batting on low, slow pitches, on surfaces in the UAE especially, he has gotten lower in that stance, all the better to be closer to the ball as you drive.

On faster surfaces with more bounce, problems arise. Partly they explain the strange pirouettes and flamingo leaves of Saturday, and also the first day (where he looked better). His feet looked unsure beneath him, as if unable to grasp the surface they were standing on.

Time and again his back foot slipped back and upwards. Time and again he was airborne at point of impact, which is not unusual for him but is not perhaps a workable ploy on these surfaces. It looked for all the world as if he had turned up not only at the wrong place and time, but also for the wrong sport. Instructively, the England Cricket Board’s social media account put together a package of his leaves, played to a classical music soundtrack and captioned it “The balletic Younis Khan".

England v Pakistan cricket: Younis Khan’s knock at Lord’s ugly but admirable | The National

This was not a fast and bouncy track. Even compared to UAE/sub-continent it wasn't that much quicker.

The track was also slower and lower in the second innings compared to the first innings, yet it was the second innings when his jumping was really evident.

So I'd say that his reasoning isn't necessarily true.

 

[Spikey]

She joins Ishant Sharma as match winners that England couldn't handle

 

[jonbrooks]

Seriously well played by Pakistan. Could have won that a lot easier had they held on to their catches. England were outclassed this time round. Perhaps they took Pakistan too lightly. Makes for a must see 2nd test.

 

[Black_Warrior]

This was not a fast and bouncy track. Even compared to UAE/sub-continent it wasn't that much quicker.

The track was also slower and lower in the second innings compared to the first innings, yet it was the second innings when his jumping was really evident.

So I'd say that his reasoning isn't necessarily true.

He jumped around in both the innings. And while this was a slower track, it certainly had more bounce than the UAE tracks. It's silly to suggest that there was no adjustment required from the batsmen because the pitch was slower. The number of dismissals behind the wicket, while low for an England test match was still a fair number higher than in UAE. He was connecting with the ball while in the air. Also his crouch was developed in the last few years. That's a fact. You can have a look at his 2006 innings in England and there's no crouch.

 

[hendrix]

Pakistan holding their catches is the hypothetical of hypotheticals though

 

[Daemon]

He jumped around in both the innings. And while this was a slower track, it certainly had more bounce than the UAE tracks. He was connecting with the ball while in the air. Also his crouch was developed in the last few years. That's a fact. You can have a look at his 2006 innings in England and there's no crouch.

I thought the reason why at times his back leg seemed to have a mind of its own was because he was jumping but the ball wasn't bouncing as much, and to bring your bat down when you're up in the air sort of results in that awkwardness. Try it.

About 17 seconds into the clip - https://www.facebook.com/englandcricket/?ref=br_rs

 

[Black_Warrior]

I think swapping Azhar and Hafeez in the batting lineup may not be the worst idea.

Not going to happen. As much as I think it should happen, both Misbah and Azhar are adamant against it. Inzy the selector had suggested that but was shot down. The middle order has been the same for the last 6 years and Misbah doesn't like to change it.