***Official*** Pakistan in Australia 2016/17

[Niall]

The concern for Pakistan with Younis is if not only if he is finished, will he go quietly? Doubtful and I expect the 10 000 runs landmark will be very much in his mind. Misbah on the other hand is an absolute gentleman, he will go at the correct time. Its probably time for Pakistan to bench Rahat, yep he is capable of magic, but he to inconsistent and can be horrible if pressure is applied to him. Very weak mentally.

Shafiq out of form also not helping, this could be less competitive than the West Indies tour last year if he and Younis don't snap out of their dire form.

 

[Black_Warrior]

The concern for Pakistan with Younis is if not only if he is finished, will he go quietly? Doubtful and I expect the 10 000 runs landmark will be very much in his mind. Misbah on the other hand is an absolute gentleman, he will go at the correct time. Its probably time for Pakistan to bench Rahat, yep he is capable of magic, but he to inconsistent and can be horrible if pressure is applied to him. Very weak mentally.

Shafiq out of form also not helping, this could be less competitive than the West Indies tour last year if he and Younis don't snap out of their dire form.

Shafiq's last 7 inns - 0, 0, 16, 17, 23, 0, 2 (Ave 8.28)
Younis' last 6 inns - 0, 2, 1, 2, 11, 0 (Ave 2.66)

This slump at the same time is hurting Pakistan more than anything. YK is not going to go quietly and I am pretty sure he wants to play the 2017 season. Shafiq needs to step up though. He is unlikely to get another opportunity to tour Australia in his career. If he doesn't make it count now, it will hurt him for the rest of his career.

 

[social]

I was at the ground last night and from a spectator's viewpoint, the visibility definitely declined at night so batting must've been difficult if it was the same for the batsmen.

Having said that, I am all for day/night tests as the place was pumping and that's not something that can always be said for the Gabba.

In terms of the players, you definitely get a different perspective by being at the ground.

Smith is the Lee Trevino of batsmen - style all his own but has really quick hands, an eye like a dead fish and his head position is perfection at the point of bowlers' release

Bird makes very little use of his front arm and you cant help but think he'd add a yard if he did

Yasir and Lyon really fire it in with generally no attempt at flight

Wahab is a sensational athlete with his run-up and action like poetry from side-on

Some of the Pakistani fieldsmen are off with the pixies and dont even walk in with the bowler at times

Overall, a pretty fun day and Social Jnr really enjoyed it which is the main thing

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Dropping anyone for Mitch Marsh, then Ferguson, then Maddison is perhaps the cruelest cut of all.

So what you're saying is that Watto should never have been dropped?

I agree.

 

[honestbharani]

Hope Pak's lollapse was due to the night conditions and visibility more than anything else. Otherwise, this is gonna be a long mentally scarring tour for them.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Going back to Maddinson, I don't think they're going to drop him this series unless it's for SMarsh, which honestly, I am fine with. But I am biased.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

There is something different and in Younis Khan's slump now than the one in the England series and now that this slump has lasted for over 4 test matches spread over the last 3 months, it is more worrying. In England, it was still the old vintage YK, doing everything that the old YK did, along with that added dance and jump..but overall he was the same player..he was playing Anderson and Broad with a lot of caution, he was battling it out, he was not edging to keeper or slips, in fact his entire focus was on avoiding the outside edge and he survived the initial phase in pretty much all of those innings. He got out a few times trying to smash Moeen Ali or once to Woakes down the leg side which was just stupid. So his dismissals were more stupid and odd than anything which is why I didn't think it was age catching up and it was the end.

This is a bit different. Starting from the third WI test, he has barely lasted a few deliveries, getting out pretty much as soon as he comes in and getting out driving, flashing and defending - outside edge to keeper/slips. This is more worrying because it hints as his judgement, how he is seeing the ball, his awareness of his off stump and his overall discipline outside the off stump - all factors that you would expect YK to be excellent at. That delivery from Hazelwood is something YK would leave especially when it's his first delivery. He leaves these balls even in the UAE. Anderson and Broad got bored bowling him there in UAE last year. And yet he doesn't seem to be able to leave them here.

Give him time. He's barely 40.

 

[Jono]

Hope Pak's lollapse was due to the night conditions and visibility more than anything else. Otherwise, this is gonna be a long mentally scarring tour for them.

They stink. It's gonna be awful.

 

[Jono]

I was at the ground last night and from a spectator's viewpoint, the visibility definitely declined at night so batting must've been difficult if it was the same for the batsmen.

Having said that, I am all for day/night tests as the place was pumping and that's not something that can always be said for the Gabba.

In terms of the players, you definitely get a different perspective by being at the ground.

Smith is the Lee Trevino of batsmen - style all his own but has really quick hands, an eye like a dead fish and his head position is perfection at the point of bowlers' release

Bird makes very little use of his front arm and you cant help but think he'd add a yard if he did

Yasir and Lyon really fire it in with generally no attempt at flight

Wahab is a sensational athlete with his run-up and action like poetry from side-on

Some of the Pakistani fieldsmen are off with the pixies and dont even walk in with the bowler at times

Overall, a pretty fun day and Social Jnr really enjoyed it which is the main thing

Wahab is so fun
Just pure entertainment.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Hope Pak's lollapse was due to the night conditions and visibility more than anything else. Otherwise, this is gonna be a long mentally scarring tour for them.

It's not different this time though. They could be mentally scarring but don't see how this is any different from the 1990 series of the 95 series or even the 2004 series where they folded for 72 in the first test.

 

[mr_mister]

Bring in Asif IMO


who are the next 2-3 batsmen in line to replace a retiring YK/Misbah or an out of form Shafiq/YK

 

[morgieb]

Bring in Asif IMO


who are the next 2-3 batsmen in line to replace a retiring YK/Misbah or an out of form Shafiq/YK

Rizwan played when Misbah was absent, so he probably has first claims to a spot.

Sohail perhaps if he ever gets over that knee injury.

Fawad Alam if the selectors had brains.

Could also go for Imad Wasim/Mohammad Nawaz (3) for an all-rounder, the latter probably hurts Pakistan's batting too much though.

Not sure who the best in domestic cricket is right now.

EDIT: Just looked at the Quaid-e-Azam tables, and two of the best batsmen this year have been Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

It's not different this time though. They could be mentally scarring but don't see how this is any different from the 1990 series of the 95 series or even the 2004 series where they folded for 72 in the first test.

These teams are different. I'm not sure we can say the mental block here for these crop of players touring Australia unless they all decided to read all the tabloids every night coming for the tour.

 

[OverratedSanity]

They stink. It's gonna be awful.

Yeah, hopefully.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Shafiq's last 7 inns - 0, 0, 16, 17, 23, 0, 2 (Ave 8.28)
Younis' last 6 inns - 0, 2, 1, 2, 11, 0 (Ave 2.66)

This slump at the same time is hurting Pakistan more than anything. YK is not going to go quietly and I am pretty sure he wants to play the 2017 season. Shafiq needs to step up though. He is unlikely to get another opportunity to tour Australia in his career. If he doesn't make it count now, it will hurt him for the rest of his career.

Younis will cash in once he gets a flat deck imo, Pakistan just need to ensure the series isn't done by then.

But yeah, Shafiq needs to lift. Expected so much more from him in these tours. Disappointing.

 

[stephen]

It's a bit early to write off YK after copping a beauty under lights in his first pink ball test. He's a class act with the bat and I expect runs from him on this tour.

It's baking hot today so if we can clean up these two wickets in the early session I see no reason not to bat. It's not humid and it's fairly still so being in the field all day is unnecessary on day 3.

In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we saw a 20-30 over resistance this afternoon. Should be perfect batting conditions.

 

[honestbharani]

All down to Sarfraz really. Amir can hold up his end but Sarfraz' gotta do the running.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Bring in Asif IMO


who are the next 2-3 batsmen in line to replace a retiring YK/Misbah or an out of form Shafiq/YK

Azhar will most likely be pushed to 4 and Sharjeel/Salman Butt will open.

Fawad is there but don't think he will get a recall. Harris Sohail should be making a comeback from next year so let's see.

Rizwan played when Misbah was absent, so he probably has first claims to a spot.

Rizwan does not have first claims. Him playing had more to do with poor squad selection without a backup batsman and the fact that no one in the management were aware that Misbah could have been banned for his over rates.

They pick Rizwan as an extra fielder on these overseas tours, not as a backup batsman.

 

[WCT]

Watching the Pakistan batsman being dismissed yesterday and the clear feeling of deja vu of Pakstan with Glenn Mcgrath bowling and the results that come from taking back foot swipes at quick bowlers when playing in Australia. How is it possible that the very same obvious mistakes are being made more than a decade later???

 

[morgieb]

One thing that could influence Australia's decision is that there's some rain forecast for the last three days. Probably won't make it a complete write-off but you may see a fair bit of play get wiped out.