*Official* Pakistan tour of Ireland, England and Scotland 2018

[flibbertyjibber]

Bring in a new player over tried and tested player with a bad season - get criticized
Bring in tried and tested player with a bad season over a new player - get criticized

No winning as an England selector

Picking the same failures over and over is pointless though. Jennings is a proven flop so why go back?

 

[Adders]

No, Nick Compton was an abject failure in every single way.

Not in his first stint he wasn't.

 

[weldone]

No, Nick Compton was an abject failure in every single way.

still better than dead-stone-man-walking

 

[wpdavid]

Picking the same failures over and over is pointless though. Jennings is a proven flop so why go back?

I won't pretend to have much confidence in Jennings doing significantly better this time around, but there have been cases over the years of guys doing better upon being recalled than when they first appeared. Amiss and Gooch spring immediately to mind, and there must be more recent examples too. Maybe Mark Butcher is another case in point. The problem the selectors face of course is who else is there? Especially when there's naff all 4-day cricket over the next couple of months. And at least Jennings has performed well in D1 recently.

 

[SeamUp]

It was a shoot-out between him and Gubbins

Division 2 runs clearly inferior but rather look at the players. An individual player can't control where his team is.

They then say Gubbins is weak against spin ( how badly compared to Jennings? ). So maybe they did look at the players but I wonder how justified the reasoning is.

Gubbins missed a lot of cricket last season and missed out beginning of this. Maybe better for everyone he gets a bit more runs and stays injury free.

 

[Heboric]

What about giving guys second chances, look at Amla he was terrible when he first played internationally and he was subsequenty dropped, then he worked on his game and he came back a better player

 

[Moonsorrow999]

still better than dead-stone-man-walking

Oi Cookie has a name you know.

 

[Tannhauser]

Chaps, I have spare tickets for days one and two at Headingley. Does anyone know whether I might be able to sell them outside the ground?

 

[Gowza]

Geez if the youngsters can’t get it done then shove in some experience, tendo could slot in seemlessly, maybe he’s up for a late international showing like Misbah did. Otherwise back the really young ones like hameed, Lawrence and Clarke.

 

[Singh767]

Very good bowler though not as good Asif who was on target to reach Pollock level greatness if not McGrath if he had kept his straight and I am not talking just about the spot fixing scandal I have seldom seen a bowler getting top class batsman out with so many jaffas.

Abbas is a very consistent wicket to wicket bowler he does not bowl as many unplayable balls as Asif or Phialnder however he is always at the batsman and gives them no opportunity to relax at any stage. I have still doubts over his long term impact with the Kokkaburra ball on flat pitches when batsmen have worked out some plans against him but nevertheless a very good addition in the squad and will play a pivotal role in overseas tours.

No chance

 

[smash84]

No chance

No chance of what? Of Asif being as good as Pollock?

He was a once in a generation type of bowler. Definitely had the talent to be at that level and I think he definitely had a good chance.

 

[smash84]

Looking forward to the match starting tomorrow. Pakistan don't have a very good record at Headingley do they

 

[trundler]

To be fair, neither do England.

 

[Mrpiggy]

Here's hoping Pakistan demolish England yet again! And that little arrogant runt Curran being smashed onto the rugby pitch next door too if he plays would be nice too.!
Surrey scum!!

 

[Starfighter]

Here's hoping Pakistan demolish England yet again! And that little arrogant runt Curran being smashed onto the rugby pitch next door too if he plays would be nice too.!
Surrey scum!!

Tell us how you really feel...

 

[S.Kennedy]

I don't like Surrey much either - they nicked our specialist bats - but crikey!

 

[TheJediBrah]

No chance

Nah that's a fair call imo. Asif averaged 24 despite playing half his games in the desert, and he could be unplayable at timed in even slightly helpful conditions. He was a classy bowler, just not a classy bloke

 

[vcs]

Nah that's a fair call imo. Asif averaged 24 despite playing half his games in the desert, and he could be unplayable at timed in even slightly helpful conditions. He was a classy bowler, just not a classy bloke

He didn't actually play much (if at all) in the desert, and his record in batting-friendly conditions was certainly questionable.

Someone like Philander has a far more complete body of work compared to him and people aren't (yet) putting Philander in Pollock territory.

 

[TheJediBrah]

He didn't actually play much (if at all) in the desert, and his record in batting-friendly conditions was certainly questionable.

Someone like Philander has a far more complete body of work compared to him and people aren't (yet) putting Philander in Pollock territory.

Aren't they? Probably just because Philander hasn't been doing it anywhere near as long as Pollock. Pollock did it over 100+ Tests.

 

[SeamUp]

I know there was a lot of excitement around Sam Curran but he looks very pedestrian so there was a hope that his batting kicked on which I still think it needs to do. Surprised England have picked him this early personally.