*Official* Pakistan in England 2020

[trundler]

This is really good batting

 

[honestbharani]

Fawad Alam and the cruelty of batting: a 10-year wait ends in a duck

Mountains of first-class runs and not a chance, then asked to play against the moving ball in England

www.espncricinfo.com

Poor guy Hope he does well in the next innings irrespective of the result. There is just something endearing to me about a domestic stalwart proving himself at the international level even at late stages of his career. The guys who toil away in the domestic scene without the glamour of international cricket are the backbone of the sport itself IMO and someone like Alam doing well now would make so many of them feel so much better of their choice to continue to be cricketers.

 

[91Jmay]

Really good stuff from Pakistan. Not great bowling but they were extremely watchful. 250 is a solid score i think.

 

[Pothas]

Having a lunch break now seems really hard on Pakistan after such a good hour.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah, nothing extravagant off the pitch so far and they have worked out a nice technique and left a lot. Have to continue this for another hour at least post lunch before they can start opening up and play few more strokes. Should be aiming for 300 but even 250 would be a good score here, I think.

 

[trundler]

Yeah the runs weren't exactly flowing but they were in a good rhythm

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

re fawad alam
I don’t see a point in such stance if you are going to come back to normal batting position at or before point of release. It triggers unnecessary movement and adjustment of feet at last some moment.

 

[wpdavid]

Really good stuff from Pakistan. Not great bowling but they were extremely watchful. 250 is a solid score i think.

Yes, the batting was better than the bowling, which was fairly bland. Agreed about 250 given the relative strengths of the batting and bowling of each side.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Edited highlights for those of us without Sky?

Selected highlights:

-Brearley is the only man Botham still touches the forlock for (Atherton)

-Atherton should've made more of an effort to keep the press on side (Hussain)

-Brearley wouldn't happen nowadays because the captain has to be worth his spot as a player (Hussain)

-Hussain was occasionally hard to manage*(Atherton)

-Warne missed out on the Australian captaincy because of his off field baggage* (Warne)

-Taylor was the best captain Warne played under (Warne)

-Cook wasn't tough enough on Pietersen; he's the kind of bloke who'll look for a mile when given even an inch (Warne)

-Clive Lloyd's authority was total and no-one ****ed with him (Holding)

Atherton actually just said on commentary that they might make it into a podcast and put it on yer UToobz, so keep 'em peeled.

*admittedly not earth shattering relevations.

Yeah Ward always reminds me of Mark Chapman.

Who's John Lennon in this scenario?!

 

[honestbharani]

re fawad alam
I don’t see a point in such stance if you are going to come back to normal batting position at or before point of release. It triggers unnecessary movement and adjustment of feet at last some moment.

Bailey tried something like this too. Only benefit I can think of is that naturaly anxious players may find it a bit easier to concentrate on the ball alone when they have to do all this shuffling to be in position when batting.

Pretty sure it is why Steve Smith bats the way he does too. I guess it just relaxes them from thinking too much as the ball is coming down. Not to suggest I was any good as a cricketer or anything, but as a school level cricketer, sometimes the ball seems to take forever to reach you when you are seeing it well and it can lead to some jumbled thoughts in your mind as you are figuring out which shot to play. I felt I did pick the length and pace of the ball pretty well but could get into a mess mentally and end up playing a poor shot and getting out. I am just gonna guess this is a way to work around that sort of anxiousness as they face up to the ball.

 

[wpdavid]

Selected highlights:

-Brearley is the only man Botham still touches the forlock for (Atherton)

-Atherton should've made more of an effort to keep the press on side (Hussain)

-Brearley wouldn't happen nowadays because the captain has to be worth his spot as a player (Hussain)

-Hussain was occasionally hard to manage*(Atherton)

-Warne missed out on the Australian captaincy because of his off field baggage* (Warne)

-Taylor was the best captain Warne played under (Warne)

-Cook wasn't tough enough on Pietersen; he's the kind of bloke who'll look for a mile when given even an inch (Warne)

-Clive Lloyd's authority was total and no-one ****ed with him (Holding)

Atherton actually just said on commentary that they might make it into a podcast and put it on yer UToobz, so keep 'em peeled.

*admittedly not earth shattering relevations.



Who's John Lennon in this scenario?!

Thanks for those. I wonder whether Warne was saying that about Pietersen six years ago.

I did wonder about Pothas' Mark Chapman reference but struggled to think of something appropriate to say about the deranged obsessive (Chapman, not Pothas).

 

[harsh.ag]

Bess must be wondering why he is in the team

 

[Uppercut]

re fawad alam
I don’t see a point in such stance if you are going to come back to normal batting position at or before point of release. It triggers unnecessary movement and adjustment of feet at last some moment.

No one's advocating teaching kids to play that way. But if it works in practice then who cares if it works in theory?

 

[wpdavid]

Bess must be wondering why he is in the team

Fairly standard for a spinner not be used in these conditions and play has been truncated, so your quicks are rested. See also Adil Rashid at Lord's in 2018.

 

[harsh.ag]

Fairly standard for a spinner not be used in these conditions and play has been truncated, so your quicks are rested. See also Adil Rashid at Lord's in 2018.

Eh. You know the weather forecast going in. Can just use Root as a spinner and get an extra batsman in given the weak line-up.

 

[wpdavid]

Eh. You know the weather forecast going in. Can just use Root as a spinner and get an extra batsman in given the weak line-up.

I suppose. Sometimes the forecast will suggest that the spinner will come in helpful in the 2nd innings, but that's not the case here.
All that being said, I don't think that England have another batsman in their bubble now that the reserve went home due to a family bereavement.

 

[trundler]

Did that edge or was that bat on ground

 

[Neptune]

Top batting from Pakistan in the first hour. Left the off side and wide balls well, didn’t go searching at all. Hit the straight and leg side ones. Top batting.

 

[trundler]

Hasn't missed out on anything straight. So good to watch

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Happy Independence Day Pakistan ??