*Official* Pakistan in England 2020

[fredfertang]

That'll be a moment when Sibley regrets losing all that weight

 

[Spark]

It's that front foot plonking down a foot outside off isn't it. Credit to him for making it to this level with that trigger, especially opening the batting, but it's going to be exploited consistently surely whenever there's movement.

Yeah absolutely. Just closes himself off so much.

 

[Starfighter]

'Try not to follow the ball' - immediately follows the ball.

 

[grecian]

That rain and bad light sure seems like a good thing about now, this is potential well under 100 looking.

 

[Prince EWS]

'Try not to follow the ball' - immediately follows the ball.

At least he tried.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah absolutely. Just closes himself off so much.

Burns or Sibley?

 

[Neptune]

Yeah he looked terrible even when making runs. He's a reasonable bat and reasonable bats will sometimes make runs even against bowlers much better than them but no-one really came out of the series thinking "yeah this bloke is going to average 40+ at home"

We were desperate though weren’t we? I mean we were just looking for an opening batsmen who would hang around for a bit and make a few decent scores. Burns has done well in this aspect, however he’s had a disaster of a series. Wonder if he’s been found out?

 

[the big bambino]

I liked the look of Rizwan's batting in Australia. Got into quick position to hook and pull our fast men. Don't know much about his keeping but didn't look terrible. Good player to watch.

 

[Spark]

Burns or Sibley?

Burns. Haven't yet made up my mind on Sibley.

 

[Daemon]

I think Kettleborough has seen the light reading dip below what it should be but doesn't want to take them off. Good lad if so.

 

[wpdavid]

That has lifted a lot. The Pakistan bowlers if anything seem to be getting more out of the pitch.

Someone on cricinfo reckons they're pitching it slightly further up than the English bowlers.

 

[Starfighter]

Worth Shaheen putting in the odd yorker here imo.

 

[Prince EWS]

Burns. Haven't yet made up my mind on Sibley.

Sibley does it as well but it's certainly not as exaggerated, and perhaps crucially tends to stop happening after he's faced 30 balls or so.

 

[Burgey]

Ignoring my facetious comment about the follow-on target, I'm not sure. If England are dismissed not too far short of 236 and Pakistan collapse in their 2nd innings then we might see an interesting run chase if the weather holds. But I don't think the weather will hold.

yeah I just don’t see time for that. If england is to make around 200 they’ll need pretty much all day today to get there, then a session and a bit at best to roll Pakistan second dig before any run chase. I know it’s Pakistan but I just don’t see the time for it to happen.

As you say though, rain/ standard English “summer” weather looks the real winner

 

[honestbharani]

Burns. Haven't yet made up my mind on Sibley.

Yeah... but gotta cut some slack though. You could have Kohli and Smith batting here and they will look helpless against this attack in these conditions.

 

[Spark]

Sibley does it as well but it's certainly not as exaggerated, and perhaps crucially tends to stop happening after he's faced 30 balls or so.

Yeah Sibley looks awkward, but he doesn't scream "this really shouldn't work" in the way Burns' movements can at times.

Yeah... but gotta cut some slack though. You could have Kohli and Smith batting here and they will look helpless against this attack in these conditions.

Would back Smith so long as he's switched on. Faced very similar conditions in 2013 at times and did pretty well, he's so good at covering the line of off stump. Kohli more the counterattacker obvs.

Early days but Crawley seems to know what he's doing against the left-arm inswing.

 

[Prince EWS]

yeah I just don’t see time for that. If england is to make around 200 they’ll need pretty much all day today to get there, then a session and a bit at best to roll Pakistan second dig before any run chase. I know it’s Pakistan but I just don’t see the time for it to happen.

As you say though, rain/ standard English “summer” weather looks the real winner

Should've played in June.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah Sibley looks awkward, but he doesn't scream "this really shouldn't work" in the way Burns' movements can at times.

I don't know how much you've seen of him but he looks completely different after he's set. He kind of screams "probably shouldn't actually be an opener, hey" to me.

Probably wouldn't be playing if he wasn't, mind.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah absolutely. Just closes himself off so much.

He’s not got any spectacular strengths either. Not a Graeme Smith situation where there’s something there that makes up for the clear technical flaw.

 

[Starfighter]

We were desperate though weren’t we? I mean we were just looking for an opening batsmen who would hang around for a bit and make a few decent scores. Burns has done well in this aspect, however he’s had a disaster of a series. Wonder if he’s been found out?

He's been one of the best performing openers domestically. That isn't desperate.