*Official* Australia vs Pakistan in England

[Prince EWS]

Clarke is in top form..dont know why this guy gets bashed so much..more than decent test player

He doesn't get bashed about his Test performances, at all.

 

[Kylez]

Clarke is batting really well here, played some nice drives and he has looked good on the front foot and in defense also, in some obvious good form.

Gul and Asif starting to lose their lines here.

 

[Woodster]

Yes a good positive start to his innings from Clarke, driving has been good, his off drive was the pick of them for me so far.

 

[pasag]

Clarke looks in excellent form. Has found his timing very quickly. I'd be more than happy to see Clarke bat the day and make a century. Would prefer it if he didn't put on a big partnership with Katich though, not sure I could stomach a Katich century. Bring back Phil Hughes TBH. He might not be pretty to watch either, but he's way more entertaining than Katich.

Don't worry, if he gets to the 90s, he'll start playing some shots.

 

[Prince EWS]

Don't worry, if he gets to the 90s, he'll start playing some shots.

Haha, he won't have to watch him for much longer if he gets there anyways.

 

[Spark]

Yes a good positive start to his innings from Clarke, driving has been good, his off drive was the pick of them for me so far.

Shot of the day thus far. Good ball, but a gem of a shot.

Is this a good idea? Turning to a spinner against Clarke?

 

[Woodster]

An interesting period coming up with Kaneria entering the attack. Afridi got one to spin relatively sharply early, so we'll see if Kaneria can get anything out of it. In theory Kaneria and Gul should slow the run rate up a touch here, been going at 5 an over for the last 10 overs. Clarke will look to be proactive.

 

[Kylez]

Kaneria on for Pakistan now and he could be dangerous. Australia have two good players of spin at the crease, especially Clarke. Kaneria is good on English surfaces, he has taken wickets for fun for Essex.

 

[Spark]

Kaneria on for Pakistan now and he could be dangerous. Australia have two good players of spin at the crease, especially Clarke. Kaneria is good on English surfaces, he has taken wickets for fun for Essex.

Katich you feel might get in trouble playing across the line, but then again it's not like it's any worse against pace.

Clarke... well, you saw immediately what he's going to do.

 

[Prince EWS]

Kaneria on for Pakistan now and he could be dangerous. Australia have two good players of spin at the crease, especially Clarke. Kaneria is good on English surfaces, he has taken wickets for fun for Essex.

To be fair though, country cricketers aren't great players of leg spin and Kaneria's arguably the best in the business at the moment. Don't think it has a lot to do with the conditions.

 

[King Pietersen]

Kaneria on for Pakistan now and he could be dangerous. Australia have two good players of spin at the crease, especially Clarke. Kaneria is good on English surfaces, he has taken wickets for fun for Essex.

19 wickets at 28.78, no 5 wicket-hauls this season. He's done decently, but he hasn't really been taking wickets for fun. Been pretty much on a par with Adil Rashid this season. They've had decent FC seasons, but nothing exceptional.

 

[Woodster]

Call it a hunch, or just a wild guess, but I think Katich may actually be done by Kaneria's googly. Looking to work the ball all the time with the spin, to the leg side, no problems in that, but think he may misread one of Danish's googlies.

 

[Spark]

Much better length from Gul.

 

[Woodster]

Very good over there from Gul, much more testing, better lengths.

 

[marc71178]

Meanwhile, Brydon has excelled himself here: "Here's a good stat. Tendulkar, Ponting, Lara. The three leading run scorers in Test history. At Lord's they've played a combined 11 Tests for a highest score of ... 54 by Lara in 1995. So much for the home of cricket."

"Oh, and just to make them feel even better, Ajit Agarkar, who made four consecutive golden ducks in Australia in 1999-2000, is on the honour board for making a Test hundred here."

Quite an amazing thought that - all hail AA!

 

[Spark]

Quite an amazing thought that - all hail AA!

Saw that and had to laugh.

---

I love watching Clarke when he bats like this.

 

[kingkallis]

Is this the same Clarke who struggles in limited overs??

 

[Spark]

Lot of extras...

 

[Faisal1985]

Well, i think he should bring Amir back on.

 

[Spark]

Well, i think he should bring Amir back on.

Already done.