***Official*** England in Pakistan

[wahindiawah]

Maybe he adds another string to Pakistan's bow, but I doubt he has the application to score highly for his team when they really need him. I think Kamal would've been a wiser choice.

No comparison here, Kamal is a far better batter than Afridi.

But my point was that both Kamal and Afridi should have played, Afridi should have played in place of Sami and Kamal should have betted at sixth slot.

 

[Prince EWS]

No comparison here, Kamal is a far better batter than Afridi.

But my point was that both Kamal and Afridi should have played, Afridi should have played in place of Sami and Kamal should have betted at sixth slot.

I dont think Afridi is good enough to play a test as a "fourth" bowling. The bowling attack would be significantly weakened.

I think Pakistan got the balance right in the first test, just not the right players - Asim should have played in front of Raza, and he should have played in front of Afridi in this match.

 

[nehrafan]

Rubbish. You won't see him bowl again, therefore he is being played as a specialist batsman..

Does it make any difference ??

They are trying him as an opener (like i said earlier) but he's still not a recognised specialist batsmen.

And i won't be surprised to see him bowl for Pakistan, his bowling in the match wasn't ruled out by BOB.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Jones spills Yousuf down the leg side off Bell - who seems to have learnt reverse swing in a week...

 

[wahindiawah]

I dont think Afridi is good enough to play a test as a "fourth" bowling. The bowling attack would be significantly weakened.

.

Thats true, but i don't have any faith in Sami, therefore i thought maybe it wasn't a bad idea of having Afridi replacing Sami.Despite bowling well on the last day of the first match, Sami still seems a very ordinary bowler to me.I think this test match should be the last chance for Sami.

 

[wahindiawah]

Interestingly i didn't knew that Bell use to bowl too!!

Did he bowl in first match too? i can't recall that.

 

[Prince EWS]

Thats true, but i don't have any faith in Sami, therefore i thought maybe it wasn't a bad idea of having Afridi replacing Sami.Despite bowling well on the last day of the first match, Sami still seems a very ordinary bowler to me.I think this test match should be the last chance for Sami.

Thats a fair point, actually. While Afridi really isnt good enough to play as a specialist bowler, Sami and Rana arent really good enough, either, and Afridi offers a little with the bat.

 

[luckyeddie]

Does it make any difference ??

They are trying him as an opener (like i said earlier) but he's still not a recognised specialist batsmen.

And i won't be surprised to see him bowl for Pakistan, his bowling in the match wasn't ruled out by BOB.

Define 'specialist batsman'. Can we discount Tendulkar from the Indian side because he has a few decent hauls with the ball?

 

[Hazza]

Interestingly i didn't knew that Bell use to bowl too!!

Did he bowl in first match too? i can't recall that.

Unfortunately his first over in test cricket went for 8, but he can be a useful bowler and has opened for Warwickshire before. Gets good outswing, and now looks like good reverse-swing.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Ah, one of those sessions that makes your brain dribble out through your ears. Love it..

 

[Zinzan]

THis is a dead wicket and on such a pitch Pak should have been looking for a score of 400 (MINIMUM) but it looks to me that they will only get to about 200-225.

Certainly Pak batters have wasted a golden opportunity.England are certainly on top now and must be extremely pleased with the situation.

200-225? Yeah right, England need to take wickets in a real hurry even to restrict Pakistan to 280 or less.

Would someone be kind enough to describe Bell's bowling style for those of us that haven't seen him. TBH I didn't even realise he bowled at the top level

 

[Beleg]

Bell: medium pace, goodish control, pitches it on the stumps and gets it to reverse swing.

I thought the captaincy by Vaughan was superb. Some of the fielding positions really helped stem the flow of runs.

At one stage Inzy and YoYo were both in their 30's and now YoYo has raced to 70 odd while Inzy is still stuck on 38.

 

[luckyeddie]

200-225? Yeah right, England need to take wickets in a real hurry even to restrict Pakistan to 280 or less.

Would someone be kind enough to describe Bell's bowling style for those of us that haven't seen him. TBH I didn't even realise he bowled at the top level

Bell's no more than a useful 'wobbler' of the ball, sends it down around 70 mph and can move it a bit either way in the air. A strike bowler he is not, and with two twirlies in the side, I couldn't believe that England would call on him soon after lunch on day 1, but it's indicative of just how innocuous Giles in particular has been.

He could have picked up a wicket, but it was one of those that would only be taken by a top class keeper (and by that, I mean Taylor/Russell/Knott/er that's it) with any confidence.

If the luck had been with England, Pakistan could well have been struggling to make 250, but I reckon 400 in the first innings is no more than par for this track.

 

[Beleg]

So, two plumb LBWs not given...

Two?

None of the LBW shouts were plumb. The closest was Udal's against Inzy but even that had a fair bit of doubt with the height.

 

[luckyeddie]

Two?

None of the LBW shouts were plumb. The closest was Udal's against Inzy but even that had a fair bit of doubt with the height.

Absolute nonsense.

Inzy's leg was bent at 45 degrees when the ball from Udal hit him, barely at knee-roll height. The only doubt about that regarding height was whether it would have hit middle stump 3" below the top or 6".

The Giles one was hitting half way up leg and middle.

 

[Jono]

Inzy and especially Yousuf looking real good here. England need to break this partnership, they have a habit of building up large ones.

Giles has been quite poor it seems (as I said, Aus showing full replay later tonight for some odd reason), despite an apparent strong LBW shout. He's simply not performing right now, and had a shocking first test.

I also had no idea Bell bowled.

 

[Beleg]

Hogwash.

Don't try to exaggerate the effect of Inzi's bent knee. For a guy of Inzamam's height to try to pull a ball (even though it stayed low and was pitched relatively forward) and it to strike him anywhere on/above the knee-role means there's always going to be a fair bit of doubt about the height.

Regarding the Giles one, you are absolutely correct - I missed that.

 

[Zinzan]

Bell's no more than a useful 'wobbler' of the ball, sends it down around 70 mph and can move it a bit either way in the air. A strike bowler he is not, and with two twirlies in the side, I couldn't believe that England would call on him soon after lunch on day 1, but it's indicative of just how innocuous Giles in particular has been.

He could have picked up a wicket, but it was one of those that would only be taken by a top class keeper (and by that, I mean Taylor/Russell/Knott/er that's it) with any confidence.

If the luck had been with England, Pakistan could well have been struggling to make 250, but I reckon 400 in the first innings is no more than par for this track.

Cheers for the description of Bells bowling.....Sounds to me to be a Styris/Astle type bowler....having said that Styris is a good 10 kms quicker than Astle

 

[Barney Rubble]

I also had no idea Bell bowled.

http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/ci/content/player/9062.html

Bell's stats for those who are unsure of what his bowling's like - it's useful, an FC average of 32ish is better than some specialist bowlers.

 

[Beleg]

Cricinfo wrote,

When Inzamam-ul-Haq smacked Ashley Giles for six, off the last ball before tea, that perfectly summed up the session.

Extreme unprofessionalism from cricinfo there.