***Official*** England in Pakistan

[Nate]

The only chance of a Pakistan victory is for something AMAZING with the new ball. Lookin` at you Shoaib.

Proud to once again make a hopeless prediction!

What a huge turnaround. Hat off to Shoaib(`s slower ball) and Kaneria(`s googly). Though it has nothing on the party I was just at. Whoooop.

 

[simmy]

As a massive English fan... who has seen what this side is capable of... it has to be said that this entire series performance was near PATHETIC!

If Simon Jones is still not back and they dont get themselves sorted mentally before the India tour they could actually see themselves falling down the World Rankings... instead of challenging Australia.

After all the hard work this Summer... they should be bitterly humbled and disappointed..

Saying that.. I think them invincible in England at the moment and Pakistan will be humbled in the Summer..

Hats off to them though... an incredible performance by them. Well done Pak.

 

[simmy]

Fantastic to see Bell get some runs and showing that he deserves his position in team.

As much as I enjoy Pietersen and Flintoff batting together I think that they should be split up in the batting order with perhaps Pietersen moving to 4 and Bell at 5?

This should sure up the middle order and hopefully make it more stable...

 

[Scaly piscine]

In Tests I would be tempted to try Flintoff batting at 4 to see if he actually bats like a number 4 - which if he did he'd be more productive than any other batsman in the side. If he keeps batting like the village idiot he can drop down to 7 and put Geraint at 6.

 

[Barney Rubble]

In Tests I would be tempted to try Flintoff batting at 4 to see if he actually bats like a number 4 - which if he did he'd be more productive than any other batsman in the side. If he keeps batting like the village idiot he can drop down to 7 and put Geraint at 6.

Batting four and being the major bearer of the bowling workload (and the best bowler to go with it) is too much for anyone, even Flintoff. We've flogged him senseless this year - let's not finish next year with him crocked beyond all recognition.

 

[PY]

I wouldn't be calling too many changes yet though, as people were saying, we didn't become the best side in the world in the summer and we don't become the worst by losing this winter to Pakistan.

Still, poor application needs to be addressed and quicksharp.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Batting four and being the major bearer of the bowling workload (and the best bowler to go with it) is too much for anyone, even Flintoff. We've flogged him senseless this year - let's not finish next year with him crocked beyond all recognition.

Well if he's too tired to use his brain then he drops to 7. There's no point in having him come in at 6 and playing like a village slogger.

 

[Barney Rubble]

I wouldn't be calling too many changes yet though, as people were saying, we didn't become the best side in the world in the summer and we don't become the worst by losing this winter to Pakistan.

Still, poor application needs to be addressed and quicksharp.

Yup. People were calling for wholesale changes after Lord's, and look where that would have got us. This team hasn't become a bad side overnight. We're still good - we just had a bad series. Which I guess is exactly what the Australian fans were saying after the Ashes, and they're just as justified as we are.

 

[Hazza]

I think saying England are 'one hit wonders' is completely ridiculous. Recently we've beaten SA (away), which is quite an achievement, West Indies and New Zealand (home), and of course Australia. I think we had a bad series generally, but just because we played poorly it does not warrant us being labeled as 'one hit wonders'.

 

[open365]

Batting four and being the major bearer of the bowling workload (and the best bowler to go with it) is too much for anyone, even Flintoff. We've flogged him senseless this year - let's not finish next year with him crocked beyond all recognition.

agreed,reading his autobiography,Flintoff does too.

he can't belive how Kallis does it,he said one time he was going to go in at 4 but he had to ask to move down because he was so tired.

If he was in the side purely as a batsman,there is no dought that he would do a lot better,but he's not,and if England keep flogging him,his batting is just going to get worse.

He and Harmison were made to be controlling bowlers this series because Hoggard/Giles/Udal weren't good enough to shouler the extra overs,its sad really and shows how important Jones is.

 

[open365]

Just a point.

Has Shoaib ever bowled like he has for a full series before?

i thought he was good before but now he looks nothing short of awesome.Watching him run in from 20 paces and bowl is one of the most entertaining things on TV.

 

[Anil]

congrats pakistan!!! so much for the predicted whitewash!!! now on to india....one bad thing about this tour is that england will be even more hungrier now that they have failed miserably here.....and i just hope dravid and chappell are prepared for whatever gets thrown at them....

 

[seamer]

I'm not watching the game, just following the cricinfo commentary. But if that appeal for LBW for a hat trick was plumb, I hate Hair with a passion!!

He's not the umpire you want at your end when you're on a hatrick.

I get the impression that he would have gained great pleasure in having the power to deny the bowler and get all the attention on himself.

Awful decision, robbed of the hat trick.

 

[PY]

Give over man, do you have nothing better to do than to post on here?

ID #15.

 

[Jiminy Cricket]

Was just talking to Neil about this.

It would be incredibly harsh to drop him after this game, but unless there's a rethink on the Flintoff role for India, they've got to perm 5 from Trescothick, Vaughan, Strauss, Bell, Collingwood, Pietersen.


Which one should miss out?

The selectors will be aware of the massive amount of luck Collingwood was given by the umpires

He really was oblidged to convert all the lives into two tons in this game, out of what was 5 innings yet he failed to deliver.

Yousef's innings was a good example of what Collingwood should have done in the circumstances.

 

[Neil Pickup]

The selectors will be aware of the massive amount of luck Collingwood was given by the umpires

He really was oblidged to convert all the lives into two tons in this game, out of what was 5 innings yet he failed to deliver.

Yousef's innings was a good example of what Collingwood should have done in the circumstances.

#16

 

[steds]

Could we possibly have a list of them all?

 

[TT Boy]

Not as far as I know. You'll find news of it Cricinfo as it becomes available, surely.

Yep just got the Pakistan line up.

Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Yasir Arafat, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.

 

[PakistanCricket]

Yep just got the Pakistan line up.

Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wk), Yasir Arafat, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.

Distinct possibility of 5 - 0.

 

[PY]

#17