***Official*** England in Pakistan

[Hazza]

Exactly, and Pakistan have obviously gone out of their way to create pitches like this (to mess up England's preparations) which is why as I said earlier the ICC should step in.

I agree, International cricket standards have been breached here.

 

[simmy]

Its pathetic really to be honest...

Embarassing for Pakistani cricket. 18 wickets in a day! That is ridiculous.

 

[grecian]

It does semm odd, but, correct me if I'm wrong, pitches at this time of the year in Pakistan are often "juicy". It makes you wonder if England agreed to play the Tests at this time of the year, because of our supposed better seam attack.

If the first test pitch is madly different, I think thats when we should complain?!?!

Thats the time to "Whinn".

 

[simmy]

I think we all know that it will!

Its clever... but I'm sure England will deliver when needed.

Interesting to see Collingwood in the line-up... I'm a fan of Ian Bell but he still has a lot to learn... (although he has mastered battering Bangladesh!)

 

[grecian]

Bells bowling record in most forms of cricket is superior to Collingwoods, so I don't get the push for Collingwood, because he can be a rubbish 4th seamer.

I'd rather Mark Butcher was bowling, and hes a much better batsmen as well.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Oh shut up. Both teams bat and bowl on the same pitch, it is no more unfair to England than England's opposition. The team that uses the pitch better wil ultimately win. Blaming the pitch for a bad performance is poor form.

I'd agree if England were playing to win, but they're not.

 

[Hazza]

Bells bowling record in most forms of cricket is superior to Collingwoods, so I don't get the push for Collingwood, because he can be a rubbish 4th seamer.

I'd rather Mark Butcher was bowling, and hes a much better batsmen as well.

I would like to stand up for Bell but I don't think the bowling averages should account for the inclusion/dropping of middle-order batsmen. Bell shouldn't be singled out for his poor recent performances with the bat, Collingwood played poorly versus the Patrons XI and in the test versus Australia. Thus if you are looking to replace Bell, it would make sense to with a specialist batsman, not an all-rounder,

 

[Scaly piscine]

I would like to stand up for Bell but I don't think the bowling averages should account for the inclusion/dropping of middle-order batsmen. Bell shouldn't be singled out for his poor recent performances with the bat, Collingwood played poorly versus the Patrons XI and in the test versus Australia. Thus if you are looking to replace Bell, it would make sense to with a specialist batsman, not an all-rounder,

He did a job in the second innings against Australia and was sawn off in the first innings. Against the Patrons XI he did better than most other English batsmen and bowled 11? good overs.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Bells bowling record in most forms of cricket is superior to Collingwoods, so I don't get the push for Collingwood, because he can be a rubbish 4th seamer.

I'd rather Mark Butcher was bowling, and hes a much better batsmen as well.

The difference is Collingwood can bowl 80+ mph and allied to some movement this is enough to get Test batsmen out. His bowling has improved massively even since a year or so ago (his ER for this year is 4 and a bit for example - playing against Bangladesh SA and Australia). You have to remember that Collingwood actually started off a few years ago as an off-spinner, so he's been very much learning the art of medium-fast bowling while he's been on the job.

 

[tooextracool]

Exactly, and Pakistan have obviously gone out of their way to create pitches like this (to mess up England's preparations) which is why as I said earlier the ICC should step in. But of course they won't do anything and Steds will probably come up with some more irrelevant guff.

have you heard of 'home advantage' before?

 

[tooextracool]

Pitches like this should not be permitted in any cricket, period. Eighteen wickets should never fall on day one.

indeed, we'd be better off having pitches with 650 runs in each innings.....

 

[Tom Halsey]

When did anyone say that? Get real.

 

[tooextracool]

When did anyone say that? Get real.

so howcome the complaints only come in after we see pitches like these then? howcome we didnt hear anything about how poor the wicket for the essex vs Australia game was during the summer? when 1000+ runs were hit for the loss of 10 wickets?

 

[Tom Halsey]

Because it gave the Aussie batters and bowlers practice (although granted it was stupidly flat).

All we want is a proper cricket wicket with something in it for everyone, or at least something resembling the Test wicket.

 

[tooextracool]

Because it gave the Aussie batters and bowlers practice (although granted it was stupidly flat).

All we want is a proper cricket wicket with something in it for everyone, or at least something resembling the Test wicket.

how in the world does a bowlers paradise give any more or less practice than a dead flat wicket?
as such batsmen dont get tested on a dead flat wicket in much the same way that bowlers dont get tested on a wicket that offers plenty of assistance. there is no guarantee that england will get slow low turning wickets on this tour you know......
and as far as im concerned, the best part about home advantage is that you can completely outfox opposition teams with the kind of pitches you prepare and as such the pakistan side may well have pulled a stroke of genius by picking 5 spinners in their side and then preparing seamers paradise for wickets.

 

[Tom Halsey]

It gives less practice the the batsmen... I'd have thought that'd be obvious.

 

[Tom Halsey]

how in the world does a bowlers paradise give any more or less practice than a dead flat wicket?
as such batsmen dont get tested on a dead flat wicket in much the same way that bowlers dont get tested on a wicket that offers plenty of assistance. there is no guarantee that england will get slow low turning wickets on this tour you know......
and as far as im concerned, the best part about home advantage is that you can completely outfox opposition teams with the kind of pitches you prepare and as such the pakistan side may well have pulled a stroke of genius by picking 5 spinners in their side and then preparing seamers paradise for wickets.

Then why have they named few seamers? That sort of defeats itself if they have.

 

[tooextracool]

It gives less practice the the batsmen... I'd have thought that'd be obvious.

how does it give the batsmen less practice, i would think that as a batsman id be tested a lot more in conditions that are against me than conditions that are in my favor.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Not when you're just waiting for one which will seam a mile which on that pitch is inevitable sooner rather than later.

 

[tooextracool]

Then why have they named few seamers? That sort of defeats itself if they have.

do they need more than 4 seamers in the side? especially since it isnt going to cost them to get a replacement for an injured bowler, seeing as how they are playing at home....