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**Official** Pakistan and England in the UAE 2015/16

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
To be fair to Hales he's done all anyone can do to stake a claim for a chance by scoring runs in the County Championship. But if he manages to bat more than a session in any innings I'd be fairly startled.
 

Dan

Hall of Fame Member
To be fair to Hales he's done all anyone can do to stake a claim for a chance by scoring runs in the County Championship. But if he manages to bat more than a session in any innings I'd be fairly startled.
Yeah, he's certainly done everything he can to deserve a chance, but when you watch him bat he just doesn't look an international cricketer (outside of T20). Like, yeah, reward good performance. But don't take a guy you expect to be a failure just because he has FC runs. If he's the best option, you may as well pick a promising youngster and back them for an extended period.
 

JRC67

U19 12th Man
To be fair to Hales he's done all anyone can do to stake a claim for a chance by scoring runs in the County Championship. But if he manages to bat more than a session in any innings I'd be fairly startled.
I guess that's the point of the selection - nobody has done any better. Hope he does well .... fear we'll have another opener at some point in the South Africa series.
 

theegyptian

International Vice-Captain
Zafar's fantasy slip cordon

Wicketkeeper: Malcolm X, 1st: Rosa Luxemburg, 2nd: Chimamanda Adichie, 3rd: Angela Davis, Gully: Zafar


I'm sure there will be lots of intellectual debate in the England changing room. I'm just sad that Bresnan won't be around to enjoy it.
 

Watson33

U19 12th Man
No real surprises with the squad. Think Hales deserves a go and tbh I back him to prove people wrong and score big runs in the series!
 

theegyptian

International Vice-Captain
Ansari gone to hospital with a hand injury.
First test in less than a month. Any kind of break likely puts him out of the tour and the quotes from Alex Stewart after the game weren't very positive. I reckon he'd have played as well.

Who knows who they'll callup if he is out. Let's hope he isn't.
 

Watson33

U19 12th Man
First test in less than a month. Any kind of break likely puts him out of the tour and the quotes from Alex Stewart after the game weren't very positive. I reckon he'd have played as well.

Who knows who they'll callup if he is out. Let's hope he isn't.
Not sure really. Riley is playing Kent 2's and that young spinner for Hants is too young really you'd think. Most wickets from an English spinner in the championship is Batty and he isn't gonna get a call up.
 

YorksLanka

International Debutant
good to see Rashid getting a chance in the team but even though I rate him highly, not convinced that Hales is right for the test team..personally would have had Robson or even Compton as thought they both did well..Lyth didn't transfer his county success to international level-although I suppose it was a baptism of fire to the top level.
 

Furball

Evil Scotsman
Yeah, he's certainly done everything he can to deserve a chance, but when you watch him bat he just doesn't look an international cricketer (outside of T20). Like, yeah, reward good performance. But don't take a guy you expect to be a failure just because he has FC runs. If he's the best option, you may as well pick a promising youngster and back them for an extended period.
I think in ODIs he's unsure of how to best approach them. T20s his thinking seems to be pretty clear: smash it. For whatever reason he doesn't seem capable of doing the same in the longer form.

I'm not too worried about him; has scored near enough 2,000 FC runs at over 50 in the last 2 seasons hasn't he? If you're not picking him on the back of that form, when are you picking him?
 

hendrix

Hall of Fame Member
Hales is worth a shot, just not in the UAE. Will be tough in SA too, but hey.

Warner is the inevitable comparison, and he also struggled in the middle format for a long time. I haven't watched hales bat so I don't know if his technique is as compact as Warner's, but there's precedent for his success in the longest and the shortest form. I can actually think of a few players whose stats are scooped in the mids like an 80s thrash guitarist's dual rectifier.
 

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