**Official** Pakistan in Australia Thread

[Linda]

10.30 local time... which is 8 hours in front of GMT I think.

 

[Jono]

That's correct Linda.

 

[Son Of Coco]

can't u remember the test series at darwin and cairns between SL and Aus. one of those matches ended in three days. did the australians report that to the ICC. No they didn't, because hey what the heck they won the match!

pathetic!

Actually on that occasion Gilchrist was captain and he did make comments along similar lines about the quality of the wicket, as did Dyson.

Again, I think you should check your facts - it's your looking for an excuse to bag australia that comes across as being pathetic.

 

[Richard Rash]

I hope Lee plays just for the entertainment factor although i acknowledge that it is very hard finding a place for him. Send him over to NZ we will have him

 

[Richard]

i was extremely disappointed with both those series. any traingular that involvees SL away from home ends up with the inevitable result where they dont stand a chance of reaching the finals. nws 2004 was one of those conditions affected series.

But both still better than a series which involves Zimbabwe after WC2003 or Bangladesh, yes?
Even though Sri Lanka lost all games bar 1 they were still involved in some exciting cricket, most notably at Headingley in the first 32-per-side game.

IMO the vb series 01 and NWS 98 (texaco trophy whatever),although the latter involved SL, but with a few more capable players away from home and some of the series in sharjah have been worth watching.

The Emirates Series, you're referring to presumably? Yes, it was a cracking series. Also involved a rare Sri Lankan rising-to-the-occasion away from home.
I've never watched a Sharjah series, myself - they do produce some farces and some thrillers, though.
Not enough of the things ATM, though - apparently it's better for India to tour Bangladesh...

 

[Richard]

because of his brilliant batting average of under 30?
lets not even get to his average outside the sub continent or even his average against all teams other than b'desh against whom hes scored 2 out of his 3 100s.

How many Tests has he actually played outside Asia?

 

[Richard]

I can never see the point in playing five bowlers, as the fifth bowler only usually gets about six overs - max - per innings. Against Pakistan, the only danger for Australia is a batting collapse, against a withering assault from Akhtar or Sami. Therefore, it'd be more prudent to play the full complement of batsmen.

Rest assured there's very little chance of that!
(NB - very little - NOT none at all)

 

[Richard]

Id pick Lee over Kaspo to be honest... dont play 5 bowlers, thats just stupid. As is dropping Martyn. On that note, dont drop any of the current Aussie batsmen.

On that note, don't drop a seamer averaging 25.63 in his last 11 Tests (8 of them in conditions offering precisely no seam-movement).

 

[Richard]

I wouldn't actually say that. After Bichel had a great WC and a few injuries hit the side he was picked as part of a 5 man bowling lineup in the West Indies, when Australia had not played 5 bowlers for many years. The first two tests were played with Lee, Bichel, Gillespie, Hogg and Macgill, and then after McGrath returned from injury Hogg was dropped for him and Bichel was kept in the side.

Didn't take rocket-science to work-out that when confronted with a choice between Bichel and Hogg you'd pick the former!

 

[Richard]

Lump it! Bichel was in a similar situation & no-one bended over backwards to give him a game.

The difference between Lee & Bichel, is that it is only going to take one bad game from Kasprowicz before Lee is rushed back in, whereas Lee had to have several bad series or injury to let Bichel in.

Spot the New South Walean...
Spot the two Queenslanders...
Can't have a NSW-SA-QLD-VIC attack for too long...

 

[Son Of Coco]

On that note, don't drop a seamer averaging 25.63 in his last 11 Tests (8 of them in conditions offering precisely no seam-movement).

Exactly, and one that averages 19.something in tests in Perth. I love watching Lee too simply for the pace, but you've got to pick guys that have been playing well and Kasper has been doing that.

They really should be giving Lee the opportunity to go back to State cricket and bowl IMO, but then I guess if it wasn't him sitting it out at 12th man it'd be someone else. I just think bowlers should be bowling on a regular basis.

 

[tooextracool]

But both still better than a series which involves Zimbabwe after WC2003 or Bangladesh, yes?
Even though Sri Lanka lost all games bar 1 they were still involved in some exciting cricket, most notably at Headingley in the first 32-per-side game.

yes of course they are, but IMO it was fairly obvious right from the beginning which 2 teams would make it through to the finals.

The Emirates Series, you're referring to presumably? Yes, it was a cracking series. Also involved a rare Sri Lankan rising-to-the-occasion away from home....

yes it was, attapattu of course finally delivering. the format for that series was disappointing though. there should have been more games in the preliminary rounds.

I've never watched a Sharjah series, myself - they do produce some farces and some thrillers, though.
Not enough of the things ATM, though - apparently it's better for India to tour Bangladesh...

of course the one sharjah series that i will never forget was the quadrangular that england won(of course) with adam hollioake as captain. the number of rubbish players who delivered in that series was amazing though. i will never forget how players like matthew fleming and dougie brown(who seemed to have the knack of picking up wickets in his first over) managed to produce match winning performances. of course as usual the team that batted first at sharjah had a tremendous advantage over the other team and i believe england would probably lost the final had it not been for phil simmons bowling those several no balls and had rawl lewis just not bowled.

 

[Richard]

yes of course they are, but IMO it was fairly obvious right from the beginning which 2 teams would make it through to the finals.

It could still have gone the other way, though, had Sri Lanka won that tight game at Headingley.

yes it was, attapattu of course finally delivering. the format for that series was disappointing though. there should have been more games in the preliminary rounds.

I'm sure there would have been had there not already been a Texaco Trophy earlier in the summer.
That tournament was a trial - it's success paved the way for the NWS.

of course the one sharjah series that i will never forget was the quadrangular that england won(of course) with adam hollioake as captain. the number of rubbish players who delivered in that series was amazing though. i will never forget how players like matthew fleming and dougie brown(who seemed to have the knack of picking up wickets in his first over) managed to produce match winning performances. of course as usual the team that batted first at sharjah had a tremendous advantage over the other team and i believe england would probably lost the final had it not been for phil simmons bowling those several no balls and had rawl lewis just not bowled.

I'd love to have watched that one.
Sadly it was just before my period of real involvement in cricket started and I've never managed to procure any footage of it, despite the fact that it could quite accurately be described as one of England's finest hours in the last decade.

 

[tooextracool]

How many Tests has he actually played outside Asia?

not many, but that certainly doesnt explain why he averages 25 ish against all teams bar b'desh.

 

[Richard]

Outside the subcontinent he's played 9 Tests (15 innings), 1 of which he was forced to open (2 innings) which I'm sure you'll agree doesn't count for much.
1 in Australia, 3 in West Indies, 1 in England, 1 in South Africa and 2 in New Zealand. A stop-start if there ever was one. His average in those is a disappointing 26.69.
I think, though, that his batting in the subcontinent plus the disjointed nature of his away career means he can't be totally written-off because of this - especially considering he's batted extremely well in English domestic cricket.

 

[tooextracool]

Outside the subcontinent he's played 9 Tests (15 innings), 1 of which he was forced to open (2 innings) which I'm sure you'll agree doesn't count for much.
1 in Australia, 3 in West Indies, 1 in England, 1 in South Africa and 2 in New Zealand. A stop-start if there ever was one. His average in those is a disappointing 26.69.
I think, though, that his batting in the subcontinent plus the disjointed nature of his away career means he can't be totally written-off because of this - especially considering he's batted extremely well in English domestic cricket.

i find it hard to believe that someone with that record can make it into the side on his batting alone.
the stop start thing is another excuse, i dont think someone can struggle outside the sub continent, just because he hasnt played outside in a while.

 

[Richard]

I'm not saying he should be totally excused - just that he hasn't yet failed poorly enough to be written-off (and let's face it - his bowling isn't exactly likely to have too much consideration on his selection, is it?)

 

[tooextracool]

I'm not saying he should be totally excused - just that he hasn't yet failed poorly enough to be written-off (and let's face it - his bowling isn't exactly likely to have too much consideration on his selection, is it?)

no, personally given his overall career record i'd be tempted to not pick him at all, but as of late, his 5/35 in particular suggests that he might be showing some amount of improvement. and with his bowling and batting record i might just have him in my side.

 

[marc71178]

especially considering he's batted extremely well in English domestic cricket.

Which has no relevance to a player's ability in International Cricket.

 

[PAKMAN]

can some one plz tell me what time does the match start uk time
thanx