*Official* Pakistan in Australia

[Briony]

T20... Well I guess I'm a convert now.

Great work from Clarke and the Aussie bowlers to defend that. How good was Smith's effort for a 20yo debutant?

Hard to judge because he was bowling at the end there when Pakistan had to gift some wickets to remain true to form. He has a face that one would love to punch though. If he has any early success he looks like he could develop an ego and become an objectionable prick.

Good bowling all round but pretty average batting highlighted by dumb shot selection at crucial times.

 

[Matt79]

Smith played well, yeah. His figures don't look too hot but Pakistan have played spin really well in the LO games here. Looks a good player.

Speaks very well of him that on debut he kept his head and only bowled one real rank long hop - and no full tosses - in such a tense stage of such a big occasion. Temperment is a huge thing for a leggie.

 

[GotSpin]

[/B]

He has a face that one would love to punch though. If he has any early success he looks like he could develop an ego and become an objectionable prick.

.

Don't think so...

 

[Uppercut]

Speaks very well of him that on debut he kept his head and only bowled one real rank long hop - and no full tosses - in such a tense stage of such a big occasion. Temperment is a huge thing for a leggie.

Yeah. The ball that got his second wicket was a rank long hop, but I guess we have to give him BOD and say he saw the batsman coming

 

[Matt79]

[/B]

Hard to judge because he was bowling at the end there when Pakistan had to gift some wickets to remain true to form. He has a face that one would love to punch though. If he has any early success he looks like he could develop an ego and become an objectionable prick.

Good bowling all round but pretty average batting highlighted by dumb shot selection at crucial times.

Not really. He came on when the Akmals were set and needed only a run a ball. If he'd had a bad over the match would have been gone. That's as tough a situation as a young leggie will ever face.

 

[Redbacks]

Clarke used Tait well, brought back for 2 spells and got a wicket both times.

Nannes WAG! Slowly but surely we are getting our best T20 side on the park

 

[Matt79]

Has Clarke lost a match yet as captain? Being skilled and all is good, but being a lucky cricketer is a tremendous thing.

 

[Debris]

And in other news, James Brayshaw makes Ian Healy sound like an impartial UN Observor. ****ing terrible.

Impartiality is highly over-rated. Rather listen to an interesting homer than a dull neutral.

 

[Briony]

Not really. He came on when the Akmals were set and needed only a run a ball. If he'd had a bad over the match would have been gone. That's as tough a situation as a young leggie will ever face.

But you're forgetting the fatal flaw in the Pakistani team - they're fated to lose every match on this tour and they have a rare ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Umar is always apt to do something braindead every innings, especially when the pressure is on.

Pakistan missed Afridi big time.

 

[Briony]

Has Clarke lost a match yet as captain? Being skilled and all is good, but being a lucky cricketer is a tremendous thing.

He shouldn't be playing in this format though. The tempo of his batting tends to put pressure on the later batsmen. Why not let the big hitters get their eye in so they can go the tonk. They tend to come in and have to hit. Clarke caresses the ball rather than hits which is fine for tests but not this format.

 

[Redbacks]

Impartiality is highly over-rated. Rather listen to an interesting homer than a dull neutral.

"All I know is my gut says maybe"

 

[Burgey]

He shouldn't be playing in this format though. The tempo of his batting tends to put pressure on the later batsmen. Why not let the big hitters get their eye in so they can go the tonk. They tend to come in and have to hit. Clarke caresses the ball rather than hits which is fine for tests but not this format.

Clarkey doesn't even have a slog any more, does he? Remember when he first came in the LO side, and he'd occasionally just larrop one over deep mid across the line?

I understand if you don't remember it, coz tbf it's been a bloody long time since he's done it. He was no more than respectable tonight in the context of this low-scoring affair. Had he made the same score but been a tad more adventurous, I'd probably look at his medium-term future in the format in a more positive light. But he didn't. So yeah, **** him off imo.

 

[Debris]

Clarkey doesn't even have a slog any more, does he? Remember when he first came in the LO side, and he'd occasionally just larrop one over deep mid across the line?

I understand if you don't remember it, coz tbf it's been a bloody long time since he's done it. He was no more than respectable tonight in the context of this low-scoring affair. Had he made the same score but been a tad more adventurous, I'd probably look at his medium-term future in the format in a more positive light. But he didn't. So yeah, **** him off imo.

I sorta see a role for one batsman like Clarke in the side. Someone who you can stick in there between overs 6 and 15 and have others bat around as a bit of insurance against collapses. And give the batsman at the other end a bit more freedom to swing.

 

[Matt79]

He shouldn't be playing in this format though. The tempo of his batting tends to put pressure on the later batsmen. Why not let the big hitters get their eye in so they can go the tonk. They tend to come in and have to hit. Clarke caresses the ball rather than hits which is fine for tests but not this format.

Was talking in general terms rather than his specific T20 form.

 

[Burgey]

I sorta see a role for one batsman like Clarke in the side. Someone who you can stick in there between overs 6 and 15 and have others bat around as a bit of insurance against collapses. And give the batsman at the other end a bit more freedom to swing.

That may be right mate. Tbh havent really followed enough of the format to contradict you on that at all. Not really sure whether the successful sides have had that type of player.

 

[Xuhaib]

This Pakistan side's ability to lose is extraordinary.

And dare I say it, Mr U Akmal had the win in the palm of his hand on two occasions on this tour and threw it away

Its a shame he gets stranded with the tail every time atm he is someone who bats well with a senior partner Pakistan woeful batting line up makes him seem like a senior player who should bat with responsibilityjust 19 he is in any other side he would be no mre then fringe player.

 

[Nate]

Thought Steve Smith did the job. Far better than he has bowled in the Big Bash this season.

Whaaat? I thought he was brilliant.

 

[godofcricket]

Its a shame he gets stranded with the tail every time atm he is someone who bats well with a senior partner Pakistan woeful batting line up makes him seem like a senior player who should bat with responsibilityjust 19 he is in any other side he would be no mre then fringe player.

I agree and I personally believe that kamran akmals best batting position is one-down now, not because of this T20 match but in general i think if hes given the responsibility of playing in part of the middle order then we can expect more mature shot selection from him, one of the biggest reasons for his dismissals recently has been loose shots and i am sure when given the chance to play one-down he will also be more responsible.

Heres my team for ODI's and Test Matches (remove afridi and put sarfaraz ahmed, and put danish instead of ajmal and probably move younis at 4.)

1: Salman Butt
2: Shoaib Malik
3: Kamran Akmal
4: Umar Akmal
5: Younis Khan (c)
6: Fawad Alam
7: Shahid Afridi
8: Mohammad Aamer
9: Rana Naved/ Umer Gul
10: Mohammad Asif
11: Saeed Ajmal

This from my point of view balances the load on both the openers and middle order, including the out of form younis khan.

 

[dikinee]

Well I just finished watching a delayed telecast of the T20 and I thought it was one of the most entertaining matches I`ve seen for a while.

Definitely the best display of express bowling in a long, long time. As was seen in the domestic T20 competition you always have a chance while Taity has got overs left to bowl. His ball that was clocked at 160.7kph was the fastest ever recorded in an international match of any sort here in Australia. It was also the third fastest ever recorded in any type of international match anywhere in the world. If memory serves me correctly Brett Lee and Shoab Aktar both bettered it in South Africa at altitude which would make Tait`s the fastest at sea level, I may be wrong but I dont think so.

Reading through some of the comments in this thread makes me wonder just how many of the posters really understand the game at all. Certainly, from their statements about how poor the Pakistan batting was, some have never had to deal with any serious pace bowling. Good fast bowling slows the scoring rate and starts the batsmen wondering where their next runs are going to come from which in turn has you trying to create scoring opportunities that aren`t really there. The result is usually one of two things, it comes off and you look like a genius or it doesnt work and you look like an idiot. More often than not it is the latter.

 

[Xuhaib]

Number of bowlers who owned Pakistan atleast once in the tour to downunder.

Bond.
Tuffy
Martin
O Brien
Guptill
Bollinger
Siddle
Johnson
Watson
Hauritz
Katich
Harris
McKay
Tait.

Basically its anyone who can roll his arm.