*Official* Pakistan in Australia

[Pothas]

Dont have to leave him out. Pick him & have all 4-quicks & only pick Hauritz on real turner or similar flattish MCG type decks.

Just like England should play 4 quicks and leave out Swann in South Africa?

 

[Jayzamann]

- vs PAK 04. Quick again. McGrath's 8 for

I still remember that replay of McGrath changing his grip on the seam in his delivery stride before releasing it. Goddamn genius at work there. Poetry in motion.

 

[Rant0r]

Off my head i'd say Perth has played all-right this decade TBH. Has fluctuated alot though..

- vs WI 2000. It was quick, McGrath hat-trick vs WI & all
- vs NZ 01. A bit flat, but was a great test
- vs ENG 02. Quick, remember Lee hitting Alex Tudor
- vs ZIM 03. Oh yea that was road
- vs PAK 04. Quick again. McGrath's 8 for
- vs SA 05. Absolute road
- vs ENG 06. Quickish, flattened out at the end
- vs IND 07. Flattish, didn't live up to its pre-match hype with all the talk that Tait was going to kill IND.
- vs SA 08. Like ENG 06, started quick, ended up flattt
- vs WI 09. Quickish early, then got slower as the game went on.

Still not as quick as '93

 

[aussie]

Just like England should play 4 quicks and leave out Swann in South Africa?

Yea that was my position before the series presuming ENG ever encountered a greentop, i never said Swann should be dropped all together for 4 quicks.

To date the pitches in SA haven't been as bowler friendly as they where when AUS toured SA in Feb/March this year. So Swann can't be dropped anymore even if one appears in the final two tests.

 

[aussie]

Still not as quick as '93

Hmm most of them no. But i think WI 2000 & ENG 02 & PAK 04 where comparable TBF. The opposition wasted the conditions since they didn't have bowlers like AUS to exploit it.

I still remember that replay of McGrath changing his grip on the seam in his delivery stride before releasing it. Goddamn genius at work there. Poetry in motion.

Word out. To this day i still cant decide if that was his best bowling performance of his test career or his spells @ Lord's 97 & 2005.

 

[Rant0r]

You could raffle any time he played at Lord's, damn he loved that ground

 

[Flem274*]

Pakistans catching is completely dire. we saw in NZ you cant give Taylor and Vettori second chances and the same applies to the Aussies.

Kaneria and YK (a fully fit Shoaib is very unlikely isnt it?) would help this team out a lot as well. Then they only have to find openers that arent hometown bullies.

Hope the second test is closer, when Pakistans bowling took it to the Aussies the game was so much better to watch.

 

[Burgey]

The big news for the rest of the series is that Lara Bingle's Aston Martin has been stolen from her garage overnight.

Really hope Clarke can deal with this tragedy and keep focusing on turning those starts into the massive scores he's produced this summer.

 

[Burgey]

Pakistans catching is completely dire. we saw in NZ you cant give Taylor and Vettori second chances and the same applies to the Aussies.

Kaneria and YK (a fully fit Shoaib is very unlikely isnt it?) would help this team out a lot as well. Then they only have to find openers that arent hometown bullies.

Hope the second test is closer, when Pakistans bowling took it to the Aussies the game was so much better to watch.

This. There was actually a lot of good bowling from both teams in this match. Difference was, whether by better discipline, good luck, dropped catches or whatever, our batsmen largely got through it and posted enough runs.

But honestly, the Pakistani fielding is about 1980s non-Windies standard. Not just catching, but athleticism too. The final margin never tells the story of course, but their fielding had a massive say in this Test. And what it had to say wasn't particularly flattering.

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

I'm not too sure why Umar Gul didn't play in this test. I thought he complimented Aamir and Asif pretty well in New Zealand and he's a better bat than Rauf. One of the more competent Pakistani outfielders too.

Was he injured?

 

[Top_Cat]

I'm not too sure why Umar Gul didn't play in this test. I thought he complimented Aamir and Asif pretty well in New Zealand and he's a better bat than Rauf. One of the more competent Pakistani outfielders too.

Was he injured?

Dunno if anyone outside the set-up is really sure. I heard initially it was a form thing but not sure now.

 

[daghetto]

^i hope mohammad sami plays in the 2nd test. he bowled well in the recent cricket tourney in pakistan.

 

[Julian87]

With all of this 'pressure' on Hussey of late....surely it has to transfer over to North who has been pretty ordinary this Australian summer IMO.

 

[GotSpin]

It won't be long until the media start to realise that he hasn't scored many runs. You could see how frustrated he was at getting out in his only dig

 

[Redbacks]

his slip catching has been good!

 

[Matt79]

I'm not too sure why Umar Gul didn't play in this test. I thought he complimented Aamir and Asif pretty well in New Zealand and he's a better bat than Rauf. One of the more competent Pakistani outfielders too.

Was he injured?

The channel 9 guys (Greig maybe) were saying they had presumed he was injured, but had bumped into him on the first morning and he said he was out of the team because he wasn't bowling well. Wouldn't be Pakistan with some selection intrigue (not that Younis hasn't supplied plenty already).

Rauf needs to be dropped as a punishment/message about the three(iirc) top order catches he dropped, if for no other reason.

 

[Julian87]

his slip catching has been good!

Not as good as Cameron White's....

 

[Faisal1985]

There are too many areas Pak is lacking proper players....first of all openers are joke....seriously...there is no way these 2 openners will ever come out strong and post a openning stand....this means Pak will start out the Test under pressure without even playing a single delivery....

Second area, needless to say, fielding.....no matter how much emphasis everyone puts on it.....it ain't happening overnight for Pak.....they needed to do this before they came to these 2 tough tours....hard fielding practice.....seems like they didn't do $hit....!

Third....spin department.....and a 3rd seamer.....hard to see why Gul wasn't bowling...and a crappy Gul spell is still better and produces more wicket taking opportunities then Rauf....they equally suck fielding at point...If Kaneria is injured we have Ajmal, who seems to be a total test failure..he does not have the skill that it takes to bowl in tests......simple contrast is with Hauritz...

And i am not going to talk about the middle.......its the biggest gamble for us.....Umar, Misbah....two important components are risky players in the middle......so....

having said that......the only Test level competitive players we have are the same names...Yousuf, Asif, Aamir, Kaneria, and perhaps Gul.......The rest of the team is all over the place right now.....as much as i love watching Umer....he has a lot to learn about Test cricket and how to be patient.....

Sydney....could be worse for Pak.....

 

[Rant0r]

The big news for the rest of the series is that Lara Bingle's Aston Martin has been stolen from her garage overnight.

Really hope Clarke can deal with this tragedy and keep focusing on turning those starts into the massive scores he's produced this summer.

Funny as

 

[Matt79]

Reckon Ajmal is test standard tbh. Bowling on the first day on a dead wicket is tough for any spinner. He could easily have got a few wickets that day.