*Official* Pakistan in England and Ireland 2016

[Shady Slim]

i said on comms it would be fitting if papa younis tonned up

mysteryman iftikhar also ineffective

 

[GIMH]

It's been a great series. If I was a fair man I'd say 2-2 would be fitting

I'm not. Come on England

 

[smash84]

No, but can you really imagine Woakes being less effective, and remember how Anderson just completely ruins opposition on green tops, you'd do well to get past 200.

Amir is lethal on a green top. One of the reasons he isn't as effective is because the pitches aren't green tops. Check his bowling in Asia cup

 

[Flem274*]

Stoked for Younis and Shafiq. Always thought Shafiq was a good batsman since I first saw him and they wasted him at #6 for so long.

 

[Adders]

It's been a great series. If I was a fair man I'd say 2-2 would be fitting
I'm not. Come on England

Yeah **** that fair and reasonable ****!!

I really really want the series win here. I'm not at all interested in the possibility of becoming No1 right now, because even if we do I think it will be another very fleeting stay at the top . But I have got my eye very firmly on the chance to hold all 9 test series trophy's.........that is a massive feather in this teams cap, and with it comes some top draw bragging rights for us on here

Didn't watch past the first session yesterday, but cannot believe that Younis has made a 100.........would not have thought that was possible with how he's looked this series, but kudos to him. England still right in this if we can pull it together and finish them off early tomorrow.

 

[Furball]

It helps you haven't been given green tops like Australia and India were given the past 2 years.

3 out of 5 Ashes Tests were played on roads last year. Other 2 weren't really on greentops either, Australia's batsmen just routinely **** the bed the moment the ball starts doing anything.

 

[hendrix]

It helps you haven't been given green tops like Australia and India were given the past 2 years.

Contrary to popular belief, green tops generally make it easier for the overseas team to level the playing field. Well, subcontinental teams at least. E.g. India's win, Sri Lanka's win, NZ's win in Hobart etc etc.

Not sure that's totally the case with Pakistan as they do have a decent attack, but still I think the conditions haven't been generous to Pakistan.

 

[Flem274*]

anything that makes luck more important (green tops, bunsens, mega roads) evens the playing field really.

it's why teams that chest beat about using nationalistic pitch X always get a nasty surprise.

 

[DriveClub]

Wonderful series so far, except 2nt test all the others have been extremely entertaining

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Huge opening session in the morning, we need to get that early breakthrough then polish off the tail. Didn't see any of the last hour and a half but well done Younis. Maybe people wrote him off a bit too early.

 

[Black_Warrior]

He just scored a hundred ffs. Seriously wtf.

Is this another epic case of Gambhiring, or do people actually think England are in a good position?

There is already an - albeit small - first innings deficit against a side that are only 6 down. The batsman that are coming back out tomorrow have a combined test batting average which is a couple of lucky swipes away from 100.

England could easily face a three figure first innings deficit, and England going through one spell running through Pakistan in a prior test - where the ball started reversing - doesn't mean that's going to happen again.

No it is extremely frustrating in the context of the game. Getting hundreds is not enough. Shafiq and Azhar need to lead. When Root got a hundred, he went and got a 254. KW gets that. Smith does that. People criticise Kohli for not doing that. Pakistan doesn't have those 4. They have these two and they are falling short of what Pakistan needs from them. Both Azhar and Shafiq allowed England in to the game. This is following the exact same script as the Edgbaston test. England will bat on Day 3 when it will be excellent to bat and Yasir will be ineffective.
Day 2 needed to end with YK and Shafiq unbeaten for Pakistan.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I only saw that in a replay when i had it on mute - what was it all about?

They were giving Azhar and Yasir a hard time early on, possibly about the catch on Day 1. Azhar went up to the umpire about it. That's when Hales reacted that way.

 

[Gnske]

Sounds like the Pakistani players just can't handle epic banter.

 

[harsh.ag]

No it is extremely frustrating in the context of the game. Getting hundreds is not enough. Shafiq and Azhar need to lead. When Root got a hundred, he went and got a 254. KW gets that. Smith does that. People criticise Kohli for not doing that. Pakistan doesn't have those 4. They have these two and they are falling short of what Pakistan needs from them. Both Azhar and Shafiq allowed England in to the game. This is following the exact same script as the Edgbaston test. England will bat on Day 3 when it will be excellent to bat and Yasir will be ineffective.
Day 2 needed to end with YK and Shafiq unbeaten for Pakistan.

The vast majority of large scores are not going to be daddy hundreds, and this is ridiculous. Criticizing a guy for "just" scoring a hundred is ****ed up.

 

[Black_Warrior]

The vast majority of large scores are not going to be daddy hundreds, and this is ridiculous. Criticizing a guy for "just" scoring a hundred is ****ed up.

Not criticising him as a batsman or his ability, but a criticism in the context of the game which I think is fair. It was a crucial wicket just before the new ball and these lapses are making the difference in the outcome of the series. Pakistan could very well lose 1-3 here and it will look like a one sided affair when those of us who watched it will know how close Pakistan came to winning the series..and it were those little mistakes like Sami's run out in the 3rd test, Azhar getting out on the last ball, Shafiq getting out yesterday. These little things are costing Pakistan the games.

Now somewhere down the line in the future, if we were to talk about Shafiq and Azhar as batsmen (not that CW will ever give them that importance), and we talk about those knocks separate from the context of this game, they will be looked at as brilliant knocks.

 

[wpdavid]

They were giving Azhar and Yasir a hard time early on, possibly about the catch on Day 1. Azhar went up to the umpire about it. That's when Hales reacted that way.

Which made Hales' subsequent dropped catch something to treasure. He'd better make some runs in the 2nd innings, or he'll look even more of an idiot.

Brilliant test match again. It's great when there's a proper contest between bat and ball, which we've had for most of the series.
And Pakistan have been wonderful tourists. Lets' hope the bad feeling doesn't extend beyond Hales' performance.

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah, Shah probably cheated (drugs cheat in cheating shock) but Hales looks far worse. What a ****ing boob.

 

[Daemon]

What did Hales do?

 

[91Jmay]

Went into 3rd umpires room for a waah then was mocking Azhar Ali on field after dropping easiest catch in the world.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Went into 3rd umpires room for a waah then was mocking Azhar Ali on field after dropping easiest catch in the world.

Wait he mocked Shafiq after he dropped him? That's so dumb.