***Official*** Pakistan in England

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Imran Nazir
I was never impressed.

 

[no1_gangsta_786]

His average after 8 test matches is not too bad...maybe he should be tried after all every other opener is been given a chance.

 

[marc71178]

because there was no obvious bowling candidate on the England side

I'd have suggested perhaps Monty if anyone - by all accounts he bowled well even when Pakistan were cruising.

 

[TT Boy]

Imran Nazir
I was never impressed.

Well he top scored in his last test innings for Pakistan...

http://uk.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/2002-03/AUS_IN_PAK/SCORECARDS/AUS_PAK_T2_11-15OCT2002.html

Incidentally Mohammad Hafeez has been brought into the squad, had a decent tour of Australia as opener and his bowling his pretty decent also. Would expect to see him play at the Oval.

 

[aussie]

very good series win for England, nice to see Mahmood bowling with some degree of conisitency, all he needs to do is back it up at the Oval & he is about secured a place in the ashes squad. Presuming Flintoff & Anderson return from injury i reckon the ashes XI at Brisbane pretty obvious, with 6 batsmen, Flintoff & 4 bowlers, hopefully the selectors are seeing it like that as well.

 

[Goughy]

Presuming Flintoff & Anderson return from injury i reckon the ashes XI at Brisbane pretty obvious, with 6 batsmen, Flintoff & 4 bowlers, hopefully the selectors are seeing it like that as well.

So obvious it does not have to include a wicketkeeper

 

[Scaly piscine]

I'm starting to think England will play 4 bowlers (one of which would be Flintoff) in Australia - Flintoff for Mahmood will just give them more bowling anyway, they've made do with 4 bowlers so it shouldn't be a problem and they won't easily drop any of the 6 batsmen. If they do that I hope they leave Strauss as captain and let Flintoff bat at 7/8 .

 

[ramu]

I'm starting to think England will play 4 bowlers (one of which would be Flintoff) in Australia - Flintoff for Mahmood will just give them more bowling anyway, they've made do with 4 bowlers so it shouldn't be a problem and they won't easily drop any of the 6 batsmen. If they do that I hope they leave Strauss as captain and let Flintoff bat at 7/8 .

you must play monty

 

[social]

Eng bowled with much more consistency today and reaped the rewards.

Mahmood, Anderson and Plunkett could all do well in Aus because of pace and bounce.

Replacing them with Lewis and his type would be a massive mistake - I'd don the pads again to face them at the Adelaide Oval.

As for Pak - back to the bad old days I'm afraid.

Those who sing Woolmer's praises need to look at:

a. the fielding;

b. the running between wickets; and

c. the deterioration of Kaneria and Sami under his watch.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

very good series win for England, nice to see Mahmood bowling with some degree of conisitency, all he needs to do is back it up at the Oval & he is about secured a place in the ashes squad.

His first wicket was a rubbish ball. His second and third wickets were decent balls, I'll give him that. His last wicket was a short ball that he got lucky on. Far from convinced.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

you must play monty

Where did he say he wouldn't? All he said was Flintoff for Mahmood... = Flintoff, Harmison, Hoggard, Panesar.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Eng bowled with much more consistency today and reaped the rewards.

Mahmood, Anderson and Plunkett could all do well in Aus because of pace and bounce.

Replacing them with Lewis and his type would be a massive mistake - I'd don the pads again to face them at the Adelaide Oval.

Pace alone won't guarantee anything close to success on Australian pitches. All Tino Best has is pace, and he got hammered consistently by domestic teams last time around.

If Lewis is a better bowler than Mahmood/Plunkett/Anderson, you'd think he'd take more wickets than lesser bowlers with more pace. These are high quality Australian batsmen we're talking about here. They're not some amateurs who would get unsettled facing quick bowlers purely for the sake of quickness.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

c. the deterioration of Kaneria and Sami under his watch.

Sami was hardly Test class before Woolmer.

 

[silentstriker]

Eng bowled with much more consistency today and reaped the rewards.

Mahmood, Anderson and Plunkett could all do well in Aus because of pace and bounce.

Replacing them with Lewis and his type would be a massive mistake - I'd don the pads again to face them at the Adelaide Oval.

As for Pak - back to the bad old days I'm afraid.

Those who sing Woolmer's praises need to look at:

a. the fielding;

b. the running between wickets; and

c. the deterioration of Kaneria and Sami under his watch.

What about six successive series without a loss? And being catapulted to #2 in the ratings for a brief period?

And Sami was not exactly challening Ambrose for all time superiority, was he?

 

[NZTailender]

Realistic prospect that the Australian wickets will be conducive to reverse swing? Seen most of Australia's home series in the past years or so and I can not remember it reversing much if any. I'm sure an Australian poster will be more informed however.

Panesar could be a good threat in Australia. They’ve had problems against SLA's before though the cynic in me could see one or two of the Aussie batsman giving him some real stick, especially Hayden (if Hoggard does not snare him early).

In the past 10 years? I think maybe against Vettori in 01/02 but other than that, I don't think they've really struggled against any SLA's - rather, they've respected Vettori and seen him off. Except Gilchrist who belted him in NZ.
Boje's hardly troubled them, and Giles didn't exactly dominate during the Ashes.

Am I forgetting any SLA in particular?

 

[vic_orthdox]

In the past 10 years? I think maybe against Vettori in 01/02 but other than that, I don't think they've really struggled against any SLA's - rather, they've respected Vettori and seen him off. Except Gilchrist who belted him in NZ.
Boje's hardly troubled them, and Giles didn't exactly dominate during the Ashes.

Am I forgetting any SLA in particular?

Phil Tufnell used to perform pretty well on the odd occassion against Australia.
Murali Kartik a bit the same?
Vettori has troubled Aus most times he's bowled to them.

 

[social]

Pace alone won't guarantee anything close to success on Australian pitches. All Tino Best has is pace, and he got hammered consistently by domestic teams last time around.

If Lewis is a better bowler than Mahmood/Plunkett/Anderson, you'd think he'd take more wickets than lesser bowlers with more pace. These are high quality Australian batsmen we're talking about here. They're not some amateurs who would get unsettled facing quick bowlers purely for the sake of quickness.

Mahmood, Plunkett and Anderson all have ability (height, pace, movement) but are raw and, as such, inconsistent.

Time and experience will make or break them.

Lewis is not a bigger threat than any of them IMO. He is military medium and, lacking bounce, would be cannon fodder on many Oz wickets.

Tino Best, whilst quick, lacks movement and bounce. As such, on Oz wickets he does little more than skid nicely onto the bat.

 

[Nate]

Agreed that Australia stuggle a bit against LAS. Haven`t performed too well against Razzak, Rafique and co.

 

[stumpski]

Incidentally, does anyone know if the Younis/ Yousuf partnership is the highest for a losing side in a Test? I can't think of a bigger one off the top of my head.

Re: Imran Nazir, I think it was getting out to Trescothick that finished his Test career.

 

[silentstriker]

Because he's bound to go and say how toothless a certain bowler was wasn't he?

Anyway Panesar's bowling average heading back to where it belongs, mid 30s.

And oddly enough after you posted this, his average actually improved in this test, now its just slightly over 30. So , now what?