*Official* Pakistan vs Australia in the UAE 2018

[trundler]

I'd like to watch Abbas bowl to India but not Ashwin and Jadeja infuriatingly rip through the batting lineup.

 

[stephen]

How very dare you, he has already got a better score in each innings of his career so far, he is set to be the leading man at beating his previous test best if they give him a run.

Ok maybe not but he has been a success as far as the selections on this tour have gone and will be unlucky to not get picked again.

Actually Labaschagne I don't mind in the side. He's a young project player who I think will come good. He had a great shield season last season and isn't the worst selection.

I don't even mind Head either. He's young and they expect he'll go on to great things. He's already got a decent ODI record.

What I do mind is that these two project players have been picked together. I mind that they're dramatically outperforming the "senior" players. I mind that they're being picked ahead of proven performers who are incumbents on silly theories and ridiculous excuses. I mind that we left two experienced test batsmen at home to throw two debutants to the wolves while the Marsh brothers do nothing. Again.

At this point I'm ready to mark S Marsh's cards with "NTPFAA" and ban the selection of M Marsh until he has a career first class average over 40. He should be able to manage that with 3 strong shield seasons. I'd also like him to move to Queensland, Tasmania or NSW where batting conditions are tougher.

Renshaw, Burns, Maxwell must all be in the next test side.

Renshaw
Burns
Head
Maxwell
Labaschagne
Finch
Paine

Should be our top 7 unless Pattinson is fit to play, in which case we drop Labaschagne for him. I'd rather play to our strengths and have 4 gun quicks and Lyon than go with an extra batsman who isn't really the finished product.

 

[StephenZA]

Should be our top 7 unless Pattinson is fit to play, in which case we drop Labaschagne for him. I'd rather play to our strengths and have 4 gun quicks and Lyon than go with an extra batsman who isn't really the finished product.

Genuine question. If you feel that the quicks are your best asset and capable of winning you games why do you need 4 of them? If the top 3 can't get the job done why would the 4th quick do the business? Unless you playing on absolute flat wickets where it does not matter which 6 batsmen you have?

 

[trundler]

Finch was nailed LBW multiple times by Abbas. A potential weakness perhaps.

 

[stephen]

Genuine question. If you feel that the quicks are your best asset and capable of winning you games why do you need 4 of them? If the top 3 can't get the job done why would the 4th quick do the business? Unless you playing on absolute flat wickets where it does not matter which 6 batsmen you have?

Pattinson is a pretty decent batsman anyway. But if you have 4 gun quicks you can give them all short 4 over spells and tell them to let rip. This is particularly useful for tear away quicks like Starc. If Starc is having an off day he doesn't have to bowl a lot.

With 4 quicks you can be a lot more aggressive in your tactics because your bowlers are fresher, faster and have to bowl less overs.

I wouldn't suggest this strategy unless you have a capable batsmen or two among them (Cummins and Pattinson are both very good batsmen and Starc is a decent slogger). But if the meme quartet are available, they all should play, at least until Smith returns.

Pattinson has openly said he wants to be good enough with the bat to make this happen and I believe he is.

 

[trundler]

You cant do that with a team so prone to lollapses.

 

[Borges]

Seeing what went on in UAE, should play Bhuvi against this fragile line up.

 

[quincywagstaff]

Agree with most of morgieb’s ratings, although I think giving Holland a 3 is probably being too generous; massively disappointing in that he hadn’t advanced at all from his SL debut. Only once or twice did he bowl a tight spell and never looked genuinely dangerous. Embarrassing for him that he was (deservedly) begins a part-time leggie by the end of the series.

Re: Paine, as a captain doesn’t seem to read the game well. Made a bad error in the 1st Test delaying taking the new ball and seems to let the game drift a bit too much. That he apparently was part in having a pre-series vote on whether he should remain as captain a pretty clear sign he doesn’t feel confident to impose himself in the role.

 

[stephen]

You cant do that with a team so prone to lollapses.

It depends who you're replacing.

I mean we wouldn't really lose much batting by having him replace Mitchell Marsh would we?

Thing is, Pattinson is in pretty good form with the bat. He scored 200 runs @ 50 in his last County stint and 244 @ 35 in his last shield stint. He just hit a hundred in futures cricket. He's come along quite nicely as a batsman and while he's not a test match number 6, he's certainly a possibility for 7, particularly with Paine in form with the bat. Certainly he can be no worse than the Marsh brothers or picking another shield journeyman batsman.

Another possibility is to pick the meme quartet + Agar on the more pace friendly tracks.

 

[aussie tragic]

Another possibility is to pick the meme quartet + Agar on the more pace friendly tracks.

Lol at dropping Lyon, the only world class player we have at the moment

 

[StephenZA]

Who would have thought the day would come when the off-break spinner was the only world class player in an Aus team?

 

[vcs]

Who would have thought the day would come when the off-break spinner was the only world class player in an Aus team?

***** likes this

(I mean he likes everything, but he likes this very very much)

 

[Top_Cat]

The bats didn't get within screaming distance of 250 in 3 out of 4 knocks this series on two of the flattest decks in world cricket. Why would we talk about the bowling at all.

 

[Spark]

The bats didn't get within screaming distance of 250 in 3 out of 4 knocks this series on two of the flattest decks in world cricket. Why would we talk about the bowling at all.

every single time

 

[Burner]

A India-Pakistan test series in the subcontinent would be so good now wouldn't it?

India would steam roll this Pakistan side. With Misbah and Younis it would've been an interesting series. Or on minefields like those which India played against SA in India. Otherwise on these UAE tracks or on those flat Indian pitches, the series will be a damp squib imo.

 

[Tangles]

Those marsh averages are a real win for the good guys. Well done Pakistan.

 

[Crazy Sam]

The silver lining of Warner/Smith being banned is that it forces Australia to find new batsmen capable of playing test cricket so that when they return, we have a stronger lineup which doesn't rely on them so heavily. This only works if we're not picking proven duds (Marsh) and are prepared to give new/promising players a go (Renshaw, Head, Labu). I can only assume Renshaw's concussion was so bad as to miss both tests, because the excuse that he didn't have enough time in the middle is ludicrous when he is the one player available who will accumulate time in the middle at the expense of his run rate.

 

[Burgey]

Look at all the time the Marsh brothers spent in the middle...

 

[trundler]

The only way forward for Australia is to pick Labuschagne as a bits and pieces leggie for a couple of years before he blossoms into Bradman reincarnated.

 

[smash84]

India would steam roll this Pakistan side. With Misbah and Younis it would've been an interesting series. Or on minefields like those which India played against SA in India. Otherwise on these UAE tracks or on those flat Indian pitches, the series will be a damp squib imo.

oh yeah, India would win easily. Far superior side. Although they do manage to **** all over themselves when they tour, so a tied or drawn series can't be ruled out.

But yeah, the chances of them absolutely crushing pakistan are very high