***Official** West Indies in Pakistan

[nightprowler10]

He has 192 against England, 192 against the West Indies and now 191 against the West Indies. Talk about a choker.

 

[Perm]

Ricky Ponting also joins the list of batsmen who have been dismissed twice between 190 and 200. He scored 197 against Pakistan to go with his 196 today.

 

[shortpitched713]

Shoaib Malik is averaging 61 with the bat over his last five tests

Didn't know that, although Malik has the tendency to get his runs quietly without making too many really big scores. I'd be interested to see what his stats are in the middle order, as some of those last five Tests were as opener, which is really the reason of my complaint. I don't think Malik did anything to merit being dropped from the opening position.

Still, I think Afridi was pretty hard done by the selectors for being dropped despite not doing anything wrong in Tests. And the career averages quite clearly favor Afridi's bowling in Tests, so I don't know what you're going on about them having the same 50 average.

 

[Perm]

Over the last 5 tests they both average around 50 with the ball. Malik may not have done anything to be dropped from the opening spot but I think they may have finally found a combination that works. Farhat and Hafeez are both pretty handy players who can do the job just as well as Shoaib Malik can. I was never a big fan of Afridi in test match cricket to be perfectly honest, the team just don't know what he will do which I don't think is very beneficial.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Baugh, Edwards, Hinds OUT; Ramdin, Powell, Simmons IN

Windies name ODI squad.

 

[Perm]

I was just going to ask you about those decisions Liam, what do you make of Dinesh Ramdin being reinstated as first choice keeper for the ODI's? I thought Carlton Baugh was solid enough without being spectacular and Ramdin has hardly been knocking on the door with more runs and superior glovework.

 

[shortpitched713]

I was never a big fan of Afridi in test match cricket to be perfectly honest, the team just don't know what he will do which I don't think is very beneficial.

Agree that Malik isn't necessarily a bad choice for Tests, but disagree with the above statement. Afridi doesn't bat so insanely in Test cricket as he does in ODIs and he contributes consistently with the ball, and has a decent overall record in Tests. He's been in a form slump of late in ODIs, but I thought this Test series might have been a good opportunity for him to get back in form.

 

[Perm]

He is more than handy with the ball in tests, he gets a fair bit of drift and can really hurry onto the batsman. His batting is still pretty reckless though, not the kind of thing you would want if you were 150/6. He has played a few good counter attacking innings but I would far rather have Shoaib Malik.

 

[shortpitched713]

Razzaq's really the only one who deserves to be dropped from this side, but not sure of who I would replace him with, tbh. Sami is a guy with potential, but he has failed so many times before. Afridi has always been inconsistent with the bat, but I think he deserves a shot in the Test side, especially considering he hasn't really done anything wrong in that form of the game.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I was just going to ask you about those decisions Liam, what do you make of Dinesh Ramdin being reinstated as first choice keeper for the ODI's? I thought Carlton Baugh was solid enough without being spectacular and Ramdin has hardly been knocking on the door with more runs and superior glovework.

I was impressed with what I saw of Ramdin in the Twenty20 competition earlier this year. I had thought that he wasn't capable of quick scoring at the end of an innings, but he really got it done in the final of that tournament. Baugh hasn't had much of a chance to impress with the bat, having just the tail-end of the innings to score runs in general. But when he has had chances - top order collapses - he hasn't really grabbed them. I think Ramdin is more capable of building innings than Baugh. As long as he can confirm his slogging capabilities, I'm fine with him returning to the number one in ODIs.

 

[Perm]

Aslong as he doesn't come up against too many spinners then he should be fine.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Aslong as he doesn't come up against too many spinners then he should be fine.

Ramdin can play spin, but it's his mentality that he has to sort out. His shot choice - not his technique - is atrocious against spin.

 

[Perm]

I know he can play spin but you're exactly right, his shot selection has been terrible against spin just recently, either he should practice his sweep shot and try to perfect it or put it away and play straight. Gifted cricketer though.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I know he can play spin but you're exactly right, his shot selection has been terrible against spin just recently, either he should practice his sweep shot and try to perfect it or put it away and play straight. Gifted cricketer though.

I don't see why Bennett King is allowing him to play it. Either that or Ramdin is the most compulsive sweeper I've ever seen. He needs to steal a page from senior Waugh and pack it away completely.

 

[Perm]

Definately. This sort of thing will do him good though, a bit of a rough patch where people question his temperament and thinking. It can only be good for his career in the long run.

 

[Mister Wright]

I don't see why Bennett King is allowing him to play it. Either that or Ramdin is the most compulsive sweeper I've ever seen. He needs to steal a page from senior Waugh and pack it away completely.

Or take a page of out of Hayden's book, who before the India tour of '01 had the Queensland groundsman set him up a net similar to Indian conditions where he practiced the seep shot day-in-day-out for about a week before the tour. We now now how much of an improved player of spin Hayden is, and is one of the most effective and damaging players of the sweep shot.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Or take a page of out of Hayden's book, who before the India tour of '01 had the Queensland groundsman set him up a net similar to Indian conditions where he practiced the seep shot day-in-day-out for about a week before the tour. We now now how much of an improved player of spin Hayden is, and is one of the most effective and damaging players of the sweep shot.

Ramdin can play the sweep shot. Every decent Trinidadian batsman can play spin technically well. The problem is that he doesn't pick the right deliveries to sweep half the time.

 

[Mister Wright]

Ramdin can play the sweep shot. Every decent Trinidadian batsman can play spin technically well. The problem is that he doesn't pick the right deliveries to sweep half the time.

Couldn't he work on his shot selection with practice though? A bit of trial and error, which balls to sweep, which ones to not. It's all part of being a good player of a shot. Is your strength so good and prosperous for you that it also becomes a weakness? It's all part of developing your game.

 

[Fusion]

Pakistan win the toss and elect to bat. Apparently this should be a good batting pitch.

No change in the Pakistan team. A bit surprised by that. I thought Razzaq might be excluded.

 

[shortpitched713]

Makes you wonder why they brought Sami in for a Test that he doesn't even play, but I feel that he will have a role to play in the upcoming one day series.