Australia and Pakistan in UAE

[mrtwisties]

Wonder if Brett Lee will be back for this. Would be good if he could make it not only for the team but also his quest to win his Test spot back. ODIs at least give a better indication than T20s.

Agreed.

I think his best course of action would be to get a few matches in with the IPL as a way of easing back into match fitness (don't want to take any risks), then play the last two or three ODIs, then get a couple of tour matches under his belt in England once's he's named for the Ashes squad. If he performs consistently throughout all of that then it'll be a compelling case for selection to the XI, perhaps even new ball duties depending on how much pace he's generating.

The Australian team will be looking to improve on its recent limited overs performances with an eye on the World Cups - just how Lee's plans fit into that agenda I don't know.

 

[Slowcoach]

If Pakistan are expecting a "weakened" Australia to be any easier to beat than they normally are then they will be in for a rude shock.

Pakistan should forget where the match is being played, and who is in the opposition, and focus solely on playing good cricket.

Pakistan should also not fear failure, no cricketer should, failing in a cricket match is nothing to fear compared to some of the other things people have to worry about. If you fear failure then all you are doing is making it more likely you will fail.

 

[Gunner786]

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has announced a team for one-day series against Australia. Shoaib Akhtar is also included in the team.

The chief selector of PCB selection committee Abdul Qadir has announced the team during a press conference here.

A five matches series will be played in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. First and second match of the series will be played in Dubai on April 22 and April 24 respectively.

Three matches will be played in Abu Dhabi on April 27, May1 and May3. The team is as follows:

Younis Khan(captain), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamsheed, Misbahul Haq, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal(wicket keeper), Shoaib Akhter, Umer Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Tanveer, Yasir Arfat, Fawwad Alam, Ahmad Shahzad and Saeed Ajmal.

gambino added 0 Minutes and 30 Seconds later...

pretty good squad this,

only downside is the inclusion of saeed ajmal

 

[ZexyZahid]

I've just read it also. It's not a bad squad. Jamshed or Shahzad will probably open for Pakistan.

Shoaib included in squad to face Australia
Cricinfo staff
April 6, 2009
Cricinfo - Shoaib included in squad to face Australia

 

[aussie1st]

Michael Clarke (capt), Brad Haddin (wk), Nathan Bracken, Callum Ferguson, Brett Geeves, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, David Hussey, Ben Laughlin, Brett Lee, Shaun Marsh, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson

Lee, Symonds into Aussie squad - Cricket - Fox Sports

Feels like we have taken quite a few bowlers but pretty good squad with no White in it.

 

[mrtwisties]

It is a bit light on for batsmen. Will need to see a fully recovered Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson, or there might be some trouble.

 

[aussie1st]

Oh just noticed Mike Hussey and Ponting aren't there. Surely we could have given another young batter a chance.

 

[Gilly Fan]

Looking forward to seeing Binga back in the team. I hope he gets him self right and fit and firing for the Ashes. Would be great to see him in the team at his best.

 

[aussie_ben91]

LOL

They've got a bloke younger then me playing for them.

 

[sifter132]

Oh just noticed Mike Hussey and Ponting aren't there. Surely we could have given another young batter a chance.

Yeah it's interesting. You would have thought that after the 3rd Test in SA where we were caught with pants down having to play Haddin at #6 and McDonald at #7 that the selectors might have made a mental note: make sure we take a reserve batsman next time.

The possible theory is that Hopes will be batting #7 mostly with 4 genuine bowlers below him. Trouble is there is no Mitch Johnson to lengthen the tail at #8, although Geeves and Lee are pretty decent, even Hauritz. I'm not sure I'm comfortable with Hopes at #7 though, even less without Mitch there at #8.

Selection of Watson is interesting even though he may only be playing at a batsman for the first part of the tour. I like Watson, but I think he would have been better playing IPL if they aren't sure if he can bowl yet. More interesting is that if they picked him as a batsman will he open? Shaun Marsh has to be one opener, who will the other one be? Michael Clarke should take Ponting's #3 spot for the tour leaving either Haddin or Watson to open. If they play Hopes at #7, Haddin is probably the opener by default - so Watson would be fighting Hussey, Symonds and Ferguson for the #4,5,6 spots. Good competition for Symonds I suppose at least, as he has absolutely NO form to go on.

They took the extra bowler to cover for Lee. My question is, why can't they test Lee properly before they name the squad? And why have they named the squad more than 10 days before they leave when the performance of players in the current series could have gone towards selection for the tour?? Eg. what if White scores a couple of impressively quick 50s (unlikely I know...) or North plays and does well. I wonder if it's to placate the IPL teams who might have been demanding to know who was available and who wasn't...

 

[aussie1st]

If Symonds and Watson are bowling we won't need Hopes at 7, still don't trust Symonds himself to bowl 10 overs though.

I would say the selectors would go something like:

Haddin
Marsh
Clarke
Dussey
Symonds
Fergson
Watson
Hopes
Lee
Hauritz
Bracken/Geeves/Laughlin

They might swap Watson and Haddin around although I don't trust either to hit out at the death. Ideally Dussey should be there but the selectors see him as a 4.
Seeing how it is a ODI series not as fussed about taking only the one batting replacement but I wouldn't want that to happen in our next test series.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Ferguson shouldn't be batted ahead of Watson.

 

[Gilly Fan]

LOL

They've got a bloke younger then me playing for them.

Omg, someone younger than you is better than you in cricketing ability. That can't be true!

It's a conspiracy.

 

[aussie_ben91]

Omg, someone younger than you is better than you in cricketing ability. That can't be true!

It's a conspiracy.

That's pretty rich coming from somebody whose highest score is only 12.

Hasan Raza made his Test debut when he was 15 and Ricky Ponting made his debut when he was 20. Who is the batsman who scored 0 International hundreds and who is the batsman who scored over 50 International hundreds?

 

[srikarr12]

That's pretty rich coming from somebody whose highest score is only 12.

Hasan Raza made his Test debut when he was 15 and Ricky Ponting made his debut when he was 20. Who is the batsman who scored 0 International hundreds and who is the batsman who scored over 50 International hundreds?

Who is the batsmen who scored over 70 centuries and debuted at 16?