England tour of Pakistan - 7 T20Is, 3 Tests

[Fenil]

Rambo on SKY: We have a population of 236 million people and they all think they can do a better job than me.

He is not wrong.

 

[Fenil]

England leading by 281 which was their first innings score. Would Baz and Ben be considering a declaration?

 

[Aislabie]

One thing I'm really curious about is what on earth the English first XI looks like if everyone is fit and firing at Edgbaston for the first Ashes Test. Because conceivably there are at least 14 players to somehow narrow down to eleven:

1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Harry Brook
7. Ben Stokes
8. Ben Foakes
9. Ollie Robinson
10. Mark Wood
11. Jofra Archer
12. Stuart Broad
13. Jimmy Anderson
14. Jack Leach

And that's without even listing the likes of Keaton Jennings, Haseeb Hameed, Tom Haines, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Matty Potts, Matt Fisher or Sam Cook who would probably be only one or two injuries away from consideration themselves

 

[Fenil]

Bazid mentions on commentary that the likes of Waqar suggested that when the ball reverses for a right arm bowler, it would come in to the right handed batsmen more and England having played three pacers in their attack would prefer bowling to righties which could be one of the reasons of the success of the two lefties in the ongoing partnership.

This has me thinking if any of the pacers would be considering to go Mohammad Shami's way and try and take the outside edge from round the wicket?

 

[Aislabie]

Imagine trying to explain this bowling card to anyone two years ago.

 

[Aislabie]

So I was thinking about the Ashes again, and the best I can come up with and still include Zak Crawley is this:

1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Harry Brook
7. Ben Stokes
8. Ollie Robinson
9. Jofra Archer
10. Jimmy Anderson
11. Jack Leach

Pope as a long-term keeping option batting at three seems kind of wild, but Bairstow has to come back into the side and he has to do it as a specialist number five. Number seven makes complete sense for Stokes given how he's all-in on playing aggressive cricket almost regardless of the situation. Foakes doesn't deserve to be dropped at all, but Bairstow and Brook should keep their roles in the side as closely as possible. The only other option would be for Stokes to open in place of Crawley or Duckett.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

So I was thinking about the Ashes again, and the best I can come up with and still include Zak Crawley is this:

1. Zak Crawley
2. Ben Duckett
3. Ollie Pope
4. Joe Root
5. Jonny Bairstow
6. Harry Brook
7. Ben Stokes
8. Ollie Robinson
9. Jofra Archer
10. Jimmy Anderson
11. Jack Leach

Pope as a long-term keeping option batting at three seems kind of wild, but Bairstow has to come back into the side and he has to do it as a specialist number five. Number seven makes complete sense for Stokes given how he's all-in on playing aggressive cricket almost regardless of the situation. Foakes doesn't deserve to be dropped at all, but Bairstow and Brook should keep their roles in the side as closely as possible. The only other option would be for Stokes to open in place of Crawley or Duckett.

Wait until Baz and Stokes see Leach's record as an opener

 

[CerealKiller]

Thank goodness this match is in Multan and not Pindi, else i would have forced myself to drive straight to the ground after landing in Islamabad this morning

 

[Aislabie]

Wait until Baz and Stokes see Leach's record as an opener

I suppose one out-of-the-box answer would be to bring in Liam Dawson as the opener and main spinner. He has a really good record as a county opener iirc

 

[wasteyouryouth]

 

[CerealKiller]

You have to be utterly incompetent to judge that as 100% out. If there is doubt, batsmen gets the benefit.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Abrar doing better than the set batters.

 

[Fenil]

Good comeback by England. Apparently Agha Salman can bat so its still Pakistan's match to lose.

 

[Fenil]

This innings from Nawaz only made me adore his skills more. If he can hone his bowling, he can be Pakistan's version of Jadeja in Tests and he already seems a better batsman than Jadeja in limited overs.

 

[wasteyouryouth]

Another superb finale. Really great effort from Pakistan, some shrewd tactics almost got them there. Almost disappointed that the third test won't be a series decider.