Pakistan in England/Scotland 2006

[irottev]

By new, I mean new addition to the team (this tour). He has played a few matches though.

 

[kodos]

I don't think backing Giles will do any good to England,Monty Panesar is the future of England in spin.You can't leave him out just bcoz Giles is coming back.Also I think Monty should get a chance in the ODI's too but considering his fielding it's unlikely that they will include him in ODI's or maybe in World Cup where spinners will be playing a major role this time.

I'd like to see Monty in the ODI's but England are really missing a lower ender bowler that can add some extra runs. I don't see Monty being selected for ODI's unless he improves with the bat. Plus Giles is quite a decent ODI bowler and they also have Blackwell in their disposal.

 

[MUFC1987]

In which case why on earth would they go out of their way to emphasis that Jones hadn't been dropped because of his injury?

It's called putting on a front. If they'd come out and said it was due to injury, there would be no pressure on Read. But now there is and he will crumble under that pressure. I'd be shocked if he doesn't drop at least two catches in the match. He's not as good behind the stumps as the media would have us all believe.

 

[andrew_nixon]

If Jones is injured, why is he playing for Kent during the test?

 

[Sureshot]

Re Read in for Jones.

It's naive to think that Jones hasn't been dropped because of the injury. The selectors know that Read will come in, probably bag a pair in the third test and maybe get 3 or 4 runs in the 4th test, he'll drop a few catches, probably muck up a stumping, and generally fail. Then Jones will return without the pressure that is on him now and probably get a ton in the first Ashes test. Clever move by the selectors in my opinion. Give Read a test, maybe two if he's lucky, to put the final touches on his International career.

Read has been not only one of the most succesful glovesman in the last 2 years, but also one of the most succesful batsman of the last 2 years.

Hmmm, bad move changing a winning team. Especially when it was such a large winning margin.

Rubbish when he was brought in the selectors said he was in to score runs and bolster the batting, he did well at first.

What happenned to Matt Prior?

Currently still at Sussex, I believe he is the best Batsman of the keepers available, but his keeping is below Reads, but he doesn't drop many for Sussex and has often played as a batsman alone, he is only 24 though and has time on his side.

Didn't know you knew big Dunc

Shhh

@MUFC1987: Have you seen Chris Read play?

Your argument is holding as much water as a bucket with holes.

 

[evertonfan]

It's called putting on a front. If they'd come out and said it was due to injury, there would be no pressure on Read. But now there is and he will crumble under that pressure. I'd be shocked if he doesn't drop at least two catches in the match. He's not as good behind the stumps as the media would have us all believe.

Wait a minute; Why on earth are you saying all this? I'm the biggest GoJo fan going and even i'm not making excuses for him being dropped. If GoJo can keep like he did at Old Trafford then i'm sure Read can do better. If Read drops two catches i'm changing my name to liverpoolfan.

Although I want Jones in the side for the Ashes, I say good luck to Read; Get some runs, and show how much you have improved.

 

[usy]

Guys how is the pitch gonne be for next match? any help for Shoaib?

 

[evertonfan]

Guys how is the pitch gonne be for next match? any help for Shoaib?

It's usually a swinging pitch, so I doubt it. I also doubt that Shoaib will play.

 

[BigCrickNan]

It's usually a swinging pitch, so I doubt it. I also doubt that Shoaib will play.

Lol. A swinging pitch. Nah theres usually cloud cover at headingley, and a lot of help for seam bowlers. Hopefully Harmy will have another great day with the ball and seal the series. Shoaib might be coming back but i doubt he'll be bowling 95mph regulary.

 

[barmyarmy]

Well swing suits Hoggard not Harmison. There's a case for playing Jon Lewis if it's a really green pitch.

 

[Adarsh]

Have all the tickets for the first day's play in Headingley been sold out?

 

[nightprowler10]

Internet's been down for a few days for me. Plus had trouble getting on PC for the last two days. Anyhoo...

What a pathetic batting performance it was for the Pakistanis. I mean I understand they had to deal with Harmison on a pitch with uneven bounce, that is still no excuse for the poor batting display. From what I watched in the first inning, Inzamam was the only one who got an absolutely unplayable delivery, the rest of the batsmen were careless. Inzi was also unlucky in the second inning.

What the hell are Inzi and Woolmer thinking sending Akmal in the opening spot? The man has saved at least two test matches for his team in a short period of time batting down the order, yet we keep trying him as an opener. He averages 38 in the 8th position with 3 centuries and a fifty, whereas his average drops to 28 with only one fifty as an opener, which came on a batting track. I understand that we need a good stable opening pair, but why sacrifice a decent batsman who is settled down the order?

Afridi is useless on English pitches. He threatened a bit with the ball, but was terrible with the bat. I say drop him and pick up a specialist bowler/batsman for the next test.

On to England. They thoroughly deserved to win this match. They have improved a lot between the SRL test series and now, in just about every department, especially the fielding. This was the difference between the teams in the first test match, and enhanced England's stronghold on Pakistan in the second test.

In the end, I would like to say, even though Pakistanis played truly pathetic cricket, I am still behind them to win or draw this series. Its hard to take a loss as this one for many Pakistanis after going almost a year without losing a single match, but hopefully we'll bounce back. We've won before with this sort of a bowling attack, there is no reason we can't do it again.

Oh and by the way, can we kick Sami out now....please?

 

[Skater]

I went to Headingley earlier this year and one thing I noticed that surprised me was how short the boundaries are there. I play schoolboy cricket and our boundaries are almost the same length!

 

[JamesyJames3]

Internet's been down for a few days for me. Plus had trouble getting on PC for the last two days. Anyhoo...

What a pathetic batting performance it was for the Pakistanis. I mean I understand they had to deal with Harmison on a pitch with uneven bounce, that is still no excuse for the poor batting display. From what I watched in the first inning, Inzamam was the only one who got an absolutely unplayable delivery, the rest of the batsmen were careless. Inzi was also unlucky in the second inning.

What the hell are Inzi and Woolmer thinking sending Akmal in the opening spot? The man has saved at least two test matches for his team in a short period of time batting down the order, yet we keep trying him as an opener. He averages 38 in the 8th position with 3 centuries and a fifty, whereas his average drops to 28 with only one fifty as an opener, which came on a batting track. I understand that we need a good stable opening pair, but why sacrifice a decent batsman who is settled down the order?

Afridi is useless on English pitches. He threatened a bit with the ball, but was terrible with the bat. I say drop him and pick up a specialist bowler/batsman for the next test.

On to England. They thoroughly deserved to win this match. They have improved a lot between the SRL test series and now, in just about every department, especially the fielding. This was the difference between the teams in the first test match, and enhanced England's stronghold on Pakistan in the second test.

In the end, I would like to say, even though Pakistanis played truly pathetic cricket, I am still behind them to win or draw this series. Its hard to take a loss as this one for many Pakistanis after going almost a year without losing a single match, but hopefully we'll bounce back. We've won before with this sort of a bowling attack, there is no reason we can't do it again.

Oh and by the way, can we kick Sami out now....please?

Suprises me you say kick Sami out. I know he has a poor record, but after watching him at Old Trafford on the first two days I felt he bowled pretty well. Especially bowling with the second new ball. Gul has been the most impressive though.

 

[Skater]

I remember that Pakistan used to have such fine bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and even Shoaib Akhtar. These days they are replaced by such average bowlers as Umar Gul, who is improving all the time but just isn't in the same league as those.