Pakistan in England/Scotland 2006

[irottev]

Wow, pathetic batting from Pakistan.

Wow, Jones got a 5 for again. His keeping is good.

Harmison with 10 wickets and Panesar with 8. Wow. Two bowlers did well, the others could just watch the wickets fall. At least most were providing nice tidy support. Thats what you want.

 

[aussie1st]

Akhtar can't fix the batting woes and that is where the problem was this test match. I have no doubt that if Pakistan get Asif back they will bowl better but still won't fix their batting. The big guns in Inzi, Yousuf need to start knocking those 100s again.

 

[Cloud1863]

Harmison and Monty is like a poor man's McGrath and Warne.

They may not be as good, but they are still effective. Well, they were today anyway.

I wouldn't say Harmison is a poor man's McGrath by any means. He really has the potential to be the best bowler in the world atm. Monty however that is fair enough, though I'm starting to get a soft spot for him.

 

[s2sschan]

Again, I still think that Fletcher will let Giles straight back in the side. I really hope he doesn't come back into the side; England now have a spinner with promise, and it would be a huge backward step for us to drop Panesar.

Dropping Monty would be nothing short of I dare say Stupid.

But Pakistan still have Aktar to return, and the Pitches here will have his mouth watering im sure, late swing i reckon he'll get and bowling at 95 mph consistantly while the ball swings, its enough to make any cricketer crap themselves

Akhtar doesn't move the ball much, swing or seam, bowls straight and fast, most of the time.

Mohd. Asif would have been a bigger threat than Akhtar.

Are you talking about English pitches here? Because that's exactly what we had against 'the kangaroos' last year and we beat them.

I am sorry but any Pitch that suits Fast Bowling will suit "The Kangaroos" better than England or anyone else. The No.1 team is still way ahead of everyone else, By Miles.

Only place the Kangaroo can be vulnerable, is the dreaded "TurnTable" of the Indian Sub-Continent.

I wouldn't say Harmison is a poor man's McGrath by any means. He really has the potential to be the best bowler in the world atm. Monty however that is fair enough, though I'm starting to get a soft spot for him.

Monty has time on his side to become a Warne, Bishen Bedi, or Kumble.
I don't see Harmison being a McGrath, Wasim Akram, Waqar, or Lillee.

 

[kodos]

Good on Monty, a fine 5 wicket haul from the champ. Hope he continues his good form with the ball for the rest of the series and silence some critics that say he doesn't turn the ball unless if the pitch is worn out.

 

[aziz_4_ever2003]

i think Pakistan should play Niazi for Razzaq,Nazir for Sami and a Batsman(maybe Tuafeeq or Salman)in place of Afridi
my Squad for next match
Farhat
Salman/Tuafeeq
Younis
Yousaf
Inzi
Iqbal
Akmal
Niazi
Nazir
Gul
Kaneria

 

[PhilD123]

I went on friday, great day to see, fantastic hundred by Bell, and good knock from Cook. I was supposed to be going today, but oh well. Gul bowled well for Pakistan, especially in that 1st hour on Friday, I remember England had scored 19 runs off the first 13 overs on Friday.

Great bowling by Harmy in the 1st innings, back to his best. 6-19 in 13 overs is quite remarkable. Panesar bowled well in both innings, his 3 wickets of Inzi, MoYo and Khan were crucial yesterday. Surely Fletcher cant drop him now, but I wouldn't put it past him. Probably the best option would be to have Giles in ODI's and Monty in tests. I heard Giles might be back for the Champions Trophy, he might perform well, as in trying to get back into the test team.

I'll give a suggestion, move Tresco down to 3. Cook and Strauss opening. Currently Tresco is struggling against the new ball, partially because of his lack of foot movement. However he is a fine player of spin. On the other hand, Cook is an elegant player against quick bowlers who seems to struggle slightly against spinners. It would make sense to me. However I do see 1 problem with this. Cook often gets out lbw or bowled to a full inswinging ball, and this might be more exposed. I just think it would release pressure on Tresco, and from what I have seen so far, Cook could handle it, I mean his natural position is as an opener.

So, all that in mind, my team for the Ashes would be.

1. Strauss
2. Cook
3. Tresco
4. Pietersen
5. Collingwood
6. Bell
7. Flintoff
8. Jones/Read (Prior had his chance in the ODI's in Pakistan, he just doesn't look up to it)
9. Hoggard
10. Harmison
11. Panesar

So I would play 4 frontline bowlers. Fletcher wont do this. But as Panesar is emerging as a frontline bowler, he can bowl spells like he did yesterday. How can you drop Bell after a great 100 on Friday, he really marshalled the tail well. Of course the picture might change if SiJones is fit, but if he isn't then thats it.

 

[barmyarmy]

Yup, I think it's a good idea to copy Aus and play the extra batsman with 4 frontline bowlers. Plus Colly and Bell can bowl a bit...
It seems that GoJo has fractured the tip of his finger and is a doubt for Headingley although Read still isn't the definite replacement. Apparently Fletcher has been watching Foster recently and thinks he could fill in as a stop-gap til GoJo is fit again.

 

[PhilD123]

Yeah, Foster is an option. He's done well for Essex when I've seen him.

 

[evertonfan]

I'd bring in Foster for just the one match, because I still think Jones is our best keeping option. I don't care how many runs Prior and Read score for thier counties, Test matches are a different matter.

 

[shahid6995]

I can't believe how many comments I am reading in the forum which are just centered around the Ashes... there already is an Ashes debate thread in the future tours section guys... anyways, wake up and smell the barbie... you will get clobbered in Australia and all will be normal with the world again.
Good cricket by England to shut Pakistan out... our batting has always been dodgy in England so thats not surprizing, but I would venture to say without any doubts that a full-strength Pakistan (with our frontline bowlers) will beat a full strength England team in England.... but we will never know for sure, will we now?
I said earlier that we need the younger bowlers to be given a chance, our current attack will not bowl out England even once in this series...
Here's hoping for a miracle 1-1 draw in the Test series... then we can hopefully blast you away in the ODIs... England doesnt consider that to be a form of cricket now anyways, looks like they just show up to get beaten in limited over cricket... nice buildup to their next World Cup chances.

 

[evertonfan]

I said earlier that we need the younger bowlers to be given a chance, our current attack will not bowl out England even once in this series...
Here's hoping for a miracle 1-1 draw in the Test series... then we can hopefully blast you away in the ODIs... England doesnt consider that to be a form of cricket now anyways, looks like they just show up to get beaten in limited over cricket... nice buildup to their next World Cup chances.

England will be hammered in the ODI's, but without Akhtar and Rana for the Tests, Pakistan's bowling just looks average.

 

[JamesyJames3]

I can't believe how many comments I am reading in the forum which are just centered around the Ashes... there already is an Ashes debate thread in the future tours section guys... anyways, wake up and smell the barbie... you will get clobbered in Australia and all will be normal with the world again.
Good cricket by England to shut Pakistan out... our batting has always been dodgy in England so thats not surprizing, but I would venture to say without any doubts that a full-strength Pakistan (with our frontline bowlers) will beat a full strength England team in England.... but we will never know for sure, will we now?
I said earlier that we need the younger bowlers to be given a chance, our current attack will not bowl out England even once in this series...
Here's hoping for a miracle 1-1 draw in the Test series... then we can hopefully blast you away in the ODIs... England doesnt consider that to be a form of cricket now anyways, looks like they just show up to get beaten in limited over cricket... nice buildup to their next World Cup chances.

May I ask what you're basing that prediction on? Pakistan's strongest XI beating England's?

We could argue all day about it, but at full strength England definately have the stronger team.

 

[evertonfan]

May I ask what you're basing that prediction on? Pakistan's strongest XI beating England's?

We could argue all day about it, but at full strength England definately have the stronger team.

Agreed. If the Pakistan batting line-up can't put up with the pace and bounce of Harmison alone then they would struggle even more with Flintoff in the fray. Jimmy can get a bit of bounce when he fancies it too.

 

[dazza76]

Are you talking about English pitches here? Because that's exactly what we had against 'the kangaroos' last year and we beat them.

England cricket team beat the Australian Rugby League team?

Smashing. :cool: