Pakistan Tour of Australia 2009/10

[rocky_g]

What a bowling performance by Pakistan. :hpraise

 

[TumTum]

Gul is a serious liability, I mean on a green wicket, he's still bowling bullet straight! (except the last wicket). IF he ain't gonna seam em here, he ain't gonna be seamin em anywhere!

Same with Siddle. The only movement he can get is from surface cracks.

TumTum added 1 Minutes and 53 Seconds later...

Didnt see the game but the rumours at school were unbeleivable! Couldnt believe it until I came home. Bad news is that the channel that shows the game here is having signal problems so it is unlikely that I get to see some action. Any sites where I can see teh highlights. How was the pitch today and was it good bowling by the Pakistanis or poor batting from the Aussies? I hope rain stays away.

The pitch was sooooooooo GREEEEEEN that I couldn't believe my eyes when the 1st ball was bowled.

2nd thought was: This pitch better not cost us a collapse, or Ponting is the biggest idiot in the world.

 

[mattfb]

^ no need for the mumbo jumbo, we already know our middle order has problems.

I know, that's just me insanely bored. I decided to look up stats and felt the need to tell you all my old discoveries

 

[BKB1991]

Nah i like the article by matt. At least it is statistically proven that the Aussie MO hasnt been on their best of form recently

 

[Fatal Shot]

Those stats show, that North shouldn't get bashed on as much as he does. He has the second highest average on that list, and for me, he was Australia's second best batsman in the Ashes behind Clarke.

 

[Leggie]

Just watched the highlights. Wow. Sami was bowling brilliantly, he was touching 150K's regularly and was getting bounce off a good length. Also Asif is back, bowling with seam and swing, hitting the deck on every ball. Some of the shots from the Aussie batsmen were questionable though, e.g, Ponting, Haddin, etc.

 

[Master Khan]

Wow Pakistan is playing well..too bad its raining

 

[sifter132]

Same with Siddle. The only movement he can get is from surface cracks.

Siddle seems to get his best movement after the ball goes past the batsman :doh There were a few balls in the Ashes that made Haddin look foolish because of the weird sailing effect and late movement (too late to be useful) that Siddle gets. He keeps the seam nice and straight for the whole pitch length, but it just doesn't move until it goes past the batsman for some reason. Possibly to do with his grip because his fingers are much further apart than many quicks ie. the seam splits his fingers, rather than his fingers resting on the seam.

Those stats show, that North shouldn't get bashed on as much as he does. He has the second highest average on that list, and for me, he was Australia's second best batsman in the Ashes behind Clarke.

The trouble with Marcus is that he's only played a couple of great innings, and that's what inflates his average a bit. Most of the time he's heading back to the pavilion cheaply, especially in the 2nd innings where most of the Aussie batting collapses have been occurring. The main advantage I saw with Marcus at #6 instead of Symonds was going to be consistency, but he's being very Symonds like in that he either gets out early or he makes a big score.

While his average last year is very comparable with Ponting and Hussey sure, I think his overall record (First class etc) is much less comparable and I don't think he's the quality of player that those 2 are WHEN THEY ARE PLAYING WELL. Ie. 100% form Ponting/Hussey >>> 100% form North.

But the point of this is that the order really is in need of a reshuffle. Hussey and Ponting have been amazing together, averaging 58 after 33 innings so maybe getting them to bat together more often could be the answer. Bringing Clarke up the order gives him a chance to score more runs and take his time which he is known to do. Not to mention Clarke has opened numerous times in the past. Clarke to 3 and Ponting to 5 might not be such a bad idea.

I liked those stats, but I think they contain a bit of inherent bias. You are usually going to have better figures batting with the guy immediately after/before you. Why? Eg. If Ponting bats with North, it's probably because of either: a) a collapse or good bowling leading to Hussey and Clarke's wickets, or b) Ponting's scored big. I think a partnership's going to average a bit smaller in those circumstances.

Anyway, the reason the order is the way it is is purely because of handedness. You've got:
Ponting-right,
Hussey-left,
Clarke-right,
North-left,
Haddin-right,
Johnson-left.

Australia likes having guys of different hands coming in because it disrupts the bowling a bit. This was particularly important during the Ashes where Swann and Flintoff in particular bowl MUCH better to left handers and would have been an obvious combination when 2 left handers were in.

Is that the best theory? Maybe not, but at least there is a reason behind it.



Oh and today for all the complaining of Ricky's decision I really only think Ricky will be worried if Pakistan get past 250. I think he'd be happy to spot them a lead of 100 knowing they'll have to bat last, and knowing his batsmen will be keen to impress in the 2nd dig.

 

[BackwardPoint]

Hows the weather today? any chance of the early start?

BackwardPoint added 0 Minutes and 49 Seconds later...

SCGT - SCG Cam

covers are already off and some security people walking around. Good sign

 

[MS Dhoni]

Just wondering, why is Hughes even in the squad? He is having his own competition in international cricket. "who gets the most ducks"

 

[BackwardPoint]

Just wondering, why is Hughes even in the squad? He is having his own competition in international cricket. "who gets the most ducks"

Troll feeding time? Nah forget it.

Any brave soul care to make a prediction on what Pakistan will scrape together?

 

[shravi]

Troll feeding time? Nah forget it.

Any brave soul care to make a prediction on what Pakistan will scrape together?

i say 220-250.

 

[MS Dhoni]

Troll feeding time? Nah forget it.

Any brave soul care to make a prediction on what Pakistan will scrape together?

Nah, just my predictions looking at his past performances.

 

[BackwardPoint]

Wont be enough if they want to win this one. Need at least a 200-250 lead going into Australias 2nd innings

 

[shravi]

Nah, just my predictions looking at his past performances.

Well obviously you have not been looking at his performances as he has just two ducks (including the one yesterday).