Pakistan vs England in United Arab Emirates - October/November 2015

[bigred]

Stokes is not in the team for this test match, and thus can replace him.

Buttler and Ballance have averaged more than 30 over the last two years (and they can improve)

Carberry can still have 2 years in him, which he deserves after he was poorly dropped.

Compton still has 3-4 years. Maybe England should swap the management out for KP and Compton.

All of these players are better then Bell either short term or long term.

Edit: Stokes is in the team but he could still bat where Bell is batting now

What, Stokes can bat at 3 can he? He barely gets a run batting at 6 and 7.

I'm open to the prospect of dropping Bell if he's not contributing, but if you've got alternatives like Carberry, who is sh*te, and Stokes, then I'll stick with Bell thanks.

 

[blockerdave]

What, Stokes can bat at 3 can he? He barely gets a run batting at 6 and 7.

I'm open to the prospect of dropping Bell if he's not contributing, but if you've got alternatives like Carberry, who is sh*te, and Stokes, then I'll stick with Bell thanks.

If he's not contributing??? If???

Ridiculous. Average under 30 over 2 bloody years.

 

[Dutch]

What, Stokes can bat at 3 can he? He barely gets a run batting at 6 and 7.

I'm open to the prospect of dropping Bell if he's not contributing, but if you've got alternatives like Carberry, who is sh*te, and Stokes, then I'll stick with Bell thanks.

The Last of the Bellhicans.......

 

[Rehan_24]

Pakistan climbs up to No.2 spot in ICC test rankings Categorically the World's 2nd best test team at the moment. I wish India could tour UAE coming December but it seems unlikely. If they do, there would be exciting contest on this surface with them. Come on Indian fans, compel your govt and board to play with us. Its all for the good of the game rather than taking things on personal win lose level

Anyhow, Congratulations to Pakistan and well fought out England with limitations. Excellent test series. All matches were nail biters. Test cricket future is bright

 

[C Boomer]

Well played Pakistan, would love to see the day when they can return to home soil and play their magic brand of cricket in front of their legions of adoring fans and the watching world!

As for England, well, a little more application and consistancy with their team selection is required if results are to improve, especially on tour. This player and that in for a game and then discarded after just one or two failures is no way to build a foundation and aspire player confidence!

They'd need to get it sorted soon for the S.Africa series or Mr Steyn & co will annilate them on home turf !!

 

[IceAgeComing]

Ballance failed for 2 series

Not even that; they dropped him two tests in to the Ashes, which probably was the right thing to do though. I think Ballance would have been good in the UAE: his real struggle is somehow against the swinging ball and that isn't a big issue in the UAE. He wasn't any worse than Buttler and not much worse than Bell in that series, the former averaged something ridiculous like 12 yet got the entire series, plus the first two UAE tests

 

[Dutch]

From the BBC...........

Coach Trevor Bayliss has hinted Ian Bell will be selected for England'sTest tour of South Africa this winter.

Bell was England's third-highest run-scorer in their 2-0 series loss to Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, with 158 runs at an average of 31.60.

However, some have called for the 33-year-old to be dropped - including ex-England batsman Geoffrey Boycott.

"Ian has obviously got a lot of experience which the team needs at this stage," said Bayliss.

 

[Markkkkk]

Rejoice!

 

[bigred]

Oh well. Looks like Ian Bell is going nowhere then if Bayliss' interview is anything to go by.

 

[cricket_icon]

Oh well. Looks like Ian Bell is going nowhere then if Bayliss' interview is anything to go by.

Why must they do this to us? Bell has long since lost whatever form he may have once had. This man has more lives than just about anybody in test cricket.

But I must say, congratulations to Pakistan for beating a game, strong England and defeating them across every platform, batting, bowling and even fielding. Having said that, I think the 2-0 scoreline in this series is some what deceiving. If not for nature, England may well have won the first test, almost drew a tight, competitive game second time round and had Pakistan's batsmen out very cheaply in the final test. It was a very good series and again, England's spinners may get a rough time of it but Rashid bowled some beauties, I'm not sure how many non-Asian batsmen would have been able to play him. Imagine a cracking, spinning track against SA on a 4th or 5th day pitch. It was the superiority of Pakistan against spin rather than simply bad spin.

i'm not saying Rashid or Ali are world beaters, but they bowled better than the numbers reflect. My big issue is the middle order. Bell has to go. There needs to be a place in there for Taylor AND Ali (who I don't mind as opener as he does show intent and often looks fluid). I know it's very early days and there's a ODI series along with a lot of soul searching for the England boys but I'd be looking for a somewhat new look England in SA, maybe something like:

Cook
Hales
Root
Taylor
Ali
Bairstow/Ballance or maybe both, if Bairstow keeps wicket
Stokes (if fit, will do well in SA conditions imo)
Rashid (could have another seamer/pace bowler but Rashid adds something with the bat and may trouble the batsmen)
Broad
Woods
Anderson

If no Rashid then a fit Finn should find his way in, especially if he gets his pace back up.

I'll have a test review up in the next couple days, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

 

[bigred]

Why must they do this to us? Bell has long since lost whatever form he may have once had. This man has more lives than just about anybody in test cricket.

But I must say, congratulations to Pakistan for beating a game, strong England and defeating them across every platform, batting, bowling and even fielding. Having said that, I think the 2-0 scoreline in this series is some what deceiving. If not for nature, England may well have won the first test, almost drew a tight, competitive game second time round and had Pakistan's batsmen out very cheaply in the final test. It was a very good series and again, England's spinners may get a rough time of it but Rashid bowled some beauties, I'm not sure how many non-Asian batsmen would have been able to play him. Imagine a cracking, spinning track against SA on a 4th or 5th day pitch. It was the superiority of Pakistan against spin rather than simply bad spin.

i'm not saying Rashid or Ali are world beaters, but they bowled better than the numbers reflect. My big issue is the middle order. Bell has to go. There needs to be a place in there for Taylor AND Ali (who I don't mind as opener as he does show intent and often looks fluid). I know it's very early days and there's a ODI series along with a lot of soul searching for the England boys but I'd be looking for a somewhat new look England in SA, maybe something like:

Cook
Hales
Root
Taylor
Ali
Bairstow/Ballance or maybe both, if Bairstow keeps wicket
Stokes (if fit, will do well in SA conditions imo)
Rashid (could have another seamer/pace bowler but Rashid adds something with the bat and may trouble the batsmen)
Broad
Woods
Anderson

If no Rashid then a fit Finn should find his way in, especially if he gets his pace back up.

I'll have a test review up in the next couple days, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

There really is no need to have Rashid and Ali in the side for SA. Unless you think Ali is in the best top 6 batters in the country. In my opinion, he'd come in at around 20-25th if there were English batting rankings. Rashid's first class batting stats in the last 3 years are almost identical to Ali, and all of Rashid's games have been in div 1, unlike Moeen's.

My squad for SA

1. Cook
2. Hales (I'm beginning to think Bayliss doesn't fancy him)
3. Taylor
4. Root
5. Ballance
6. Bairstow
7. Stokes
8. Ali
9. Broad
10. Wood
11. Anderson

12. Bell/Morgan (want an experienced head who can come in last minute for a big series decider)
13. Buttler
14. Rashid
15. Finn
16. Plunkett/Woakes (can't decide between those two. It cannot be Jordan though)

 

[Rehan_24]

Guyz, What do you think about the One Day series, I think England have an edge on paper. I would call it 60:40 ratio to England favor. Lets see

 

[War]

Pakistan v England: Boycott says Ian Bell 'must do more' - BBC Sport

 

[bigred]

Is it true that Bayliss has said something about picking KP for t20 WC?

 

[cooks1st100]

i'm not saying Rashid or Ali are world beaters, but they bowled better than the numbers reflect

I disagree with you saying they bowled better than the numbers reflect. They both had moments of bowling well, but in general there were far too many loose balls being bowled, awful deliveries to be honest, so England couldn't build up any sort of pressure when they brought on the spinners and all Pakistan had to do was see off Broad and Anderson and wait for the buffet bowling.

That's the clear difference between the spin of the two teams, one team consistently asked questions of the batsman ball after ball, whereas the other team bowled some great deliveries but just as many if not more poor ones. Maybe Tredwell would have been a decent option, at least he can hold up an end. At the end of the day though, England's options are far and few between. Bringing Patel into the third Test showed that England were not confident in their spinners in my opinion and it failed miserably, although obviously not helped by the Stokes injury.