South Africa Tour of Pakistan 2021

[Toby]

Are you watching the test match?

Yeah. Fawad's 100 has to be the moment of the day!

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Yeah. Fawad's 100 has to be the moment of the day!

Agree. If you follow SA cricket, can you tell me why Ngidi is so highly rated? I've never found him great?

 

[CerealKiller]

People on this forum and on social media have been asking for Fawad's selection for 5-6 years. We stand vindicated.
When Azhar moved to the opening slot in 2016, there were zero excuses for leaving out Fawad.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

People on this forum and on social media have been asking for Fawad's selection for 5-6 years. We stand vindicated.
When Azhar moved to the opening slot in 2016, there were zero excuses for leaving out Fawad.

It's very important for the young guys in the team currently to learn from him and this. It's an intangible gain. I will again say, I don't rate Azam in the same league as some of the other big batters in world cricket as I feel he has a lot more to prove.

 

[CerealKiller]

It's very important for the young guys in the team currently to learn from him and this. It's an intangible gain. I will again say, I don't rate Azam in the same league as some of the other big batters in world cricket as I feel he has a lot more to prove.

Yeah, his attitude and commitment is exemplary

 

[Aislabie]

Having watched the highlights, I feel like I can almost see why you wouldn't pick him. Imagine if you end up with an entire generation of young players teaching themselves to bat like that

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

Having watched the highlights, I feel like I can almost see why you wouldn't pick him. Imagine if you end up with an entire generation of young players teaching themselves to bat like that

If it works, then what's the problem?

 

[Aislabie]

If it works, then what's the problem?

The problem isn't that it works for him, it's that it's almost entirely unrepeatable for another player, especially a young one still learning their game. Full credit to Fawad for making it work though

 

[CerealKiller]

The problem isn't that it works for him, it's that it's almost entirely unrepeatable for another player, especially a young one still learning their game. Full credit to Fawad for making it work though

If you look at his stance at the point of delivery, it looks pretty normal. The pre-delivery antics, i can’t explain, but his run making ability has exploded since he switched to this method.

 

[Aislabie]

If you look at his stance at the point of delivery, it looks pretty normal. The pre-delivery antics, i can’t explain, but his run making ability has exploded since he switched to this method.

Yeah, for whatever reason it works for him but it's definitely not what I'd teach a young player - and I'm far from a believer in one-size-fits-all technique. But even for Fawad, he's not consistently getting into the best possible positions. I think the best thing about his weirdness is that it confuses bowlers, kind of like the way Steve Smith's method confuses bowlers into bowling differently to him than anyone else.


Here, Fawad's stance is still extremely open at approximately the point of delivery. This is likely to create problems against the ball that moves away from him, because it means that his centre of mass is further from the ball. It's honestly dreadful captaincy from de Kock not to have one or two slips in for such a possibility, because his technique almost guarantees that a false shot will go there. Fawad does also use this as a scoring option when he's been in a while and there are fewer slips.


Against spinners his method is a little more orthodox, although his weight is still unusually backward. Generally though, moving parts are far less of an issue against spinners because there is more time to decide upon and play your shot. As a spinner, you are less likely to get him out by spinning an unplayable ball, and more likely to get him caught in front of the wicket by varying your flight.

Despite the small sample size, I think it's also pretty indicative that Fawad has three Test centuries, but that they're his only Test scores over 30. He also gets out caught, almost exclusively. Both of these are very strange statistical anomalies, and are indicative of a technique with many moving parts and a serious weight distribution problem. It is also indicative of a technique that is not repeatable.

Once he gets in, and is used to the idiosyncrasies of whatever his movements are on any given day, then he's a very very good Test batsman. But his technique is only repeatable enough to afford him this sort of opportunity once in around every five innings; the other four times, he'll get out caught for under 30 with his weight distribution in exactly the wrong places.

And that is why I wouldn't teach a young batsman to bat like Fawad Alam, and why he would have to significantly outperform other domestic batsmen (as he has) for me to pick him.

 

[CerealKiller]

Yeah, for whatever reason it works for him but it's definitely not what I'd teach a young player - and I'm far from a believer in one-size-fits-all technique. But even for Fawad, he's not consistently getting into the best possible positions. I think the best thing about his weirdness is that it confuses bowlers, kind of like the way Steve Smith's method confuses bowlers into bowling differently to him than anyone else.

View attachment 242707
Here, Fawad's stance is still extremely open at approximately the point of delivery. This is likely to create problems against the ball that moves away from him, because it means that his centre of mass is further from the ball. It's honestly dreadful captaincy from de Kock not to have one or two slips in for such a possibility, because his technique almost guarantees that a false shot will go there. Fawad does also use this as a scoring option when he's been in a while and there are fewer slips.

View attachment 242706
Against spinners his method is a little more orthodox, although his weight is still unusually backward. Generally though, moving parts are far less of an issue against spinners because there is more time to decide upon and play your shot. As a spinner, you are less likely to get him out by spinning an unplayable ball, and more likely to get him caught in front of the wicket by varying your flight.

Despite the small sample size, I think it's also pretty indicative that Fawad has three Test centuries, but that they're his only Test scores over 30. He also gets out caught, almost exclusively. Both of these are very strange statistical anomalies, and are indicative of a technique with many moving parts and a serious weight distribution problem. It is also indicative of a technique that is not repeatable.

Once he gets in, and is used to the idiosyncrasies of whatever his movements are on any given day, then he's a very very good Test batsman. But his technique is only repeatable enough to afford him this sort of opportunity once in around every five innings; the other four times, he'll get out caught for under 30 with his weight distribution in exactly the wrong places.

And that is why I wouldn't teach a young batsman to bat like Fawad Alam, and why he would have to significantly outperform other domestic batsmen (as he has) for me to pick him.

I think he varies his stance a bit (in the image below, it’s different than the one you posted)
I guess it depends on the bowler, or the way the pitch is behaving?
I think it’s a small sample size in his Test comeback so far, looking forward to see how he does in the years ahead. He is as old as Misbah was in 2010, and is extremely committed to his fitness, so he can play for a long time, hopefully.

 

[Aislabie]

I think he varies his stance a bit (in the image below, it’s different than the one you posted)

Yeah, that one looks different and certainly more sensible than the one I picked out. Honestly though, full credit to him that he can make this work. He's got three Test centuries and a first-class average of 56 which puts him above almost every cricketer who's ever lived, including a wide spectrum of better cricketers than me.

It's still not a repeatable method but in the paraphrased words of many great people "you do you, Fawad"

 

[Toby]

Agree. If you follow SA cricket, can you tell me why Ngidi is so highly rated? I've never found him great?

Mate, he is a very good white-ball bowler. I've seen him in many games that I watched live, and guy has been doing the job really nicely for the Proteas. And his ICC ranking speaks for himself, too. Although, he has a long way to go as a red-ball bowler....

 

[ahmedleo414]

The problem isn't that it works for him, it's that it's almost entirely unrepeatable for another player, especially a young one still learning their game. Full credit to Fawad for making it work though

I disagree. I feel like if a player is performing at the domestic level he should be played no matter how unorthodox his action.

As for the young players watching and emulating him, it's up to the coaches to show them the correct stance, and if they have any understanding they'll use whatever stance works for them. Who knows maybe you'll find that one player for whom the stance works...

Post automatically merged: Jan 28, 2021

The priority should be given to winning matches not worrying about how someone looks in their stance

 

[CerealKiller]

Good little knocks by the tailenders. Apart from Shaheen, everyone can bat.
Now we need to get South Africa out for less than 300. 150 will be a big target on this pitch.