Pakistan v England 2nd Test

First topic message reminder :

England team:
AJ Strauss(c), AN Cook, IJL Trott, KP Pietersen, IR Bell, EJG Morgan, MJ Prior(w), SCJ Broad, GP Swann, JM Anderson, MS Panesar

Pakistan team:
Mohammad Hafeez, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq(c), Asad Shafiq, Adnan Akmal(w), Abdur Rehman, Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Junaid
Khan


Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat

Butler again seems more of a one day player, a one day average of around 34 at the moment. What about Adam Lyth? Averages just under 40 in first class cricket.

Try TMS instead then Eirebilly.

Its funny how often radio commentary can be better than what TV pundits offer.

All I'll say is England seem top-heavy with lefties who can't play spin, (including 2 batsmen who seem better suited to one-dayers in KP and Morgan), while Pakistan are operating with 3 spinners, in conditions ideally suited to spin bowling. Is it any wonder we're struggling?

As I type, it seems we will see Trott after all. Braver man than I. If I had a stomach bug, I'd be tucked up in bed.

hampo171 wrote:What about Adam Lyth? Averages just under 40 in first class cricket.

Nowhere near good enough in my view. Average county player for a below average county team.

mystiroakey wrote:my prediction- england win by 6 wickets.

Hello again mystiroakey - looking good for your prediction. So far anyway ....

Yeah, might try that dyre, Willis is just annoying.


England have a lot more to do here than expected. Mogs is having a horrible test again.

dyrewolfe wrote:Try TMS instead then Eirebilly.

Its funny how often radio commentary can be better than what TV pundits offer.

All I'll say is England seem top-heavy with lefties who can't play spin, (including 2 batsmen who seem better suited to one-dayers in KP and Morgan), while Pakistan are operating with 3 spinners, in conditions ideally suited to spin bowling. Is it any wonder we're struggling?

As I type, it seems we will see Trott after all. Braver man than I. If I had a stomach bug, I'd be tucked up in bed.

Radio commentary tends to be better because there is much more to talk about - with the telly most of it is self evident. The radio commentators have to pay double attention and find the words to describe it - then they can analyze automatically. Same with the boxing - tend to have the commentary off and listen to it on a second watch or go to the radio if available.

Defeat here and they're facing a whitewash series. Need to seriously look at the side then as they have several series in these conditions.

come on prior give it a whack

trebellbobaggins wrote:Defeat here and they're facing a whitewash series. Need to seriously look at the side then as they have several series in these conditions.

hold of the 'lets change everything' attitude untikll after the series, i would still back that england take it

eirebilly wrote:

.... Mogs is having a horrible test again.

Billy - bang on. With the emphasis on 'again'. England could do a lot worse next time out than play Steve Davies purely as a number 6 bat. That's his preferred batting position and he's far better than Mogs and the 'not fit for purpose' Bopara.

Also, whenever they mention Rehman, does anyone else get a mental image of this guy coming in to bowl?

Spoiler:

That fifth wicket was the key for Pakistan. The put on a good partnership and took it away from eng.

Vaughan. Said eng would fail to get 150 here. That pair took the match away.

the truth is 51/4 isnt the end of the world due to englands tail- they can actually bat- and in recent times much better than the openers!

i am positive again- the break could have done them the world of good

omg i just realised who you are -its trebell- lol

you used to do this all the time- keep it up

Biggest difference is that the tail are normally getting the older ball and tired bowlers. I would fancy being up the order against these bowlers. Brilliant side.

mystiroakey wrote:

trebellbobaggins wrote:Defeat here and they're facing a whitewash series. Need to seriously look at the side then as they have several series in these conditions.

hold of the 'lets change everything' attitude untikll after the series, i would still back that england take it

Not being an expert, I'd like to throw a question out there. In football, managers usually pick their teams and tactics, based on the type of opposition they will be facing. If they're up against long-ball merchants, they'll use big defenders to win aerial balls. If they're facing a team that likes to pass and move, they'll put in a couple of hard-working, ball-winning midfielders to deny possession.

Isn't it possible to do something similar with cricket teams - i.e. pick your team to suit the opposition and conditions?

dryewolf i am only assuming that morgan is in the team because he is supposed to be able to play spin?

its also obvious that monty is in the team due to the conditions as well

Strauss is barely hanging in here. Still confident of an England victory but its going to be tight.

mystiroakey wrote:the truth is 51/4 isnt the end of the world due to englands tail- they can actually bat- and in recent times much better than the openers!

i am positive again- the break could have done them the world of good

And hopefully, however this series pans out, it will serve as a wake-up call that they're not as good as they might'e thought.

Have to say I am truly thankful we have Broad and Swann batting down the order, as they're almost the only players I have any confidence in when we're batting, other than Cook and Trott...and to a lesser extent Prior.

mystiroakey wrote:dryewolf i am only assuming that morgan is in the team because he is supposed to be able to play spin?

its also obvious that monty is in the team due to the conditions as well

Ha! That worked out well, didn't it (with Morgan, I mean).

That said, I'm thrilled to bits for Monty, with his 6-for. Fantastic comeback. However, the conditions have undoubtedly helped him. You only have to look at how we're struggling against the likes of Hafeez, Ajmal and Rehman.

I think that it is a myth that Mogs is good against spinners. He is average at best against decent spinners.

In ODI's and T20's he can try all of his unorthodox shots and swing away. At test level he has to be patient and he cant do that. Taylorwould be much better here for England.

Strauss reviews but looked out.

Dammit! We're seriously in the poo now. Strauss gone lbw to Rehman for 32 (though he should have gone a lot sooner). England now 56-5.

Really need a decent 40-50 from Prior and support from Trott.

dont get me wrong mogs is one hell of a good limited over player, and he could develop into a test player- however if he developed into a better test player- that might make him a worse limited over batter..

Jaysus, they are going to appeal for everything now!!!

i love it when england presusre the other team the way pakistani is (appealing verything)- so good on them- but its a horrible feeling being on the other side

mystiroakey wrote:dont get me wrong mogs is one hell of a good limited over player, and he could develop into a test player- however if he developed into a better test player- that might make him a worse limited over batter..

I dont think that Mogs will ever be a test player to be honest. Its way out of his comfort zone.

mystiroakey wrote:dont get me wrong mogs is one hell of a good limited over player, and he could develop into a test player- however if he developed into a better test player- that might make him a worse limited over batter..

Sounds like a good case for picking players who are suited to a particular form of the game (i.e. don't try and convert one day specialists into Test players - and vice versa).

eirebilly wrote:Jaysus, they are going to appeal for everything now!!!

We'd probably be doing the same if the shoe was on the other foot.

dyrewolfe wrote:

eirebilly wrote:Jaysus, they are going to appeal for everything now!!!

We'd probably be doing the same if the shoe was on the other foot.

Dont be all logical dyre, where's the fun in that?

eirebilly wrote:

dyrewolfe wrote:

eirebilly wrote:Jaysus, they are going to appeal for everything now!!!

We'd probably be doing the same if the shoe was on the other foot.

Dont be all logical dyre, where's the fun in that?

Sorry Billy!

In that case, we've nothing to worry about as Broad will hit another 50 and Monty will get the winning runs with a huge 6.

Thats better dyre mate

Pakistan wont want to finish on time here.

Sky are so awful.. Already talking about why England lost.

They're right it's a bit of a mess but still, polite to wait until they have lost surely?

eirebilly wrote:Strauss is barely hanging in here. Still confident of an England victory but its going to be tight.

Haha, the billy curse.

trebellbobaggins wrote:

eirebilly wrote:Strauss is barely hanging in here. Still confident of an England victory but its going to be tight.

Haha, the billy curse.

Thanks for pointing that out trebbs

The problem for Eng since the first Test has been the lack of rotation against the spinners and the constant blocking.

In another thread about a mental thing with Eng in Asia sounds about right, if the top order batsman were more positive, we would not be in this position.

These are WC batsman- start acting like it..

Is it just me, or is Ajmal starting to look embarrassed by some of these appeals?

skyeman wrote:The problem for Eng since the first Test has been the lack of rotation against the spinners and the constant blocking.

In another thread about a mental thing with Eng in Asia sounds about right, if the top order batsman were more positive, we would not be in this position.

These are WC batsman- start acting like it..

WC in England's case standing for Water Closet?

Oh dear. Come on Broad.....

Still batting to come, but you get the feeling we're going to need quick runs. No point sticking around and waiting to be got out.

You have to laugh.

Trott gone for 1. Not really surprising - you can't expect him to be anything like his best when he's ill.

England now 64-6.

Boycs sounding agitated now he's in danger of losing his 3 houses.

Broad in. Lets hope he can replicate his first innings heroics.

Negative teams deserve to lose. If it makes flower rethink things it can only be good.

Back to second I the rankings?

Oh dear, it goes from bad to worse........ 7 down

Top class delivery. Broad no chance.

Oh dear ... I see we're doing the "who do we blame" and "what can we do to win in Asia" thing already...

Well it doesn't look good I'd agree - not quite dead yet (unfortunately that brings to mind Monty Python's" Mary Queen of Scots "sketch ) but I would agree the England batting here today has been awful ..

.. and as I type Trott departs ...

OK : barring a miracle , it is gone , and with it the series , but seriously all you can do is admit Morgan isn't a Test player and give Bopara another chance , and tell the batsman to play shots instead of poking about until they get out in the last match...

Broad gone ... goodnight England !

So its up to the tail again!

Oh Christ on a bike!

Broad bowled for a duck and thats Rehman's 5-for.

I can now confirm England are going to lose this comfortably.

We're shot to pieces, panicking. The kindest thing would be to just say "game over" right now.

Absolutely cracking ball though, that has to be said.

I said before a few wickets and England will be in trouble. Morgan has to go even if it is for Bopara.

Great bowling.

We back to. Like 05 heroes to zeroes in a few months.