England in the UAE

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Fixtures

Mon Oct 5 - Tue Oct 6
England XI v Pakistan A
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Thu Oct 8 - Fri Oct 9
England XI v Pakistan A
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Tue Oct 13 - Sat Oct 17
1st Test - England v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Thu Oct 22 - Mon Oct 26
2nd Test - England v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Sun Nov 1 - Thu Nov 5
3rd Test - England v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Sun Nov 8 (50 ovs)
England XI v TBC
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Wed Nov 11
1st ODI - England v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Fri Nov 13
2nd ODI - England v Pakistan
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Tue Nov 17
3rd ODI - England v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Fri Nov 20 (
4th ODI - England v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Mon Nov 23
England XI v United Arab Emirates
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Thu Nov 26
1st T20I - England v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Fri Nov 27
2nd T20I - England v Pakistan
Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Mon Nov 30
3rd T20I - England v Pakistan
Sharjah Cricket Stadium



Squads

Test squad:
Alastair Cook (Essex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), James Anderson (Lancashire), Zafar Ansari (Surrey), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wk), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Liam Plunkett (Yorkshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Ben Stokes (Durham), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Mark Wood (Durham).


ODI squad:
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire, wk), Sam Billings (Kent, wk), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Steven Finn (Middlesex), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), James Taylor (Nottinghamshire), Reece Topley (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).


Twenty20 squad:
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex, capt), Moeen Ali (Worcestershire), Sam Billings (Kent, wk), Jos Buttler (Lancashire, wk), Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire), Chris Jordan (Sussex), Stephen Parry (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Joe Root (Yorkshire), Jason Roy (Surrey), Reece Topley (Hampshire), James Vince (Hampshire), David Willey (Yorkshire), Chris Woakes (Warwickshire), Mark Wood (Durham).

Wahab wided for a bouncer that gets up too high. Surely he should get a medal for getting it that high on here?

VTR wrote:No-one other than Pakistan knows how to play on these pitches. Teams visit every 4 or 5 years for a few matches then move on to other countries that at least offer a variety of surfaces, some history and even the odd crowd.

It is a big home advantage , true. And the sparse crowds are a bit of a downer. It is a pity Pakistan can't host at home - though they'd still enjoy the conditions much better than the visitors ; at least there would be more atmosphere.

But NZ came back well quite recently to draw a series , which wasn't totally without excitement. So I'm not giving up on the whole show just yet.
Also quite enjoyed yesterday (though I wouldn't want three Tests played exactly the same in a row !) Had a couple of simple catches been taken the match situation might be very different.

England aren't usually good at batting long when facing a big chase , at least lately. So the odds favour a Pakistan win here , sooner or later. But if England can somehow get up near the Pakistan total we could yet see an interesting last day.
Big ask , I know.

When was the last time England had an opening stand this high? Theres not many times I can remember us being a mighty 32-0 recently!

kingraf wrote:

VTR wrote:

kingraf wrote:

VTR wrote:No-one other than Pakistan knows how to play on these pitches. Teams visit every 4 or 5 years for a few matches then move on to other countries that at least offer a variety of surfaces, some history and even the odd crowd.

We got two series draws there. NZ got a draw.

How many people were in the ground to see those?

Your problem is the crowd then, not the curator or conditions. What exactly would you like Pakistan Cricket Board to do about that?

Nope its the whole package - no crowd/atmosphere. Pitches that can be dead beyond belief. I'd rather see Pakistan play home series in England if playing anyone other than England. I thought the 2010 series vs. Aus was good and with the crowds definitely felt like a home series for them.

Good job by the opening pair

Long way to go ; but it's a start.

Well a half decent end to the day. Best opening stand we've had in a while!

alfie wrote:Good job by the opening pair

Long way to go ; but it's a start.

You just beat me to it, Alfie. Good resolute start.

Returning to an earlier post, I accept that Tredwell and Ali aren't an ideal spin partnership but - taking account of what else is available and what's not - that's the one I would have initially looked to. The beauty of this board is that people are free to disagree and I know some already have. The only thing I would add in my defence here is that I haven't just latched onto this since yesterday - I may be wrong but, if so, I've been consistently wrong for some time.

Can't fault the opening stand. The spin bowling though has been a nightmare, and I do agree with Guildford, Ali/Rashid is a very poor spin combination

good fighting from Moeen, and Cook looks in good touch (which is a big positive). England, just maybe, have something to build on.

While I don't disagree with guildford that Tredwell would do a better job at containing, I'm not sure he'd offer much more of a threat. In any case, finger spinners on UAE pitches tend to need to bowl a fair bit quicker (hence Zulfiqur not looking particularly threatening either, Panesar outbowling Swann last time, etc.). I also think that if England are ever in a position to force a win on days 4-5 this series, they're more likely to do so with Rashid and Moeen than with Tredwell (see the WI for instance). Of course, Tredwell might give them more of a chance to reach that position in the first place...

Seamers all did well, and pleased they each got at least one wicket. Tough situations for them, what with the heat, no swing with the new ball, and precious little reverse.

England still face a very uphill task of course, but the signs are that it's not going to be so easy for Pakistan to take 20 wickets on here either. If you look at the wickets to fall, only Masood and Misbah fell to defensive strokes (or evasive action, in Masood's case), which suggests that once you're in, you have a real chance to cash in big. Vital then that the England batsmen who do get in do indeed do so...

Hi Mfc - I'm really looking for Tredwell to tie down an end allowing Ali and the seamers to be more threatening options. Simply unconvinced that Rashid's leg spin is or will be the answer.

Btw, I was surprised (that's using the word in its original meaning, not the more modern useage to suggest you're hopelessly wrong!) that you were so supportive of Buttler's keeping the other day. Interested in your views there, thanks.

Guildford we know we disagree re: Tredders so won't bring up old debates!

I'd like to see Rashid given the series although he's not off to a promising start....!

Hoping we're still in our first innings this time tomorrow - if so we should be well on the way to a respectable draw

guildfordbat wrote:
Btw, I was surprised (that's using the word in its original meaning, not the more modern useage to suggest you're hopelessly wrong!) that you were so supportive of Buttler's keeping the other day. Interested in your views there, thanks.

First off, I would say my views are a mix of an endorsement of Buttler's keeping and a feeling that Bairstow's is simply not up to the task. However...

Both are not great keepers to spinners. My feeling (though I haven't analysed in great detail) is that Buttler's hands are a bit "hard", or that he doesn't go with the ball enough (this "going with the ball thing" makes me very angry when I hear commentators using where the keeper's hands end up as an indication of where the ball is heading ) so unless he takes the ball close-ish to the centre of his gloves he struggles for a clean take. Having said that, he's improving in that area. Bairstow I've seen even less of, so not confident in analysing, but don't feel he's particularly good standing up (certainly in the recent ODI against NZ there were several fumbles IIRC).

The big difference though is their keeping to the seamers, where Buttler is far superior. In fact I rate Buttler's keeping standing back very highly, particularly his movement, which is outstanding (I'm genuinely not sure there's anyone better in the international game right now). Of course this is mostly his natural athleticism, but he's clearly worked very hard on it, and if you watch how quickly and far he makes that first step it's very impressive. Bairstow by comparison doesn't move very well, and is sometimes a bit guilty of being "on his heels". This means that England can afford to have first slip quite a bit wider for Buttler, and that fast first step also helps on these slow pitches where the keeper will be quite a bit closer than in England.

For what it's worth, I think Buttler's done a good job in this game (with the caveat that I missed the first session on both days). I think they've been three "misses".

1) He fumbled a take off the first ball of one of Moeen's spells. A very full ball which sneaked past/under the bat, and Buttler didn't take it cleanly. No damage done, could be linked to my point about hard hands, but those very full ones are always difficult to judge the bounce on.

2) let through four byes off a very leg-side delivery from Moeen from around the wicket. IIRC he slightly deflected it off his wrist, and the ball went to the boundary. Sympathy for him here again, when the ball is from around the wicket you lose sight of it for a bit, and are basically guessing a bit re spin and bounce: this one bounced a bit more than he expected (perhaps surprising on this fairly low pitch). Was also quite far down leg, so once more, feel this one is not really his fault.

3) There was a ball this afternoon off Stokes, which deflected for four leg byes, with the ball sneaking under his left glove as he dived. Probably the one he was most accountable for, was a little slow off the mark, which resulted in him not getting his glove down quickly enough. Certainly he'll feel he should have stopped it.

So that's only one real mistake, which came after 150+ overs of keeping, so I feel he's done well, in very difficult conditions (heat).

at which point I should also say that I'm about to go listen to a talk, and (hopefully) follow it by going out for a few beers, so won't respond to any other post for a few hours

VTR wrote:

kingraf wrote:

VTR wrote:

kingraf wrote:

VTR wrote:No-one other than Pakistan knows how to play on these pitches. Teams visit every 4 or 5 years for a few matches then move on to other countries that at least offer a variety of surfaces, some history and even the odd crowd.

We got two series draws there. NZ got a draw.

How many people were in the ground to see those?

Your problem is the crowd then, not the curator or conditions. What exactly would you like Pakistan Cricket Board to do about that?

Nope its the whole package - no crowd/atmosphere. Pitches that can be dead beyond belief. I'd rather see Pakistan play home series in England if playing anyone other than England. I thought the 2010 series vs. Aus was good and with the crowds definitely felt like a home series for them.

Again, What exactly do you want PCB to do about the crowd? They could play somewhere else I suppose, but I gather financially UAE Is their best be bet. This is important because the PCB isn't exactly swimming in cash, and getting paid is probably more important than playing in front of a decent (neutral) crowd.

As for the pitches, 12/16 matches have ended with a result there (following the criminally boring SA series in 2010). By comparison over the same time period (2012-2014), in England it's 15/20. The exact same percentage (admittedly will probably change at the end of UAE season, because every game in England had a result this summer)

You might not like Pakistan being able to clock up 500 and roll teams out, but
- it works for them
- advantageously, I fail to see how it's worse than scoring 250 and bumping teams for 60

Olly wrote:Guildford we know we disagree re: Tredders so won't bring up old debates!

I'd like to see Rashid given the series although he's not off to a promising start....!
I
Hoping we're still in our first innings this time tomorrow - if so we should be well on the way to a respectable draw

Olly - fair enough. I wouldn't die in a ditch for Tredders anyway but do feel he would have been a better option for this series.

Despite my concerns about Rashid, I can see there's some merit in giving him the series. A fair bit of time and future hopes have already been invested in him so I appreciate the reasoning of let's at least give him a little run to prove an old duffer like me wrong. Also, that should prevent Tiger banging on for eternity about how his man was never given a proper chance!

Despite what seems like a 48 hour rant interrupted only by quieter moans, I was actually pleased and impressed by Cook and Moeen's batting. Long way to go but that was encouraging.

Mad for Chelsea wrote:at which point I should also say that I'm about to go listen to a talk, and (hopefully) follow it by going out for a few beers, so won't respond to any other post for a few hours

MfC - hope both the talk and the beers went down well.

Found your earlier post thorough and informative. Based on the little I have seen of Bairstow's keeping, I share your unease there. Interested in your praise of Buttler - not sufficiently aware atm to agree or disagree but will be watching closely. Thanks again.

Olly - question meant seriously.

If Ansari was fit and with the England squad, would he be in your Test team now? If so, who gives way?

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - question meant seriously.

If Ansari was fit and with the England squad, would he be in your Test team now? If so, who gives way?

Serious? What's that?

Honestly no, Rashid has earnt his go in county cricket and I don't think Zaf is probably ready this season.

Olly wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - question meant seriously.

If Ansari was fit and with the England squad, would he be in your Test team now? If so, who gives way?

Serious? What's that?

Honestly no, Rashid has earnt his go in county cricket and I don't think Zaf is probably ready this season.

Olly - well, if a Zaf fanatic like you says that, I guess my question (admittedly theoretical only in view of his current injury) is put to bed until next season at least.

Moeen Ali, I thought would be a poor man's Sehwag, but seems he has decided to turn into the 21st century Boycott! But I told you guys, he won't be the worst choice. Now he has only scored only 15 so far and may or may not add far too many, but he did survive almost a session and helped Cook put up one of the better opening partnerships for England in recent times. I haven't been a big fan of Ali as the led spinner, but if they aren't picking Compton, I would hope they'll give Ali a decent run at the top to see whether he can crack it....... And hopefully, he'll rediscover his inner Sehwag by the time they go to South Africa, the boycott in him will be too fragile to survive against Steyn and Morkel and Philander of course.

Did Ben Stokes actually bowl an over of off spin today?! Can't believe I've missed this!

JDizzle wrote:Did Ben Stokes actually bowl an over of off spin today?! Can't believe I've missed this!

As people are aware I'm a great Gary ballance fan and I think today we would've seen some great Gary Ballance leg spin therefore I feel robbed

Why has Chris Jordan been called up? Why is he described as an all rounder? Two questions no one can answer

JDizzle wrote:Did Ben Stokes actually bowl an over of off spin today?! Can't believe I've missed this!

Hi JD - yes, the final over of the middle session. There was some critical speculation in the (UK) Sky studio as to whether he / England had thrown in the towel by doing this but I didn't see it that way. It's often said by the commentators when pretty much all else has failed - try something different. It was only for one over and no further significant harm was going to be caused as a result. Stokes said in interview at the end of the day that it was something he had been practising in the nets but good naturedly added it was a poor over and doubted he would (be allowed to?) do it again.

100 partnership between cook and Moeen

Ah ...I was wondering how theyd arrived at the world record of 302-0 for Englands spinners. Thats some going.

Englands openeing stand is putting some context on all that though, well done Ali...hes showing a level of patience and resilience you wouldnt credit him with. Obviously it would be nice if he could match Cooks healthy scoring rate but staying in is the primary job for an opener and hes done that.

Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

Thing is Rashids figures make him look good! Mailk getting a comfortable double hundred ... its only his 3rd test century and he averaged in the low 30s coming into the game. Its not quite Gillespe but really it says something about both the bowling and the pitch (catching not withstanding!) when that happens.

I dont think we can get over excited by this openeing stand either on that basis, its a pretty tame Pakistan attack and the pitch is clealry holding up pretty well. Moeen and Cook have done a great job of handling the pressure, but I dont think that means they will be getting these century stands against SA on a lively wicket.

Double credit to Ali to bounce back from nearly two days solid bowling to show the concentration and application he has as well. Hes stuck to both tasks really well in rank circumstances. Top bloke, still not convinced hes a long term solution as a lead spinner or opener though.

As I was saying Ali is compeletely useless

Gooseberry wrote: As I was saying Ali is compeletely useless

I'm sure that Olly and the rest of the 606 Surrey mafia would tell you that Ansari would have batted for twice the number of balls - even if for half the number of runs!

guildfordbat wrote:

Gooseberry wrote: As I was saying Ali is compeletely useless

I'm sure that Olly and the rest of the 606 Surrey mafia would tell you that Ansari would have batted for twice the number of balls - even if for half the number of runs!

To be fair he couldnt have taken any less wickets.

Joking aside though you cant complain about Alis innings. Hardly a game changer but he did his job.

liverbnz wrote:Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

His figures are also similar to 0-149, the debut of another Australian legspinner who didn't go on to do quite as well!

Yep, definitely impressed by Ali's innings. A somewhat out of character knock reining himself in for the good of the team. Despite some reservations about his bowling, I really like the guy.

VTR wrote:

Olly wrote:No wonder people don't turn up to watch cricket in UAE -. It's so dull

Its dull so far in the same way the Lords Ashes Test was dull, until England started batting! The run rate is not too bad, its never very entertaining waiting for a declaration as bowlers go through the motions. I suppose we can only declare the match dull overall if England easily bat out a draw

Either way I don't think cricket should be played in the UAE as what is the point in top level international sport played in front of 20 people? Even if there were 15 wickets a day with a run rate of 4.5 the crowds would not turn up

Whilst this game could still fizzle out into a bore draw (and VTR allows for that possibility above), I'm actually finding this Test quite intriguing at the moment.

Solid if unspectacular start from Ali. Still seems temporary mind.

Not sure how much longer Bell has at this level to be honest.

Question is were Pakistan just taking the weewee when they dropped him? No danger of him making a double century mind, the game will be over by the tiume he gets to 2.

I said earlier in the thread, and I will stand by it on his (non) performance so far, this could be Ronald's last game for England. I don't see how Taylor doesn't come in if he fails here.

Just seen the stat on BBC Sport that Cook has gone to third (behind Kallis and Ponting) for runs scored in Asia from overseas players. 1880 @ 58.75, pretty outstanding for an English batsman!

JDizzle wrote:Just seen the stat on BBC Sport that Cook has gone to third (behind Kallis and Ponting) for runs scored in Asia from overseas players. 1880 @ 58.75, pretty outstanding for an English batsman!

Or as we tend to call Indians, flat track bully.

His record is quite odd in that hes been better overseas than in home conditions whether asia or elsewhere.

On the verge of taking second now, and likely to take first place by the time his careers done (possibly this tour if he continues to bat well) in less innings than the other list toppers.

VTR wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

His figures are also similar to 0-149, the debut of another Australian legspinner who didn't go on to do quite as well!

Fair play

Im not convinced Pakistan are doing the right in thing in relying on the spinners so much, although I guess they dont have that much choice. Nearly 400 runs have been leaked to spin for no wickets so far, they have a guy whos regulalry putting down balls at 90mph +,  but more than half the overs in this innings so far have been spin.  
I guess this does justify Englands choice to field 4 seamers which gave them much more flexibility to bowl to the conditions than Pakistan have.
Even with Englands demons and the pressure Malik should be fairly innocuous on this pitch.

As I typed that they bought back Whahab who seems to have gone into melt down after nearly yorking Cook ... 2 wides and the a no ball

liverbnz wrote:

VTR wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

His figures are also similar to 0-149, the debut of another Australian legspinner who didn't go on to do quite as well!

Fair play

Theyve also had another cr@p legspinner who went on to become Steve Smith.

Who knows maybe Rashid will end up with Warnes bowling and his batting. Or maybe not eh.

Gooseberry wrote:

liverbnz wrote:

VTR wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

His figures are also similar to 0-149, the debut of another Australian legspinner who didn't go on to do quite as well!

Fair play

Theyve also had another cr@p legspinner who went on to become Steve Smith.

Who knows maybe Rashid will end up with Warnes bowling and his batting. Or maybe not eh.

I think the moral of it all is wait and see.

I think all this worst debut bowling stuff was a bit harsh. It wasn't good by any stretch, but McGain's debut/final Test was certainly a whole lot worse.

I think England see him as a second innings and mop up the tail bowler. So we will have to see how he goes if/when faced with those scenarios on a pitch that isn't a graveyard

375 runs behind. Playing on a flat deck in the middle of day 3. Test cricket. "Bell needs to hit out or get out". An actual comment on cricinfo.

Century for Cook, second in the non asiain runs in asia list.
Even Bell is closing in on 20.

well played Cook

I think they only print the comedy contributions on cricinfo. The armchair selection comments are also always worth looking out for! e.g. you could add - "and replace him with KP" to the Bell comment.

To be fair KP wouldve been a better 4th spinner than Stokes.

On the KP subject ... I heard yesterday that hes now begging for a coaching role (which he previously slagged Strauss off for offering him) but said half the team arent on speaking terms with him. You have to be concerned about the guys mental health sometimes.

liverbnz wrote:

Gooseberry wrote:

liverbnz wrote:

VTR wrote:

liverbnz wrote:Great stand by the England openers! - Just wanted to type that to see what it looked like!

1-150 Sydney 1992. Some blonde's debut figures. Name escapes me but people were Warned against writing him off at that stage too.

His figures are also similar to 0-149, the debut of another Australian legspinner who didn't go on to do quite as well!

Fair play

Theyve also had another cr@p legspinner who went on to become Steve Smith.

Who knows maybe Rashid will end up with Warnes bowling and his batting. Or maybe not eh.

I think the moral of it all is wait and see.

The question though that goes with the moral is - how long do you wait?

For Bryce McGain (the 0-149 guy), the Australian selectors decided the one innings of his only Test was enough.