Rest of the World

First topic message reminder :

I figure a thread for cricket stuff from around the world that doesn't warrant a series-thread is useful

Six to go... Lyon hanging on determinedly against Yasir...

Now just five. Wonder how Holland is feeling in the dressing room ?

4 overs or 21 minutes

Bilal on ...Yasir to change ends...

Paine won't get out : can Lyon survive one more over ?

Rather surprised that Sarfraz hasn't taken a punt with Wahab against Lyon

I think they've saved it...

Paine just has to see out one more over : he won't want to leave any balls for Holland

Assuming all the Australians that were complaining about this pitch being a road will be saying the same thing about it if Australia bat out 140 overs in the last innings to draw the match...

Hats off to Khawaja , Paine ...magnificent rearguard action : well done

A few people losing bets on that , I reckon !

Marvellous effort by the bewildered Australians. Khawaja, Head and Paine can be mightily proud

Brilliant rearguard action. Brilliant Test. Loved it.

Defying the odds, overcoming the lost toss and that morale-shattering collapse Aussies still battle out a draw surving 140 overs on D4 and D5 pitch against a line-up with 2 quality spinners and some reverse swing expertise
well done      
This is the stuff that continues to make test cricket throbbing / pulsating alive with interests after a close fought 3 tests between Ind and Eng

While Pak should look at their low scoring rate in first inning.....
& not enforcing the follow-on could be  understood ......but did they really need a 460  runs cushion and too done at barely 3RPO in the 2nd inning.

But those are not BIG reasons....the big fact still is that Australia played well

Finch found his feet in tests and this could be the coming of age of Usman Khwaja who now averages 45 in tests & Paine's avg is an astounding 42

The Marsh brothers will deliver, ...sooner than later... ....Head fought hard in second inning......and suddenly Aus has a workable team.

I could gamble on an Australian win if they win the toss in T2

Wow ! Wow ! Wow ! I must say it would be one of the best test matches of this decade. I would rate it with Adelaide Test in 2012 where SA saved after the superb show from ABD and FDP. Usman Khwaja really made it and was well supported by his captain. Well done Paine. I was not very impressed when he was made the full time captain but he proved himself here.

From here Aussies need to work on their batting, they collapsed in the first inning after superb 141 run opening partnership. Aussies bowlers were also not very impressive. They need to work hard at Abu Dhabi.

I hope Aussies win the next Test. They were the only team outside subcontinent who gave strong competition to the Asian Tigers, be it India or Pakistan.

Khwaja Should be the Man of the Match.

subhranshu.kumar.5 wrote:Khwaja Should be the Man of the Match.

And he was. Quite right.

I'll admit that was good in the end. Its a shame hardly anyone actually goes to the ground to witness these matches though

VTR wrote:I'll admit that was good in the end. Its a shame hardly anyone actually goes to the ground to witness these matches though

I'll certainly give you that last point.

Great test match. Superb, unexpected resilience from Australia. Tremendous advert for the greatest sport.

VTR wrote:I'll admit that was good in the end. Its a shame hardly anyone actually goes to the ground to witness these matches though

It would help if they didn't organise the game to take place exclusively during the working week in Dubai - albeit the ground wouldn't have been full of course, still!

Not sure that the people who would go to the game are allowed time off.

Didn't realise that, though now you've pointed it out I think I'm right in saying Friday, Saturday are the weekend days, so that is genius to pick the other five days. Wonder if lack of crowd/home support partly made this possible. Imagine the situation reversed with thousands of fans baying for blood at the WACA

Very surprised to see that.  Even after the fine stand between Khawaja and Head I had expected Pakistan to work their way through the rest eventually - but Paine played a real captain's knock and was well supported by Lyon at the end.
Think Pakistan will regard that as one that got away...and they really do have themselves partially to blame for being a bit too relaxed about the second innings ; clearly they expected Australia to crumble at some point ; and they just didn't apply enough pressure early in the day - few round the bat and several deep fielders ? Why ? Did they really expect Australia to chase down 460 ?  A few easy boundaries would have been a small price to pay for an early breakthrough...
But take nothing away from Australia this was an epic rearguard...will give them a lot of heart after much recent agony.

Whether it can translate into success next week or against India at home remains to be seen.  But it is a start

More than just a start Alfie is restored some priode in the "baggy green" and morale must be the highest its been for a long time.

This really is an historic defence, its incredibly rare to bat out 140 overs in a 4th innings in any circumstances. To do it with, whats on paper, the worst batting line up that Australia have had since at least the early 80s (arguably much longer than that) and in Asia against a decent bowling attack that stayed fit is stretching credibility.

Australia had only passed 300 once before in the 4th innings in Asia , and that was against Bangladesh (307/7)
The most theyd ever scored in a 4th innings against a decent test side side in Asia was 246 all out.
Khawajas score was the highest 4th innings score by an Australian ever in Asia, 2nd highest by an opener of any nationality in Asia and 8th highest in total.
Paines score was the highest by an Australian number 7 in a 4th innings in Asia, and 6th highest anywhere (quite possibly most balls faced but cba to check).

I dont feel our predictions of doom for Australia after that day 3 collapse were unfounded, whats happened is an absolute historic anomoly. Getting that draw was way beyond expectation, and done without shenanigans, dodgy umpiring or bad sportsmanship. And whsilt Pakistan were sloppyt and can be critisized for their tactics its not like they played that badly or that theres any whiff of what may have happened in certain games in the past.

Khawaja, Head and Paine simply batted beyond expectation and the tail held their nerves. They should be very proud of themselves, espeically as the result wasnt just delivered by established test stars.

Its also worth remembering the shifts Siddle, Lyon and Starc put in in the first innings too. Whilst they were blunt in terms of threat Starc in particular stuck to his task like an absolute trooper and kept the scoring rate down. I doubt hes ever bowled that many overs in an innings before. Had they lost discipline Australia woudlve been in an even worse situation. Lyons bowled 78 overs in the match ...to come out and bat through when the game looked dead was also quite a thing.

Any word on Siddle though? Is he crocked? He barely got bowled past lunch on day 2. His longevity for the series could be an issue.



Meanwhile West Indies are busy proving they are absolute junk and dont care.

Impressed with that Aussie resilience, unfortunately

In line with the above posts, I massively commend the resilience shown by Australia. Goose puts it excellently into context. As he says, that must do wonders for their morale.

However, I do wonder if the next Test is coming too soon for them. I fear the effort and concentration displayed may leave them physically and emotionally drained. I hope the fear is unfounded - they don't deserve to go back to square one which would be so disheartening. As always, we'll see ....

over confident India lagging behind WI in the game now at 160-4. and having to bat 4th
WK and bowling allrounders have to get a lot of runs

Agree with that Guilford, as I noted it appears that Siddle was done even before the first innings ended and they cant reasonably expect him to do that again. Lyon and Starc too, surely too much to ask of them to bowl as much as they did again?
Paine is probably pretty fatigued too after spending 3 days + behind the stumps and batting long. Khawaja wont have batted that long many times in his life (both innings combined). Add in the draining effects of the heat too and they really would want a good long rest. The Marsh boys should be pretty fresh mind.

So if Pakistan win the toss next time and bat with the same discipline you have to expect Aus to wilt. When it comes down to it although they played out of their skins to salvage a draw over the game they were the second best team and winning was never a question, despite Pakistan handing them a number of wickets (run outs etc).

..and the India game!
Chase is looking every bit the Stokes isnt he. Very inconsistent in tests but seems to have a knack of conjuring up game changing performances.

Shaws continuing to build his hype train but India have left the door open for the Windies.

Another big turn around, at 113-5 Id assumed it was game over.

Gooseberry wrote:Agree with that Guilford, as I noted it appears that Siddle was done even before the first innings ended and they cant reasonably expect him to do that again. Lyon and Starc too, surely too much to ask of them to bowl as much as they did again?
Paine is probably pretty fatigued too after spending 3 days + behind the stumps and batting long. Khawaja wont have batted that long many times in his life (both innings combined). Add in the draining effects of the heat too and they really would want a good long rest. The Marsh boys should be pretty fresh mind.

So if Pakistan win the toss next time and bat with the same discipline you have to expect Aus to wilt. When it comes down to it although they played out of their skins to salvage a draw over the game they were the second best team and winning was never a question, despite Pakistan handing them a number of wickets (run outs etc).  

Well that's why I said its a start ; not to get too excited and expect the dawn of a new age... A huge effort to draw a game that looked lost for sure is something to lift morale : but translating that into actually winning in Asia is another story. Not impossible : if they can bat so well again....worth noting four players , including 3 and 4 in the order , made ducks ; so there is potential to improve. But I'm not sure this pitch really qualifies as the "spinning conditions" that so often undo Australia in Asia : will the second Test provide a bit more assistance for the spinners ? And if so , how will the tourists fare ?

The good thing is that first match draw means we are all looking forward to find out instead of "ho hum , another ritual slaughter coming up "

Hopefully a few days rest will help Siddle recover. He's a tough old bird and I think an important one for this somewhat experimental Australian outfit.

Accidental post deleted

Rishabh Pant has that unique ability to pound boundaries at will, after his initial struggles at Test level he's bedding in well 114, 92 and 59* in consecutive innings. If India lay decent platforms in Australia, Pant could well take apart the Australian bowling

Pant and Rahane restoring India's position rather effectively...

Good point Nathaniel that Pant seems to have learned from those early failures and threatens to become a very effective scorer at six. I'm not totally convinced by his keeping yet ; but he's got time to learn if he keeps adding vital runs.

Will be interesting to see how he goes in Australia ... May depend a lot on the pitch conditions ?

alfie wrote:Pant and Rahane restoring India's position rather effectively...

Good point Nathaniel that Pant seems to have learned from those early failures and threatens to become a very effective scorer at six.  I'm not totally convinced by his keeping yet ; but he's got time to learn if he keeps adding vital runs.

Will be interesting to see how he goes in Australia ... May depend a lot on the pitch conditions ?

Yes Alfie, Pant's keeping is very much a working progress, the young pup often looks more like a football goalkeeper than a wicketkeeper at times Pant's form causes a selection dilemma for India, as Saha is a beautiful keeper but Pant's arguably a match winner with the bat.

I think Pant, and Shaw, the moving ball with cause them issues in Brisbane. Both play with their hands and the footwork is a little suspect at times. Pant comes across as a happy hooker, considering the huge boundaries in Australia, he might be well advised to put that shot away against Starc and Cummins

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Rishabh Pant has that unique ability to pound boundaries at will, after his initial struggles at Test level he's bedding in well 114, 92 and 59* in consecutive innings. If India lay decent platforms in Australia, Pant could well take apart the Australian bowling

poor man's gilchrist....
yet hard , bouncy Aus will be far easier for him than Eng's soft seaming pitches were

KP_fan wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Rishabh Pant has that unique ability to pound boundaries at will, after his initial struggles at Test level he's bedding in well 114, 92 and 59* in consecutive innings. If India lay decent platforms in Australia, Pant could well take apart the Australian bowling

poor man's gilchrist....
yet hard , bouncy Aus will be far easier for him than Eng's soft seaming pitches were

You realize that Gilly made his Test debut at 28, whereas Pant was only 20. Poor man's Gilly or not, Pant's upscale is very large at this stage.

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Rishabh Pant has that unique ability to pound boundaries at will, after his initial struggles at Test level he's bedding in well 114, 92 and 59* in consecutive innings. If India lay decent platforms in Australia, Pant could well take apart the Australian bowling

poor man's gilchrist....
yet hard , bouncy Aus will be far easier for him than Eng's soft seaming pitches were

You realize that Gilly made his Test debut at 28, whereas Pant was only 20. Poor man's Gilly or not, Pant's upscale is very large at this stage.

Two 92's in a row...more like the poor mans Root

Windies returned to type ...poor effort. A very one sided series, maybe handy for India in helping to bed in Pant and Shaw and make them feel secure of places for Aus but pretty worthless as a sporting contest.
Bishoo is having an awful year, averaging over 60 with the ball despite playing all his tests in Asia. Hes been a bit hit and miss through his career but this is a pretty rotten run of form.

Six sixes in an over from Afghanistan prodigy Hazratullah Zazai in the Afghanistan Premier League today - he scored a huge hundred a few days ago too. Just 20, one to keep an eye on!

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

Nathaniel Jacobs wrote:Rishabh Pant has that unique ability to pound boundaries at will, after his initial struggles at Test level he's bedding in well 114, 92 and 59* in consecutive innings. If India lay decent platforms in Australia, Pant could well take apart the Australian bowling

poor man's gilchrist....
yet hard , bouncy Aus will be far easier for him than Eng's soft seaming pitches were

You realize that Gilly made his Test debut at 28, whereas Pant was only 20. Poor man's Gilly or not, Pant's upscale is very large at this stage.

Life & careers cannot be linearly extrapolated.......because he starts at 20 doesn't mean Pant can play for 17 more years
karthik started at 19 and parthiv at 16.....and look how muhc they could play

also bear in mind like cars.....cricketers wear-rates are judged not only by age but number of miles on them
i.e how many hours / days of cricket they have played.....Pant is playing IPL and soon will be the WK in all forms.......so he will clock up miles very fast

Gooseberry wrote:Windies returned to type ...poor effort. A very one sided series, maybe handy for India in helping to bed in Pant and Shaw and make them feel secure of places for Aus but pretty worthless as a sporting contest.
Bishoo is having an awful year, averaging over 60 with the ball despite playing all his tests in Asia. Hes been a bit hit and miss through his career but this is a pretty rotten run of form.

Jason Holder made a world record of lowest bowling average for a fast (seam) bowler in a calendar year in the history of the game    
He finished 2018 with 38 wickets at 11.6 average

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cricket/comments/9o12vg/jason_holders_bowling_average_in_2018_is_the_best/

He now averages 28 with the all and 31 with the bat....and is a pretty decent allrounder...
Windies has talent....but as I have written oft.....they don't care for test cricket
and they in general being a collation of disparate nations.....don't have a *national feeling" to play for

let them play ICC tournaments as Individual islands and some of them might be better than  Windies on the whole in my view

That is an impressive feat!

Another stat Ive come across...Holder and Chase average 76 batting together for the seventh wicket and have the most 100+ run stands of any seventh wicket pairing in test history.

Im not entirely sure its a case odf just not caring about tests KPF, they are ranked even lower in ODIs and only a place higher in T20s where they are more likely to have all of their players available. Most of the players who won the world cup in 2016 are faded or retired now.

Theres certainly an issue touring, as there is with most test sides, but really to me its seems theres way too much filler and liottkler competition for places. Theres not really any genuinely good batsmen, guys like Chanderpaul and before him Lara could to some extent carry the team. Now their only specilaist bat in the top 40 is Braithwaite.
Theres some decent bowlers (the 3 main seamers are all in the test top 20) but overall beyond Chase and Holder theres not any genuine talent there anymore. Their top ranked batsman in ODIs is Hope at 47th! T20s they have Lewis then nothing, whilst again having a few good options with the ball (notably Badree)


Whilst Gayle will be available for the world cup hes not the player he was and potentialy a disruptive infleuence. With him at the end of his career, and Badree too the talent looks to bve drying up across all formats. The way things are going pretty soon Chase and Holder will be their only real international stars, and both largely only play tests.

The lack of international quality batsmen is pretty startling in all formats. Its not just a case of not caring, but of not having any batting talent too, and maybe not caring about international cricket full stop rather than just tests. It will be interesting to see though how they go at the world cup with a cobbled together side of people like Gayle coming out the woodwork and in games that are genuinely meaningful....but I dont see it being much better than 2015 where they barely scrapped through their group and got hammered by NZ in the knockouts.

Sanath Jayasuriya charged under ICC Anti-Corruption Code:

https://www.icc-cricket.com/media-releases/878535

Nathan Lyon has just taken four wickets in six balls as Pakistan slump to 57-5 in second Test.

I just opened CI to see that dramatic score card 77-5 and 10 of those runs came in last over.....and 49* of those runs are from Fakhar Zaman

Was hoping Aus could win the toss...but even after losing the toss...they find themselves in an unimaginable position of strength

Is the pitch absolutley ridiculous or is this just Pakistan being awful?

Strange mix of action today...

Fifty up for just one wicket : then Lyon takes four for none ! (Haven't seen them yet - looking forward to replays )
Then after lunch Pakistan have launched a vigorous counter attack , going at five per over ...

Australia will still be happy to have them five down : but they'll want to cut this stand short soon...there's the hundred partnership in just 23 overs

This new chap Zaman looks OK...

Gooseberry wrote:Is the pitch absolutley ridiculous or is this just Pakistan being awful?

Can't see anything wrong with the pitch in this session...

Pakistan are notable for having some spectacular low - and high - points. Perhaps that was one of the former ?

After all the rumours about a "green" pitch and Australia possibly playing an extra seamer , this looks like a normal UAE track... Wonder what will be a par score ?

Yeah looking at it it seems Pakistan have found things pretty easy outside of that ridiculous period where they imploded to Lyon. Certainly the seamers havent had anything like the control they did in the previous test.

All suggests a bit of slack attitude followed by a panic, quite the opposite of the concentratiuon and resiliance they showed in the first innings last game ...but more like the suicide cricket they played later on that let Aus back into the game.


This does kind of take away the small risk of a draw again at least ....

Yes you'd fancy a result here...though you never know : next two days might produce a ton of runs and few wickets...

Right now Australia aren't really putting enough pressure on the batsmen : I'd imagine the seamers are less than fresh now and frankly Holland just doesn't look good enough at this level...too much left to Lyon. They need to slow the runs at least or the good start could be wasted ; and they'll be batting last.

Pakistan being Pakistan. Makes for an exciting game, if nothing else.

240/7 now...

Labuschagne doing a good job with the ball again , 2/25 : if he could make some runs he'd be an all rounder

If Pakistan can push this up around 300 they'll count it a pretty good recovery. And with Australia to bat last they're going to need to put a decent first innings together this time. Wonder if Finch and Khawaja can get them off to another excellent start...