Cook the lucky bastard.
English cricket 2015 - NZ, The Ashes, Pak and SA
- Thread starter Samid
- Start date
Fortune favours the brave
I'm not sure bowling short to Cook is ever a good idea but especially not on a slow pitch.
Miss a proper off spinner. Ajmal or Hafeez would've sorted out Cook by now.
About fecking time!
Yasir you beauty!
Don't we have any other spinner except Babar? fecking useless old man.
Harsh but true. He offers control but that's about it. Pakistan should be looking for young talent, not these old guys that play for a couple of years and then retire. Mental not adding Zafar Gohar to the squad. Only 20 years old and was causing the English batsmen massive problems in the two warmups.Very good day for England. In a good position to push for a lead. Yasir's done ok, I expect more from him tomorrow.
Think Pakistan are well on top tbh.
If they get Root early tomorrow they win the game.
If they get Root early tomorrow they win the game.
Yeah, I'd rather be in Pakistan's shoes.
Good day for England, though.
Good day for England, though.
Massive wicket that. Wahab has become such a reliable bowler.
Wahab Riaz with an incredible spell!
7-5-6-3
Game changing spell.
7-5-6-3
Game changing spell.
Wahab you legend!
Also the 3rd umpires can feck off with their inconsistency. That Younis catch was no different from the one Anderson took last week.
Also the 3rd umpires can feck off with their inconsistency. That Younis catch was no different from the one Anderson took last week.
England on the verge of a full blown collapse here.
216-7
216-7
England doing a classic Pakistan.
223-8
Shah gets Bairstow and all of a sudden England are batting themselves out of the game here.
Shah gets Bairstow and all of a sudden England are batting themselves out of the game here.
Well this is a pleasant surprise to wake up to. Nice work Pakistan!
Don't mess this up now. Target has to be at least 350.
Actually a good thing that Masood failed again. No reason not to drop him now. Such an average cricketer.
Nice test match going on in Sri lanka as well
Was surprised to see its on Eurosport. But the times clash, so haven't seen much of it.
As usual it's up to one of Hafeez, Younis & Misbah to score the big runs. Although, I have confidence in Shafiq too.
I expect Azhar Ali will come in for him. Not sure he has ever opened in Tests though?
I expect Azhar Ali will come in for him. Not sure he has ever opened in Tests though?
I'd have Azhar locked down at 3. Either Malik as an opener or bring in Shehzad. Or possibly Sarfraz as opener and Malik at 7.
Batting at number 3 for Pakistan is basically opening, awful openers for a long while.
Misbah misbehavin'.
Just caught up... Unsure whether to laugh or cry.
Batting lineup is just all over the place, drop Ali to 5/6, bring in Taylor at 3, make Bairstow wicketkeeper and get a proper opener in! Personally I would like:
Cook
Compton
Taylor
Root
Bairstow
Ali
Stokes
Rashid
Broad
Wood
Anderson
Cook
Compton
Taylor
Root
Bairstow
Ali
Stokes
Rashid
Broad
Wood
Anderson
Bell and Buttler have to go. You can bring in Taylor and an opener.
Bell has been very average for a long while now and Buttler is struggling to cope with test cricket.
Bell has been very average for a long while now and Buttler is struggling to cope with test cricket.
Buttler can't handle spin, Lyon had his number all summer which made Buttler starting these last two tests peculiar to me. I think he's a ridiculous talent but he needs to go away and clear his head a bit like Root did a few years back.
Ian Bell is just a massive fraud. It's unbelievable someone like him has racked up a 100 test caps for England.
His record since 2012 excluding the 2013 Ashes.
Even more pathetic if you remove a shite West Indies side. I mean his career is pretty average itself in an era where every man and his dog walks around with ~50 average. How's he been allowed to get away with it for 100 test matches?
His record since 2012 excluding the 2013 Ashes.
Even more pathetic if you remove a shite West Indies side. I mean his career is pretty average itself in an era where every man and his dog walks around with ~50 average. How's he been allowed to get away with it for 100 test matches?
I don't think Stokes is good enough to bat in the top 6 either, but if he doesn't he seems to cry about it and not play properly whereas Ali doesn't care. I'm not sure I'd give up on Ali as an opener just yet, either, especially when the option in the squad is Hales.
I reckon Ballance would do brilliantly here, disappointed he's not with the team, his treatments been pretty harsh, but he'd certainly be more solid at first drop than Bell.
Ian Bell is just a massive fraud. It's unbelievable someone like him has racked up a 100 test caps for England.
His record since 2012 excluding the 2013 Ashes.
Even more pathetic if you remove a shite West Indies side. I mean his career is pretty average itself in an era where every man and his dog walks around with ~50 average. How's he been allowed to get away with it for 100 test matches?
He plays a nice cover drive, thats it.
And he was the difference in an Ashes series.
He should be dropped but he did have his moment.
Yeah, the last thing you want is his test form to affect his ODI from and the free spirit with which he plays.
Yep. We wisely dropped Morgan because of this.
Bell's career average is plummeting.
Down to 42 and doesn't look like recovering anytime soon.
Down to 42 and doesn't look like recovering anytime soon.
That was a good decision, and it's been vindicated. Brilliant ODI players don't necessarily make good test players.
Bevan and Fairbrother as examples.
Thats kind of the problem though, in 100+ test matches he's got one series you can point to and say he made the difference.
He also was in horrific form before that series and was lucky not to have been dropped, and has been in horrific form since.
He could have no real complaints if he didn't play another test after 2010 and wouldn't have if he didn't have a pretty technique.