ljkeane Posted December 8, 2016 Author Share Posted December 8, 2016 Looks like England have found another test opener (via the South African under 19s). Spend 4 years looking and then two come along at once. They aren't in a bad position but they've probably lost one or two too many wickets to really cash in on winning the toss. Cook and Bairstow's dismissals stood out as particularly soft, well Ali's as well but that's probably to be expected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squab Posted December 9, 2016 Share Posted December 9, 2016 On 7/12/2016 at 3:15 PM, Paxter said: Australia is performing well in these ODIs, I wonder if this will be a summer of two halves for the Aussies... I'm heading up to the 'Gabba for the day-night test against Pakistan, but am worried that the visitors will struggle on a fast, bouncy wicket, particularly if they have to bat under lights. Australia's test record at the Gabba is excellent but they collapse so easily at the moment, I wouldn't be surprised if Pakistan do well. By this time of year storms are fairly regular so I imagine it'll be a green top and we'll see a lot of wickets when they are able to get some overs in. Anything can happen on a pitch like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 Looks like England are going to get hammered here. They were competitive for the first 2.5 days but Kohli has just been too good for them. Overall, I've been very impressed by England. They've been tough to beat and India have had to play excellent cricket in familiar conditions to beat them. Before the first test, all the talk was about 5-0 and how easily India would win. Even English commentators had given up hope. It may still end up being a 4-0 loss, but I think they've played very well most of the time. They made a big selection mistake and repeated it in every test by having an extra seam bowler instead of an extra batsman. The extra bowler has not been useful at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljkeane Posted December 11, 2016 Author Share Posted December 11, 2016 They should have gone for the extra batsman in this test but their problem is they don't have a third spinner good enough to play. Their first two spinners aren't really good enough either, Kohli has been class but to finish up with a first innings lead it wasn't really Kohli they needed to get out, it was Yadav. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted December 11, 2016 Share Posted December 11, 2016 The batting and spinner cupboard is looking shockingly bare. We'll probably be OK at home and in the southern hemisphere, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 I think one of the other disappointments for England has been the lack of effectiveness of their seamers. I know it's a wierd thing to say about an India tour, but good (and occasionally mediocre) seamers have prospered in India by bowling a lot of off cutters. McGrath and Gillespie come to mind. Klusener debuted in India and picked up a lot of wickets with off cutters as well. It looked like the England seamers gave up as soon as it looked like the ball wouldn't swing around. This resulted in massive pressure on Rashid who bowled ok, but is clearly not ready to be the leader of the attack, particularly against batsmen who historically love batting against legspin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Broad is our best cutter bowler and we've missed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squab Posted December 12, 2016 Share Posted December 12, 2016 Given a rest and time to get back into it I imagine/hope Broad will be a force again for the Ashes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 I expect England will be much more competitive in the Ashes. For starters, Anderson, Broad and Finn or whoever else they go with will turn up with a completely different attitude to bowling. The pitches will offer some assistance to their styles of bowling. And guys like Stokes, Woakes and Bairstow/Butler will be far more effective batting in the middle order (though to be fair, Bairstow has batted decently in India). I'm keen to see how the Pakistani fast bowlers fare in Brisbane after they destroyed the CA XI in their weekend first class warmup. We've had heaps of rain and humidity in the last few weeks here. That, coupled with the pink ball and hopefully a traditional Gabba greentop should make for a fast bowlers' test match. Starc and Hazlewood are in top form as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 AB de Villiers steps down as Test captain and du Plessis appointed on a permanent basis. Think Faf deserves the appointment as he has shown good leadership skills and tactical acumen. Disappointed to hear that AB will miss the Test series against Sri Lanka as he has not recovered sufficiently from his elbow operation. The team doctor estimates another 3-4 weeks before he can play. To make matters worse, Faf could miss the 1st Test as well should his appeal against ball tampering fail (which seems inevitable) and the judicial commissioner chooses to impose a one-match ban. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Great stuff from Pakistan to save face after a pretty forgettable first three days of the test. Younus and Shafiq in particular have looked in dreadful form recently, so it says a lot about them that they were able to make some tough runs. And out of nowhere Amir is starting to look like a decent lower-order bat! No doubt Australia will seal the win today, but at least there is some hope of competitive tests in Melbourne and Sydney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squab Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 A lot closer than I thought it would be. Kudos to Pakistan. Bodes well for next week in Melbourne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desire Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 That was probs one of the hardest fought test and my fingers nails are gone great hard fought effort by both teams. Nice to see Handscomb stand up. Should be a cracker of a series. I was so worried Pakistan would pull it off and mickey arthur was going to have a field day and start to hand out pop quizzes lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hereward Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 This is embarrassing, even by England standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 Can't believe England fluffed that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeor Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Great effort from Pakistan to get to 400+ on a rain-interrupted test. Brilliant 150+ by Azhar Ali and well supported by others. It's a pity so much time has been lost to rain with the first innings still not done on the third day, so there won't be a result, but Pakistan should get a lot of confidence from this. Batting has not traditionally been their strong suit. But Azhar and Shafiq have already scored hundreds on this tour, at 30 and 31 with about 50 Tests each to their name, they are ready to take over from Younus Khan and Misbah who have both looked their age. The lower order batting is also strong, starting with the 'keeper Sarfraz and the belligerent tailenders in Amir (who looks like he should be averaging way more than the mid teens), Wahab and now Sohail. Their bowling attack is good - pacey left-armers in Amir and Wahab and a good spinner in Yasir. Pakistan are only really three players away from being a really top-class side. If they could find another couple of good top-order batsmen (always a struggle for Pakistan) and a good right arm paceman they would be real contenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted December 28, 2016 Share Posted December 28, 2016 Yeah, Pakistan has batted well. Unless Aussies collapse, hard to see either team coming even close to winning this test. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Ha good prediction there TWS! Pakistan were abject in the latter half of the Boxing Day test. Hard to see anything but a 3-0 series sweep with the Aussies bowling last on the SCG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 2 hours ago, Paxter said: Ha good prediction there TWS! Pakistan were abject in the latter half of the Boxing Day test. Hard to see anything but a 3-0 series sweep with the Aussies bowling last on the SCG. Haha, yup, wrong on pretty much every point. But the curse-fu is strong in this thread, so it all worked out quite well in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 I'm bemused at the condemnation of Renshaw's scoring rate by some Australian cricket fans. He's averaging 45 and about to hit his second fifty in four tests - that kind of record should be applauded, not criticised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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