Pakistan v England 2nd Test Player Ratings - Abu Dhabi

Well, shocking batting performance. My ratings for this Test for both teams are at the following link on my personal blog. What do you think? I think I may have been too kind to England, in retrospect...

http://andy-bloxham.blogspot.com/2012/01/pakistan-v-england-2nd-test-ratings-abu.html

Englands bowling looks good. The batsmen look good in England / Australia, it just seems this sort of pitch and batting against spin is their achilles heel. Hopefully they can work on it - was it just a question of application and concentration in the batting, or is it technique?

Technique. They concentrated but they keep playing back to the spinners, and are infuriating with these pathetic prods they do.

As I've said umpteen times in the last two weeks, they should watch the likes of Michael Clarke or AB De Villiers. They use their feet to get to the pitch, and always get a good stride in. I don't recall a single England batsman using their feet. Truly awful.

Looks about right Fists - maybe I'd give Misbah an 8 for his 1st innings 84 & captaincy which was also crucial in the final outcome.

Broad used his feet. Didn't help him in second innings but his 1st innings should have shown his team how to win the match ...

Alas no (Perhaps they weren't watching)

My ratings

Pakistan

Hafeez 8
Umar 4
Azhar Ali 8
Younus Khan 4
Misbah-ul-Haq 8
Shafiq 8
Akmal 6
Rehman 9
Ajmal 9
Gul 4
Junaid Khan 3

England

Strauss 5
Cook 8
Trott 7
Pietersen 2
Bell 4
Morgan 2
Prior 6
Broad 9
Swann 8
Anderson 7
Panesar 9

Fists, I think you are a little harsh on Prior - I don't think his game was any better or worse than Akmal's so 1 points difference at most (none for me) between them is all that could be justified. Although Junaid was poor, and neither Pakistan seamer got a proper go (or at all in Junaid's case in the 2nd innings) I don't think it is fair to have 5 clear points between them as you have.

Otherwise we are mostly agreed although I'm generally more positive than you have been. I think it should be remembered that England did most things right up until the 2nd innings and that even a nervy but successful run chase would have had us saying that England had 'conquered the final frontier'.

Hi Fists - I was just about to reply along the same lines as Shelsey's main point. Your rating of '2' for Prior seems harsh and doesn't gel overall with your comments. Whilst pointing out his lack of runs, you do say he 'kept well'.

Junaid's batting was so appalling today that I wouldn't argue about his '1'. I don't expect ability from a number 11 but there's no excuse for such irresponsibility. Had things ended closer as they should have done, that could have cost Pakistan dear.

Prior aside, I have to say your ratings are pretty much on the money for me.

England seems to have the same problem SA had for many years with spin bowling, batting back on your stumps leaves no room when you are caught in your crease.

Amla has shown that you don't need to draw a bunker deep inside your crease to have enough time to play spin bowling. A spin bowler is encouraged when you do that, but when you come forward and get to the pitch of the ball you can play more positively and it unnerves a spinner when you keep scoring agianst them. It forces them to change their lengths and relieves pressure.

GEE, I didn't even know I understood batting against spinners that well, my batting average was 2.5

Now don't anyone of you dare disagree with me, it will just burst my bubble and blow the only bit of confidence I have about my knowledge of cricket out the water.

Thanks for the feedback, gents. Didn't realise I had rated Prior as a 2, that does seem harsh and will alter that one.

All credit due to Pakistan who fought to the very end and caused an upset. Not, i have to say a great upset because i felt that something like this was on the cards, and all my fears about English Cricket teams on the Sub-continent have come true. Well done and well fought Pakistan and a good series deservedly won by you!!


England have also over the last few years done us proud, but oh dear, they had better get their act in order double quick, or else further humiliation beckons.

Is it just me, or should the England team be investigated for match fixing?

It beggars belief that they can play well enough to beat Australia like they did, and then turn in such shambolic performances that they lose like this.

Maybe the bowlers could be exempt, but the batting was just terrible. A team of club players would have done better than most of those England batsmen. It's all very well Andrew Strauss castigating the Pakistanis last year for the match fixing, but he should take a close look at his own team.

That was disgraceful.

my ratings

ENGLAND:

Strauss:5
Cook:9
Trott:6
KP:5
Bell:4
Morgan:2
Prior:8 (gets extra 2 marks for impressive glovework)
Swann:5
Broad:8
Anderson:8
Panesar:10 (exceptional performance)

PAKISTAN:

Hafeez: 7
Taufeeq: 2
Azhar:6
Younus:5
Misbah:10
Shafiq:9
Akmal:7
Rehman:8
Gul:6
Ajmal:7
Junaid:3

Both teams add up to 70. Surely Pakistan should have more, even if it's marginal?

i dont add each side up, i go by indvidual performances.

Spot on, cricketfan, that is how I do it.

Remember, England's batsmen let them down but England's bowlers were truly outstanding.

therefore i feel my ratings are pretty much spot on

Then why the hell has Pieterson got 5 ? He is a flat track bully of the worst sort ! Bell 4 - you are having a bleedin' laugh aren't you ? Morgan has played his last test match surely ? Strauss utterly woeful captaincy - again. Cook, Broad, Panesar and Prior should be kept. Bin the rest of these useless dunces . -this is what the No1 team in the world should get on their return

oh dear here we go, not meaning to sound rude, but you clearly havent watched kp if you think he is a flat track bully, and you have gone way over the top

Didn't see any of the cricket today as had some errands to run but caught the wickets on the news. Can only think that playing back to the spinners was a deliberate ploy. Strauss said they had worked on their approach to spin between the two tests and if that's what they came up with then perhaps Flower and Gooch might not be the coaches we thought they were.

Hell, Rob Key and Mark Butcher gave a better analysis on how to play spin on the Sky Sports summary of the last test.

If Monty's a 10 with his 6/62 then Rehman must be an 11 with his 6/25!

Apart from dismissing Ali in the 2nd innings, Anderson was nothing special. Broad was streets ahead of him, imo.

21st Century Schizoid Man wrote:Then why the hell has Pieterson got 5 ? He is a flat track bully of the worst sort ! Bell 4 - you are having a bleedin' laugh aren't you ? Morgan has played his last test match surely ? Strauss utterly woeful captaincy - again. Cook, Broad, Panesar and Prior should be kept. Bin the rest of these useless dunces . -this is what the No1 team in the world should get on their return

Incredibly bad over reaction, and totally wrong in terms of KP being a flat track bully. However, I'll forgive you this once.

BBC website: "In 16 innings between them this series, Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell have scored 162 runs at an average of 10.1
Strauss's 32 is the highest individual score between the four of them".

Find it difficult to see how it can be justified to give Pieterson, Morgan or Bell more than 2 or 3 max. Strauss might just scrape a 4, but even that's pushing it.

Yep, couldn't find it within myself to give them any more than a couple. Strauss got an extra for his marshalling of the troops in the field, and his bit of fight in the 2nd.

Cricket ratings are basically (A) Unnecessary - the sport has enough stats , unlike football etc (B) Inexact - trying to distinguish between a wide range of performances with the blunt instrument of 10 numbers always makes for anomalies (C) Immensely subjective - one man's 4/45 off 21 appeals more - or less - than another player's 6/90 ... and it often depends on the result.
I could go on but you get the gist ... and never mind , it makes for a nice argument and is loads of fun

Actually of all the comments above , only 21st Century Schizoid's are completely certifiable , and I'm reasonably sure he is taking the p*** ...

England:

Strauss: 3
Cook: 6
Trott: 6
Kp: 0
Bell: 1
Morgan: 0
Prior: 6
Broad: 9
Swann: 8
Anderson: 7
Panesar: 9

Pakistan:
Hafeez: 8
Taufeeq: 2
Azhar: 6
Younis: 4
Misbah: 9
Shafiq: 8
Akmal: 7
Rehman: 9
Ajmal: 10
Gul: 5
Junaid: 2