Pakistan in NZ, then Aus

First topic message reminder :

Really looking forward to these two tours this winter - starting tonight, Pakistan play New Zealand then head over to Australia . Intrigued to see how they follow up their exploits in England this summer

Really fancy them to do well - and more Misbah = happy Olly

wisden wrote:Can see Khawaja getting axed for next tour/series...Smith is better at no3, leading from the front, and Shaun Marsh will probably come back in at 4

I'd question the assertion that Smith is better at three (if that is what you mean ?) He has done very well in both spots , but his average at four is about 10 runs higher...and he would obviously be more exposed if an early wicket were to fall.
Better than Khawaja certainly - but the latter has a good (home) record too and would be unfortunate to be axed out of hand . I agree he might struggle in India , but that might be said of a lot of them : suspect he will at least be given a chance to try.

Presumably the argument for Marsh hinges on him having a much better record in Asia (well Sri Lanka) than kwhk\shgdsugaHA?

I persnally dont see him getting a recall as he really epitomises what this side is supposed to be trying to move on from.

A bigger question will be how they accomodate enough bowling without over lengthening the tail and who will get that troublesome 6 spot. Cartwright surely cant be seen as a serious test bowler.

He's only bowled 4 overs so far , Goose ! I didn't see it ; but I do understand he's really much more of a batsman who bowls. Perhaps they feel that if pitches are as expected all they need is someone who can fill in for a few overs while the spinners do nearly all the work outside of new ball periods ? Didn't seem to help England much having even four "serious" pace bowlers...

Bigger question might be : have they two spinners who are fit for purpose ?

Yeah Alfie ... i cant help feeling the selections for this game have been looking ahead to India. Totally agree that Cartwright is in for his batting, but that doss leave them massively short on bowling for this test. If hes barely used in hone conditions then I dont see how he can be a force in India.
They do too have the same problem as England, not even 1 spinner they have real confidence in let alone 2 or 3. Although Lyon and Okeefe are both slightly better than anything England had ...thats balanced a bit by neither of them batting for toffee...which is why we see yet another notanallrounder at 6 trying to pretend they have some depth to the attack.

Last time they went with 3 fast bowlers and Lyon, plus an all rounder seamer and part time spin....or one test maxwell was picked as a second spinner to deepen the batting. They got pastied, although the genuine quicks ( unlike englands fast mediums) did have some good days. South Africa went there and troubled India with quality fast bowling.

So there is a reasonable argument for playing to their strengths and picking the raw pace then relying on part timers to let them rest. If they get completely dead pitches theres not a lot they can do other than try to bat through Ashwin.

Last time out they had similar problems to England picking sides reactively and swallowing flies to catch spiders. I cant see this tour going any differently unless they switch off.

The amount of flak Nathan lyon gets baffles and annoys me. The guy is a very good off spinner. Yes he is a little bit off of his rhytym at the moment, but 95% of the time, he offers superb control, always looks threatning and takes wickets.

This is a man with 223 test wickets at 33 apiece. These are good numbers from 62 tests, econcmy of 3.19 as well, people need to lay off of him, he's a good off spinner, and easily the best spinner they have had since Warne, he does a good job, and no one else in OZ is any better

Pakistan played really very well in Australia in 2nd ODI, Imad waseem will be the captain in future i think. He is a great cricketing player.

Oship.cc

thanks for that...