Tommorrow mornings session is the key. England need to back up and get to 350 odd. Pakistan need to skittles the rest out ASAP. It could be an innings victory for England. It could be a very close match. A Pakistan win. A draw. All in all this is what I believe the term nicely poised refers to.
We had an electrical storm so I closed most stuff down and England seemed to be cruising.
Now they are 50 runs short and 5 down. Their bottom order can bat a bit but they will still have to bat last (then again the pitch is only two days old).
Interesting times ahead.
And you posted while I was typing. I haven’t seen the match so have no clear idea how the pitch is playing.
Unless England get a sizeable lead (50 or more) Pakistan would be favourites I would think.
The game really is on a knife edge. Pakistan deserve a lot of credit for the way they kept with it while Cook and Trott were threatening to take the game away, and for their fightback. I actually think Pakistan have an advantage as things stand, as even if we make 300 that’s not enough of a lead to cover the problem of batting last, given the quality of their spinners and our problems playing them.
Cook and Trott played really well, no surprise there. Strauss, KP and Morgan all failed, again, no surprise. Despite an average of nearly 50, KP isn’t fully in control of his game, witness all his dismissals against left arm spin. I have some sympathy for Bell and Morgan. Their blocking approach invited disaster, but what could they do when they can’t read Ajmal? KP got himself out when he tried an aggressive shot. Morgan’s strength is attacking spin, so he could still be an important player for us if he finds some form. His test average in the low thirties flatters him though. His first century was scored when barely facing Pakistan’s two best bowlers in that test, and he offered two or three chances in his second.
Bell has to play more positively tomorrow, and I just hope Prior can get in again. I’d be surprised to see Broad make runs on that pitch, but Swann could get a few.
Looking at out fixture list this year, I wonder if Collingwood retired too early. He had a very good record on the sub-continent, including scoring a century in Sri Lanka against Murali.
Anyway, this is turning into a proper test series, really can’t predict how it will go from here. Both sides attack’s are capable of blowing holes through their opposition in short order.
Good summation Alka. I haven’t seen enough of Pakistan to work out whether they are resurgent or whether England are not that good.
In that i don’t mean to be disrespectful, as I fully believe they deserve to be rated No 1 in test cricket. However I don’t know if they will be dominant as say the Windies teams of the 80’s and early 90’s.
Who would you rate as the best of the English batsmen? Trott? It was KP for a fair period but his form seems to have slipped. Strauss also has had a very lean stretch.
England do deserve the no 1 ranking due to the sheer number of games they have won recentely, but they’ve got a lot of work to do if they want to be compared with the very best teams, who found ways to win in all conditions. As I said above, KP and Bell have mediocre records on sub-continental pitches, Morgan is unproven and Strauss has had long-term problems with his batting form. He may even be at the end of his career, although I hope not. The bowling unit is really good. Individually, none of them are true greats, with the possible exception of Anderson, but together they are well capable of applying pressure on any pitch. As I said before, we’ll find out this year how good the team really is.
Trott and Cook are our best batsmen at the moment, they are super-organised and professional. Trott’s record is exceptional, and he’s made runs when it really counts. However, don’t expect him to maintain his high-fifties average, his first class average is low forties. Bell has also been brilliant since he got his place back, but hasn’t proved he can play top-class spin. Prior adds depth to the batting, and has gone from being an awful to a good keeper.
Pakistan are showing they are a very good team on asian pitches, but I’m not sure how they will do elsewhere. Unsurprisingly, most players and sides are markedly better in familiar conditions.
Wow, a few surprises in your post (surprises to me at least). I hope Strauss has a few years to go- he is still a young man isn’t he? I always prefer his sort of reserved style to the (perceived) showiness of a KP.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Trott’s average drops either. I always believe a first class batting average is a very good barometer, which is one reason I am a bit dubious of Cowans capacity. (Say the same for Warner but he has had fewer opportunities).
The biggest surprise to me is your ranking of Anderson as a possible great- I have always thought of him as a very good bowler but never a certainty in the side. And at almost 30, and with a Test average of over 30 (bowling) I can’t see him being the next Dennis Lillee. I would acknowledge that Richard Hadlee was around the same age when he really hit his strides but he was a real knock out.
Anyway, hopefully some more good cricket in the next few days. The Australia/ India game is starting to become pretty tedious.
Strauss is just short of 35. Other than the 2010 Ashes, he hasn’t made any serious runs since 2009. He’s done a great job of captaining the team with Flower’s support. His place isn’t under immediate threat, but if he doesn’t make runs by the end of the (northern) summer I could see him retiring.
Anderson hasn’t been a great bowler over his whole career, like a Lillee, Marshall or Ambrose. For many years, he bowled far too many ineffective spells that disappeared for over 4 an over. However, over the last 18 months his average is 23. He almost never bowls a bad spell now, and is utterly lethal when the ball swings. He’s been responsible for some of the most unplayable spells I’ve ever seen, including 6-17 against Pakistan. That wasn’t a freak, he’s bowled just as well on other occasions, and is capable of winning games in a few overs. If he can stay fit and keep that kind of form over the next 2 or 3 years he could have 400 wickets at well under 30. That’s a real big ask, and probably won’t work out, but that’s the kind of potential he has.
Kind of agree about first class averages, but beware of the Trescothick effect. Sometimes things click for a player and they can re-invent themselves (Vaughan, Collingwood and Swann are other examples). In the case of Trott, his lower first class average suggests he isn’t a freaky talent like KP. His game is built around technique and application, chances are there will be times when he’ll have a bad run of form, and over the length of a career things will average out.
I would still say England has the advantage. They will have to whether a storm tommorrow fiirst up Bell is a fine player and pretty much all the tail can bat a bit. I think an innings win is still possible, knowing Pakistan’s brittle batting. I would go out with that plan and not consider batting for a fourth innings.
Re Anderson, he is good, but I really cannot rate him as great. He is perhaps one of the better ones of his era, but the noughties was in many ways a nadir as the quality of new bowlers was generally quite por (Muhammad Sami, I am looking at you).
Strauss 35? I didn’t check but I thought he was about 27. Next you’ll tell me Bradman has retired.
I think Doug Walters had a better Test average than first class average. However, for the time they were both pretty decent. My belief is that if a player has an overall record of average scores in first class cricket, eventually a Test average will get close to that.
Sorry to break it to you, but Bradman has indeed retired in every sense of the word. For 7 short of his batting average, which would be a tragedy for any other player.
In this era there is a good chance, but that hasn’t always been the case. Plenty of players have been found out because they don’t have the temperament or technique for test cricket. Take Mark Ramprakas: 52 tests - av 27, or Graeme Hick: 65 tests - av 31. At the end of the day, an average says nothing about the manner in which a player scores their runs or takes their wickets.
Muhammad Yousaf is another who had an average First Class and a much better Test average, tough it did improve.
As far as Hick and Ramprakash are concerned, I think their First Class averages are more an example of the mediocrity of English County Cricket in the late 80’ to mid 90’s then any real world beating talent. Hick v Mushtaq Ahmed in the 1992 World Cup final. Bill Lawry cooing “He has no idea”. Hell Hick failed anytime he faced quality opposition. Treschothick, despite his demons, did well against good teams. I remember both Hick and Trescothick were in the side for the latters first two series in which they faced Walsh and Ambrose and Wasim and Waqar and the difference was apparent.
I was actually meaning that if you don’t have a first class average that is good, it is not often that you will achieve a lot better in Tests.
That you can do well in first class cricket and not be up to Test standard is obvious. There are no guarantees. Apologies- I didn’t express that very well in the post above.
(This was in reply to Alka Seltzer not AK84)
Lead of 66. Englands game to lose now.
70 was more of a lead than I was expecting, glad Broad proved me wrong. 44/3, the match is swinging our way. Still game on though, even 150 would be a nervy chase.
I wonder what Misbah’s strike rate is against Panesar compared to all other England bowlers in this test?
Yes, it doesn’t happen often.
Monty on 3-26 off 15, really good stuff. I’m hopeful for a nervy chase of <100.
Good play from Ali and Shafiq to give Pakistan a chance. They have to do it all over again tomorrow though.
Yes- I’d sooner be an England supporter than a Pakistan supporter at the moment though.
What’s the lead now- 55. I would think Pakistan would need at least another 150 and it is difficult to see where that will come from.
So Pakistan set a target of 145. Great to see Panesar bowling well again. As predicted, the chase is proving a nightmare, 33/4 right now. KP and Morgan have just gone to Rehman in 3 balls, and Trott is unwell, so Prior batting next. With that over, Pakistan become favourites to win for the first time in this test.
And isn’t this why we love test cricket? It’s like a fine novel, taking you on a ride, messing with your mind.
Redemption (Monty) Inner Turmoil (Strauss) and the ever-present clown (Pietersen)
I anticipate an happy ending for Pakistan.