In our last two innings, we haven’t been able to bat for 2 sessions, let alone two days. It’s a gettable target, but a tough one. 320 rarely gets chased down, and almost never by such an out of form side.
As I said, I think our chances of winning are very slim, but what I’d like to see is us make a decent attempt of the chase. Our first innings effort was abysmal, but at least Strauss put a score together (with difficulty), and KP played well for a while. What worries me isn’t the prospect of losing, but the very real danger of yet another collapse, and a massive hangover for the Sri Lanka tour.
I feel old now. I watched Mudassar Nazar play. And it wasn’t the first Pakistani team I saw either 
Alka Selter, I tend to agree- England’s strength this series has been the bowling rather than the batting.
Meanwhile, I am trying to decide whether I should go and see India play Sri Lanka on Wednesday at the WACA. The crowd should not be too big- although there are a lot of Indians and Sri Lankans in Perth. Top shelf tickets are only $50.
So still finely poised, what a weird, weird test.
I’d still make Pakistan favourites as I’ve yet to see too much evidence of an English batting resurgence but at least they have time on their side and a docile wicket (or at least it was for most of Pakistan’s 2nd innings.) Of course chasing anything over 300 is a big ask and even more so in the context of this series. Unfortunately I expect England to be bowled out for less than 250, the Pakistan spinners are likely to have at least one destructive phase and that may be enough.
Cicero, if it gives you any added impetus it is freezing cold and snowing down here in Kent and most of us would give our right arms (which may drop off due to the cold anyway) to watch India-Sri Lanka at the WACA, if you go you’ll be annoying multiple poms so bear that in mind.
Thanks NB- annoying the Poms- worth every cent of $50.
I watched the sports report on the news tonight and saw the soccer games in the UK where it was bloody snowing. That after having 48 degrees C here a week back.
I’ll probably end up not going though. It is a day / night match, and even though Perth is not a large city, the WACA is on the wrong side of the city for me. I am getting so slack.
You sly bugger Cicero, you choosing not to go is somehow even more annoying.
Well, that’s that. For a while I held on to the delusion that Broad and Prior could get 60-70 apiece and drag us over the line; then I told myself that Swann could get 30 while Prior made a gritty century. Now I just want it to stop. Every additional run we get is just a futile stab at the inevitable.
I disagree - the longer Prior and Anderson stay together the better. They are playing for form and confidence rather than a serious attempt at making those runs. If Anderson can play a longish innings here it may encourage batsmen to bat with him in future, rather than giving their wickets away. It’s been a grim series for our batsmen, they need to squeeze everything they can out of the situation.
Hey, I’m not thinking of them, I’m thinking of me! Will no-one put me out of my misery? (Which has been compounded by the dismal Scottish performance inthe 6 nations, woe, woe.)
You’re right, of course, that any time in the middle is valuable now. And Prior does seem to be handling the situation well. So that’s good.
PS - probably the finest jinx post I’ve ever seen!
Pakistan win by 71 runs. The 5th whitewash in Pakistan’s history. I well remember the last one, back in 1997 against the Windies. That was won by the quicks, this one by the spin men. WOnder what odds you would have got earlier for such a result
Edited to add. This series was a battle between the bowlers to see which attack could win the match before their own batting could lose it.
Well done Pakistan - deserved winners; anything less than a whitewash would have been an injustice.
Aside from the Pakistani 2nd innings here, we bowled OK. As for our batsmen as a collective:
I’m thinking of you too, Sri Lanka series next… 
Congratulations Pakistan, thoroughly deserved sweep of the series. They are a good side. Obviously their spin bowling is the biggest strength, but while the batting looks a little fragile they have all contributed when it’s mattered. Ali and Misbah aren’t the most exciting to watch, but have proven their worth. Ideally, you want a mix of grinders and stroke players. The first to see off the sticky periods, and the second to get runs on the board before the 2nd new ball, which is more important outside of asia. They have also fielded well for the most part. They can improve from here, but need to find more seam-bowling support for Gul.
Thoughts on England to follow.
I know Junaid Khan was unimpressive in the match he played, but I think he needs to be given the opportunity; he was rated better than Muhammad Amir.
Looking at England, the bowling has been very good. Even in Pakistan’s 2nd innings they didn’t bowl badly, you have to expect that good players will get in and score against you at times. Good to have Panesar back and bowling well, we’ll need him in Sri Lanka and India. Anderson and Broad have proved again they can bowl effectively on any surface. The bowling has been worthy of a no 1 ranked side. We could have won 2 games if our batting had been mearly poor instead of abysmal, that’s how good the bowlers have been.
Obviously, the batting has been grim, not up to the standard of a side near the bottom of the rankings. You can’t expect to win games when the tail starts at four, and the top order hasn’t done much better. Only Prior has held his form somewhat. The bottom line is, our batsmen are mediocre on turning pitches, and Pakistan have bowled well. It’s no surprise to see any of them struggle individually, only Cook has a proven record in asia. What is shocking is to see them all fall in a heap at once, I’ve never seen that before. It’s very rare for an entire lineup to hit top form at the same time, or for them to all be out of form together. Digging into it a bit, I can understand some of the reasons. They were rusty, having not played any test cricket since the end of the summer. The preparation was poor, one of the problems with cricket in the UAE is there is no-one to play. One warm-up was against a composite association team. It’s not the same as going to Australia and facing a motivated state side. Andy Flower, who knows a bit about spin bowling, thinks the pitches were a bit tougher than they looked. On many turning pitches, the spin or bounce takes lbw mostly out of the equation, while it was a constant threat here. That brought DRS more into play, which is showing up flaws in batsmen’s techniques, take KP’s dismissal in the first innings.
The worrying thing is they don’t seem to have improved much throughout the series. I’m expecting us to lose badly in Sri Lanka. They have three batsmen that average over 60 at home, a solid left arm spinner in Herath, and this will be the perfect opportunity for Mendis to revive his test career. Selection for the tour is a real headache. We don’t have a lot of options to bring players in. After our showing in the World Cup and ODI series of India, the England Lions (B-side) have been playing one-day cricket in asia this winter.
England finally get their act together for the odis. Ah well.
Looks like we are going to win a game, unless Pakistan’s last pair can put on another 140 odd at eight an over. A century for Cook (strike rate 94) and 4 wickets for Finn so far. Finn was the one positive from the India ODI tour last year, he bowled well over there too. 6 ft 7 and 90mph, pretty useful.
So, Steve Finn. Apparently England has exhausted the South African rejects and must now turn to the Irish? *
*Although considering that Pakistan has been looking at Afghan talent with very lecherous eyes means that we are no ones to talk.
Huh? This would be the Steven Finn born in Hertfordshire, educated in Watford and played for Middlesex since he was 16 years old? Unless we’ve been invaded and I haven’t noticed, he’s as Irish as Maggie Thatcher.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/player/210283.html
Really, we’ve got enough problems nicking players from other countries (including bona fide Irishman Eoin Morgan) without just making stuff up.
Well I’ll be damned. Though I would bet money that he has Irish ancestors, or if he had been around in the 1980’s , he would have qualified for the Irish Republics Football team.