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England v Pakistan, 3rd Test, Headingley, 5th day
By Will 2 years ago, mid-August, 8 Comments »
Morning all. We have a Test match on our hands today, a bit of a thriller too. Pakistan need 323 to win; England need 10 wickets. All eyes point to Monty Panesar who, one gets the feeling, Andrew Strauss is banking on to deliver the goods again.
Considering Danish Kaneria actually gained some turn for once yesterday - he has hardly spun it all series - and bearing in mind Monty has outbowled him thus far in the series, Strauss’s logic is sound enough.
I’ll be on ball-by-ball at Cricinfo again, but in the meantime leave your thoughts below and get chatting!
8 Comments »C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre
By Scott 2 years ago, mid-January, 11 Comments »
That was a French General reacting to the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854. It is also my reaction to the First Test, where India, as I write, are 0 for 403, and they’ve just gone off for bad light. Sehwag is 247, and Dravid is 128. This is in response to Pakistan’s 679 for 7 declared, a total that could have been far larger had Pakistan put their minds to it.
So by my creaky mathematics, we’ve had 1,083 runs and 7 wickets.
Great. But to me, this is almost as much nonsense as that Twenty-20 rubbish. Sorry to be an incurable snob, but to me, cricket is a contest between bat and ball, not a batathon. If there is any justice in this world the curator should be impaled with a pristine cricket stump, and I am sure Shoaib, Danish Kaneria, and indeed Harbhajan Singh and Irfan Pathan would endorse my sentiments.
11 Comments »The talent that lies within
By Will 3 years ago, mid-November, 4 Comments »
I can’t remember who said it, but it was during Pakistan’s tour of England in 1996 when I heard the following uttered: “Pakistan are the most talented team in the world, and contain the richest abundance of natural talent anywhere in the world.” Something alone those lines, anyway.
It’s one of those sayings which sticks with you (and follows you, although hopefully not in the next few weeks!), and I’ve yet to find someone who can justify it, or qualify it. Yet something tells me it’s probably true, which leads me to ask: how and why aren’t Pakistan regarded as a serious world-beating threat? Why, if they have such rich seams of talent, are they so inconsistent and volatile? Why can’t Inzamam run between the wickets, and why has their fielding always been so crap?
In that 1996 tour, I saw players like Inzy, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis - and the spin twins of Saqlain Mushtaq and Mushtaq Ahmed (bowling Mushy). Actually, wrong tour Will - Saqlain didn’t play a Test, my mistake. Anyway, it’s understandable that a team can struggle to compete when they lose such greats as Wasim and Waqar (just look at the West Indies. Although their problems run deeper, and I don’t even begin to understand them) but a country that can produce such natural talent ought to succeed more than they have been.
The BBC went some way to explaining the problems a few weeks ago:
Bob Woolmer has at his disposal a wealth of talent: prolific middle-order batsmen Younis Khan, Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf; a brilliant young leg-spinner in Danish Kaneria; and bowlers of searing pace in Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami.
Shoaib can be devastating - when he’s fit and the mood suits him
But getting all of those fit and mentally tuned in to perform in all three Tests will be Woolmer’s big challenge - quite often one department has fired, only to be let down by the other parts of the team.
Shoaib is a curious one. He has the ability, and bendy arm, to kill most batsmen if he so chooses. But he comes across as lazy, arrogant, unfit and superior to the game. He’ll play if he wants, when he wants.
Even when Wasim and Waqar were squashing batsmen’s toes at will, the question as to “which team will turn up?” hovered over the Pakistan team, and I don’t think it’s lifted to this day. Which side will turn up against England?
4 Comments »