Pakistan v England, 3rd ODI, Dubai, 18 February, 2012

There was one catch he got over too far to and one he didn't even get near, that's about it. Weren't the easiest of catches. He's taken some stunners in previous matches so I don't know, he doesn't fill me with dread at the prospect that he's behind the stumps.

Oh aye, there was only one louse up yesterday.

But you know how it is with England - they came to bury Pietersen but now that plan's been shelved until the next time, someone else has to take his place in the firing line.

Meh ... ... Beddy's the least of England's probs atm.

Why TF wasn't this aggressive batting display - seen working to great effect in this ODI series - evident in the Tests?
Stepping down the wicket to counter the spin ... hitting over the top ... placements ...
Would've been much bettter to have seen England go down 3 - 0 in the series showing some fight rather than prod and poke around on the back foot against the spinners awaiting the stream of lbw appeals..!

And see what happens to Gul when flayed around the park....

And Finn ... in hindsight .... totally wasted carrying drinks whilst Tremble got the nod in the first test.

Bleh ... what might have been ...

Dello wrote:Oh aye, there was only one louse up yesterday.

But you know how it is with England - they came to bury Pietersen but now that plan's been shelved until the next time, someone else has to take his place in the firing line.

Aye, true. Two innings was a bit of a silly amount of games to be thinking the experiment had failed. With KP, it always seems he's one innings away from getting back into some sort of form. Yesterday, he looked the perfect foil for Cook. Tin foil, usually, I suppose.

Merlin wrote:Meh ... ... Beddy's the least of England's probs atm.

Why TF wasn't this aggressive batting display - seen working to great effect in this ODI series - evident in the Tests?
Stepping down the wicket to counter the spin ... hitting over the top ... placements ...
Would've been much bettter to have seen England go down 3 - 0 in the series showing some fight rather than prod and poke around on the back foot against the spinners awaiting the stream of lbw appeals..!

And see what happens to Gul when flayed around the park....

And Finn ... in hindsight .... totally wasted carrying drinks whilst Tremble got the nod in the first test.

Bleh ... what might have been ...

Aye, for some reason Ajmal didn't look like the absolute befuddling mystery-wrapped-within-a-bigger-mystery wet-your-knickers scary demon bowler he was in the Tests. The pitch was probably a little better, though, I'd say.

As for Finn, yeah but meh... I was completely satisfied with our bowling unit's efforts in the Test series.

Perhaps it's just taken England this long to get used to Ajmal and company and wake up to the idea that they're NOT bowling hand grenades every ball.

Perhaps it's the lack of Ian Bell.....

Or the fact that it's 50 over cricket has forced them to realise that positive intent with the bat is the way to go against their spinners.

Brass Monkey wrote:Perhaps it's the lack of Ian Bell.....

Yes - it must be a depressing sight for Ajmal to not see his bitch quivering like a bag of noodles at the very mention of his name.

The lack of Bell has proven to be a tactical masterstroke that has totally undermined Pakistan's confidence.

He's in the form of his life™ even when he's thousands of miles away doing the housework to avoid the scorn of his wife™

[quote="Dello"]

Brass Monkey wrote:Perhaps it's the lack of Ian Bell.....

Yes - it must be a depressing sight for Ajmal to not see his bitch quivering like a bag of noodles at the very mention of his name.

The lack of Bell has proven to be a tactical masterstroke that has totally undermined Pakistan's confidence.

He's in the form of his life™ even when he's thousands of miles away doing the housework to avoid the scorn of his wife™[/quote]

I bet you've had that one up your sleeve for a while and have been itching to reel it out in a decent enough context.

Nope, it's a Sunday morning brainwave.