Saqlain says he would like to play for England

Now then, Clickety

David Sales also says he'd like to play for England . . . it ain't gonna happen . . .

Nobody who has represented another country in a full international for another country will play for England.

The guy is finished, he's no longer good enough for county cricket let alone international, plus Monty is better.

Mak - I think that's a bit unfair.

Saqlain played 4 matches for Surrey last season and took 18 wickets at an average of 17.55, with a best of 5-96. That's 4.5 wickets per match, making him one of the best bowlers in the first division.

To say he's not good enough for county cricket is daft, mate.

But, as Lever says, he won't play for England. Not in a million years.

He needs to do something about that ridiculous beard though.

I'm sure if he played the whole season that would change, check his stats for the last few times he played a full season, plus his knees have gone, breaks down too often.

That's a quarter of a season. It's a big enough sample size to show that he is good enough for county cricket. The reason his stats haven't been that good is because he keeps breaking down. But that's a different issue. It doesn't mean he's not good enough, it means he keeps breaking down and losing any sort of match practice and fitness.

Makaveli wrote:plus his knees have gone, breaks down too often.

Such a shame, he really should have played a lot more international cricket than he did. He was an absolute genius in his prime.

leg glancer wrote:

Makaveli wrote:plus his knees have gone, breaks down too often.

Such a shame, he really should have played a lot more international cricket than he did. He was an absolute genius in his prime.

How come he stopped playing for Pakistan? Exactly what went wrong? It seems he stopped playing internationals for Pak quite early in age.

Always thought he was a bit over-rated.

He was the pioneer of the doosra, but he got carried away with it. A bit like Harbhajan has done in recent times. Forgot that his main delivery was the off spinner pitching outside off stump and spinning in to the right hander, and he started to bowl too quick for tests as well.

Henry wrote:He was the pioneer of the doosra, but he got carried away with it. A bit like Harbhajan has done in recent times. Forgot that his main delivery was the off spinner pitching outside off stump and spinning in to the right hander, and he started to bowl too quick for tests as well.

plus Trev started a thread titled "Saqlain ...His time has come in Test Cricket" in whicjh he said he reminded him of a modern day Jim Laker

leg glancer wrote:

Makaveli wrote:plus his knees have gone, breaks down too often.

Such a shame, he really should have played a lot more international cricket than he did. He was an absolute genius in his prime.

genius until people started picking the doosra. the doosra was the prime reason for his success, and once people knew how to play it, his downfall

He was also rattled easily. In the test series in Windies 2001? he was "sledged" by Windies batsmen particularly by Hinds and saqui looked like he was going to burst in to tears in any minute. Shame Pak lost the test which they should've won.

well that was more thanks to the ump than saqi's fault. atrocious umpiring in the last innings

I don't think he was found out. He took 14 wickets at 30 vs Aus just a year before his last Test. Then he had one poor series against South Africa and then got injured, came back and was tonked in one Test against India, the world's best players of spin. He had little match practice and was expected to produce miracles on his first match back against India. One bad series and one bad Test due to severe injury doesn't mean you've been worked out.

He did overuse his doosra towards the end but I reject the notion that he was worked out and somehow rubbish. Injuries wrecked his career, not anything else.

Statistics don't tell the story of the utter gash he was bowling towards the end of his test career. He was worked out and he turned into a darter and not an off spinner.

spangler wrote:Statistics don't tell the story of the utter gash he was bowling towards the end of his test career. He was worked out and he turned into a darter and not an off spinner.

on that basis Saqi is well placed to be the closest thing England has had to a quality spinner for a long time

He. Will. Not. Play. For. England. - Something to do with him having played for Pakistan maybe?

not ineligible....slaw is now eligible methinks

horace wrote:not ineligible....slaw is now eligible methinks

Maybe eligible - still doesn't mean he will be picked.

Basil wrote:

horace wrote:not ineligible....slaw is now eligible methinks

Maybe eligible - still doesn't mean he will be picked.

Slaw is eligible for England as a result of living here long enough to qualify through residence.

Saqlain "...has a British passport through his marriage and qualifies in April as he begins another season with Surrey." (cricinfo)

Neither will be picked, I wouldn't have thought.

Does Slaw playing beach cricket for Australia affect his English qualification?

http://www.xxxxgoldbeachcricket.com.au/Events/Team-Player-Profiles.aspx

embee wrote:Does Slaw playing beach cricket for Australia affect his English qualification?

http://www.xxxxgoldbeachcricket.com.au/Events/Team-Player-Profiles.aspx

ROFL...it is disgrace that he is playing at all...