Pakistan in Australia

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Bit harsh on Mohammed Aamer, he bowl just under 150 clicks, very sharp and swings the ball, definately one to look for.

If i had my way, Hughes would be in for Hussey, and Watson put down the order at number 4 or something. The annoying thing is that Hussey may be kept in the team for making runs against a pretty dismal attack. That 50 at the Gabba would be one of the worst 50's ive ever seen.

Lets hope Mitchell Johnson can hit his straps in this series.

Hussey's 81 at the WACA was so much better though, a 'normal' half century there and actually looks like he has played before. Half expect him to have some touch back.

And Johnson was the leading wicket taker of that series, taking wickets for 30 a piece! That is his bowling, that is him at what I would consider his finest. He took important wickets without a care in the world for runs. He is a strike bowler, that's what he's there for and an average of 30 it what you are looking for from him.

Of course any improvement will be excellent, but we need to remember he is taking wicket after wicket and was 5 wickets ahead of the next person on the list in that series, after only three matches. Good effort if you ask me.

 

[thommy_rissole]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Ponting will be fine.

This is most likely a ploy just to get us good citizens thinking as we are.

Maybe a bit of trickery on the part of the Aussie team too, make the Pakistanis think Ponting is injured in that elbow, and with any luck they will deliver a barrage of short stuff to him only to find the best pull and hooker in the world will score freely and get his innings underway, to get the attention away from his very nervous starts outside and on off stump and full.

Don't quote me here but isn't Ponting spending time in the hyperbaric chamber to get his elbow right for Boxing Day. I'm no doctor or physician but clearly that would indicate an injury.

I highly doubt it is any trickery on behalf of the Aussies and wouldn't have anything to do with taking 'attention away from very nervous starts'.

Agreed, he will play but surely it will be under duress/with the help of some painkillers.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Bit harsh on Mohammed Aamer, he bowl just under 150 clicks, very sharp and swings the ball, definately one to look for.

Maybe but I haven't seen him on any quick or bouncy tracks. Without that it's hard to form an honest opinion of him. Sure, he's going to be quick but he's still young and almost leading the attack. That is a big burden to bear even without having to think about targeting this player because he can't play the short ball or use this angle because he gets cramped for space. Plus, you can bowl at 150 but it doesn't mean your bouncer is any good .

It's worth remember that Hughes was targeted by two specific types of bowler in the summer. Harmison who is tall and (should) get natural bounce and Flintoff who hits the deck hard and has a liking (or the illusion of) for lefties. From what I know of the Pakistan attack, they haven't got those types.

As I recall, Hughes made a pretty decent start of things against South Africa and that attack is hardly pedestrian - Steyn, Morkel, Ntini are all rated as fast and even Kallis can reach late 80mph. Reading back through Hughes' dismissals and 2 out of 6 feature 'short' balls - although he seemed to have more trouble against Harris (who snared him 3 out of 6 innings).

For what it's worth, I still say give Hughes a go providing a space is there for him.

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Don't quote me here but isn't Ponting spending time in the hyperbaric chamber to get his elbow right for Boxing Day. I'm no doctor or physician but clearly that would indicate an injury.

I highly doubt it is any trickery on behalf of the Aussies and wouldn't have anything to do with taking 'attention away from very nervous starts'.

Agreed, he will play but surely it will be under duress/with the help of some painkillers.

Yeah, probably right, but a few months back when we were talking about whether McGain has a future I researched a little into Australian cricket tactics and put up a list of all the outlandish things that they have done that may be considered 'conspiracy theories' over the years to trick the other team. Unfortunately I can't remember what thread it was on, but I am looking. They were all really smart ideas, and most of them worked.

After reading them I am now a little wary, some say paranoid, about some of the strange things that happen around the team.

You are right, but this is by no means too outlandish to be considered a plan .

Ponting's weakness is becoming more and more prominent as people become aware of it and lately he has become a little bit of a '100 or nothing' player due to what I think is caused by that knowledge.

All in all, attacking Ponting with the short ball isn't the way to go. May have gotten him out sometimes, but it's not a method that won't work after him scoring freely and quickly for a long period of time. The Pakistanis should not change anything to him, focus on that weakness because not only is that his normal weakness, but with his elbow playing those front foot shots are now harder.

 

[eddiesmith]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Any chance that Pakistan will take Lawson back as coach? The best thing about him coaching Pakistan was we didnt have to see him, now he is on Fox Sports News 10 times a day

 

[LIONS then DAYLIGHT]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Yeah, probably right, but a few months back when we were talking about whether McGain has a future I researched a little into Australian cricket tactics and put up a list of all the outlandish things that they have done that may be considered 'conspiracy theories' over the years to trick the other team. Unfortunately I can't remember what thread it was on, but I am looking. They were all really smart ideas, and most of them worked.

After reading them I am now a little wary, some say paranoid, about some of the strange things that happen around the team.

You are right, but this is by no means too outlandish to be considered a plan .

Ponting's weakness is becoming more and more prominent as people become aware of it and lately he has become a little bit of a '100 or nothing' player due to what I think is caused by that knowledge.

All in all, attacking Ponting with the short ball isn't the way to go. May have gotten him out sometimes, but it's not a method that won't work after him scoring freely and quickly for a long period of time. The Pakistanis should not change anything to him, focus on that weakness because not only is that his normal weakness, but with his elbow playing those front foot shots are now harder.

Bowling short to Ponting has been tried before, I remember SA tried using it in the 1999 WC when Ponting was batting at 3 in the ODI side. Ponting put a few into the stand and Ian Chappell said that trying to bounce out Ricky Ponting isn't the way to go on commentary.

People jump up and down saying that Ponting got hit by Roach and that Ponting was scared and the pace was too much for him. What they forget is an over later Ponting hit Roach into the stand for 6, and then hit another 2 fours in the same over. All this and Ponting only hand one hand on the bat.

I also disagree that Ponting has become a "hundred or nothing player".

Ponting has only scored one hundred this year, but I can think of at least 4 other occasions where he should have got a hundred but ended up getting an 80 or 90 odd.

° He got 99 agaisnt SA in the 2nd dig in last years boxing day test.
Got a couple of 80's in the return series in SA, one of them was IMO the most important Australian knock in the series, Ponting was at the wicket when we were 3-20 odd and got an 80 odd in a partnership with Clarke which got the score up to 4-240 odd once Ponting was dismissed. North was then coming in on debut at an easier time then coming in at 4-40. Ponting's knock was the cornerstone of our first innings total that ultimately led to us winning the test.

° Got a 80 odd in England and then got a 66 at the Oval when if he wasn't ran out by Mike Hussey he'd probably still be batting.

On all those occasions you would have bet your house on Ponting getting a hundred - missing out by a dozen or so runs doesn't say a lot about his form. When people say that 'Ponting has only scored one hundred in 2009' they are missing the point and its a perfect example of statistics being misleading. Anyway, the year isnt finished yet, who knows Punter may knock up a double ton in a few days.

It reminds me of Damien Martyn's form from 2002 - 2004. Martyn scored a hundred in SA in early 2002 and then from memory didn't score another hundred until early 2004 in Sri Lanka. During that period though he was still averaging 45 - 50 but just wasn't going on to get 3 figures. Getting a lot of 60's, 70's and 80's and on most occasions, only having to bat once in the test due to our dominance.

At no stage during that period did I ever think he his position was in danger, however, the press around late 2003 got wind of the fact that Martyn hadn't scored a hundred for some time and started trying to make a big deal out of it saying he should be dropped.

This spotlight ultimately resulted in the incident when Martyn gave the bird to the media as he was leaving a hotel after an ODI game.

All in all, statistics can be misleading.

 

[Thumbs up]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

So can commentrary on them especially when the conclusions drawn are either/both misleading/lies and useless/pointless.

 

[D.K]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Bit harsh on Mohammed Aamer, he bowl just under 150 clicks, very sharp and swings the ball, definately one to look for.

If i had my way, Hughes would be in for Hussey, and Watson put down the order at number 4 or something. The annoying thing is that Hussey may be kept in the team for making runs against a pretty dismal attack. That 50 at the Gabba would be one of the worst 50's ive ever seen.

Lets hope Mitchell Johnson can hit his straps in this series.

Please the bashing of Hussey is quite silly.

He had a very solid series from the middle order, didn't really fail and if you call it such a mediocre bowling attack why didn't any Aussies make a ton and Ponting, Clarke, North and maybe Katich all made less runs then Hussey.

He did enough to see him through to post summer, champion players respond when the chips are down and thats what he has been doing

 

[Thumbs up]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Please the bashing of Hussey is quite silly.

He had a very solid series from the middle order, didn't really fail and if you call it such a mediocre bowling attack why didn't any Aussies make a ton and Ponting, Clarke, North and maybe Katich all made less runs then Hussey.

He did enough to see him through to post summer, champion players respond when the chips are down and thats what he has been doing

Rather than applauding the performance of Hussey relative to the rest of the batting list, it is probably better to decry all of the top order for not doing enough and not capitalising on starts. the difference is that a mediocre series against weaker opposition is all Hussey has been able to manage for a long time.

I have long hoped for him to regain that amazin form he once had but time is against him. If he wasn't the nicest guy in the team he would be in a lot of trouble and less of the public would defend him.

He will as you say see out the summer but had better not get injured, had better hope noone else (batsman) get injured and if they do he better hope their replacements fail spectacularly... but he's too nice a guy to hope that.

 

[Hammond]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

It'll be interesting to see how brittle the Aussie batting line up has become given the relative weakness of the windies bowling and the relative strength of the Pakistani bowling line up..

It would have been a while since Australia played a quality leg-spinner (Mishra?) and they have a few good young quicks as well.

 

[D.K]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

It'll be interesting to see how brittle the Aussie batting line up has become given the relative weakness of the windies bowling and the relative strength of the Pakistani bowling line up..

It would have been a while since Australia played a quality leg-spinner (Mishra?) and they have a few good young quicks as well.

Kaneria (sounds like a bird but im in that vacinity)

What big bad bustling Benn wasn't quality enough?

 

[Boris]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Please the bashing of Hussey is quite silly.

He had a very solid series from the middle order, didn't really fail and if you call it such a mediocre bowling attack why didn't any Aussies make a ton and Ponting, Clarke, North and maybe Katich all made less runs then Hussey.

He did enough to see him through to post summer, champion players respond when the chips are down and thats what he has been doing

I agree their, and not just because I love Hussey.

In his first innings when he made a quite terrible 50 I though he was a gonner, I thought he can only get worse from there after scoring a quite misshapen and very slow 50 against what I though was a dismal attack. He had edges and got beaten regularly and didn't get his eye in.

But then the next innings, he was determined. Was still having trouble getting his eye in but was playing in accordance to it. He didn't hit a boundary for his first 115 balls. He was batting at a 30% strike rate for a lot of it. But the end of his innings saw him hit a few fours and looked like he was getting the hang of it again, he really changed. But he followed everyone else back to the pavilion as soon as he hit that 60 mark.

Then the third Test he looked like a batsman again. He came out blazing, hit three fours and his strike rate was around 70. He then fell into a grove and batted at 50% and looked more like the Hussey of old. He made it to 81 from 150ish balls from memory and a healthy amount of boundaries and was looking like he wasn't out of his league. He was doing his superb drives and I was wondered. Due to my liking of Hussey I watched every single ball of all 5 of his innings for the series, like I have done for a few series straight now, and he has improved by miles. Even though he scored about the same in all three Tests, he definitely rose in quality.

If he continues this through the Pakistan series, as I'm putting my bets on, he can say hello to him retiring in a bit of form when he wants to, not when he gets forced out.

Just my two cents worth.

 

[mas cambios]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

It'll be interesting to see how brittle the Aussie batting line up has become given the relative weakness of the windies bowling and the relative strength of the Pakistani bowling line up..

It would have been a while since Australia played a quality leg-spinner (Mishra?) and they have a few good young quicks as well.

Mishra is the Indian spinner - Pakistan have Ajmal and Kaneria in their squad. I would expect Ajmal to play seeing as he had the Australian line up bamboozled last time they met, although that was a one day game/series.

 

[D.K]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

Mishra is the Indian spinner - Pakistan have Ajmal and Kaneria in their squad. I would expect Ajmal to play seeing as he had the Australian line up bamboozled last time they met, although that was a one day game/series.

Wouldn't suprise me if they played both of them

Melbourne has the knack of turning late day 4-5. It detoriates pretty quickly and why wouldn't you want to play a leg spinner at the spirtual home of the great man S . K Warne.

Plus your heading to Sydney, a spinners paradise

 

[Sober Symonds]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

I agree their, and not just because I love Hussey...

...If he continues this through the Pakistan series, as I'm putting my bets on, he can say hello to him retiring in a bit of form when he wants to, not when he gets forced out.

Just my two cents worth.

Well won't that be nice? After all, it is the main point to tolerating his mediocrity over the past year or two: so a nice guy can end his career the way he ought to. ************ than it cost us the Ashes and stymies the introduction of new blood, which bring excitement to Test cricket at a time when it needs to keep/attract supporters.

I'm sorry I broke my undertaking to lay off him for a while BUT YOU GUYS JUST COULDN'T LEAVE IT ALONE! Urrghhh ... it's like drinking in front of an alcoholic!

 

[Kram81]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

lmao, not this again Watson run out for 93

 

[T.A Offspinner]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

that was the shittest run out ever, katich's fault imo easy single there.

 

[Ljp86]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

that was the shittest run out ever, katich's fault imo easy single there.

Yeah, easy single, fielder was diving full stretch to his right, Watson would have made his ground easily too. Shame Katich was ball watching and turned his back on Watson to move back into his crease.

 

[T.A Offspinner]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

it was rather amusing to watch the look of confusion when katich couldn't see watson at the other end...

 

[molly29]

Re: Pakistan in Australia

That has made my day seeing Watson choke himself to death again. I, like many Australians, hate Shane Watson with a passion and am absolutely over the moon that he went out the way he did... I was praying he wouldn't get the ton. Not only is he the biggest bogan that's ever represented Australia, but he's also officially the biggest nong!

Let's move this tosser on and bring a quality opener into the team.....Phil Hughes. where are you.

PS. Chris Gayle, I'm sure you'll have a bit of a chuckle to yourself when you see the footage of the dismissal...it was Gold....ha ha ha