Pakistan v England 3rd Test, Sharjah, Nov 1-5

[dan08]

Yasir finishes as top wicket-taker in the series despite not playing in the first Test.

[dan08]

Pakistan up to 2nd, England down to 6th.

[yuppie]

Pakistan up to 2nd, England down to 6th.

Surprised by this.

[Aidan11]

The series was tighter than the scoreline suggests. We lost the second test in a mad batting session and the third by failure to bowl out Pakistan second time around.


Pakistan keep up their record in the UAE.

[hopeforthebest]

Rankings don't matter in tests for England now that they India and the Aussies control the ICC. Not sure how big a difference they make in the other formats either.

[bigfluffylemon]

Well that was shite.

Tip of the hat to Alistair Cook for leading the way. Outstanding batsmen from either side - passed 50 3 times out of 5 innings (and one 49), an average of 90 and one monumental double century. Unfortunately, the next five best batsmen of the series were from Pakistan. Only Root and Cook really stood up with the bat for England.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Rankings in a way matter because the bottom Test side is going to play off against the top associate side.

But from 2-7, it's all quite even, so big changes in the rankings are familiar.

Two big victories for Pakistan, so it was a well deserved series win. Their top six was a machine, and their match winning spinner was irresistible (obviously, England challenged when he wasn't playing). Very little worked for England, and they were too reliant on two of the old guard. Little of the batting was functional (Pakistan had five centurions, England just one) and the spin was a write off.

In the scheme of things, the Ashes win is looking a bit incongruous. That win, and the one against India, happened under very particular pitch conditions. Apart from on these Goldilocks pitches, England are showing little evidence of coming out of their late Flower slump.

[Aidan11]

It will be a different game when Pakistan come here next summer.

[Arthur Crabtree]

If they prepare the usual pitches. I guess Amir and Asif won't be here, so Pakistan will have limited resources with which to combat Anderson and Broad.

[hopeforthebest]

Rankings in a way matter because the bottom Test side is going to play off against the top associate side.

I'm pretty sure that the BIG three are exempted from that situation.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, and the top seven are all safe for the foreseeable future.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Mixed day for the small five. Good for Pakistan and SA. Terrible for the Kiwis.

[mikesiva]

Yasir finishes as top wicket-taker in the series despite not playing in the first Test.

[Aidan11]

Had a feeling Yasir would be the key.

[Alviro Patterson]

An anti-climatic end to what has been an enjoyable test series. Sadly for England it was small things that lost the game rather than abject performances.

In regards to England's spin bowling conundrum, selecting an actual spinner to form a bowling attack rather than a makeshift one will be a start. Moeen Ali is a good option to have, but if he's not a frontline bowler for Worcestershire then how is he supposed to bowl effectively at international level? With the next subcontinental tour in 12 months time at India, now is the time to see if Adil Rashid can be part of England's frontline bowling attack in test cricket.

Andy Flower pointing the blame on counties for not producing spinners or spinning wickets is unfair, particularly Division Two counties who are working with limited resources and many of their best players are poached by bigger counties.