England squad for Pakistan series

[Arthur Crabtree]

Neither were the NZ spinners that auspicious, but they won the Test. Before the tours of UAE and India, people were saying Monty was a waste of a shirt, but he was a better option than any third, or even (at times) second seamer. In India the pace bowlers hardly got the ball apart from a couple of days in Kolkata. England could have done with another spin option. I sense England are going to make the same mistakes again.

I'm not saying English spinners will necessarily win the series for England. Just that a seam heavy attack is far less likely. Chances are, we're talking about scales of defeat.

[Making_Splinters]

The main problem is of course, English batsmen can not play spin. Last time Monty and Swann bowled very well and gave England a chance but the batting capitulated time and again. Has anything got better since then? Not by the looks of things in the Ashes.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Yes, it was a series winning performance from Swann, and belatedly, Monty, plus Broad. But the batters were hopeless. To be fair, the opposition were blatantly chucking, and that won't happen this time. But it will be a surprise if they score enough runs.

[m@tt]

Could this be Hildreth's time? Stoneman has had a few mentions.

I can't find a reference to a Lions tour on the ECB website, but there could be a next generation squad if there is one, with Abell, the Currans, Hain, Leaning, the Overtons, Crane, Robinson, Patel, plus a few more established names.

A squad (not sure if EPP or Lions) is going to the UAE and there will be another fast bowling camp in South Africa.

[Slipstream]

Can you rely on Broad and Anderson to take wickets if there's no sideways movement? Maybe they'll get some reverse swing, but neither is Dale Steyn in that respect.

Panesar would have been ideal, bowling a lot of overs economically. Without him that means Tredwell, which unfortunately means two offies in the squad. But I'm not sure there's an alternative.

Steyn 32.78 in UAE
Broad 20.76
Philander 23.00
Anderson 27.66

[Arthur Crabtree]

And Shane Watson average 10.6. They've only played 3-4 games in UAE so averages don't mean a lot.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Steyn's record in Asia is phenomenal. 90 wickets in 19 games, average 22, SR 40. In the last ten years, no other pace bowler comes close. Anderson averages 30, SR 65, Broad 43. Admittedly these (Steyn's) are improved by games against BD, but his record is better even if you take these out.

[sussexpob]

Can you rely on Broad and Anderson to take wickets if there's no sideways movement? Maybe they'll get some reverse swing, but neither is Dale Steyn in that respect.

Panesar would have been ideal, bowling a lot of overs economically. Without him that means Tredwell, which unfortunately means two offies in the squad. But I'm not sure there's an alternative.

Steyn 32.78 in UAE
Broad 20.76
Philander 23.00
Anderson 27.66

Not sure how useful the stats are with concern to how the bowlers will fare on these pitches. A fair few bowlers have done well there, but I think that has more to do with the state of Pakistan's batting during their initial tenure in UAE. Since 2011/12 to this current year, Pakistani wickets are now 59 runs a piece as opposed to 33 a piece, a reflection on the increased quality in batting. Before that, they have been as low as 13 a piece over a series if you go back long enough.

Different batting beast England will face this time. Shafiq, Safraz, Shehzad are all emerging talents, and Younis Khan and Misbah are in much better personal positions now, bringing good numbers with the bat.

[Making_Splinters]

Pakistan, as far as I am aware, have never lost a series in the UAE. That is not going to change when England visit, largely due to our batting.

I see Cook has done his usual thing of completely over reacting to a situation and come out in the press asking Bell to not retire. Heap pressure on a bloke who is under pressure for his place. Top work Skip.

[sussexpob]

Pakistan, as far as I am aware, have never lost a series in the UAE. That is not going to change when England visit, largely due to our batting.

I see Cook has done his usual thing of completely over reacting to a situation and come out in the press asking Bell to not retire. Heap pressure on a bloke who is under pressure for his place. Top work Skip.

His usual would be to slag off his potential replacement in support of the guy in the team.

[rich1uk]

Pakistan, as far as I am aware, have never lost a series in the UAE. That is not going to change when England visit, largely due to our batting.

I see Cook has done his usual thing of completely over reacting to a situation and come out in the press asking Bell to not retire. Heap pressure on a bloke who is under pressure for his place. Top work Skip.

cook needs to make sure there is someone in the team with a worse record than him for the last 2-3 years so his place is safer

[greyblazer]

I know he is too young and all that, but from the few you tube videos I have seen, he looks promising to me. Of course, need to see more of him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgPcVfgsmgE

[Dr Cricket]

Bumble likes him loads.

[greyblazer]

Youtube videos tend to result in cricketers looking better. However, I like what I see.

[captaincolly]

Apologies if already mentioned but the Daily Telegraph is reporting that the UK TV rights for this series might go to BT Sport. Sky have said they are confident of getting the rights but, according to the DT, no contract has been agreed yet and that has persuaded BT to try and muscle in.