Pakistan v England 2nd Test, Dubai, Oct 22-26

[hopeforthebest]

Buttler fails to go for a catch to his right and Root at first slip is too wide to make an attempt. Things are falling apart.

[hopeforthebest]

Buttler fails to go for a catch to his right and Root at first slip is too wide to make an attempt. Things are falling apart.

And once more.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Should have had an orthodox first and second slip, but Buttler could have got it anyway.

Very good spell from Stokes, again unrewarded. He's been one of the better bowlers for England in the series, and could easily have been third seamer.

[Aidan11]

I'm glad I went shopping rather than watch the rest of this.

[Aidan11]

The game has been won and lost in that first session.

[Aidan11]

We need to stop worrying about facing spinners.

Play the ball not the bowler.

[The Professor]

It's back.....I heard someone say it today......the 'What If Kevin Pietersen...' Tribe of morons are back.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Oi!

[backfootpunch]

if i was picking the team alex hales and james taylor will be coming in for ian bell and jos buttler

bell is shot (hoping to reverse jinx him into a match winning double hundred)
buttler is the future and i would not normally even consider dropping him but he looks like he has gone mentally, i would give him a rest and hope he can hit himself back into form in the short formats, then bring him back in when he is more confident versus south africa. bairstow i dont think is good enough either as a keeper or batsmen to succeed at this level but will work as a short term stop gap

then the batting line up will look like

cook
hales
taylor
root
moeen
bairstow
stokes

im hoping sincerely that those i have written off/moved down the order will produce a miracle

[Arthur Crabtree]

Pretty much agree. As a one off I'm going:
Cook/Hales/Root/Moeen/Taylor/Stokes/Bairstow/Rashid/Broad/Wood/Anderson
Plunkett/Jordan/Patel/Bell/Buttler

England have all these pace options and little in the way of viable batting or spin alternatives. But as suggested by Matt, above, I think they'll just bring in Taylor for Buttler. I don't think Bell will be dropped after he was begged not to retire.

[hopeforthebest]

Just checked Bell's record once again:

Batting at 3/4, 6 centuries, 24 50's ave. 35.72
Batting at 5/6, 15 centuries, 20 50's, ave 5235.
Surely if he's going to play he should play where he's most likely to score runs. Batting at 3 in county cricket doesn't mean it's the correct position at test level.
I know players see it as more prestigious to bat high in the order but at the end of the day they should bat where they are likely to offer greater value. Bell has risen up the order through lack of alternatives and stayed there for a similar reason.
Currently Moeen is going through a similar process and the experiment of Trott opening in the WI was another example.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Does it really matter in UAE? It's easier to bat up the order, before the ball reverses. Though chances are the spinners will bowl early. Batting up the order is a good place to be.

My impression is the numbers vary just because of when Bell batted in those positions. Or at least mostly because.

[hopeforthebest]

Does it really matter in UAE? It's easier to bat up the order, before the ball reverses. Though chances are the spinners will bowl early. Batting up the order is a good place to be.

My impression is the numbers vary just because of when Bell batted in those positions. Or at least mostly because.

It hasn't been too good for Moeen so far.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Has Moeen been the most messed about England cricketer ever? Test cricketer, probably. No one knows what he is anymore.

But no, he's not having a good series. Give or take the featherbed at Abu Dhabi, which was hard for the bowlers, it's normal for it to be tough in UAE. The only players I'm really set on moving on are those who have been struggling for a long time: Bell, and, maybe, Bairstow. It'd be nice just to see some good signs from the others.

[sussexpob]

I know players see it as more prestigious to bat high in the order but at the end of the day they should bat where they are likely to offer greater value. Bell has risen up the order through lack of alternatives and stayed there for a similar reason.
Currently Moeen is going through a similar process and the experiment of Trott opening in the WI was another example.

There is merit to that argument, but two main issues I have with it are:-

1. There is no reason why he fails at 3 more. His record in England in conditions where one drop is hardest, is to average 61. And he has done that against a mix of Australia, South Africa and India, all at the time the respective best teams in the world. IF he can make runs at 3 in these conditions, then there is no technical reason why he cant play 3.

2. Bad performance is bad performance playing in any role.