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

[andy]

gutted... fantastic fight though, and gutsy knock by several batsman, but at the end of the day, a defeat is a defeat, and it will be very diifcult to level up at Sharjah..

[Aidan11]

Pakistan are pretty much unbeatable in the UAE but we've given them a game in both tests.


It was that moment of madness on the morning of Day 3 that stuffed us here.

[andy]

I think James Taylor will defintiely play in the 3rd test, for sure now.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I'd bring in Taylor and Hales, and drop Buttler and Bell for the last test. Bairstow can keep.

Good plan. Swanny is currently saying the same thing.

Bairstow has as many 50's as Buttler in tests, but Buttler has played 7 less test matches. Buttler averages more and is a full time keeper.... Buttler is out of form, but Bairstow is hardly bang on fire, with 1 x 50 in 9 tests.......

Im struggling to see what swapping an inferior keeper is doing for the team, Im struggling to see how giving an additional responsibility to a person struggling in his main role lamely is going to be helped by this, and I am struggling to see how Bairstow stays in the team in any role.

Well, yes. It's a player I don't think is going to step up, although hasn't had a really fair chance (Jonny), against one who looks like he won't make a run at the moment (Jos). There's not much in it as keepers. It's not really an attractive choice.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I think James Taylor will defintiely play in the 3rd test, for sure now.

Who for?

[andy]

Ian Bell

[budgetmeansbudget]

He would have come in for this test save for the fact we almost won the first test, now we've lost the second he has to be brought in to try and strengthen the middle order. Somehow they'll have to work out which one of the B's to drop.

[Making_Splinters]

Ian Bell

Bell played a decent hand this Test in the second innings before being undone by some surprising bounce. Taylor should be coming in for Buttler who had looked shot since the start of the Ashes and needs some time in the LVCC to get his game back in order.

[shankycricket]

That feels like dogma. The fact he's an all rounder doesn't matter. Should Kallis not have batted in the top six? Or the young Steve Waugh? He's there because he's rated a top six bat. Not because England only need five batters. There's a case for dropping him, but not because he can bowl.

You seem to have misunderstood the point. I dont say that you drop him because he bowls, but I also dont think you could seriously suggest that Stokes would be in the team if you took one of his skills completely away from him. To bat in the 1-6 slot you need to be a batter, one that justifies selection in FC cricket through performance. Stokes is averaging dead on 30 now in near 20 tests, and his FC record is only 33 odd with the bat, which is inferior to a long list of other specialists.

A team that has only two undroppable batsman at the moment and a keeper struggling for runs needs to be playing Taylor and Hales over Stokes at the moment. If he cant bowl well enough to be the fifth man in an attack that contains Ali, Wood, Anderson and Broad, then realistically why is he there?

You mean the same Hales, whose ODI average, a format which is considered to be his superior format is 10 less than Stokes' Test average? I really don't get the Hales love. His FC average isn't much higher to that of Stokes. He doesn't have any second string to his bow (not even fielding, he is a poor fielder too). No international credentials apart from one good year of slogging in T20Is, has looked hopelessly out of his depth in the 50 overs format and he is supposed to be a vastly superior batsman than a bloke who has got Test hundreds against Johnson, Harris, Southee, Boult etc?

[andy]

I wouldn't bring him in for Buttler, because it means that Bairstow would have to take the gloves, and i have even less faith in Bairstow, than i do buttler..

[shankycricket]

Ian Bell

Bell played a decent hand this Test in the second innings before being undone by some surprising bounce. Taylor should be coming in for Buttler who had looked shot since the start of the Ashes and needs some time in the LVCC to get his game back in order.

The benchmark for Ian Bell seems to be remarkably low to keep his place. One half decent innings in every 3 or 4 Tests seems to be enough. High time England stop accepting mediocrity and draw a line. Bell is done.

[budgetmeansbudget]

I wouldn't bring him in for Buttler, because it means that Bairstow would have to take the gloves, and i have even less faith in Bairstow, than i do buttler..

Don't think Bairstow quite merits a place for his batting alone but as keeper batsman he does, and I wouldn't suggest his keeping will be significantly worse than Buttler's. However the latter's batting form has gone so he can't even be considered a keeper batsman at this moment in time.

[Gingerfinch]

I'd still prefer to see the best keeper play, regardless of how well he bats. This obviously won't happen on this tour, or any other given the need to have a keeper who can score a few.

[hopeforthebest]

The likelyhood of Bell being dropped is remote. Are England going to replace a player who despite looking ill at ease whilst batting still averages almost 40, with a debutant opener who looked terrible in the warm ups or even a promising Taylor who is only a promise, as they head into a final crucial test in this series. I don't think so.

[Aidan11]

I have a feeling they'll go with an unchanged side (assuming Cook is fit).