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

[m@tt]

Well like many, I've been saying for a long time that Taylor should be playing international cricket, including Test cricket. Great to see him do so well today, hopefully he can turn his 74 into a century tomorrow to really cement his place in the team for the near future.

Just been catching up on the highlights. Taylor played brilliantly, never let the spinners settle, nice variety of strokes and rapid running. Bell dug in well, even if he again wasn't looking anywhere near his best, but 40 valuable runs all the same. Bairstow looked a bit dodgy early on but settled into his innings nicely.

12 runs behind. So we'll have a lead, but we need to make it count and ideally get it past three figures.

[Aidan11]

Taylor. The new Ian Bell.

[KipperJohn]

I thought Flower didn't rate him. Certainly he and Moores kept him away from their sides.

All his Lions runs, and the way he kept scoring for them, even when seemingly offered little encouragement, has given me quite a lot of confidence that he'll do well.

I have a vague memory of Flower saying in interview that he'd never seen him bat when he was selected 3 years ago and a sort of 'we'll take a look at him ' attitude. Pretty appalling really for a player about to make his debut. I know there are selectors, scouts and so on but that was a pretty damning admission - especially with all the 'data(!) available.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Slow pitch, so Taylor was able to adapt his shot. But that is one of the impressive things. Bairstow, who batted well, just didn't look as good a bat. For all the nice shots he played, he'd fluff an inside edge playing a cut, or spoon a pull into an empty space. JT came into the side cold, but had nicer touch in defence than Bell. I'm not intending to get carried away on one innings, I'm including today's knock in with all the other good stuff he's done. So nice to see him do well after so long getting back in the side. I'll be up at six. Hope I get to see a bit more.

[Arthur Crabtree]

I thought Flower didn't rate him. Certainly he and Moores kept him away from their sides.

All his Lions runs, and the way he kept scoring for them, even when seemingly offered little encouragement, has given me quite a lot of confidence that he'll do well.

I have a vague memory of Flower saying in interview that he'd never seen him bat when he was selected 3 years ago and a sort of 'we'll take a look at him ' attitude. Pretty appalling really for a player about to make his debut. I know there are selectors, scouts and so on but that was a pretty damning admission - especially with all the 'data(!) available.

Given how much England XI cricket he'd played.

[backfootpunch]

Taylor. The new Ian Bell.

i would say he is the opposite of ian bell

bit of an odd technique but very mentally strong

[Aidan11]

Taylor. The new Ian Bell.

i would say he is the opposite of ian bell

bit of an odd technique but very mentally strong

Either way he'll likely take Bell's slot when he retires (or is dropped).

[hopeforthebest]

I thought Flower didn't rate him. Certainly he and Moores kept him away from their sides.

All his Lions runs, and the way he kept scoring for them, even when seemingly offered little encouragement, has given me quite a lot of confidence that he'll do well.

Kevin Pietersen didn't think much of him after spending a long time in partnership with him. Maybe that's what kept him out of contention.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Because KP's views were so valued by the England hierarchy! Don't forget KP's rather flippant appraisal of JT was made in a private meeting with Flower and leaked. But I don't think he's made much of an effort to distance himself from the comment. Though Taylor has said Kevin has been helpful to him as a batter.

I didn't bring Pietersen's name up...

[backfootpunch]

I thought Flower didn't rate him. Certainly he and Moores kept him away from their sides.

All his Lions runs, and the way he kept scoring for them, even when seemingly offered little encouragement, has given me quite a lot of confidence that he'll do well.

Kevin Pietersen didn't think much of him after spending a long time in partnership with him. Maybe that's what kept him out of contention.

im not sure flower listened to anything KP said to him about anything

whether it be about james taylor or managing player workloads

[hopeforthebest]

Taylor. The new Ian Bell.

i would say he is the opposite of ian bell

bit of an odd technique but very mentally strong

Bell is so mentally weak that he's returned to test venues where on his first visit he averaged 6.5 to average 40 this time round. That's hardly a sign of mental weakness which is implied by you.

[hopeforthebest]

Because KP's views were so valued by the England hierarchy! Don't forget KP's rather flippant appraisal of JT was made in a private meeting with Flower and leaked. But I don't think he's made much of an effort to distance himself from the comment. Though Taylor has said Kevin has been helpful to him as a batter.

I didn't bring Pietersen's name up...

No you didn't bring KP's name up, I just thought it was appropriate that any investigation should be reminded of the opinion of a star batsman who had first hand knowledge of his ability 3 years ago.

[Arthur Crabtree]

See first paragraph.

But an idiotic remark, made in private or not.

[bigfluffylemon]

After 12 days of cricket, a drawn series looks to be a fair result. These teams have been pretty evenly matched, for the most part, both matches so far could have had different results, and while England are ahead in Sharjah it could easily turn around.

[greyblazer]

In fact, I feel Taylor looks one of the better bets against spin in terms of defence. The best way to play spinners in Asia is to camp on the back foot and then occasionally, smother the spin to force the spinner to shorten his length. You can do this if you're picking a spinner. Taylor is doing that. Bell's defence against spin is overrated.