Kamran Akmal the pretend wicket keeper
on July 30th, 2010 at 1:54 pmOnce again Kamran Akmal has produced a Sydney like shitty performance behind the stumps. Dropped a very easy catch of Strauss and missed the simplest stumping chance of Collingwood, but this hasn’t been everything that he did wrong he has been standing too far behind the stumps and as a result quite a few edges dropped in front of him, normally wicket keepers stand way behind when they are low on confidence.
In England the ball swings after it passes the stumps but if that was the problem why Akmal kept behind the wickets so confidently against Australia, he never dived on many balls going down the leg side which normally he stops. The ball in Trent bridge is not moving as it did in Leeds if he kept behind the wickets with confidence there then there was absolutely no excuse for him to stand way behind the wickets here.
Any keeper can drop catches but the technique Akmal displayed here was appalling and cannot be justified by saying that he is just a poor keeper, he kept decently against Australia.
The way both brthers batted in the last test was also questionable and once again Umar Akmal failed in this test, he also told Azhar Ali not to use the review when he clearly didn’t got an edge.
Just when I was writing this line Kamran Akmal got out for a duck, man I hate his fuck face.
England has bowled beautifully but they haven’t been that good to justify a 46/6 scoreline, Pakistan’s batting has been appaling. Their tail starts from #4 Umar Amin hasn’t done anything, Akmal brothers are only good for T20, Malik is still hanging in there and might get his 10-20 runs.
This performance has been a joke and Kamran Akmal did a great acting job behind the stumps, I think it’s time that we dump this pretend wicket keeper for good.
Please look at how Umar Akmal wasted balls today and slowed the innings in the 4th ODI against England today just like Kamran Akmal in the last match slowed the innings. These Akmal Brothers need to be thrown out of the team. As for Ejaz Butt, he needs an psychiatric evaluation.
My blood boils as Pakistan has never used its full potential and have never used the talent thats there.
May Allah Punish those who are playing games, hoarding money and selling Pakistan Cricket.. Ameen
Yusuf
Yes they should have convinced Yousaf to play but Yousaf told the reporters te moment he landed in England that he was not going to play in this test because he was tired and was out of practice, so there’s nothing much a captain or coach can do, I guess they knew his form and fitness before hand.
Yes you are right this line up is so fragile that I won’t mind any changes.
Kamran – I completely agree with the inclusion of Yousuf and Younis. In fact I would add Yasir Hameed and take out Azhar Ali or Umar Amin.
I am flabbergasted; how come fucking Strauss/Cook can bat and not us. This has completely ruined my day. I really thought they should have played MoYo even if he was tired. At least he would have gotten some match practice. The present line up I honestly feel really bad for. Its kind of like someone sending me to bat in a test match.
Ijaz Butt should just do us this one favour – bring back Younis. Thats all I want. Then even if we lose I wont feel too bad because I really think the above would be the best line up, presently, Pakistan could produce.
You think so Kamran? I think instead of choping and changing the team Pakistan cricket needs only one change and that is of Ijaz Butt.
Changes needed for next test.. Stick with openers but Younis and yousaf in at 3 and 4. Umar akmal at 5. No 6 can be umar Amin. Kamran akmal at 7. Then aamir gul asif ajmal. This is the only side which has a chance of even drawing a test against England.
Yusuf
Nobody disputes the sincerity of Younis Khan with Pakistan cricket, the problem was that his personal form was consistently poor and he picked one too many fights, sometimes if you say a right thing in a wrong tone it loses it’s value, he was very popular captain amongst the fans the media liked him, the current board made him the captain supported him during the Dasti allegations but he was a bit rude with Qadir, Yawar Saeed and the top mangement in the meetings, the board gave him a free hand in selection but when he dropped senior players on one poor performance and pushed for mediocre players like Khurram, Fawad and Sarfraz he created unrest in the team, lack of diplomacy and man management skills caused his demise and finally when he resigned and went on fishing tour and turned his cell phone off that was a bit too much for the management.
He snubbed Aamer on over celebrating, dropped Malik on multiple occassions even though he was the highest scorer for Pakistan during SriLanka series, even dropped Yousaf once, dropped Umar Akmal in CT match for no reason, almost threatened to end the career of Salman butt when he was struggling for form he made very harsh statements in the media about him.
A good captain always supports his key players during lean patches, it becomes even more important when the captain himself is not performing.
I think he should have waited to enforce his will until he had regained his personal form, at that time nobody would have been able to undermine his authority but since he was at the mercy of other players and the players who were more loyal to him i.e Khurram, lateef, Sarfraz and Fawad also failed consistently he became helpless, it was unfortunate that the management couldn’t foresee the crisis in the making and went for an easy quick fix, they thought that getting rid of an out of form player who was causing so many problems at different fronts was easy to get rid of rather than disciplining 8-9 players.
The management failed to see that some players were corrupt and had vested interests and they deliberately created this crisis.
Why Mohammad Yousaf was desperate to become a captain that he caused the down fall of two captains? Why Afridi was so desperate to become a captain? Malik had a vengeance against all the senior players he should have been removed from the team when he was deposed as a captain because he was removed on the pretext that his place in the test team is not justified then why we kept on playing him.
The whole Lahore BAD shah Mafia is corrupt and is backed by Inzamam.
If Younis had not been rude and extra strict with the junior players just Malik and Yousaf couldn’t have done anything against him.
I can bet you any money Yousaf will not win us a single match on this English tour, and will do his best to derail Salman Butt and Afridi.
The only way out of this eternal crisis is to support the captain for one full year through thick and thin and also support the key players during their lean patches, too much choping and changing and knee jerk reactions will cause unstability and a sense of insecurity amongst the players and as a result every one of them will resort to dirty politics to stay in the team.
Ijaz Butt likes to act like a dictator but that stupid old fart caves in on the slightest pressure he has no courage to continue with his policies he keeps on going back and forth, and that is a sign of a very weak person.
Yes that is the last thing our batsmen need….more pressure. The sad thing is Younus Khan is in south London; just a train ride away all because of the personal animosity of Ijaz “fuck face” Butt. By the way I read in the guardian today as to why Younus was disliked by his team. He supposedly wanted them to improve their fitness and performance and was a tough boss. Now is that a bad thing? Do you think Imran Khan or Ricky Ponting or steve waugh are easy personalities? one need to be a tough mofo sometimes to extract the best out of the team.
Yusuf
The problem is that Akmal in these conditions is the world’s worst wicket keeper the little edge he had on other contendors was because of his batting but he has never scored in a test match where the ball is swinging, I think he deserved to be axed but now Pakistan’s tail has become even more longer the top order will have much more pressure to score.
Unless Zulqarnain Haider is the worlds best wicket keeper I don’t think Kamran Akmal should have been axed. At least with Kaneria, we have a great off spinner in the form of Ajmal, to replace him but a wicket keeper is a not a position to be messing around with.
If the team is not going to be playing Yousuf then they need to use Yasir Hameed intead of Umar Amin. Otherwise we seem to have ended with a team which is even a weaker batting line up than the first test (i.e. without Akmal).
I never appreciated Afridi’s decision to retire from test cricket in the middle of the tour but he hasn’t done anything wrong as far as his captaincy is concerned in limited overs cricket.
There are rumours that Afridi’s future as Pakistan’s limited overs captain is in jeopardy, most probably these are just rumours or the media trying to invent another crisis to feed on, but if it is true then somebody should just go and shoot Ijaz Butt or just simply spit on his face in public.
Akmal is dropped from the second test and Yousaf is going to miss it because of fatigue and lack of practice. An even more inexperienced Pakistan team will be ready to be slaughtered in the 2nd test.
HK Jain
Welcome to cricketfiles, the problem with Kamran Akmal is that in limited overs cricket he is fine with both bat and gloves but in test cricket he single handedly loses a test match and that is happening quite frequently, it’s either fatigue of five day cricket or the difference of conditions but he fails both with the bat and the gloves, It’s true none of the other keepers are experienced enough to replace him but we have to start somewhere because this can’t continue, the recent crisis which Pakistan cricket faced after Sydney test was only because of Akmal. I think he should be rested.
Its not true that kamran is really bad. Once you replace him with someone else you may find it hard him to score runs when batting of pak comes.
I have a faith in Kamran akmal. He can still do good for pakistan. Surely some bad time as of now for him.
Yusuf
I don’t think that Salman said anything wrong he has to be sure about the form of Yousaf, this senior junior bullshit has already ruined Pakistan cricket, Yusuf if he has to play must show his form, he has been on Tableegh for the past six months and has been out of touch any captain in the world would have asked the same question regardless of the stature of the player concerned.
We shouldn’t be reacting to every statement these guys make and should not disect their statements always negatively. I think Yousaf’s current form is of utmost importance.
But I do sense that the team management is not too excited with Yousaf;s arrival which can only occur because of two reasons, one team politics and grudge, second the players usually know the inside reports about the form and fitness level of fellow players and it is natural for captains to raise concerns about a player coming after a long layoff, Younis did it with Asif, Afridi did it with Akhtar so it is nothing new and perfectly normal if this is the reasoning behind his statement.
Stani
The team management knows better and I don’t think they want to lose on purpose, One major problem is that I have seen Zulqernain, Salman Ahmed and Sarfraz Ahmed these guys are no better than Kamran Akmal, Sarfraz is the better one out of all of them but last time when he kept behind the wickets for Pakistan he wasn’t doing a clean job and was pathetic with the bat, the only point which goes in Akmal’s favor is that if he clicked with the bat that will be cover every thing, I know he hasn’t so far and not lately in test matches but he certainly has the capability which others don’t.
Somebody raised a valid point that why PCB sent Zulqernain and not Sarfraz who was Second in line after Kamran Akmal there is definitely some politics being played here.
Salman Butt has been quoted by cricinfo regarding the arrival of M yousuf, “I am sure he would’ve picked up the bat at some point because even he knows he is coming to play a Test match,” Butt said. “He has to tell me what kind of physical state he is because it has been a quite a lot of travel for him.”
The venom is showing up. Butt should be more respectful towards Yousuf. He is after all a tremendous batsman and his record shows that. Stupid Salman Butt with a paltry test average of 32 should work on his batting before he opens his mouth. M. Yousuf doesn’t need this test match, he is only here to give his services to Pakistan. Butt should realize that if wants harmony in the team he needs to respect all his players and they will respect him.
Wasim,
I think he will be rusty so if they are thinking he will not be ready in time, they should chuck him in anyway to use that Test to get his eye in even if he doesn’t make much. Who knows, England may bat first and he can have a day in the field with a few net sessions in and around play.
Stani
Salman Butt clearly said in the post match interview that Akmal will bounce back in the next match which means that he had no intentions of dropping him.
The captain and coach might not play Yousaf in the second test even though that he will be available. I think if he is there and if he has practiced hard in the Academy (according to Asif) then he should be the first choice.
I just have a bad feeling that they will not drop Akmal. The fact that Yousuf has been called up without the consultation of captain and coach, will harden the captain and coach’s resolve and just for the mere fact of wanting to look as though they are the ones in charge, they may pick Akmal again.
Kamran I completely agree but what was the wisdon behind announcing so early that Kaneria has been dropped out of the team it will only give a lot of time to anticipate what is coming and they can devise a strategy to counter it.
On one hand I am really angry at Kaneria for giving so many runs and bowling one full toss per over but on the other hand its difficult to ignore a bowler who has 250 test wickets (300 if you normalize for Kamran Akmals dropped catches and stumping). I think maybe Ajmal should be given a chance in the next test just to rest Kaneria but they (PCB) should not have released Kaneria in such manner. I mean when someone is low on confidence the last thing you want is to make a complete fool out of him in front of the whole world. There is nothing to gain from kicking someone in the teeth when they are already down.
I can guarantee you that Kaneria will be back – Shane Warne speaks very highly of him. I think he just needs to focus on a few stock deliveries rather than messing with each and every ball he bowls.
If you look at ajmals record of 5 tests against quality batting line ups you will notice his economy rate is 2.81 and has taken 18 wickets. If he keeps going like that for the next five he will have more wickets than aamer. Not saying he’s better but I think he deserves a decent run in our test team as he is the most in form and confident spinner in Pakistan. Kaneria was once a good bowler but I think batsMen have just worked him out now and his best days are long gone. I doubt we’ll see him play again for Pakistan.
Yousaf
The difference between Ajmal and Haurtiz was that they were bowling to a different batting line up so you can’t really make a comparison, Ajmal didn’t gave many runs and if he just manages to do that here England will be in trouble.
Akmal scored a golden duck dropped so many catches, I don’t think even a novice would do any worse than him..
Wasim
I don’t understand your fascination with testing young capped players for such important and difficult tours. Zulqarnain Haider has never played a test, has only played one international T20. He might be the next Gilcrist but he has to demonstrate that by maybe playing with Pakistan A team, ODI’s and T20. A test match against Eng in ENG should not have untested novices. That is exactly why I am against Azhar Ali and Wahab Riaz. Infact that is my only issue with Ajmal i.e. lack of test experience (only played 5 tests). Also he didnt really have a steller performance against AUS in AUS or in Sri lanka. In AUS he only 2 wickets in the same test Hauritz (a nothing bowler) took 6. His performance was mediocre even on the turning wickets of Srilanka. So as I said Ajmal is a great T20 or ODI bowler but wont be great in tests as he cant seem to take wickets. I think Hasan Raza is more of a wicket taker but against its a tough choice as I would still go with Kaneria (I know he gave a lot of runs – no question). Similarly, the case with Kamran Akmal, he has very bad days but i dont think we have a better substitute.
I really hope they bring back Younis and Yousuf.
Yusuf
Check Sami’s record during the last tour of England and then push for his case. First there is no 7ft dude he is 6ft 8 he has a sharp bouncer but thats about it nothing else in his armoury and he is also left armer.
It’s not a matter of favoritism, Gul has faded in the test matches and this is quite evident from his performances.
I am not trying to say that don’t try to improve batting, I am saying given the talent pool we have the result will be the same, but in Bowling we can improve definitiely as we have good players on the bench, and by replacing Kamran Akmal we can make fielding reliable.
How many catches did Akmal dropped of Kaneria during this tour, again it’s a lame defence based on regional favoritism, he has been bowling 2 easy boundaries every over he was the single biggest reason why Morgan and Prior were able to score a century becaause whenever Aamer and Asif kept things tight Gul and Kaneria relieved all the pressure by bowling crap.
There are many ways to win, you can also win through bowling if we don’t give150- 200 runs to tailenders in every match we can certainly improve our win/loss ratio and that we can only do by improving our bowling and fielding.
Swann is an off spinner, Saqlain is an off spinner, Murali and Harbhajan are off spinners who says that only leggies win test matches.
Stani
Coach Ejaz Ahmed really likes him and on his recommendation he is being called up.
Yes last time we had a below par pace attack by our own standards consisting of, Sami, Nazir and Gul but if our batsmen were so great why were they performing only in 1 innings and why couldn’t they win us a single match, don’t india win test matches with their extremely mediocre bowling.
I think its like decieving one’s own self to believe that both Y’s have the same form as they did back then and if they were in the team they could have repeated that performance.
The conditions and the strength of opposition is totally different this time, we were #2 ranked team in the world before that series, both Ys were topping the world batting rankings back then and now they are nothing more than chaley huay cartoos.
Fielding can be changed overnight if we just drop Kamran Akmal.
Wasim
I dont know if we need another left arm fast bowler. If we are going to get a fast bowler to replace Gul then it should either be Sami (bowls at 93mph) or the 7foot dude who can bounce the ball like Finn else I would let Gul be. I understand Gul had a terrible time in the first innings but he did deliver in the second innings unlike kaneria. These bowlers need to work on getting the tail enders out. Our miserable batting is putting the bowlers under tremendous pressure. When the opposing team scores more than 200 our bowlers start giving up because they realize that with such a shitty batting line up we dont have any chance – hence they stop bowling to a plan.
Honestly, I dont like to play around with stuff that already works which is our bowling. Our problem is batting and while I know Anderson bowled well but 80 all out with 3 for 15 at the end of the 3rd day was not all Anderson – he had plenty of help from our batsmen. Can you explain why was Salman Butt smashing at every ball where there are 10 overs left to go? is that responsible batting from a captain? i mean what is the point? Azhar ali and Umar Amin looked like dog shit. I mean your captain just got out why are you trying to play at every fucking ball -just let it go. SURVIVE! I would play Yasir Hameed because at least he has some technique and some experience. Presently, our batting line up is worse than that of Bangladesh. A bunch of shits.
Ajmal – he is a great bowler indeed. They should give him a chance but I still think leggies win test matches. With Ajmal we can definitely restrict them from making runs. BTW…I actually feel bad for Kaneria; if it wasnt for Kamran Akmal he would have had at least 300 test wickets. I think Kaneria had too much going on in his mind regarding that spot betting bullshit that he is under investigation.
I sadly wont replace kamran akmal at this point, The other dude is not that much better. Umar Akhmal I would replace in a heartbeat. Also, Asif needs to work on his fielding. His charsi attitude while fielding really pisses me off. Also, he got himself runout when Umar Gul was kicking some ass just due to pure laziness.
Wasim,
I havent seen Raza Hasan but what was the point of bringing Abdul Rehman and then ignore him and bring in Hasan?
I think many fans wanted the PCB to be fair across the board. But, since the PCB allowed the likes of Afridi, Malik and the Akmals to get away with it, then it wasn’t fair keeping Younis and Yousuf out who were probably not as bad a trouble makers as the aforementioned.
I think the last time we visited England, our bowling attack was nowhere near this good. Didnt we have Sami and Nazir?
I think bringing in Yousuf isn’t really a big change. Ok, he may not make much, but he has a better chance of doing so. Concentrating on our fielding is fine, but it will take ages to see any results.
Yousaf
Hasan Raza is left arm orthodox and just because he took wickets at U19 level won’t make him good enough for test matches to earn a test cap should have a more difficult road map where one has to prove himself at different levels against various oppositions and in different conditions.
Anyways I hate to talk negative about a youngster lets hope he does well if he and when he gets a chance.
Harmison and Hoggard were no match to the current English pace battery.
I know what Yousaf and Younis did back then but did we won any match? which wicket was as lethal as this one back then? Do you honestly believe that Yousaf and Younis have the same fitness and form as they had in 2006?
Why is it PCB’s problem? So tommorrow if Yousaf fails you will very easily say why did they listened to people like we are not the selectors they should have known better? RIght
If yousaf was that sincere with Younis then he should not have taken the Oath against Younis from all the players and should not have led the revolt against him. He only called for him when he came to know that an inquiry is waiting for him after the Sydney test.
And Btw Younis was on a deep sea fishing trip and had his mobile off, in other words when PCB were looking for him he told them to fuck off.
Btw what was his performance in Australia in the Odis, similar calls were made for him back then also as if he was the sole saviour of Pakistan cricket but what did he actually deliver?
Gul has bowled crap during the Australian series he only performs in one innings mostly when it doesn’t matter, bottom line is you can’t win a match based on the back of just two bowlers especially when your batting doesn’t have the capability to score even 250 you need all four bowlers in top form and this where Pakistan can actually improve given the resources at hand unlike the batting where no matter what we do the result will be the same.
Kaneria and Gul were totally shit.
I agree with you on both Akmal brothers they don’t deserve to be in the team.
To compare Ajmal with Malik is like comparing an apple with an orange, Muralitharan was also an offspinner the problem is that Malik can’t bowl Doosra and therefore becomes toothless Ajmal on the other hand has much more control and can cause havoc if he gets a bit of turn.
I wouldn’t drop Azhar Ali this was the first poor match he had during the tour, he did his job well against Australia.
My line up would be
Butt, Farhat, Younis, Azhar, Yousaf, U Akmal, Z haider, Aamer, Asif, Riaz, Ajmal
Don’t want to see K Akmal in the team, Malik should be out because he is a fuckin pussy who can’t bat higher and good for nothing as a tailender.
English batsmen struggle against left armers Riaz can move the ball both ways he will be quite effective on these wickets, Ajmal with his doosra should become our frontline spinner he should be given at least these three test matches to prove himself.
Hmmm….I really thought Hasan Raza was a leggie but you may be right. I saw him bowl in the U19 world cup and he was really good.
Isn’t hasan raza a left arm orthodox? Usman qadir was our leggie at the under 19 world cup if I’m not mistaken. Anyway moving onto the batsmen my picks for the next test match would be mo yousaf and younis khan in for umar Amin and shoaib malik. Azhar Ali looks decent enough and deserves a run at 4 or 5. Also ajmal for kaneria. As much as it pains me to say this I’m not sure if there is a better keeper batsmen than kamran akmal in Pakistan so we will have to stick with him. Does azhar Ali keep wicket?I’m sure if he does he,d be a better choice than akmal and we could play an extra batsman:)
Wasim
here are the batting stats for the 2006 tour of England for YK (younis Khan), MY (mohd yousuf) and SB (Salman butt):
test inn1 inn2
my lords 202 48 match drawn
yk lords n/s n/s
sb lords 10 0
yk old traff 44 62 pak lost
my old traff 38 15 pak lost
sb old traff n/s n/s pak lost
yk headingley 173 41 pak lost
my headingley 192 8 pak lost
sb headingley 20 16 pak lost
yk oval 9 forfeit
my oval 128 forfeit
sb oval n/s
* n/s means not selected.
By the way England team had just won the ashes and had a formidable attack with harmison and hoggard. Salman butt had an atrocious time with the bat so he should learn to shut the fuck up before he talks about YK and MY. YK and MY were the shining light in the pakistani line up because Inzi totally sucked and Faisal Iqbal was totally crap (he still is crap). So not selecting YK and MY for this tour was criminal!
As far as the PCB listening to people well that is their problem. During the AUS tour MY repeatedly asked for YK but Ijaz Butt never sent him; instead sent him only for ODI’s. We all know YK is not an odi or a t/20 player. The PCB should come up with the best team possible and stick with it, there is no need to second guess the captain.
And Wasim I dont buy at all your reasoning that we should concentrate on improving the fielding and bowling. Omar Gul didnt have a great day 1 but you cannot have all bowlers performing at 100% – also he made amends by making 68. Also other than Akmals wicket keeping our fielding was fine, we only missed one catch (by farhat). Our batting on the other hand was crap. Salman Butt as always sucked followed by the two new girls (azhar and Umar amin). Salman, being the captain, should have tried to be patient given that they only had 10 overs to face but he slashed every ball. Look I dont think we could have saved this match but at least you die fighting and I did not see that. This would have a detrimental effect on the bowlers also who will be saying that you cant expect us to bowl and batt!
Bring back Yousuf and Younis, Hasan raza is not a bad leggie I saw him in the U19 world cup. The guy was great. In a test match you need a good leggie. Ajmal is great also but he is an off spinner and we already have that in shoaib malik. I think our line up for the next match should be:
Butt, Farhat, Yasir Hameed, Younis, Yousuf, Shoaib malik, Kamran Akmal, M Amir, M Asif, U Gul, H Raza.
Yes we should rest umar akmal because that cocky mofo needs to learn to respect test cricket
Yousaf
So wasn’t Salman stating a fact? On our last tour to England how many matches did we won?
Butt has been better than them in the last whole year.
Waqar only said what he was suppose to say.
No doubt Younis deserves to be in the team based on his experience and stature but that fact alone won’t remove the issues surrounding his selection, you can just dismiss everything by saying that the issue is only Ejaz Butt’s ego and totally ignore YK’s ego problems which led him to quit three times, get one PCB chief fired, get one chief selector resign and have a tussel with everyone else in the team. On top of that showing no form in last 14 months to justify his selection. These are the serious issues to which waqar was alluding to, the people who are running the show obviously know more than you and me and it’s their ass which is always on the line to expect that they will make poor decisions just to satisfy their egoes is very simplistic in my opinion. There are always two sides of a picture one has to take into consideration both sides to be fair.
Stani
Yousaf, Raza Hassan and a third unnamed player is going to join Pakistan team. Both changes are stupid if they had to bring in an old timer then they should have called Younis who has atleast kept himself busy in county cricket. Having said that you never know the third unnamed player can be Younis.
You are right that they are not going to change Kamran Akmal who has at least 50% responsibility of losing this match, the other 50% goes to the poor bowling by Gul and Kaneria.
Our batting in such conditions has recently been like this with or without the seniors. Now when Yousaf will fail people will again start cursing out Ejaz Butt.
Raza Hassan is not international material, that is a mistake they should play Rahman or Ajmal. I know Maaz wont agree with me on this but this is my true opinion.
The fans and media are making PCB go in circles, first they asked to drop the seniors after the Australian tour know they want them back, the fans want instant positive results from this young and inexperienced team which is not possible.
Last time when Pakistan visited England they had the strongest Pak team in recent times and English team was the weakest in International cricket at that time, How many matches did we won on that tour?????
We also lost I think a home series against England after that with all the seniors in the team.
This time we lost to a better team and suffered a humiliating loss only because of our poor fielding the match could have been close but I still believe England would have prevailed.
Our Bowling continues to give 150-200 runs to tailenders in every other innings, you can’t win a test match with just two bowlers performing.
I am not suggesting that batting was by any means acceptable but given the conditions and the quality of the bowling of opposition any Pakistani batting line up would have met the same fate.
Instead of wholesale changes and knee jerk reactions during a tour, the team should strengthen the bowling and fielding these are the only areas where realistically we can improve, no matter what PCB does Pakistan’s batting woes will remain, we don’t have the talent or skill to survive in such conditions and that is the bitter reality.
I think if they remove Kaneria and Gul and replace Umar Amin and Shoiab Malik, Pakistan can give England hard time in the next matches.
did you guys read the cricinfo article. Salman Butt said the two Y’s never won them any matches in England before. What an idiot. If he has anything to say he should only open his mouth when it makes fucking sense. Yousuf made a double hundred at Lords and his average in England is 65, Younis test average in England is 52. Butt, the pathetic opener and chancer that he is should atleast show some respect to these two batsman. Butt will never be as good as them. The only reason Butt said this was to keep PCB happy and lick Ijaz Butts asshole.
Check this out, Waqar was if he felt the inexperienced middle order needed reinforcement in the form either Yousuf or Younis, or both, he did not entertain the thought too much. “Look, one is retired [Yousuf]. We can’t really bring somebody back from retirement. The other one [Younis] has got serious issues with the cricket board [PCB],” Waqar said with a smile.
“SERIOUS ISSUES WITH THE CRICKET BOARD”……what fucking issues. Is it because no one can ask for justice in Pakistan. The guy who had been wronged by the team and then banned for life cannot even ask for justice in Zardari’s/Butt’s Pakistan? Does he need a fucking NRO? Ijaz Butt and his butt buddy Yawar Saeed need to be hung by their balls …..oops I forgot they dont have any.
And new news out – Mohammad Yousuf is coming. How about Younis Khan? Oh i forgot he asked for justice. Sorry no chance mate.
Wasim,
Listening to Butt’s interview, it seems that they will persist with the same team. After Kaneria got some tips from Warne before the start of play, he may have sent a message to the coach and captain to give him another try. I wouldn’t.
Butt backed Kamran Akmal too, but I hope it was because he was speaking in public and not because he really believes the guy is any good. He took away any chance we had of winning that game.
Kamran
I can give you three names, Ejaz Butt, Kaneria or Kamran Akmal
Jokes apart, I am quite sure he will get dropped in the next match unless the next game is on an ideal pitch for spinners.
Today Asif looked out of sorts finally he ran out of gas, Umar Gul bowled really well initially but he too now looks tired.
Other than Kaneria and Akmal I won’t blame anyone else, Gul’s performance in the first innings was pathetic but he recovered,
This match is over for Pakistan, Akmal brothers will score 50′s and retain their place in the team, Isn’t it funny that some players only perform when it is inconsequential for the team.
If kaneria isn’t dropped then I will kill somone. Seriously sami or shoaib akhtar would wrap up the innings and bowl out the last batsmen so easily compared kaneria. Any fast bowlers in the squad?
Salman Butt may be right about the shortcomings of hot spot but after carefully looking at Azhar’s dismissal several times I don’t think he knicked it the snickometer also showed only one graph and that was from the ball hitting his thigh.
Great innings by Gul Pakistan avoided the follow on hopefully Gul will improve his performance with the ball in the second innings.
Aamer removed Strauss in the first over it took three guys to take one catch, that was hillarious, Pakistan needs a few quick wickets to get back into the match.
NOTTINGHAM: Pakistan captain Salman Butt defended his side doing without the controversial Decision Review System (DRS), during a batting collapse in the first Test against England, by saying the technology on offer was “not a hundred per cent”.
The tourists were in the midst of a slump that saw them decline to 47 for six on the second day at Trent Bridge here on Friday when Azhar Ali was given out caught behind for 14 in one of five wickets for James Anderson.
However, some replays indicated he had failed to make contact.
Under DRS, both sides are allowed two unsuccessful challenges before they are barred from requesting a referral for the remainder of an innings.
But, in order not to delay the game, they must make it clear within a matter of seconds of the umpire’s original verdict whether they wish to call on DRS.
It appeared from a distance the inexperienced Ali, in only his third Test, decided against a referral that might have gone in his favour after consulting non-striker and fellow novice batsman Umar Akmal.
Butt, speaking after stumps, said that wasn’t the case and questioned the accuracy of both the Hawkeye ball-tracking system and the Hotspot device, akin to a thermal imaging camera, which is used to detect thin edges.
“This technology, Hawkeye is not 100 per cent and neither is Hotspot. When the ball hits the sticker on the side (edge of the bat) it doesn’t leave a mark,” Butt told reporters.
A further complicating factor in this match is that spectators in the ground are seeing a replay on a giant screen at the same time as the third umpire is coming to his decision on the basis of looking at the same image.
In previous series, fans at the game have often been kept in the dark.
“If the batsman knows he has hit the ball there’s no point taking a chance because if it’s up there on the big screen it’s pretty embarrassing,” opening batsman Butt added.
“I think it was very honest of Azhar Ali, good sportsmanship. He edged it and he walked straight away.”
Butt said he’d been alerted to what he believed to be a deficiency in Hotspot during Pakistan’s 3-0 series loss in Australia earlier this year.
“In January we played Australia in Hobart and it twice happened to Michael Clarke. We heard a big noise and the Snicko showed there was noise as well when the ball crossed the bat but there was nothing on the Hotspot.
“Every bat brand has a side-sticker (on the edge). It shows some time and it doesn’t show. That means it’s something to do with the stickers, maybe.”
The Snicko device, which tries to detect whether a batsman has edged the ball on the basis of sound waves, is not being used as a decision-making tool in this four-Test series because officials say it takes too long to provide a definitive conclusion.
But it was Hawkeye that was in Butt’s sights. “Hawkeye is not a hundred percent trustworthy,” the 25-year-old insisted. “Every meeting we have with the officials, they say it’s not a hundred percent.”
Anderson, who exploited the swing friendly conditions to finish with five wickets for 49 runs from 20 overs on Friday, said of DRS: “It’s trickier than it seems, and something we’re having to get used to.”
Pakistan will resume on 147 for nine in reply to England’s first innings 354, a deficit of 207 runs, on Saturday.
But Umar Gul’s 30 not out took them to within just eight runs of avoiding the follow-on, albeit with only the one wicket standing, when bad light forced an early close on Friday
SP
I agree with you on Kamran but that statement was for Umar Akmal.
Umar Akmal should be told only one thing and that is straighten up is act or he will be kicked out.
wasim… he can’t be straighten up… if it was possible kamran would have been able to do it for he is keeping for a while now… the only solution is that either he plays as specialist batsman or not play at all… let sarfaraz do the keeping…
Stani
Umar Akmal should be told only one thing and that is straighten up is act or he will be kicked out.
Wasim,
Finn is still not up with the Test game and he tires very easily. Broad is not all that anyway so all we need to do is negotiate the first few overs and just keep an eye on Anderson.
We should watch what the Aussies did in the second innings as a reaction to the first innings 88 all out. They tried to see off the new ball and noticebly, the likes of Ponting were putting in big strides to negate the swing.
I think Umar Akmal should be told not try and defend but play his normal game. He cant defend and rather than picking up something, he gets out for low scores with silly defensive strokes.
The first 10 overs bowled by English bowlers were good but had our top order shown some patience and resilience and seen the new ball off the story could have been different, English bowlers ran out of steam and the ball was moving a lot less later on,
It is inconsequential whether Pakistan are forced to follow on or England bats again and sets a target of 500+ for Pakistan they will win this match comfortably.
The only thing Pakistan can do is learn from there mistakes and change their line up in the second match Akmal and Kaneria should get dropped in the second match.
150 to avoid the follow-on. I doubt we get there so it will be interesting to see what Strauss does. Hopefully he’ll just send our superstar bastmen back in and our bowlers can just put their feet up and laugh at them.
Gave away 150 too many in the field and will fall 250 short with the bat. Game over.
Not only that Wasim, because of where he stood, the slips then took their positions and they were too far too as it proved.
So was it he who told Azhar not to review? He was also responsible for declining a review when we were bowling when we would have been successful. How did they make this genius vice-captain?
I feel for our bowlers. They will probably have to come out today again.