***Official*** Pakistan and England in UAE

[Stapel]

Reckon you would've just dropped Morgan if Bresnan was fit though.

Apart from the discussion about playing 1 or 2 spinners, I can't see Morgan keeping his place for much longer. He probably gets a nother chance next test (assuming he won't bat 2nd innings), but that should be it. Morgan hardly has any decent contributions. His best scores are, iirc, either against Bangladesh, or coming in with a 200+ lead or so. That is something that should weigh a lot, considering that Prior, Bresnan, Broad & Swann, all coming after Morgan, actually have contributed with the bat when England were under serious pressure.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

As much as I dislike Bopara he deserves a chance ahead of Morgan for the 3rd test and in Sri Lanka. If he fails to take the chance then Taylor/AN Other get picked for the start of the English summer.

Morgan struggles against good pace bowling and has looked awful against spin here. Not a test player, get rid.

 

[four_or_six]

Some of the young guys now coming through are getting to the age where they should have a chance in the team. Hales/Taylor/Bairstow for example are all 22/23.

 

[Furball]

There's never really been much life there any time a partnership has got in. Might be an idea to try and restrict these two before having a go with the new ball? Or with Pakistan's long tail, should we be working as hard as possible to break this partnership asap? Thoughts?

We've been kind of doing that though, despite the partnership being in for 20 overs Pakistan aren't really going anywhere.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

These 2 have done very well, great battling partnership. Might be going a bit too slow though as the new ball will be due just after drinks tomorrow and the lead might not even be 100.

 

[Daemon]

Pakistan need at least 170 runs more to have something to bowl at. Difficult to see that happening.

 

[Uppercut]

These 2 have done very well, great battling partnership. Might be going a bit too slow though as the new ball will be due just after drinks tomorrow and the lead might not even be 100.

The new ball isn't that much of a factor here, though.

Waheeey, an aggressive shot.

 

[smash84]

We've been kind of doing that though, despite the partnership being in for 20 overs Pakistan aren't really going anywhere.

these 2 have done a decent job given what had gone before them

 

[wpdavid]

Pakistan need at least 170 runs more to have something to bowl at. Difficult to see that happening.

Nah - England won't fancy anything over 150 batting last on this. Lose a few early wickets, and even 100 will be an arse-nipper.

 

[ganeshran]

England need two quick wickets before close of play. Anything 175+ would be very difficult to chase down

 

[Prince EWS]

Great shot.

 

[Uppercut]

Really bizarre not having a slip. Was thinking just before that shot that he can just go hard through cover against any kind of width at all and if he edges it he'll probably get four anyway.

 

[Scaly piscine]

I think people are exaggerating the difficulty of batting last here, pitches in the UAE don't deteriorate that much, in fact it can actually get easier to bat. The extra difficulty will come from the pressure of the situation, otherwise it's not going to be that different from the rest of the game.

 

[Prince EWS]

I think people are exaggerating the difficulty of batting last here, pitches in the UAE don't deteriorate that much, in fact it can actually get easier to bat. The extra difficulty will come from the pressure of the situation, otherwise it's not going to be that different from the rest of the game.

The ball is definitely turning a fair bit more now than it was on Day 1 though.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah I'd be very surprised if this particular pitch flattened out. But I still think Pakistan need a lot more from this partnership before the game's anywhere near even.

 

[Burgey]

Lovely shot

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Well played by Shafiq and Ali but any England fan would have taken this position at the start of play this morning. Huge session first up tomorrow.

 

[GIMH]

Whats Monty's username on here?

gimh

Good partnership from pakistan but I fancy us to run through them in the morning session. Reckon we're good for this one.

Cracking Test though.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

The new ball isn't that much of a factor here, though.

Waheeey, an aggressive shot.

Extra bounce helps the spinners.

 

[Z-Man]

I would be surprised if Pakistan manages to score 150+ tomorrow morning.