WI 275/4 at Stumps, BCL Lara 125 not out.

If marks were given for effort alone, I would have given us an A plus for yesterday's effort, but unfortunately it's results that count in the end most. Rana Naved is an admirable soul, he's got a heart big enough to encompass the whole of the world in it and still have some space left for people from Mars. But a double blow to this bowling thumb sustained while batting seemed to affect his grip, and consequentially over all rythym yesterday. But what about his confidence? No, not at all, you get spanked around the park by Chris Gayle, you've got a sore thumb to deal with, but what do you do in your next spell, bend your back and give it your best shot. How much Pakistan would love for some of their other players to have such an attitude! I seem to be baffeled sometimes by how Rana has been so affective in one-days and not as affective in test matches. It's not like he does a whole lot of things different in different forms of the game, he's the same hard working, low profile pro in both forms, perhaps in test cricket batsmen can tend to leave him alone much more and have to consequentially play a lot less shots against him. What ever is the reason Pakistan can ill afford to have one of their best finds in recent times be marked as one-day specialist.

Our bowlers are all very hard working, in fact hard work might, grit and determination might be their biggest strengths but we sometimes struggle to find ways to blast through a side as in quickly run through them and bowl them out cheaply. Their is also perhaps a sense of over reliance on Nanny Danny. Although the continued development of Afridi and Malik also looking penetrative in his spells yesterday will help lessen the burden of both overs and responsibility on Kaneria's shoulders. Shabbir hasn't been consistent enough in his return for me, there is always some talk about his action, may he that's whats affecting him. But I was really impressed by Razzaq yesterday, he's gradually developing into our go-to cum work horse guy, in Freddie mould actually. Additionally he seems to have regained his lost knack of producing wicket taking deliveries - what can one say about the worm killer that got Devon Smith? Ok, not all credit to Razzaq and more to the pitch, but at least he pitched in the right spot and the line was spot on. One would have though that Lara coming out to bat on the back of that dismissal must have been a little wary, but sometimes a players sublime class will shine through and enable them to do things you wouldn't have imagined in your wildest dreams for any other player to have done.

One has to give credit to Brian Lara, there's always a lot of talk about him, his attitude, and how that affects team spirit, especially now that Chanderpual's skipper, people also start comparing, but the big scores continue to come regardless. Watching Lara bat sometimes is like watching a run machine conjourn up one way after an another to extract the minutest of gaps in the field. He can make a simple push in the leg side seem ever so intriguing. I wonder if there is case for a seprate branch of cricket studies to be established in honor of Lara, any takers for Brianology? His extravgent back lift and unique technique of moving way across his stumps to cover the line of the ball certainly does make him the perfect example for a case study trying to prove that you don't have to be orthodox to be successful. By and large, yesterday was West Indies' day, but Pakistan could take out a few postives for themselves too. The manner in which out last four wickets fell should have encourage the bowlers no end. Chanderpaul's wicket therefore came at a timely instance, now only if we can get past Lara...! I really can't see the West Indies lower order thriving on this wicket for long periods. It's got quite a lot of inconsistent bounce, especially from the George Headley end outside the right hander's off stump. 99 runs to play with still, a quick wicket coming in the morning session, especially if that's of BCL, then we might still end up with a slendir lead. Test match wide open still, if we can restrict West Indies to under 400, I'd give us the edge considering the West Indies will have to bat last.

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Admin - Link to original thread in International Test Cricket: 2nd Test: West Indies v Pakistan: Jamaica 2-6 June
Nominated by Richard Jenkins.