Incredible !!!! So 16 wickets at 18.43 when the average cost per English wicket in the series has been in excess of 30 isn't that hot eh ? What IS exciting about Clark, as it is about Hussey, is that despite spending such a long time on the fringes they burst onto the scene, seasoned performers with all the enthusiasm of (and a heck of a lot more intelligence than) all the youngsters you're so desperate to hype up.

Funny how last time Pakistan toured South Africa in 2002-3, no Pakistani bowler averaged under 50................and in the previous tour only one Pakistani pace bowler averaged under 35...................maybe it's just unusual for Pakistani pacers to have a "good game or two in South Africa"...........

Gibbs-Fan, a couple of your suggestions are already in the World Top Ten, eg Bond and Akhtar. You have a good team otherwise, though guys like Inzi and Tendulkar do not really meet the "in form" criterion and might even be on a slow (or not so slow) decline now. Their career records are impressive, but they have probably been out-performed of late by some of the other names you considered, eg Chanderpaul, Bell etc.

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Of late, its unusual for them to have a good game or two anywhere outside the sub-continent.

EDIT: Sounds reasonably warm However, there's no Man of the Match award there. At the Gabba, his 4/72 had three tail-enders; some of his other wickets, eg Strauss at Brisbane were hardly the result of some phenomenal wicket-taking delivery. Good: yes; spectacular: not in my opinion. I agree, he's been better than I was prepared to give him credit for: of the six English innings in the series, Clark has been Australia's most successful bowler on three occasions, which is rather good. However, one of these three was the tail-mopping at the Gabba; the second was a 3/75 when the opposition racked up 551/6. Neither was match-winning, and though the 3/49 at Perth was more valuable, it again included two tail-enders.

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A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes
Mark Twain

My apologies, I forgot to check the bowlers in the top 10. I guess Bond can be replaced by Stuart Clark then. Inzi's recent form has not been to bad though. did he not score 6 consecutive 50's against England. I think he totally justifies his place. As for Tendulkar, I did say that I could have him or Chanderpaul in. I guess we could go for Shiv then.

Maranello, why dont you pick a team.

This is where one of the obvious differences lie between sub-continental sides and others........Man of the Match awards ? How about bo*&^x ? Man of the Match awards aren't the be all and end all, and which is why Australian selectors have been so successful of late. They recognise that the cult of the individual is not what drives performances, but that eleven team members, most (if not all) firing together is what wins. Clark hasn't had many MOTMs but then he's in a team of stars, of match-winners, all of whom, could do that in any given game. Most other teams aren't blessed with that level of talent and so have to rely upon individual performers and performances, hype them up when they happen, cast them down when they don't. In Test cricket, Pakistan, in my view, has five matchwinners - Younis, Yousuf, Inzi, Shoaib and Asif. Kaneria isn't quite there yet, but not far off. Australia has eight or nine, and that is why he's always less likely to win your over rated MOTM awards.

This is a team game, team performances are ultimately what count.

As an aside, Clark has taken 37 wickets in 7 Tests, 24 of which are top 5 batsmen. I think you'll find that compares very favourably with most of his contemporaries and hardly worth the attempt at disparaging his efforts(interestingly, Asif's ration of top 5 batsmen is even better, nothing short of stunning, in fact).

He will most likely pick a side consisting of all Pakistani's.

This would be my side:

1. Alister Cook
2. Justin Langer
3. Ian Bell
4. Jayawardene
5. Inzi
6. Gayle
7. Gilchrist
8. Stuart Clake
9. Munaf Patel
10.Sreesanth
11.Mohammed Asif

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CC

Good side CC but where is your spinner. Please dont say Gayle as we are talking test cricket here.

Im not really a beliver in a spinner unless its a wrist spinner like Kumble or Warne. Vettori would be the leading contender to be the spinner in my side but I chose to have a team full of pacers.

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CC

Interesting observation, if only you could back it up.... Instead you go and select Munaf and Sreesanth in your next best XI, hilarous indeed

How are the selection of Munaf Patel and Sreesanth hilarious? Orchid would you like to explain. Both are very promising bowlers, and if you don't agree look at their stats and performances.

Munaf has a brilliant series against England at home and out-performaned Flintoff and Harmison who are known as the best fast bowlers of today, and Sreesanth has also had a brilliant start to his test career, if you look at the first Test againt South Africa you would see that he has msot things that makes a good fast bowler-aggression, accuracy and a perfect wrist position which garantees good seam bowling.

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