Aus vs Pak: 3rd Test (Jan 2-6), Sydney

[Zainub]

Your response is very much appreciated.

Shoaib's body language/attitude/mein/manners everything was below par for, especially in this last test - he probably went into this game carrying a niggle in his hamstring and we all know that he isn't him self when he's unfit - actual performance wise though, it can't be argued Dagonz that after Kaneria he was our 2nd best bowler, after all he took two five-fors, and made Hayden his bunny. I think he had a pretty good series up until this last test. His fitness levels though have been poor throught out.

Personally my opinion was that Imran Farhat was very big dissapointment. Not only did he not get any runs he also kept getting out playing very lame shots - the very fact that he has yet not learned to stop playing the pull shot untill he learns how to prevent it from being air borne has been very dispointing. That guy has got out sooo many times playing that shot , and still he's not learning. No wonder he was dropped from the ODIs, he will have to work very very hard to earn his place back in the side, since I'm sure we won't be leaving out Umar from our future plans for forever. Inzi's performance too was also preetty dismal, only 2 innnings, fair enough but he got out bowled both times, and even in the warm up games all his dismisslas were bowled. Abdul Razzaq too didn't learn to curb his enthusiasm while batting, and will be thankful seeing the way Gilo played that he was sitting out the Sydney test - he would have got murdered.

Sami was unlucky to not have picked up more wickets, but he must start getting performances under his belt, as much as I have faith in him, we can't affort to keep on selecting him on just promise and talent. Results must come from somewhere. I know he always gets unlucky but in test cricket sometimes you have to make you own luck, work hard and get wickets. Sami needs to work hard on his basis. He has been taking his place in the side for granted, and that is the last thing you want any player to do.

From Australia's point of view, I agree Lehman was very poor in both tests, and kept getting out in awful ways. Given Gilo's success at 6 and everybody insisting he should play there I don't think there is a place left for Lehman in the side. I also thought Michael Clarke did a brilliant job in the field, but he would be dispointed with his returns in the series.

[Shaka]

Imran Farhat has plenty of talent but any slackness in technique as in his airborne hooking will get exploited by the top sides like Australia. With Yasir, Salman and Taufeeq now all battling for two opener slots it's difficult to see Imran getting another chance in a hurry. yasir and Salman Butt have both grabbed their chances with both hands...I'm particularly pleased for Yasir as his habit of throwing away good starts was beginning to annoy me very much. But he got his head down and showed his competitive nature so let's hope he doesn't regress from here.

Another big plus point has to be Kamran's showing with the bat. He still has to take it up a notch but he's shown improvement and a willingness to learn. There's no doubting his keeping abilities but he has the ability to get a lot more runs if he puts his mind to it.

[dagonz]

I agree withyou all the way Zainub. I worry about the body language of some of the older players in this Pakistan team. I do see though a force in world cricket in this team in the coming years with shoaib and Danesh leading the way. What about captaincy, I thought the replacement (sorry for my ignorance) was a great improvement from Inzi in motivation alone. How do you see the captaincy being addressed in the near future?

[Zainub]

PCB says Inzi will be skipper untill the series in West Indies, basically that means, for this entire season and the next one, his job is safe, after that they'll probably have meeting with selectors and get everyone's view and than make a decision.
I do think that if we make a change we'd probably get Youhann in there straight away. I don't blame Inzi as such, same players are just not naturally leaders. I still reckon though that he as not as bad as everyone keeps on telling him.

Youhanna, as you also say does make a better job out of it than Inzi, but even he too has too improve, he doesn't know how to set fields for leg spinners and tends to over attack at times using Kaneria (Tubby Taylor said that not me) and when things go wrong he doesn't have a plan B...his advantages though are that he's a good team guy, people respect him within the team and has a remarkably good image even in the press, I think he also handles them fairly well. Also is a good comunicator, much more open with the team than the more experienced Inzi - some of the players are very much in awe of Inzi so they aren't as frank or open with him as you'd expect a player to be with his skipper. I always think players and captains should comunicate as much as possible.

Apart from that him, Taufeeq Umar has been tipped as skiper by many, he's led Pakistan A sides before. I don't know though how good/bad he is in that respect. So I cannot comment. Then there is always this temptation that we might make Shoaib the skipper (Shoaib has gone public many times with his desires of leading us)...and I think we signalled that we might be interested in that as well...he was vice skipper for a time I think in the series against B'desh. Younis Khan might also be a canditade. However non of them are quite ready for the job right now.

Not really a lot of options we have at the moment. I do hope though that we can add some continuity into the process, the number of coaches and skippers we've had in the past decade might exceed the actual number of years in a deacade...it's ridicilous as it unsettles the team and has numberous other disadvantages.

[Zainub]

I'm pleased with Kamran Akmal's over all wicket keeping skills. First rate they are. And no doubts should hopefully be cast over them. His batting though is probably not as consistent as we would have ideally liked but his 1st innings knock showed he was no mug - can improve. He plays his shot so always give you more of a chance to get out but in general can bat pretty decently and there is positive and refreshing feel about him when he comes into bat. For my money he has done enough to suggest that Moin Khan and Rashid Latif should both help ease the selectors' job and announce their retirements.

[dagonz]

i find it a shame that the dog fight will not be shown in the stats of this series. Pakistan were in it for all but a few hours in each game. the fact that Australia( or more specifically Gilchrist) can tear apart a match in minutes should not take away the fact that outside of India this was the toughest series they have faced in a while with each match throwing up a situation where the Aussies were looking vulnerable. I'm wondering if an easy series win against New Zealand occurs, will the Aussies be prepared for a fired up England on home soil?

[dagonz]

And is it just coincidence That gil****** always saves us?

[Maranello]

I agree ZR, time for Moin and Rashid to go. When, or if, Kamran does fail and need to be replaced, the answer should be in people like Zulqarnain or even Humayun Farhat, not a return to the previous century

For the time being, Kamran should be the sole wicket-keeper in all our squads, ODI or Test. It was an inspired move by Inzi to not bring any wicket-keeping alternative to Aus, the confidence shown in Akmal has obviously paid off and he has repaid that. He is much more of a natural keeper than Moin ever was, and with hard work, can develop into as good a batsman as Moin. I would like to see him being tried as a pinch hitter in ODIs, similar to Kaluwitharana. This will give Akmal more batting time against quality bowlers, and speed his development as a quality Test no.6 or no.7 in the longer term.

[Shaka]

Originally Posted by dagonz

i find it a shame that the dog fight will not be shown in the stats of this series. Pakistan were in it for all but a few hours in each game. the fact that Australia( or more specifically Gilchrist) can tear apart a match in minutes should not take away the fact that outside of India this was the toughest series they have faced in a while with each match throwing up a situation where the Aussies were looking vulnerable. I'm wondering if an easy series win against New Zealand occurs, will the Aussies be prepared for a fired up England on home soil?

I think Pakistan threatened to threaten Australia, just kept falling off at the vital point and Aussies always managed to regain control before any real pressure could come to bear. Pakistan were winning more and more sessions as the series went on, but weren't quite good enough to make the vital breakthroughs for one reason or other. Gilchrist being one of them!