Pakistan vs. England - 3rd ODI

[Victor Frankenstein]

well that's that over with then, congratulations again Pakistan, I do wonder if England will finally work out that if you bowl a yorker length at 90mph you've got a reasonably high chance of getting a wicket and it's about the only way you will get wickets on these pitchs. Pakistan have been doing it since the first test though and England still haven't worked it out though so I won't hold my breath, more of the same for the 4th and 5th odi I suspect, I had hoped my 4-1 to Pakistan prediction was just pessimism but sadly it seems true.

We haven't had a competitive odi side since 1997, it makes no sense though, I wouldn't drop any of the current players except one or other of prior and jones as i don't see the point in having two keepers when you could have one specialist batsman and a keeper, i don't really care which one though, i'd go for prior on current form but no other reason, they're both much of a muchness. The bowling attack is good and the batting is good, they just don't ever seem to combine well like they do in test matches, Tresco's not the best of captains but a lot of the problems are focused on the coach imo, just no tactics for how to go about the innings when batting and never seemingly bowling to any kind of plan, which is so odd because they stick to their plans so well in test cricket these days.

[smickel]

England in trouble now, 5 wickets down, run rate less than 5, required rate almost 9.

Just took a quick look at LG ODI rankings, never realised how close it was, 4 teams all tied together on 109 points.

[Victor Frankenstein]

btw, anyone know why we're not using our batsman supersub? surely Bell should have come in ahead of Jones and possibly Colly? or is this some secret plan by Fletcher the odi genius to bring Bell out at 120-9 and have him and plunkett knock off the runs at 25 an over?

[Victor Frankenstein]

half way into the innings now, scoring at 4.88 an over but still 231 short of the total with only 5 wickets left, needing 9.24 runs an over. Miracles do happen in cricket, but i think it's safe to say we've gone on a canoeing holiday up a certain creek and left all our paddles behind.

excellent effort there by colly, giving the pakistani team some fielding practice, very charitable of him.

[Occasional Fan]

I would have expected Bell to be in before now. But even with Collingwood going for the sixth wicket, he's still in the pavilion. Blackwell in, England looking down the barrell of a big defeat.

Quick question regarding the ICC ratings. Last week, it was noted by several reporters that England need to win this series in order to be in the top six on 1/4/06, which is the qualifying date for determining who has to play in the ICCCT preliminaries. Since then, some newspapers have said that England has this series and a couple of ODIs against India to get itself into the top six. But I thought the ranking points were awarded based on series results? If that's the case, surely the India series is wholly irrelevant? Does anyone know?

[Richie Benauds Love Child]

I'd argue we could/should have won a test or two but you have to admit at this ODI lark, Pakistan are streets ahead. We deserve to be 7th after this performance. Actually read performances.

[smickel]

By reading commentary sounds like Collingwood went for a slog and came off second best.

[Occasional Fan]

Yes, that's what it sounded like on the radio as well.

[flanflinger]

Bell is padded up now,

seems a bit pointless to me...

Collingwood went for a big sweep and didn't get enough bat on it....

Pakistan have played well and used the conditions well. England haven't. The really dissapointing thing is that they don't seem to have learned!!

[Victor Frankenstein]

indeed flan, i don't mind losing to a better more experienced side on their home conditions, it's the fact that we seemed to have learnt nothing from it that annoys me. I said after the first match that although we'd won it, our bowling was poor and they only got out because the required rate was so high that they had no choice, our batting was a bit lucky but deserved to set that total, but it seems they've put in their once per tour performance now so now we just have to put up with the embarassment :/

I think Englands biggest problem in odi's is that they only ever focus on the total when chasing, they never just build their score in 5 or 10 over blocks like other sides do. How many times do you ever see a successful run chase match the required rate throughout an innings? very rare, it's usually a case of keeping wickets in hand, building up partnerships and then an all out blitz for the last 10-15 overs to catch back up with batsmen that are set, versus fielders and bowlers who are tired and can see the game ebbing away from them.