Australian Tour Will Be A Bed Of Thorns For Pakistan

[haseebbutt007]

Australian tour will be a great test for pakistan . The technique of Pakistan batsmen is not very good . So it will be not easy for them to show good performance there. This tour will be a bed of thorn for pakistani players espacially for the youngsters.

[Ernest]

Originally Posted by haseebbutt007

Australian tour will be a great test for pakistan . The technique of Pakistan batsmen is not very good . So it will be not easy for them to show good performance there. This tour will be a bed of thorn for pakistani players espacially for the youngsters.

Welcome to the board.

Australia will only be as good as you allow them to be, first and formost is for Pakistan to have a plan to frustrate them, you will need your bowlers to be accurate.
The Australian team are not invincable.

Ern

[Zainub]

I’ve voted for everyone, because I believe that each of these players, and as a matter of fact, every one we will eventually select for the Australian down will be selected on the criteria that they will be a threat to the world champions, it is a matter of common sense really, why really would we select some one if we don’t believe they will pose a serious challenge to the Australia, and consequently help Pakistan’s cause. Individual performances alone will not help our cause, each and every member of the squad, I say squad and not a group of eleven will have to play their part if we are to have success in Australia, which I’m a great believer we will to greater or lesser extent.

I'm sure Woolmer will set definite targets not only for the team to achieve but for each individual member of the squad (which it self has a few grey areas the selectors will have to work on), just simple aims like batsmen looking for 400 runs or bowler aiming for 20 wickets - these little things can really sometime make a big difference to your approach. It will be imperative for us that we get off to a decent start, how we play in Perth in the first test should set the trend for the rest of the series. A hard faught draw early own in the series, or better still an inspiring victory can really act a great impetus for the rest of the tour.

There isn't any point IMHO in going with the frame of mind where we are telling our selves that "Aus are very strong and we are unlikely to win anything". Even just believing that we can win can make a lot of difference; just have to see how Indian defied the odds to push Aus right to the edge last time they traveled down under. I'm sure we will do well.

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

I’ve voted for everyone, because I believe that each of these players, and as a matter of fact, every one we will eventually select for the Australian down will be selected on the criteria that they will be a threat to the world champions, it is a matter of common sense really, why really would we select some one if we don’t believe they will pose a serious challenge to the Australia, and consequently help Pakistan’s cause

LOL, Zainub - you really are as irrideemable an optimist as Ernest :-)

I'd say that in the majority cases of selection in the history of the game of cricket the determining factor on the final few places has simply been "well, we need XI and we ain't got anyone better". IN this case I am absolutely convinced that the reasoning wil go that way: it's goign to be a case of "well, fielding those guys is better than fielding no-one".

In which instances will the selectors NOT have been worried: Inzi and Kaneria - classy players.

The rest? Some are along more in hope than expectation (and perhaps principally to gain valuable experience for future campaigns). I'm thinking particularly of SAmi.. who stands about as much chance of threatening the blood pressure of Bob Woolmer as he does of threatening an Aussie top order that's so strong that Katich (who'd walk into the pakistan side) can't even command a place.

I hope a guy like Razzaq can benefit from the tour.. and take another step on the long road to really justifying the faith the selectors have placed in him over the last year or so... but that's as far is it goes I'm afraid: I can't see Ponting lying awake at night wondering how his side can counter the threat the young man poses.

[Zainub]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Inzi and Kaneria - classy players. The rest? Some are along more in hope than expectation (and perhaps principally to gain valuable experience for future campaigns). I'm thinking particularly of SAmi.. who stands about as much chance of threatening the blood pressure of Bob Woolmer as he does of threatening an Aussie top order that's so strong that Katich (who'd walk into the pakistan side) can't even command a place. I hope a guy like Razzaq can benefit from the tour.. and take another step on the long road to really justifying the faith the selectors have placed in him over the last year or so... but that's as far is it goes I'm afraid: I can't see Ponting lying awake at night wondering how his side can counter the threat the young man poses.

It's only a matter of how you see things - for me our biggest problem this moment in time is finding the right top three (and then sticking by them). The bowling attack (Sami, Shoaib, Ahmed(subject to fitness), Kaneria) selects it self despite what you might think is our alleged obsession with pace I firmly beleive that persisting with Sami is indeed the right way to go about - the grey area I referrred to in the squad were all batting positions up for graps. Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Younus Khan and Asim Kamal are all fighting for places and out of these no one can have the liberty of thinking that his place in a 16 man squad is guaranted.

The bowlers only need to perform, there are no selection issues what so ever. I completely agree with your views on Razzaq though. His task is to perform, for me he has to prove a)that he is a stike bowler b) he is good enough enough a batsmen to be relied on consistently c) and most significantly that HE DOESN'T get complacent when there is a dolly of a catch up for graps (in the last 2 years I've seen him being involved in endless missed oppurtunities (too many times have slips fielders denied him wickets and too many times has he -taken revenge?- by dropping even easier chances when he is in the outfield - on each occasion its been the team that has suffered). Our fielding must improve. MUST. Period.

[Maranello]

Agree with your comments in priciple Rachael. Though in this case, apart from Inzi and Kaneria, Shoaib Akhtar would have been an automatic selection for the selectors too, and someone who is in the team to deliver, not to get valuable experience that aids his long-term development.

Conversely, Kaneria is not a proven performer as yet. I am a big fan of the guy, but he has not delivered anything of note outside Pakistan as yet - the potential and the skill is there, but I will judge him to be a "classy" player only after he delivers on the promise and the skill. There is nothing to suggest that he will not though - he perseveres, keeps toiling in difficult circumstances, bowls to a plan and always looks like getting a wicket. So for him, and for most of the others, the tour is an excellent learning opportunity more than anything else.

Apart from these three, few others would consistently threaten or trouble Buchanan and Ponting. There will be the odd flahses of brilliance from a few youngsters - and the more frequent and consistent these 'sparks' are, the better Pakistan as a team would do.

If they have to rely wholly and completely on Inzi, Akhtar and Kaneria, they will have a very difficult winter. However, if the likes of Butt, Malik, Razzaq and Afridi contribute in the ODIs and Malik, Younis and Shabbir in the Tests, then it can make for very interesting cricket. There is enough ability in this squad to give the Aussies a run for their money, and if we are fortunate, to win a Test. However, without consistency, application and experience, ability alone is not much use.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by haseebbutt007

Australian tour will be a great test for pakistan . The technique of Pakistan batsmen is not very good . So it will be not easy for them to show good performance there. This tour will be a bed of thorn for pakistani players espacially for the youngsters.

Welcome to the board haseebbutt007.

Interesting question you pose. I personally would not look at it as being a "bed of thorns", as that is too negative. IMO, its an excellent opportunity to separate the men from the boys - or to put it differently, to get rid of the flash-in-the-plan type talented chaps and identify a real gem or two: the truly gutsy characters who personify determination and application alongwith their skill.

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by Zainub Razvi

The bowling attack (Sami, Shoaib, Ahmed(subject to fitness), Kaneria) selects it self despite what you might think is our alleged obsession with pace I firmly beleive that persisting with Sami is indeed the right way to go about.

That is due to a total absence of experienced alternatives.

Yasir Hameed, Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Younus Khan and Asim Kamal are all fighting for places and out of these no one can have the liberty of thinking that his place in a 16 man squad is guaranted.

Disagree, most of them are assured of places in the 16 man squad - if these guys are not selected even in the squad, then who will be? You or I? No insult at your batting skills, but I sure hope not!

I agree though that none of these guys has made himself a permanent fixture in the side - to date, they have all been inconsistent and need to work harder to cement their spots.

I completely agree with your views on Razzaq though. His task is to perform, for me he has to prove a)that he is a stike bowler

Agree with your other comments on Razzaq, in fact, your thoughts on fielding are spot-on.
However, Razzy is not a strike bowler - he is a medium paced, line and length stock bowler, who nevertheless has been much more effective than Sami, the so-called strike baller. Razzaq's virtues are line and length - he should not be selected in the team to pick up 5 wickets each time, but rather to dry up the runs and give the striker bowlers some respite. In that his role is similar to the one performed by Flintoff for England. Razzy's downfall is being too predictable - if he develops controlled outswinger to go with his normal in-swinging deliveries, he will become a much more effective proposition.

Sami is the one who desperately needs to perform and sharpen up his act, otherwise the selectors should look to blood some youngsters in the India tour.

[Ernest]

You all have to have faith, you will have 11 men on the pitch, giving their all, pessimism is no1 enemy to cricket teams, it leaks all the way up to management, and to the players themselves, to a point when they don't believe in themselves.

Be possative,think about the good points in your team, only through confidence will teams like Pakistan, india and England prevail agaist the Australians, who are just 11 human beings, there to be beaten, you know your shortcomings, best not to highlight them, remember pakistan will be underdogs, so who has the most to lose, "Australia", they will fear failure, if they get a sniff more than most.
Get behind your team.

PS Stat books will only tell you what went before, and they will tell you what went after, but tear them up for 5 days,because they are of no use.

Ern

[Maranello]

Good point Ern. And the past few years have shown one thing - this Aussie team is quite vincible when its pressurised and has its backs to the wall. They are at their strongest when they are attacking weak oppenents. However, attack back, put some pressure on their batsmen, and cracks do appear - the trick is doing that consistently for all the key sessions in a Test!