Posted by England have faced Michael Beer, Xavier Doherty and a guy who looks a bit like Harbhajan Singh in the last year. They haven’t really had to combat any spin bowlers.
Saeed Ajmal is a spin bowler – he’s a good spin bowler, in fact. He’s not a 7-55 on day one spin bowler, but then no spinner is unless he happens to be playing England.
Saeed Ajmal was playing England.
It’s fun watching England batsmen play spin. It’s fun in much the same way as it would be fun to see a hippo attempt Groove is in the Heart on Just Dance. They’re keen. They’re just fundamentally ill-equipped for the task.
David Morgan’s county recommendations could perhaps be applied to Test cricket in order to help England’s cause. They could play Australia home and away, but perhaps play Pakistan only at home. That would work in their favour and India would doubtless be happy to benefit from a similar arrangement regarding their own touring commitments.
Despite being MASSIVELY RIGHT about Ajmal and England, we’re not happy. At the same time, neither do we despair. This is day one of a prolonged trial against spin for England’s batsmen which stretches through a series in Sri Lanka in March to one in India at the end of the year. If England are a good side, they’ll improve considerably.
We think they’re a good side. But let’s see.
That sounds FAR too optimistic to have come from an English person. If you had still been living with your parents back in the day and had written something as optimistic as this they would have no doubt have searched your drawers for drugs with a fine tooth comb.
Also, I never before imagined I would see a scorecard with five LBW decisions to a spin bowler. Quite floored by that.
It is all about mastering the squatting depth. Saeed knows the old adage “Bum close to the pitch, make the umpire your bitch”. No wonder he got all those LBWs.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/ci/content/image/549796.html
Great technique. Great balance.
It looks like he’s doing a poo
He also appears to have A BENT ARM. Now I don’t know anything at all about it, but it is a FACT that his arm will straighten between there and the point of delivery, making every single delivery a no-ball. Where is umpire Darrell Hair when you need him?
Glad to see the site is back up. I thought a Wikiesque black out in protest against US legislation on HM’s part would have been out of character, but I did wonder.
Has it been down? I thought that white-on-white with white text was just an aesthetic choice, moving away from the excessively feminine pastel shades we had before.
Bob Willis is fun, his comments should not blow up a storm, as a matter of principle. He is upset that coaches in england are not working with youngsters on mystery balls. Unfortunately his frustration got expressed with Ajaml wearing long sleeves to avoid bet elbow detection.
England were clinical on day two, although the balance is still in Paksitan’s favour. There will be more pad action, keeping umpires and DRS busy with more LBW appeals through the next couple of days. With little deviation and low bounce, LBWs will remain the favoured route for bowlers. Expect Rehman and Ajmal to be a handful in the second innings. England will have to battle hard with the bat next. Game on!
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Cheers