Pakistan v England Test Series 2012

First Test, Dubai, Day 1:
England won the toss and elected to bat. Not going too well at 120-7, spinner Ajmal having taken 5 wickets.

 

1-0 to Pakistan. Not much positive to say about England's performance. Bowling OK, batting dreadful. Let's hope we can recover from this trouncing and reproduce some of the form that got us to number 1 in the rankings.

 

I don't watch the state broadcaster news, I get my news from an unbiased source: The Daily Mail.

 

Yup, that's what makes test match cricket the greatest sport in the world.

 

Choke-tastic.

 

Indeed, it's been a while. In no other sport will you see a team capitulate quite so dramatically. They all do it from tiome to time: India, Australia, South Africa.

 

I had to take the dogs out, England 60 odd for 5 and the match looking to be heading for a very tight finish. When I came back in 40 minutes later with the score at 72 I thought "bloody hell, is that all they've put on" then I noticed the "all out" text. That was not an effort worthy of a number one ranked team. I will say this about the rankings: England are number one because Australia and India have been poor of late, they are not a great side and I suppose acheiving that number one status has made them think that they are. Back to the drawing board and I would suggest Morgan and Pietersen be dropped and Bell learn how to play spin pretty soon. England will never be able to call themselves a "great team" until they can cope with all conditions.

 

I agree that Morgan should probably make way for Bopara in the third test but not Pieterson. He averaged 78 in tests in 2011.
With the 3rd test being a dead rubber maybe some of the pressure will be off and they can relax a bit and get a bit more practice against this spin attack before going into the ODI's.

 

god this was as bsd as i seen in watching england for 40 years paid this money to watch em totall waste of mioney..... moan over

KP need time at crease now so play him , morgan need toprove hes a test player play him, ditch bell and play either bopara or davies.
Good job Bres is not fit cus i dropped bell for him as he offerd more.
Dont panic yet

 

Morgan is an ODI player, it is clear in his technique. He struggles to play proper shots on the back foot when there's fielders close in and push and prods when the balls on off stump. Bopara has a better test average and more test hundreds, and he offers a bowling option. How is he not better option than morgan?

 

under pressure, bopara crumbles

 

Can England get past Pakistans 99?
Not making a good job of it at tea with the score 19/2.
Wonder if Morgan will get into double figures (balls faced).

 

The game is up, just hope our boys are paying attention, they might learn something.

 

England should be investigated for match fixing.

 

more like match throwing