Not really. A few new guys though.
They’re not able to play against spin.
Pakistan look to have this series in the bag now. 439/3 half way through Day 2. They’ve all but batted Australia out of this 2nd test already. Younis still going strong on 162 n.o.
Pakistan always seem to have someone in the middle who scores heavily. Even back to the days of miandad who rarely failed at opener I remember imran khan scoring unbelievable innings one year then I think afradi scored 270 odd once too?
Pakistan move onto 504/3 as Younis brings up his double century.
Australia all out for 261 in response to Pakistan’s 570/6 dec. Despite the 309 run lead, Pakistan have not enforced the follow on. 46/2 in their 2nd innings.
Imran Khan is a rather difficult name to live up to in Pakistani cricket, but the delivery that the new one produced to dismiss Clarke today was an absolute peach. Yasir Shah, the leggie, looking good too. This Aussie batting line-up is pretty shit though. They have Maxwell, essentially a T20 slogger, batting at three in this Test.
Also, Younis Khan, three centuries in a row with a double thrown in as the third one. 
Misbah has been an excellent captain for Pakistan too.
They must have money on the draw.
There’s two days left in it and it’ll hardly rain in Abu Dhabi so they’ll be doing well to make a draw out of it!
Imran Khan was starting to flag. No point in taking a risk with the bowlers in that heat. They’ll still have five sessions to bowl them out. Can’t see them having any problems.
Also, Misbah seems like a man of integrity to me.
Azhar Ali and Misbah bring up their centuries within 2 balls of each other in the 61st over and Pakistan declare on 293/3 setting Australia a target of 603.
Misbah has hit a century off 56 balls, the joint fastest century in test history, matching Sir Vivian Richards knock against England in Antigua in 1986. Brought up his half century off 21 balls, 3 faster than Jacques Kallis previous fastest half century mark of 24.
Australia 2 down at tea
what station is this on?
i had India and Sri Lanka on earlier this morning , part of some ODI series, was on SS2
[QUOTE=“mickee321, post: 1039186, member: 367”]what station is this on?
i had India and Sri Lanka on earlier this morning , part of some ODI series, was on SS2[/QUOTE]
Yeah, that’s the one that was hastily arranged after the Windies players took themselves home from India due to a pay dispute with their board. That one has a fair way to run actually. Still not sorted internally for the Windies, and the BCCI have slapped a demand for $42m on the already near-bankrupt WICB. Cricket in the Caribbean seems to be in terminal decline.
Anyway, Pakistan game isn’t on TV here. Proving unusually difficult to find a decent stream this morning too actually.
Red Rover all out for 240 odd,lost by 350 plus.
Comprehensive stuff from Pakistan. We miss Harris badly.
[QUOTE=“Special Olympiakos, post: 1039773, member: 366”]Red Rover all out for 240 odd,lost by 350 plus.
Comprehensive stuff from Pakistan. We miss Harris badly.[/QUOTE]
Harris is one of the best bowlers in the world, but his absence wasn’t the real problem in this series. Lack of a real top quality spinner and inability to bat against spin were the problems. The fact that the one player in the Australian line up who can play against spin Michael Clarke had such a wretched series compounded things.
Generally take your point, but Smith has a decent technique against spin and actually did alright across the two Tests. Warner has the ability to take any attack apart, and again had a decent series. With Clarke out of form (and with the nagging suspicion that he’s now permanently semi-crocked) none of the rest of them look up to the spin challenge though (other than Mitchell Marsh actually, who looked alright in this Test). Still scratching my head at the fact that Maxwell has batted at number three in a Test for Australia.
Harris was a big loss. Wouldn’t have changed either result, but they would have done better with the ball.
[QUOTE=“braz83, post: 1040039, member: 390”]Generally take your point, but Smith has a decent technique against spin and actually did alright across the two Tests. Warner has the ability to take any attack apart, and again had a decent series. With Clarke out of form (and with the nagging suspicion that he’s now permanently semi-crocked) none of the rest of them look up to the spin challenge though (other than Mitchell Marsh actually, who looked alright in this Test). Still scratching my head at the fact that Maxwell has batted at number three in a Test for Australia.
Harris was a big loss. Wouldn’t have changed either result, but they would have done better with the ball.[/QUOTE]
Four test series at home to India next up for Australia. If India’s performances in England in the summer gone by and their last tour of Australia three years are anything to go by, this well be much more to Australia’s liking than playing in Asia.
That was jokeshop stuff. Pathetic, this whole Australia can’t play spin excuse has to end. There’s been consistent whining over here about the state of the dead pitch. So why can’t you score runs on it then? There’s no point in whinging about Asian pitches anymore, they’re going to be like that, set up for Pakistan and India. So deal with it. Not good enough. I’m disappointed that someone who knows how to play spin, like Clarke, didn’t insist on serious preparation for it. The only, only positive for Australia to have come out of this whole debacle, is the confirmation that Stephen Smith is a very good cricketer who should be a bolt on certainty as the next test captain.
In saying all that, they’ll kill India at home.
Some serious thought has to be given in Australia about the state of the pitches. They’re all nice fast green tops, producing shit loads of wickets for the quicks. There are virtually no decent spinners coming through, or little thought given to them. Michael Hussey made the point last year that we are producing excellent limited overs batsmen, but no one knows how to build an innings anymore, as shield games are shorter and shorter and everything mitigates against batsmen learning how to stay in for long periods. The pitches are working against them, based on commercial decisions made by Cricket Australia. No one has listened to him of course.
Probably more importantly though, there is a lot to like about Pakistan, they play blistering cricket at times and look dangerous all over the park. Fair play to them, terrific performance by them