In the early hours of Saturday morning (UK time), England start the first of their two winter tours to the sub-continent with 3 game test series scheduled against Pakistan and India.
England start that Tour against Pakistan and go into the First Test without their captain and leader Michael Vaughan. Since Vaughan came into the National team (first as a batsman) England have played 62 matches with his name listed on the scorecard. They have won 32 of those 62 games (52%) whilst drawing 16 and losing 14. When Vaughan has been left out of the team due to injury, England have won just 5 times in 16 matches (31%) with 4 draws and 7 losses.
Admitterly, most of those defeats came in the early days of his International career, but never the less, it does highlight the importance that Vaughan has within the team.
Dating back to 1961/62, England have toured Pakistan on 7 occassions with the last time being back in 2000/01. Those last 7 Tours have seen England win two series, both 1-0 in 1961/62 and 2000/01 and Pakistan winning two series, both 1-0 in 1983/84 and 1987/88. The remaining three series have been drawn series wqith neither country trecording a test match victory in them.
England have now won their last six Test series are are on a roll, but this will be a difficult task with the loss of some key players and not being able to rely on Flintoff on these wickets.
This Tour will be completely different from that witnessed last Summer when both England and Australia entertained the fans with high class cricket. There will not be the scoring rates of 4.5 runs per over and wickets that offered bowlers assistance aswell as batsman to feel comfortable at the crease.
The feature of this winter is going to be humid conditions and slow pitches. Fast bowlers are going to have to operate in shorter bursts and are going to really have to bend their backs and apply themselves if they want bounce and assistance from the wicket. The spinners are going to come into their own here on the dry wickets and Pakistan have the luxury of being able to pick a team that has four spinners without upsetting the balance. Danish Kaneria and Mushtaq Ahmed are top class spinners and Shahid Afridi and opening batsman Shoaib Malik will also offer up variation. Three of those four players are leg spinners, something that English batsman in the past have had trouble with thanks mainly to the exploits of the greatest leg spinner of all time Shane Warne. Despite the comments made by the England coach Duncan Fletcher in how well he thought the England batsman played Shane warne throughout the Summer, lets not forget that warne was the top bowler in the series picking up 42 wickets.
Danish Kaneria is the second best leg spinner in World cricket today and I expect him to cause England headaches. In the six Test matches that Pakistan have played this calender year he has picked up 34 wickets. What is more of interest though to the England team is that in the one game that Kaneria has bowled at Multan (the venue for the first test) he returned figures of 12 wickets for 94 runs. Another positive for pakistan is that he is a willing bowler who is prepared to bowl from one end all day.
England haven't the depth of spin bowlers as most countries have as their game is traditionally played on seaming wickets that suits the quicker bowlers. Ashley Giles and Shaun Udal will provide England with their spin option and this is another area that England lose out on with the loss of Vaughan as he is more than just a part time off-spinner. Giles took 17 wickets on the last tour here in 2000/01 and is likely to be main wicket taker again for England. Englands spinners don't produce huge turn from their deliveries. They rely more on consistancy and flight through the air to frustrate batsman. Even worse news for England is the loss of Simon Jones from the Tour who is the best reverse swing bowler in the world outside of the sub-continent. The batsmen will have to be wary of a turning pitch from the first ball of the match as wickets in Pakistan have in the past been very spin friendly.
Due to the time of year and the seasonal change in Pakistan, it is likely that playing time will be lost every day. Play is not permitted to go on after 4:30pm as it gets dark so an early start time of 9:30am has been set. That in itself brings in complications as time will be lost because of the winter in Pakistan and duw on the ground in the early morning.
Much has been written in recent days by the British press and Englands chances of success in Pakistan. I not in agreement with what has been written as one man (Vaughan), well two including Simon Jones does not make a team. I will point this out that since Vaughan has taken on the responsibility of captaining his country his overall batting form has taken a dip. In his pre captainacy days Vaughan averaged 50.98 with the bat. Now with the captaincy Vaughan averages 37.05 runs per innings.
looking deeper into Pakistan's team and it's clear that they lack direction and confidence. They have not won a Test series in their last five attempts and are seventh in the ICC world rankings. Pakistan have not played International cricket since late June and this will not help their cause here. Under the guidence of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan cricket will move forward in the future, but we have to look at recent past and present day.
Pakistan have not been able to get a settled opening pair of batsman supported by the fact they have only had the same pair of batsman open an innings in 13 of their last 34 Test matches.
Then Pakistan have to decide how many spinners they want to play and how best to balance the side. On the pace bowling front, Shoaib Akhtar is not the bowler of two years ago and Mohammad Sami is returning from a groin injury. Lets not forget Shabbir Ahmed who has been called on numerous occassions for his suspect action is only now eligable to return to the International game after being given the all clear by the ICC.
Summary and recommendations:
I don't like supporting the DRAW as I have been an avid layer over recent years and one of the first people on Betfair's forum to keep banging on about what poor value it was. However, given the weight of money that has come for Pakistan over this week I will be looking to lay them so having England and the Draw on my side.
I like the prospects of Kaneria to be top Pakistan bowler over the three match series. The price is skinny but given his recent form and having bowled for Essex on the English County circuit for a couple of seasons, he will have had some opportunity to work out what the weaknesses are of the English batsman.
After Ashley Giles 17 wicket haul the last time England played in Pakistan and believing he is a better bowler now than he was five years ago, 3/1 is a big price to be to wicket taker for England.
With Vaughan out of the way in the first Test and Bell not appearing to be the best player of leg spin bowling after getting out numerous times to Warne over the summer, I can't understand why Flintoff is still available at 13/2 to be Top English batsman.
Wagers:
LAY Pakistan First Test @ 3.35 to win 2 units (wagered 4.7 units)
Kaneria (Top Pakistan wicket taker) @ 1.91 x 2 units
Giles (Top England wicket taker) @ 3/1 x 1.5 units
Flintoff (Top England batsman) @ 13/2 x 2 units E/W (1/5th odds 1,2,3)
England start that Tour against Pakistan and go into the First Test without their captain and leader Michael Vaughan. Since Vaughan came into the National team (first as a batsman) England have played 62 matches with his name listed on the scorecard. They have won 32 of those 62 games (52%) whilst drawing 16 and losing 14. When Vaughan has been left out of the team due to injury, England have won just 5 times in 16 matches (31%) with 4 draws and 7 losses.
Admitterly, most of those defeats came in the early days of his International career, but never the less, it does highlight the importance that Vaughan has within the team.
Dating back to 1961/62, England have toured Pakistan on 7 occassions with the last time being back in 2000/01. Those last 7 Tours have seen England win two series, both 1-0 in 1961/62 and 2000/01 and Pakistan winning two series, both 1-0 in 1983/84 and 1987/88. The remaining three series have been drawn series wqith neither country trecording a test match victory in them.
England have now won their last six Test series are are on a roll, but this will be a difficult task with the loss of some key players and not being able to rely on Flintoff on these wickets.
This Tour will be completely different from that witnessed last Summer when both England and Australia entertained the fans with high class cricket. There will not be the scoring rates of 4.5 runs per over and wickets that offered bowlers assistance aswell as batsman to feel comfortable at the crease.
The feature of this winter is going to be humid conditions and slow pitches. Fast bowlers are going to have to operate in shorter bursts and are going to really have to bend their backs and apply themselves if they want bounce and assistance from the wicket. The spinners are going to come into their own here on the dry wickets and Pakistan have the luxury of being able to pick a team that has four spinners without upsetting the balance. Danish Kaneria and Mushtaq Ahmed are top class spinners and Shahid Afridi and opening batsman Shoaib Malik will also offer up variation. Three of those four players are leg spinners, something that English batsman in the past have had trouble with thanks mainly to the exploits of the greatest leg spinner of all time Shane Warne. Despite the comments made by the England coach Duncan Fletcher in how well he thought the England batsman played Shane warne throughout the Summer, lets not forget that warne was the top bowler in the series picking up 42 wickets.
Danish Kaneria is the second best leg spinner in World cricket today and I expect him to cause England headaches. In the six Test matches that Pakistan have played this calender year he has picked up 34 wickets. What is more of interest though to the England team is that in the one game that Kaneria has bowled at Multan (the venue for the first test) he returned figures of 12 wickets for 94 runs. Another positive for pakistan is that he is a willing bowler who is prepared to bowl from one end all day.
England haven't the depth of spin bowlers as most countries have as their game is traditionally played on seaming wickets that suits the quicker bowlers. Ashley Giles and Shaun Udal will provide England with their spin option and this is another area that England lose out on with the loss of Vaughan as he is more than just a part time off-spinner. Giles took 17 wickets on the last tour here in 2000/01 and is likely to be main wicket taker again for England. Englands spinners don't produce huge turn from their deliveries. They rely more on consistancy and flight through the air to frustrate batsman. Even worse news for England is the loss of Simon Jones from the Tour who is the best reverse swing bowler in the world outside of the sub-continent. The batsmen will have to be wary of a turning pitch from the first ball of the match as wickets in Pakistan have in the past been very spin friendly.
Due to the time of year and the seasonal change in Pakistan, it is likely that playing time will be lost every day. Play is not permitted to go on after 4:30pm as it gets dark so an early start time of 9:30am has been set. That in itself brings in complications as time will be lost because of the winter in Pakistan and duw on the ground in the early morning.
Much has been written in recent days by the British press and Englands chances of success in Pakistan. I not in agreement with what has been written as one man (Vaughan), well two including Simon Jones does not make a team. I will point this out that since Vaughan has taken on the responsibility of captaining his country his overall batting form has taken a dip. In his pre captainacy days Vaughan averaged 50.98 with the bat. Now with the captaincy Vaughan averages 37.05 runs per innings.
looking deeper into Pakistan's team and it's clear that they lack direction and confidence. They have not won a Test series in their last five attempts and are seventh in the ICC world rankings. Pakistan have not played International cricket since late June and this will not help their cause here. Under the guidence of Bob Woolmer, Pakistan cricket will move forward in the future, but we have to look at recent past and present day.
Pakistan have not been able to get a settled opening pair of batsman supported by the fact they have only had the same pair of batsman open an innings in 13 of their last 34 Test matches.
Then Pakistan have to decide how many spinners they want to play and how best to balance the side. On the pace bowling front, Shoaib Akhtar is not the bowler of two years ago and Mohammad Sami is returning from a groin injury. Lets not forget Shabbir Ahmed who has been called on numerous occassions for his suspect action is only now eligable to return to the International game after being given the all clear by the ICC.
Summary and recommendations:
I don't like supporting the DRAW as I have been an avid layer over recent years and one of the first people on Betfair's forum to keep banging on about what poor value it was. However, given the weight of money that has come for Pakistan over this week I will be looking to lay them so having England and the Draw on my side.
I like the prospects of Kaneria to be top Pakistan bowler over the three match series. The price is skinny but given his recent form and having bowled for Essex on the English County circuit for a couple of seasons, he will have had some opportunity to work out what the weaknesses are of the English batsman.
After Ashley Giles 17 wicket haul the last time England played in Pakistan and believing he is a better bowler now than he was five years ago, 3/1 is a big price to be to wicket taker for England.
With Vaughan out of the way in the first Test and Bell not appearing to be the best player of leg spin bowling after getting out numerous times to Warne over the summer, I can't understand why Flintoff is still available at 13/2 to be Top English batsman.
Wagers:
LAY Pakistan First Test @ 3.35 to win 2 units (wagered 4.7 units)
Kaneria (Top Pakistan wicket taker) @ 1.91 x 2 units
Giles (Top England wicket taker) @ 3/1 x 1.5 units
Flintoff (Top England batsman) @ 13/2 x 2 units E/W (1/5th odds 1,2,3)
