Re: Pakistan V England 2006 Test Series: The Positives
The positives are the ascent of Yousuf and Younis Khan as world class batsmen along with Inzamam. Mohammad Yousuf is one of the best touch players in international cricket and Younis Khan probably has the best defensive technique amongst our batsmen.
323 was always going to be tough on a 5th day Headingley pitch (It's a big ask anywhere against any team) but I was hoping that they would keep the series alive by not losing this game.
It was disappointing to see Pakistan collapse and hand the series to England and thus lose their proud record of remaining unbeaten in England since 1987.
The turning point in this game for me was those mad 5 minutes just before tea on the third day when Pakistan were cruising along at 447-3 and looking to build an advantage of 125-150 runs over England. Younis Khan was batting like a champion and looking in no trouble against any of the English bowlers. That did not happen mainly because of Inzi's stupidity when he needlessly called Younis for a tight run just before tea. That proved costly. Inzi should have known better that any team can collapse under pressure on a 5th day pitch, so it was vital that Pakistan made hay while the sun shone on them
Had we taken a healthy first innings lead and held our catches in the test, we might have made Hair irrelevant. At the very least it would have ensured a draw.
I now even wish that they had n't bowled England out on the 4th day and just concentrated on keeping the scoring rate down because all it did was make England's job easier. Knowing how conservative and traditional they are, Strauss would probably have carried on batting on the 5th morning and not declared until he had a lead of 350+
It's been a combination of poor fielding (we are probably the worst team in the world in that regard), depleted bowling and above all shocking umpiring decisions that have put us in the mess that we find ourselves in. One or two plumb LBWS/Clear edges not given out by the umpires could be excused but when there are so many bad decisions favouring one side more than the other, it calls into question the impartiality of the umpires.
I am not one to blame the umpires for defeat but I believe that I am not in minority here when I say that Both Hair and Doctrove were very poor in this game and their umpiring left a lot to be desired. The ICC needs to take a serious look at their umpiring credentials and both of them perhaps should not be on the elite panel.
The openers have been too flashy and reckless and have been found out in this series and unfortunately the tail was too long with both Razzaq and Afridi (albeit both deserved to be dropped) not playing at Leeds
Faisal needs some serious coaching from his legendary Uncle Javed Miandad on how to handle short-pitched bowling and Yasir Hameed deserves another chance in the next series. Hopefully he and Malik can be the answer to Pakistan's longstanding opening vow (with Butt/Taufeeq/Farhat as reserves)
This series result is another blemish on Woolmer's career as Pakistan coach. Although successive victories over India and England at home and against SLA in SLA are commendable, people like Miandad would argue that Pakistan under Woolmer have been found out in the two really testing series (0-3 loss to Australia in 2004 and England in 2006, 0-2 down could easily become 0-3). What's more even the fielding remains as bad as it has ever been
I just hope that they finish on a high note at the Oval. The series may be already lost but 1-2 is any day better than 0-2 or 0-3.