Pakistan v England A

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**Pakistan strong for final warm-up **](BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | Key and Bell make Pakistan toil)

Tour match, Canterbury: England A v Pakistan

Match starts 1100 BST, Thursday

Pakistan will field a strong line-up for their final warm-up match for next week’s first Test against England.

The tourists take on England A in a four-day game starting on Thursday in Canterbury and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq is likely to return to action.
Paceman Mohammad Asif, batsman Mohammad Yousuf and all-rounder Abdul Razzaq also missed the win at Leicestershire.
“I would expect it to be close to the Test team because it is the last match,” tour manager Zaheer Abbas said.
“The batsmen and the bowlers had a good workout at Grace Road and let’s hope they can continue their good form and take it into next week.”
The only player sidelined is seamer Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, who will miss the opening match of the four-Test series, which starts on 13 July at Lord’s, while he works his way back from a groin injury.
England A, led by Kent’s Robert Key, will field several young players hopeful of forcing their way into contention for the senior side.
Essex batsman Ravinder Bopara and Leicestershire paceman Stuart Broad are regarded as two of the brightest prospects in county cricket, while Middlesex all-rounder Jamie Dalrymple impressed for England in the one-day series against Sri Lanka.

England A: Rob Key (capt), Alastair Cook, Ravinder Bopara, Ian Bell, Owais Shah, Jamie Dalrymple, Tim Bresnan, Chris Read (wkt), Alex Loudon, Stuart Broad, Matthew Hoggard.

Pakistan (from): Shoaib Malik, Imran Farhat, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Faisal Iqbal, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal (wkt), Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Shahid Nazir, Danish Kaneria, Mohammad Asif.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

This is our last practice match before the actual battle begins. First things first, Inzamam must play (unlike in the last match where he sat out for unknown reasons). Mohammad Sami must be given another shot, and instead of Shoaib Malik, Iqbal should easily replace him.

Even though I don't see eye-to-eye with Farhat being opted as an opener (As I suggested on a previous ocassion, Inzamam should open with Butt), Imran seems to be getting in a bit of touch, which fits in well with the rest of the team.

One more important point - Shahid Afridi must play, however, his situation must be closely monitored. If it is felt that he simply cannot survive or is not 'willing to' survive on his own (unlike his other counter-part Razzaq), then Faisal must take Afridi's place starting from the first test at Lord's. We need determination and spirit. All mindsets who think otherwise must be put to rest immediately. There is no place for such in the team.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

I am not a big Malik fan, but the guy just scored a century, so I think he deserves to play. Faisal and Afridi have been in good form in Tests lately, so they should play. I am not too sure about Butt and Farhat though.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

My team for tomorrow:

Malik
Farhat
Younis
Yousef
Inzi
Faisal
Razzaq
Akmal
Asif
Sami
Kaneria

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Re: Pakistan v England A

^ I don't think Bob will replace Afridi with Faisal, he is more of a "utility player" believer, unless utility is injured :D

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Re: Pakistan v England A

that makes 3 bowlers + 2 half bowlers (Razzaq+Malik) hmmmmm. is that realy enough but then a little guide on the wicket would help to discuss this matter … so anyone know how the wicket us e to play at this very ground ???

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Re: Pakistan v England A

^ Razzaq is hardly a half bowler and lets not forget Farhat in the last match. :D

There is room to play another bowler in place of Faisal, maybe Umar Gul.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

its the famous ground with the lime tree and thats all I know about it:D

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Re: Pakistan v England A

Ehsan bhai’s team is technically sound, however its a curse having all these good “utility players” who knows by WC07’ I. Farhat with the blessing of coach will be counted as an all-rounder :rolleyes: However he should concentrate on his batting alone in the nets.

there are 4 bowlers who can full-fil the job of knocking over England A team (twice)!!! Yes I have much faith in (Asif, Sami Kaneria and Razzy) if required we can always call upon Malik and Farhat to do the magic tricks.

Pakistan has a history of playing 5-5-1, and having a Akmal as a wicket-keeping batsman I think we can vest our trust in him as a batsman keeper rather than wicket-keeper batsman, therefore I suggest the following 11:

  1. Farhat
  2. Malik
  3. Younis
  4. Yousef
  5. Inzimam*
  6. Razzaq
  7. Akmal
  8. Sami
  9. Gul
    10)Asif
  10. Kaneria
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Re: Pakistan v England A

^ abay acro, ur asking to have faith in him as a batsman keeper rather than keeper who can also bat, but you are sending him after the fluke master Razzler. Bhai he is the kind of batsman, who if given much confidence can bat at No. 3 easily. But thats a big no no these days as we have plenty of players competing each other for No. 3 with an only one geniune and proved player, Malik. But since we have a MUCH MUCH bigger problem of not having a settled opening pair, one down issue becomes a non-issue. Malik is tried and kind of forced to take on openner's job because of ever shaky Butt and Farhat pair. But since we all know Malik won't find his place in a test team in Razzaq's presence, so we have to push the batting line a little up.

What I really mean is, despite of the romance b/w Malik and Woolmar, what is the improvement in Malik's game as an opener. Has he learned to play not too high in first 10 overs? Will he be ready to wait for the ball instead of going on top in early overs? I don't wanna comment on abilit of playing erratic swing in seaming English conditions. Because thats a problem everyone has, be it Butt, Farhat, MoYo or Inzi. You know we can even make Hoggard a national hero in England this time along.

The teams you and ehsan bhai posted are Ok for the sidies, but what about the actual test match. Do we really need Razzaq, in the presence of Kaneria, Asif, Gul and Sami? I know Razzaq can be useful in seaming conditions, but we also need to strengthen our batting further. If Flintoff and Jones are not playing than the above lineup could work. But if Flintoff is in, then we need to bring Faisal for Razzaq, as we have 4 specialist bowlers supported by Malik and Farhat.

Ahmadi Social Group
Ahmadi Social Group
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Re: Pakistan v England A

England A won the toss and elected to bat first

**Pakistanis team: **Imran Farhat, Salman Butt, Faisal Iqbal, Mohammad Yousuf, *Inzamam-ul-Haq, +Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Mohammad Sami, Umar Gul, Mohammad Asif, Danish Kaneria.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

14/1 - Sami strikes early to remove Cook.

If GS was to be ruled by a woman....
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Re: Pakistan v England A

Wow...surprising to see both Malik and Afridi not playing.

This is make or break situation for Salman Butt. If he gets a good score then he will for sure open with Farhat for the first test match. But knowing Butt...he will edge to the slips or get caught behind very early in the innings :(

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Re: Pakistan v England A

I think Malik because of his century is a certainty to play in the test. They are going to test the other two openers to see who partners malik.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

29/1

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Re: Pakistan v England A

England A at Lunch: 80-1
Key 30*
Bell 36*

Sami 7-2-15-1

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Re: Pakistan v England A

(Malik + Afridi) left out = Very good decisions.

Gul can always be switched with Shahid Nazir, and vice versa. It will be interesting to see Gul's continued progress in this match. Given his mighty decent performance last time around against Leicestershire (where Nazir failed to pick up a wicket), Umar was given a go ahead of Shahid, and rightfully so.

Quite happy with the selection of the team for this match.

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Re: Pakistan v England A

England A 147/1 (44.1 ov)

not a good sign dosto

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Re: Pakistan v England A

Smooth bhai, Razzaq is quite handy as a bowler and even as a batsman in english conditions, Yes K. Akmal is a better batsman then given the batting spot but certainly its not a bad spot at all, and I belive Razzler is a better choice at No.6 and certainly he is no fluke master at all; we dont want his carreer to go down the drain like Azhar Mehmood's as well.

As far as Malik and Woolmer well we can't do anything about it except pray that Malik will perform on consistent basis (test/ODIs)

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Re: Pakistan v England A

Is everyone in agreeance with this team lineup? What are your thoughts as an individual? Since this would be very close to the actual squad for the first test, should further replacements be made?