*Official* Pool A Discussion

[Choora]

The one thing I cannot find out is if the NRR tie break between teams is based on the games between those teams or overall.

The NRR is based on all games, i.e its the latter case!

 

[warrioryohannan]

Even though i like the Zimbabwe team, but if they do qualify for Super six , then the semi finalist list is already assured for 4 teams, as Kenya and Zimbabwe simply don't have the ability to qualify for the semis. This way the Super six stage would lose its charm. Therefore i think it will be better for the game if a stronger team like England goes to the Super six rather than the Afrikans!

 

[yohanna]

One thing I can't understand is why Pakistan are leaving out Saqlain. It was proven during their short tour of England 2 years ago that you do not leave him out. They lost the 1st Test by miles then won the 2nd after Saqlain took 4-80 on a dead pitch. And viola! What's happened here? The crunch matches they leave him out of they loose and his replacement (Afridi or Razzak) does bugger all...

This is because the captain is Waqar Younis, who has no faith in a quality spinner like Saqlain. Saqlain has missed numerous oneday/test matches ever since Waqar became captain.One example was the test matches against England, another was the Asian test championship against Lanka in which Waqar played bits and pieces player like Shoiab Malik in place of Saqlain and interestingly Malik was hardly given the ball to bowl.
Even in the first match against Australia Waqar dropped Saqlain and brought in his fav Afridi, it was because of Afridi/Razzak that Australia recovered from 140-5 and went on to score 310+. One would have thought that Waqar would have learnt a lesson, but the guy is impossible. Interestingly even India went into the match with 4 specialist bowlers while Pakistan just went into it with 3 specialists bowler, when they had strike bowlers like Saqlain and Sami in the squad.
Also i think a captain can bring the best out of his players, Saqlain was at his best under Akram, but under Waqar Saqlain's place in the team is hardly secure so how can he deliver?
Afridi is a joke cricketer, probably the worst cricketer among all the test playing oneday teams.PCB would do a great service if they make Afridi the vice captain of the team, this way we don't have to face the anxiety before each match of discovering as to whether the great allrounder is playing in the match or not!

 

[Neil Pickup]

Right, I've knocked up this little program for you to show what various situations do to the Net Run Rates...

Just put in the Zimbabwe & Pakistan scores, press calculate, and it does the rest.

Examples
Pakistan bowl Zimbabwe out for 50 - Need to reach the target in 9.4 overs
Pakistan bowl Zimbabwe out for 100 - Need to reach the target in 10.5 overs
Pakistan bowl Zimbabwe out for 150 - Need to reach the target in 12.1 overs

All in all, it'll need to be a tough ask, but not impossible. Hope this helps you all on Tuesday!

www.standril.freeserve.co.uk/NRR.zip

 

[krkode]

Saqlain was at his best under Akram

Agreed. I also think Pakistan was at her best under Akram.

 

[warrioryohannan]

Afridi has been a dissapoinment, and i think after this WC he might not get many chance for PK.However he has one last chance to shine, i think in the comming match Afridi can be very useful for Pak.Pak need to score very very rapidly against Zimbabwe, at a rate of 12-14/over:O :O , if anyone can score that quickly then that can be Afridi .Pakistan might go down fighting, but its a risk worth taking for.

 

[yohanna]

Fine, lets give Afridi one more chance and then get rid of him forever, besides Pakistan is not going to make it to the Super six, so what's the harm in it.


I just hope England makes it to the Super six, that will make the tournament more interesting. England should have won the last one dayer against Australia, not many team are able to give Australia such a fright! I somehow think England are often deserted by luck.

 

[Gotchya]

Afridi will be hoping for a 20 ball century this match.
Youhanna, I dont think that Afridi is that bad player, sure his failings have brought pakistan nothing, but again he does it in a a more obvious manner then the others !

As for England, its not a matter of luck. I have longed to see them go that extra bit and go for the kill. That killer instinc has been missing from succesive English teams, when Australia were 8 wickets down, Nasir should have gone in to finsish it off there and then.

 

[yohanna]

Agreed on England, they have their faults.But as for Afridi, the guy simply doesn't have the right technique to succeed against a quality attack. Its not just the case of this world cup, through out his career Afridi has been a failure. He's a very ordinary leg break bowler, and though he's Pakistan's better fielder, he's no Jonty Rhodes, infact he has often been guilty of dropping catches.

I think Pakistan should just stop the idea of playing with bits and pieces cricketers.

 

[luckyeddie]

Stunning performance by Holland against Namibia at present - Kloppenburg on 90 odd, Dutch 184-1 off 34.

Fumes, man!!!

 

[Bazza]

I just hope England makes it to the Super six, that will make the tournament more interesting. England should have won the last one dayer against Australia, not many team are able to give Australia such a fright! I somehow think England are often deserted by luck.

Don't we all mate!

Looks like it was a very exciting game though.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

[marc71178]

The NRR is based on all games, i.e its the latter case!

So I now understand - makes England's efforts yesterday key!

 

[Rik]

But as for Afridi, the guy simply doesn't have the right technique to succeed against a quality attack

Afridi actually scored 141 opening in a Test match, against India I think. In that innings he calmed down and didn't start hitting 6s till he was set. Someone just needs to tell him to hit the ball along the ground as it wasn't long ago that he was a very useful opener who played a lot of shots, but now he's just a 6 or outer.

 

[Rik]

England should have won the last one dayer against Australia, not many team are able to give Australia such a fright! I somehow think England are often deserted by luck.

Mate, not just this game but also the 2nd Final of the VB series as well. England have now lost 2 close games to Australia in a row really. So much for the law of averages the players keep talking about, they've had 2 chances and both times someone has come up with an inspired spell or innings to win the match for Australia. You make your own luck...

 

[Anil]

Afridi actually scored 141 opening in a Test match, against India I think. In that innings he calmed down and didn't start hitting 6s till he was set. Someone just needs to tell him to hit the ball along the ground as it wasn't long ago that he was a very useful opener who played a lot of shots, but now he's just a 6 or outer.

Yes that was the famous Chennai test when Pakistan last toured India. Afridi played very well in that game and did not look like a slogger at all. However, the fact remains that he has been in international cricket for around 6 years now and still doesn't have any sort of consistency to speak of. One good century does not make a career. Did you see how he played against India at Centurion? He did come towards the fag end of the innings and was required to accelerate the scoring, but the way he went about it was very silly. He scored a couple of streaky boundaries and then holed out. At 17, he can maybe be forgiven for trying to thrash the cover off every ball he faced, but not at 23, not after playing 6 years of international cricket.

 

[krkode]

It just isn't about luck how Australia won and England lost. Coming from 130 odd for 8 wickets down chasing 204 and making it is something only a great team can do. And that's exactly what Australia is. They have yet again proven why they are leagues ahead of other teams :wow:

 

[luckyeddie]

It just isn't about luck how Australia won and England lost. Coming from 130 odd for 8 wickets down chasing 204 and making it is something only a great team can do. And that's exactly what Australia is. They have yet again proven why they are leagues ahead of other teams :wow:

Yup. Mental fortitude, will to win, the winning habit, call it what you like.

Even at 130-odd for 8, I gave England only 50:50 (having watched Ashes clashes for over 40 years, I relish our successes but never expect them).

 

[Top_Cat]

I think Pakistan should just stop the idea of playing with bits and pieces cricketers.

Nah but you did hit upon a key issue; picking players far too young. Afridi was (and is) a fantastic hitter of the ball but he has a long way to go in developing his technique and picking him young, you're basically expecting him to learn all he has to at international level, which is obviously difficult. This is why we Aussies insist that picking players too young is not the way to go, regardless of their raw talent. I'm speaking of guys like Michael Clarke specificially. The guy oozes class but he's not ready and quite frankly doesn't deserve a spot ahead of guys like Katich, Love, Lehmann etc. yet anyway.

Pakistan and India have a habit of picking players who have raw talent ahead of seasoned performers. Where has it got them? A whole lot players like Kaif, Yuvraj, Taufeeq Umar, Hasan Raza etc. who are picked FAR too early, succeed initially because bowlers hadn't worked them out yet and then fail when their technical flaws are exposed. These technical flaws could have been could have been ironed out with a few more seasons of FC cricket in their respective countries but in the rush to pick ultra-young players, these guys get thrown in the deep end and drown in a sea of expectations and pressure which they are not ready to deal with.

Here's a thought; considering the infant mortatlity rate in both countries and lower life expectancy, could the prevailing attitude amongst certain posters here that Michael Clarke is 'ready' and that guys like Brett Lee, Jason Gillespie and others are 'getting old' and are on the 'wrong side of 25' be a function of the two aforementioned factors? I only ask because I have trouble understanding why players like Umar, Raza, Afridi and others are picked so early purely on promise rather than performance and why this selection policy isn't questioned, particularly since it can be said that BOTH teams constantly underachieve relative to the talent in the side......

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

TC, I think would be alot easier to read your posts if you would slit them up into 2 or 3 separate posts. But then again, I'm an idiot so.....

 

[Top_Cat]

You haven't been to many political sites if you believe that a post like that is a long one. Anyway, maybe it's YOUR attention span which is the problem and not my posts.......