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Monty Panesar


RickMcD

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There was always going to be a bit of needle in this series - Hair-gate & spot fixing. Then given Pakistan's inability to play at home and general mediocre performances over the lastcouple of years England were strong favourites for this series.

It's hard not to think England didn't underestimate Pakistan. Even with poor batting performances in the warm-up games the general feeling (including mine) was that it would be all right on the night. For a few years before winning The Ashes down under England's batting line-up was labelled fragile and despite being strong (on paper) down to Swann at No. 9 they've been exposed again.

Nice to see auld enemies like Javed Miandad & Abdul Qadir getting their digs in against England. At the top level it's always been a game for people with strong personalities.

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There was always going to be a bit of needle in this series - Hair-gate & spot fixing. Then given Pakistan's inability to play at home and general mediocre performances over the lastcouple of years England were strong favourites for this series.

It's hard not to think England didn't underestimate Pakistan. Even with poor batting performances in the warm-up games the general feeling (including mine) was that it would be all right on the night. For a few years before winning The Ashes down under England's batting line-up was labelled fragile and despite being strong (on paper) down to Swann at No. 9 they've been exposed again.

Nice to see auld enemies like Javed Miandad & Abdul Qadir getting their digs in against England. At the top level it's always been a game for people with strong personalities.

Yes England that it was going to be a piece of cake and Pakistan were raring to go. I expected England to do a lot better in the second test and it looked they had them. Pakistan bowled well but the England total was an embarrasment.

After the first test I was waiting for some comment on Ajmal's action. England can be bad losers too but I'm glad they didn't go down that route.

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After the first test I was waiting for some comment on Ajmal's action. England can be bad losers too but I'm glad they didn't go down that route.

“Our job is to deal with whatever bowler bowls, and the ICC’s job is to police the game. I’ve got my own private views, and talking about

them isn’t going to help the situation.”

Andy Flower becomes the first to hint at unhappiness, Jan 21

“The ICC have got their job to do and we fully trust they’ll be able to do it.”

Jonathan Trott suggests the governing body might like to get involved, Jan 21

“It’s not up to us. It’s up to the ICC to take care of the off-the-field stuff.”

Matt Prior reiterates England’s concerns, Jan 22

AFAIK England haven't officially complained but they're certainly dropping hints.

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AFAIK England haven't officially complained but they're certainly dropping hints.

I had realised there was a bit going on. I just get the feeling that the ICC will never come out again and ban anyone for chucking. I don't know if Ajmal was but it does look odd. If you only complain after you get beat it looks bad. Muralitharan took stick for years but then got OK'd. I saw a thing on TV a year or so ago when they spoke about his action and I felt than even then although the contributors were saying he was fine, they still seemed to have reservations. I remember too that after discussing him they switched to looking at Warne with the comment 'Now here's a guy where there is no problem.' It seems a pity for he was such a nice guy but I think that even in fifty years time if his name is mentioned as the greatest bowler of all time that element of doubt will stick.

Another really unfortunate aspect is that so often there are overtones of racial bias which I think are unfounded. It's crossed my mind that what cricketing nations could look at is finding kids with strangely bent arm or wrist joints and teach them to bowl.

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3-0 whitewash! England admitting they were underprepared for the series. More confusion over Ajmal's bowling actionwacko.png. Perhaps more interestingly hints that Monty might be first choice if England were to pick one specialist spinner for the forthcoming Sri Lanka series although I don't see it myself!

England (118) are only one point ahead of South Africa (117) in the test rankings now. Who knows if they'll still be No.1 when the South Africans come in the summer. Not that I want to belittle Sri Lanka but South Africa in the summer should be a helluva series!

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England now being found out as the poor batting side that they are!

Fed up listening to how good Cook is in England, well as he gets near the sub continent he shows his true from.

Loved very ball of the downfall of the number 1 side in the world!

Watch the Aussies return

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England now being found out as the poor batting side that they are!

Fed up listening to how good Cook is in England, well as he gets near the sub continent he shows his true from.

Loved very ball of the downfall of the number 1 side in the world!

Watch the Aussies return

Cook has scored over 6000 runs at nearly 50 and has scored 19 test hundreds. No fluke I'd say. He performed well in the sub-continant last time. Every batsman has a bad series
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Cook has scored over 6000 runs at nearly 50 and has scored 19 test hundreds. No fluke I'd say. He performed well in the sub-continant last time. Every batsman has a bad series

Cook had a bad run a year or two back but recovered. He seems to get out too often to balls he shouldn't go near. I remember after he had scored a couple of centuries they were already talking about him being the next England captain. Seemed a bit premature to me. Having said that do you recall the FEC story about Athers? They got that right on both counts.

I wish they could always play with two spinners but you usually need a genuine all rounder to get away with that. One of the reasons Swan got picked ahead of Monty was the fact that Swan could bat a bit. Not scoring very well now though.

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Cook - like a few others he seems to have swollen his batting average over the last two years while England have been dominant (1504 runs at an average of 94 in the 12 tests prior to this series), although I suppose cashing in against weaker opposition is inevitable and has always been a feature of a good batsmen. Like many others I have suspicions about how his technique stands up in pressure situations.

Undoubtedly FEC!

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Cook - like a few others he seems to have swollen his batting average over the last two years while England have been dominant (1504 runs at an average of 94 in the 12 tests prior to this series), although I suppose cashing in against weaker opposition is inevitable and has always been a feature of a good batsmen. Like many others I have suspicions about how his technique stands up in pressure situations.

Undoubtedly FEC!

19 test tons including 294 against India and 235 against Austrailia. Hardly weaker opposition.
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19 test tons including 294 against India and 235 against Austrailia. Hardly weaker opposition.

I would class Australia's 2010/11 Ashes squad as average and India are on the slide, they've just been whitewashed in Australia, where the Australian batsmen scored plenty. I see him as a player who cashes in when the going's easy and struggle to remember many occasions when he's scored in adversity.

Edited by Bud the Baker
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