Australia v Pakistan | 3rd Test | Sydney | Jan 3-7, 2017 | Pre-Match Thread

[qaiser]

=Moving forward what should be the playing eleven for the next test match I think we should go with all intentions of winning and not scared of losing
1 Azhar Ali
2. Sharjeel
3 Babar
4 Asad
5 Sami or Misbah or Yunus
6 Sarfaraz captain
7 Sohail
8 Amir
9 Yasir
10 Asghar or Nawaz
11 Imran
I would go with 5 bowlers and have Sohail and Amir as all arounders
But I know Misbah and Yunus will not be sitting and Wahab can 'reverse swing" whatever that is
Don't make fun of the thread just express your opinion or any positive criticism

 

[qaiser]

Left arm spinners have always performed against Australia even with so many left handers

 

[Abdullah719]

So Australia will definitely make a change to their XI. Perhaps more than one.

Cartwright/Agar to replace Maddinson with O'Keefe in the mix as well.

Pakistan are surely considering a debut for Asghar.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

So Australia will definitely make a change to their XI. Perhaps more than one.

Cartwright/Agar to replace Maddinson with O'Keefe in the mix as well.

Pakistan are surely considering a debut for Asghar.

Surely Asghar?
I doubt they will let a new kid in. How sure are your sources? Besides. A would not like a young kid being thrown out to the deep end just now. Give him a feel good home UAE game

Also I doubt Misbah likes making changes. He will play yasir maybe Nawaz?

 

[Hasan123]

My changes would be

Sharjeel for Sami, may as well test out sharjeel for a game. Sami seems out form maybe a game away might do him good
Rizwan for Younis- Younis won't be playing overseas any much more so may as well try someone else out. There is no point of a Younis getting embarrassed further. Rizwan is carried around everywhere but doesn't seem to get a lot of opportunities, he needs a chance to prove he belongs at this level.
Imran for Sohail- Sohail doesn't have the fitness for this level, no need to waste another game on him in test, should be kept strictly for LO. Imran isn't the best but with Rahat out form and confidence he's the only other option for us.

 

[Abdullah719]

Surely Asghar?
I doubt they will let a new kid in. How sure are your sources? Besides. A would not like a young kid being thrown out to the deep end just now. Give him a feel good home UAE game

Also I doubt Misbah likes making changes. He will play yasir maybe Nawaz?

No sources, but if Australia are going to play 2 spinners then I don't see why we wouldn't, specially with Yasir struggling.

And Asghar is far better than Nawaz as a bowler.

We debuted Iftikhar in England in a must-win game, though he wasn't quite seventeen.

 

[Boi]

Need 5 bowlers. I'd play Nawaz.

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

No sources, but if Australia are going to play 2 spinners then I don't see why we wouldn't, specially with Yasir struggling.

And Asghar is far better than Nawaz as a bowler.

We debuted Iftikhar in England in a must-win game, though he wasn't quite seventeen.

I think Nawaz might get ahead being bit more experienced and all and with batting too

 

[Pete Rose]

It would be nice for Misbah and YK : play sharjeel and nawaz instead.
sohail sits out so that we can play asghar.

 

[Farhansk]

This is the perfect opportunity to give a debut match to Sharjeel and Asghar, we are in lose-lose situation anyways so why not try them to see what they can offer us. Misbah, Younis,Sohail and Yasir should sit out.

(I feel sorry for Misbah, this is not the end he deserved after all his service to Pakistan cricket but for the future of our cricket, he should sit out ).

I'd go with the following:

Sharjeel (Sami must be part of the squad for our next series)
Azhar
Babar
Asad
Rizwan
Sarfaraz (C)
Nawaz (If he fails in this test match, he should be nowhere near team for the next 1 year at least)
Amir
Wahab
Asghar
Imran

 

[The intelligent Supporter]

Would Sahrjeel be replacing Sami at Sydney?

This thread is not about if he should as much as do guys think Coach, Management and Misbah are willing to get him in.

I think it would be very interesting to see how he does especially as its a spin track so wont seam as much...

So if he hits out a few to Hazelwood or starc we might get ahead.

But Sami impressed on England tour and is young so management might give him one more Game

Do you guys think he would be given a go?

 

[Ellipsism]

Misbah out Asghar in
Sohail out Imran in

 

[Abdul]

Australia v Pakistan: Rain forecast to interrupt all five days of SCG Test

For the second year in a row, curator Tom Parker finds himself looking overhead almost as much as underfoot ahead of the SCG Test.

Rain is predicted on all five days of the dead rubber between Australia and Pakistan, which starts on Tuesday in Sydney.

Wet weather ruined the corresponding fixture last year, with no play possible on days three and four of the drawn Test between Australia and the West Indies.

Showers are again forecast but they aren't expected to be nearly as severe or persistent.

"In my time here, just on 20 years, I've never seen a Test match like that here," Parker said on Monday. "We don't want to go through that again. We want to see some enjoyable cricket over the next five days.

"You're going to see pretty much a traditional SCG pitch.

"The SCG always traditionally spins. That's been the nature of the beast here for many years."

Parker spoke with captain Steve Smith and coach Darren Lehmann on Monday morning, with this week's forecast dominating discussion.

"They were very happy with the condition of the pitch and what they were seeing," he said, admitting cloud cover might impact how much the pitch broke up.

"They were more concerned about the weather conditions over the next five days."

Parker added he was under no pressure to produce a spin-friendly strip ahead of Australia's four-Test tour of India.

"I give Cricket Australia full credit; they've never come down and told me how to prepare the pitch," he said.

"There's been no correspondence regarding this match at all.

"All of our games this season ... we've seen a fair bit of turn.

"There's a lot of grass on this pitch but ... they [spinners] seem to like the thicker grass - it makes the ball grip and turn a bit more."

http://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket...ll-five-days-of-scg-test-20170102-gtktbi.html

 

[Junaids]

Had a first look at Sydney this afternoon. On TV!

Currently the pitch is grassy, but the fact that the Aussies have already announced 2.5 quicks and 2 spinners is revealing.

Pakistan have painted themselves into a corner by not picking specialists for each surface in Australia.

This pitch calls for Asif and Amir as quicks and Yasir supported by either Aamer Yamin or Mohammad Nawaz.

But it looks like Pakistan haven't brought the right players for this surface. Because although it will spin, the bounce will remain 100% non-variable.

 

[jeetu]

Men in Green don pink to support McGrath Foundation

http://tribune.com.pk/story/1281684/men-green-don-pink-support-mcgrath-foundation/

Pakistan, ahead of their final Test against Australia at Sydney Cricket Ground, donned pink caps during their practice session to show support for McGrath Foundation – a breast cancer awareness charity.




Former Australia fast-bowler had started the organisation in 2005 when his wife Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer. Jane passed away three years later from the illness. Australian greats like Adam Gilchrist, Shane Watson, and Michael Clarke currently serve as ambassadors of the organisation.

 

[Markhor]

The premise that Nawaz should play because he'd add more depth to the batting is wrong. Nawaz does not look like an international-class batsman and was clueless against spin in the UAE vs West Indies.

Would rather play Asghar.

 

[Rayyman]

Sharjeel
Azhar
Shafiq
Younus
Misbah*
Sarfraz+
Nawaz
Wahab
Yasir
Rahat
Imran

 

[JibranAnsari]

sami
azhar
babar
yk
misbah
asad
sarfraz
yasir
amir
imran
asghar.

 

[GullyCricketFlop]

Sami(last chance)
Azhar
Babar
YK(should retire)
Misbah(should retire)
Asad
Sarfraz
Amir
Yasir
Sohail
Asghar.

I reckon Nawaz is more likely to be picked than Asghar.He will bat at 8 which gives a bit more depth to our batting

 

[Veteran]

I will be very surprised if the team selected shows any initiative or thinking outside the box. Sorry to be so cynical but that seems to have become the modus operandi. Noone wants to take any risks. Invariably if something works once it will be persisted with ad nauseum regardless of the conditions, the opposition, and current form. The fact that Misbah is playing in itself shows the minset. I hope I am proven wrong. Please please do something imaginative and daring for once. I don't think though that this is the place to bring Sharjeel in. Not sure that he has the technique to play spin. He should have played at Melbourne. Then again when the management does something long overdue they usually do it at the wrong time.

 

[itsme]

Just give a game to sharjeel,i want to see how he plays in tests,we have lose the serie anyway.

 

[itsme]

Maybe play asghar too,sohail and rahat are useless

 

[Watsupdoc]

Maybe play asghar too,sohail and rahat are useless

I would drop Yasir and play Asghar. Yasir will be very poor in the coming matches as well I feel.

 

[saabir]

Play Sharjeel in place of sami who is only good for leaving the ball. Sharjeel should get a game to test him temperament & skills & Ashghar in place of Wahab or Sohail. Nawaz got his chance against West Indies. I Don't understand what selector see in Nawaz he is neither a test bowler nor a batsman. Total wastage of a space in the squad.

 

[Big Mac]

I'm gonna grab a few hours of sleep before the cricket begins, I hope to wake up to the glorious news that Rahat is back to lead the attack

Sami(last chance)

Just give a game to sharjeel,i want to see how he plays in tests,we have lose the serie anyway.

Play Sharjeel in place of sami who is only good for leaving the ball. Sharjeel should get a game to test him temperament & skills

shush

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Will be travelling to sydney shortly for Day 1. Please Pakistan team dont make me embarrassed again. One thing I have done clever this time, i am sitting in pak zone�� rather mixed

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

It is forecast to be muggy day but you never know it might be swing for couple of hours.Yasir will perform on this pitch for sure, match definitely over in 4 days
.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

SCG is BiG BIG turner this Summer so fasten up your seat belts for spinners to perform

 

[GLORY OF '92]

Massive defeat in coming.

Pathetic mentality shown on the last 2 days at the MCG.

 

[lahoriyah1234]

I can't believe We lost in MCG. How.....

Shocking and pathetic i was do confident in them they can save it.

Thankgod i fell asleep while watching the last day.

Sydney carnage is coming. Buckle
Up Smith double and Lyon 100 and 5fer is coming.

 

[PerfectionPersonified]

Guys be positive and read my signatures

 

[90MPH]

Not looking forward to this Test after the pathetic performance on day 5 at the MCG.

They will most likely get battered anyway. I will flick the channels or follow on cricinfo occasionally, certainly not making the mistake of watching them all night again.

 

[wasimjunior]

SCG is BiG BIG turner this Summer so fasten up your seat belts for spinners to perform

Massive turn in big bash..

Batting first is gonna be vital

 

[MMHS]

A Test match is a Test match, even a dead rubber. I am sure Aussies will try their best for a clean sweep while I hope Misbah realizes this is probably the closest to Asian wickets that he is going to get outside Asia. In fact, this one will be far, far better wicket for spinner than those UAE wicket.

This is a perfect opportunity to play 2 spinners & for once more I'll say that the Squad was a poor one - an Offie on SCG would have been like diamond, considering that, most likely, there are 3 left arm pacers bowling in this Test & Aussies are going to play 6 lefties. And, they even didn't bring MoHa, who could have been the 2nd spinner; but now it's a must that PAK play Asghar. For this Test, I'll play Wahab as he can reverse the ball on drier surface - if not, I'll play Imran with Amir.

Misbah has to come out of his usual - PAK might not win the toss, but that doesn't mean the match is lost on 1st morning - he has to show nerves, if he loses the toss.

 

[Archer]

I will be heading to the match today. Its cloudy here at the moment with some light wind.

 

[Barragan]

Aussies are playing two spinners, hence I'm hoping for an Asghar debut.

If nawaz gets in ahead of him, simply not following this game and wasting time.

 

[Muhammad10]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Positive thought - Sydney's where Pakistan last won a Test match in Australia, 21 years ago. 137 by Ijaz Ahmed & 9 wickets for Mushy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Crcket?src=hash">#Crcket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/816028854066278401">January 2, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Ellipsism]

Will be travelling to sydney shortly for Day 1. Please Pakistan team dont make me embarrassed again. One thing I have done clever this time, i am sitting in pak zone�� rather mixed

I'm sitting next to the Aussies in Bay 29.

Trying to keep a low profile...

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Asghar will debut hopefully!

 

[moghul]

Aussies are playing two spinners, hence I'm hoping for an Asghar debut.

If nawaz gets in ahead of him, simply not following this game and wasting time.

A defensive captain will play Nawaz, a bits and piece player, a confidence captain will play "17 year Old" Asghar a specialist bowler.

 

[On_the_up]

Might as well ring the changes and hope they get lucky.

Sharjeel for Sami

Imran Khan for Sohail

Asghar for Wahab

 

[Noman]

Aussies are playing two spinners, hence I'm hoping for an Asghar debut.

If nawaz gets in ahead of him, simply not following this game and wasting time.

Rain might save make it a draw. Can anyone Come with detailed weather forecast?