Does Dale Steyn's breakdown show the need for a fifth bowler?

[Junaids]

We all know the difference in philosophy about Test selection that exists between Misbah and Mickey Arthur.

Misbah's model:
6 specialist batsmen
1 wicketkeeper-batsman
4 specialist bowlers

Mickey's model:
5 specialist batsmen
1 wicketkeeper-batsman
2 all-rounders
3 specialist bowlers of whom one must be able to score significant runs

This is cricket, and so the wishes of the captain trump the wishes of the coach. I have no problem with that. Mickey Arthur will have to wait until Misbah retires before he can seek to implement his own models, and that is how it should be.

But does the injury to Dale Steyn change the equation?

South Africa are now down to 2 quicks and 1 spinner, plus some fairly friendly part-timers. If they had only set Australia 300 to win it could have been messy.

The team to Australia is practically selected, with no sign of an all-rounder other than Mohammad Nawaz. 16 players have been chosen for the NZ leg, which strongly suggests that the door has been left ajar for one or even two more players to be added.

For visa reasons, I don't think that the extra player(s) can be Salman Butt or Mohammad Asif - it's probably already too late to obtain visas for them.

So what does that leave? Is the door being left open for Mohammad Hafeez? Iftikhar Ahmed? Or even Aamer Yamin, whose bowling seems to be outperforming his bowling so far this season.

What happens if Mohammad Amir breaks down at the MCG? Can a 3 bowler attack survive?

 

[Rayyman]

Forget injury, I am more worried about Wahab stepping on the pitch.

 

[hafizexpress]

Forget injury, I am more worried about Wahab stepping on the pitch.

Or stepping over the line >.<

 

[Rafay Shafiq]

I think Mickey model has 1 allrounder not 2.

 

[Shah]

Definitely.
Remember the test where Sobers scored 365 vs Pakistan? The main reason was that Pakistan bowlers got injured.
http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/149070.html
"With Pakistan bowlers dropping like flies - only two of them finished uninjured, and they bowled 85.2 and 54 overs apiece - West Indies went on to a mighty 790 for 3, their highest total and the fourth-highest in Test history."

http://www.cricketcountry.com/artic...-test-best-that-stood-for-36-long-years-23572
"Pakistan’s misfortunes started early in the West Indian innings. After the fifth ball, opening bowler Mahmood Hussain limped off the ground with a torn hamstring."
"Pakistan’s problems continued, with Nasim-ul-Ghani going off with a fractured thumb. Kardar was already bowling with a broken finger and Hussain was off the field."

Two Pakistan injured players did not even bat in the 2nd innings.

 

[coy0607]

I think Mickey model has 1 allrounder not 2.

Yeah, not sure where OP got his "Mickeys model" from.. the only real difference is an all rounder over a 6th batsmen

 

[yasir]

It's sort of simple, when you play on fast bowling friendly conditions aka west(ENG, SA, NZ, AUS) you cannot play two spinners, five bowlers become mandatory, that's the main reason Asian teams don't win specially in Australia, where not only you need 4 fast bowler, atleast two should be 6'4" plus, really hard combination of Asian teams, where height is a big challenge.

In Asia 2 quality spinners are more than enough in most cases. If you don't have even a single good, number does not matter, you are not going to win many matches with even 6 bowlers.

 

[Junaids]

I think Mickey model has 1 allrounder not 2.

Nope, it's definitely two all-rounders minimum.

If you look at his South Africa team, he had both Jacques Kallis and Shaun Pollock.

If you look at his Australia team in his final series, he had between three and four all-rounders!

Shane Watson batted at 4 like Jacques Kallis.

Moises Henriques, a medium-paced all-rounder, batted at 6.

Glen Maxwell was the third all-rounder, and in one Test Mitch Johnson played too.

Seriously, Mickey Arthur seems to require a minimum of 2 all-rounders, but also picks his third, fourth and fifth bowlers by their batting, not their bowling!

 

[TeymurBlake]

Personally I don't want to jinx it but I am really looking forward to what Mickey Arthur will do this side. I feel like Pakistan could struggle once Misbah and Younis have gone but with the talent still oozing out of Pakistan we are surely in for a interesting time. As for Mickey model, I agree with it cause right now in our team there are 5 specialist batsman (Azhar, Asad, Sami, Misbah and Younis), WK (Sarfaraz Ahmed). A need of an allrounder in the team is a must and its Pace Bowling Batting Allrounder. One of Mohammad Amir, Yasir Shah and Wahab Riaz will have to improve considerably if they are to be Pakstan No.8 Allrounder. But he's ideas or plans for the Pakistan team are sure to be ideal and improvement then the past coaches have put forward. Cause god knows how are team needs work

 

[jeetu]

For tests i prefer Misbah's model if one of the top 6 batsman can bowl 5-10 overs. On a very flat wickets dropping a batsman for specialist bowler is a good option.

 

[OS_89]

Not when the attack has two spinners who can handle a large workload. But it's very important for a pace heavy attack like SA/Australia/England.