Fast Tracking Youngsters into the Test Team

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Pakistan has been at the forefront of fast tracking very young players into test teams.

Four reasons why this strategy sometimes worked in the past:
1. Many of the fast tracked one's were genuine talents
2. They walked into strong test sides where they were protected, nurtured and given room to make mistakes
3. They were unknown quantities. Those were the days before social media and hours of video footage. The reason many of them declined very quickly was precisely that - they got figured out as they were seen more and more.
4. As we know, very few of them were really actually that young. Age fudging by even 5 years was common. Even so, they were not established domestic stalwarts so young in their careers.

For all the reasons listed above, the new line up of young talent Pakistan is fast tracking just isn't working any more. Many are not genuine talents or ready, they are walking into a weak side and expected to shoulder a big burden, all kinds of evidence is available from domestic/PSL on them for teams to study and plan for and finally, age fudging has become harder.

From being a proponent, I am now firmly in the opposing camp of fast tracking youngsters, unless a genuinely earth shattering talent becomes available.

Pakistan should go back to taking proven domestic performers into international teams. They are more battle hardened and even if they fail, they have earned their right to their chance. It also allows younger players to hone their craft quietly in domestic cricket.

I am hoping the new domestic system will allow for this change to happen.

 

[Rana]

Hamari team, Hamari marzi.

 

[Hasan123]

Pakistan are clueless when it comes to developing players.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Pakistan are clueless when it comes to developing players.

I'll have to agree to that It has become a bit of a circus, unrelated to performance.

I do think if PCB empowers the new domestic structure as provider of talent, there is hope.

Again, the idea is to punch above your weight. Pakistan consistently punch below.

 

[Space Cat]

Genuine question, Is the recent prevalence of fast tracked youngsters a cause or an effect of Pakistan's recent performance?

Speaking from a NZ fan perspective we had a horrible black hole of talent(particularly bowling) in the generation between Vettori, Bond & Martin almost 10 years to Southee and Boult. We had no choice but to fast track Tim Southee in a very young age by our standards. After a promising start he really struggled for some time and was soon followed by his u19 team mates Boult and Williamson. The NZ team really struggled to win anything through the early part of their career but thanks to stability in the coaching regime all 3 soon developed into the cornerstone of our test side. There is no reason why Pakistan can't do the same rebuild you already have Babar as 1 piece.

 

[YousafTheBeast]

99% of the posters here are clueless as always. They seem to expect youngsters to rip through top oppositions.

I don’t blame most posters, most of y’all been brainwashed into thinking that these youngsters are superstars after performing against minnows like Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Tomorrow, another “talent spotter” thread will be opened of youngster performing in our low quality domestic cricket. And, everyone will be going gaga over it.

When you play youngsters, you don’t make them start their international careers in difficult away tours, you play them on conditions that they’ve been brought up in. Build their confidence, don’t destroy it.

Right now, Naseem Shah is probably thinking he ain’t good enough, If Misbah had a cricketing brain, he would’ve kept Naseem Shah back for an easy series at home.

I honestly think if we brought back Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil and Sohail Khan into the Test xi we would have performed much better today.

But like always, posters here are more concerned about pace rather than skill.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Pakistan has been at the forefront of fast tracking very young players into test teams.

Four reasons why this strategy sometimes worked in the past:
1. Many of the fast tracked one's were genuine talents
2. They walked into strong test sides where they were protected, nurtured and given room to make mistakes
3. They were unknown quantities. Those were the days before social media and hours of video footage. The reason many of them declined very quickly was precisely that - they got figured out as they were seen more and more.
4. As we know, very few of them were really actually that young. Age fudging by even 5 years was common. Even so, they were not established domestic stalwarts so young in their careers.

For all the reasons listed above, the new line up of young talent Pakistan is fast tracking just isn't working any more. Many are not genuine talents or ready, they are walking into a weak side and expected to shoulder a big burden, all kinds of evidence is available from domestic/PSL on them for teams to study and plan for and finally, age fudging has become harder.

From being a proponent, I am now firmly in the opposing camp of fast tracking youngsters, unless a genuinely earth shattering talent becomes available.

Pakistan should go back to taking proven domestic performers into international teams. They are more battle hardened and even if they fail, they have earned their right to their chance. It also allows younger players to hone their craft quietly in domestic cricket.

I am hoping the new domestic system will allow for this change to happen.

99% of the posters here are clueless as always. They seem to expect youngsters to rip through top oppositions.

I don’t blame most posters, most of y’all been brainwashed into thinking that these youngsters are superstars after performing against minnows like Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.

Tomorrow, another “talent spotter” thread will be opened of youngster performing in our low quality domestic cricket. And, everyone will be going gaga over it.

When you play youngsters, you don’t make them start their international careers in difficult away tours, you play them on conditions that they’ve been brought up in. Build their confidence, don’t destroy it.

Right now, Naseem Shah is probably thinking he ain’t good enough, If Misbah had a cricketing brain, he would’ve kept Naseem Shah back for an easy series at home.

I honestly think if we brought back Rahat Ali, Ehsan Adil and Sohail Khan into the Test xi we would have performed much better today.

But like always, posters here are more concerned about pace rather than skill.

Seriously, both are knee-jerk kinda posts.

Had the catches been taken and if the captain had the basic intelligence to review KW's lbw, you would've probably gotten 5 to 6 wickets by now. And we would've not had these posts.

Bowlers can only do so much. What do you want them to do? Make Kane Williamson give 5 chances, and the fielders will latch on to at least one?

Come'on, this is TEST cricket. These Batsmen won't give away their wicket in a platter. We missed out on our chances. Can't blame bowlers that much. These are not Wasims and Waqars.

IMO, Our bowling has done not too bad except of Yasir Shah. A good effective spinner should've played his part and dented the batting line just like Ashwin did for India today. We need a potent spinner than anything else in the bowling attack.

And then surely our fielding and captaincy had been ordinary.

In the set of pace bowling attack, not all three or all four pacers bowlers will always set things ablaze. One or two of them will succeed, the other one or two will not be so successful. This is how the game pans out.

If you think differently, then may God help you.

Naseem produced some great deliveries and must have been the given the second new ball but the captain was dumb enough not to realize that he already tried Abbas with the first new ball, and Abbas was toothless as he couldn't swing it. So why waste the second new ball with Abbas again? You had better chances of taking a wicket if Naseem had been given the second new ball.

We surely need a pacer like Naseem on these wickets. Watch the match again and see how many balls were collected by Rizwan on his chest and shoulder height. The wicket seem to have good bounce.

What's the problem here?
There are so many factors but watch one of Imran Khan's interview where he states that when Wasim came onboard, he was loaded with talent but he needed to learn "The art of tacking wickets", and this is what I tried to teach him.

Naseem needs to learn the art of taking wickets. This is something that Waqar can't teach him since Waqar was a one trick pony in his days. And he can't teach that inswining yorker skill to anyone. It came naturally to him. So he doesn't know how to teach it to others.

Think about it, since how long has been Waqar been coaching this team? Is he able to produce just ONE pace bowler who can bowl a good Yorker? Just one?

So far as the "domestic machos" go,
Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali are what? Earth Shatters in the international arena? We have already seen both of them and they aren't far from being tried and tested failures in the international arena.

Injecting new blood in the team is our need, but yes, I do agree - every other day a new "talent spotter" thread appears on PP and it's as cringeworthy as it gets.


And surely, there is also another POV; these days, Test cricket is more of a see-saw game, and we are on day one so lets relax a little. Let's wait and see. You never know.

Pakistan are clueless when it comes to developing players.

This is the problem!
We have an absolute piece of junk for bowling coach.

Yes, a good bowler at his peak but as a coach, haven't we discussed this a million times before?

He could not stop the decline of Abbas and Amir, and he miserably failed to groom Naseem. And how could he, if he is not ready to get his head out of Musa Khan's rear end?

Waqar is simply not someone who can act as a trust worthy friend and fatherly mentor in the name of a bowling coach. He just simply doesn't have that attitude and that personality.

He is all about a self entitled all knowing mama ji type personality with a huge ego who is never open to new changes and new possibilities.

He does not exhibit a good leadership role where he is easily approachable by youngsters. You can't question his methods and you must be a yes man, otherwise, you are in his bad books as he seems to be full of vengence.

This is how things run in Pak cricket, and Waqar is no different.
Some dehaati mindset who has no idea about the professional man-management skills that a successful leader MUST have.

Look at the Tim MacCaskill's coaching video of James Pattinson.

How he introduces Pattinson, and smoothly overviews the summary of mechanics. The both seem to have a good bond where respect and trust both go hands in hand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu4uKWWTMUo&t=7s

But when you hear Waqar, it's all about lectures on philosophies and "I know it all" attitude.

He can't stop the decline of talent pacers and he can't teach them the art of taking wickets in TEST cricket. That's one of our major issues.

I will continue supporting our youngsters into the international arena so that they can face tougher oppositions and up their game. Domestic machoism means nothing in Pakistan.

 

[Colorblind Genius]

*Domestic machosim, IN MNAY CASES, means nothing in Pakistan.

 

[Varun]

Pakistan and West Indies do this a lot.

The difference is that the West Indies stick with them over a number of years (Kraigg Brathwaite, Jason Holder etc.) while in Pakistan it's more of a merry go round.

Also the 'hit rate' is like 1 in 20 or so. If even that.

 

[Markhor]

http://www.pakpassion.net/ppforum/s...ptable-was-turned-into-a-questionable-extreme

This has been discussed in the above thread already so I'll restate what I said there:

Obviously Pakistan's domestic system, while significantly improved under the new format, is still behind Australia, India and England due to pitches, quality of coaching etc.

However look at our few proven performers in Tests over last 10-15 years like Mohammad Asif, Misbah-ul-Haq, Azhar Ali, Babar Azam, Yasir Shah and Mohammad Abbas to name a few. These guys grafted for years in FC cricket before earning national selection. Babar had two good FC seasons followed by a strong A tour to England in 2016 before his Test debut. Although it took time to settle in Tests, he immediately made an impact in white ball cricket. We didn't even feel Saeed Ajmal's absence in Tests as Yasir was ready made. Abbas fired straightaway too.

Cricket is about repetition - executing your core skills repeatedly season after season. Batsmen must maximise their time in the middle and gain experience of batting for long periods against different bowlers in different conditions. Bowlers must learn how to bowl long spells and the art of working over a batsman. That fact doesn't change if you have a strong or weak domestic system !

If you keep fast tracking kids prematurely in their development phase - then don't complain when Misbah and co keep hiding behind the excuse of rebuilding and transition phase.

Not all domestic chart toppers will make it. But keep going down the list and you'll find someone who will. That's a better guarantee of success than misguided 90s-era fairytales of plucking kids from obscurity. It may have worked for Wasim Akram but how'd that work for Hasan Raza, Salim Elahi, Zahid Fazal, Irfan Fazil, Qaiser Abbas and Shadab Kabir ?

 

[Thunderbolt14]

Seriously, both are knee-jerk kinda posts.

Had the catches been taken and if the captain had the basic intelligence to review KW's lbw, you would've probably gotten 5 to 6 wickets by now. And we would've not had these posts.

Bowlers can only do so much. What do you want them to do? Make Kane Williamson give 5 chances, and the fielders will latch on to at least one?

Come'on, this is TEST cricket. These Batsmen won't give away their wicket in a platter. We missed out on our chances. Can't blame bowlers that much. These are not Wasims and Waqars.

IMO, Our bowling has done not too bad except of Yasir Shah. A good effective spinner should've played his part and dented the batting line just like Ashwin did for India today. We need a potent spinner than anything else in the bowling attack.

And then surely our fielding and captaincy had been ordinary.

In the set of pace bowling attack, not all three or all four pacers bowlers will always set things ablaze. One or two of them will succeed, the other one or two will not be so successful. This is how the game pans out.

If you think differently, then may God help you.

Naseem produced some great deliveries and must have been the given the second new ball but the captain was dumb enough not to realize that he already tried Abbas with the first new ball, and Abbas was toothless as he couldn't swing it. So why waste the second new ball with Abbas again? You had better chances of taking a wicket if Naseem had been given the second new ball.

We surely need a pacer like Naseem on these wickets. Watch the match again and see how many balls were collected by Rizwan on his chest and shoulder height. The wicket seem to have good bounce.

What's the problem here?
There are so many factors but watch one of Imran Khan's interview where he states that when Wasim came onboard, he was loaded with talent but he needed to learn "The art of tacking wickets", and this is what I tried to teach him.

Naseem needs to learn the art of taking wickets. This is something that Waqar can't teach him since Waqar was a one trick pony in his days. And he can't teach that inswining yorker skill to anyone. It came naturally to him. So he doesn't know how to teach it to others.

Think about it, since how long has been Waqar been coaching this team? Is he able to produce just ONE pace bowler who can bowl a good Yorker? Just one?

So far as the "domestic machos" go,
Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali are what? Earth Shatters in the international arena? We have already seen both of them and they aren't far from being tried and tested failures in the international arena.

Injecting new blood in the team is our need, but yes, I do agree - every other day a new "talent spotter" thread appears on PP and it's as cringeworthy as it gets.


And surely, there is also another POV; these days, Test cricket is more of a see-saw game, and we are on day one so lets relax a little. Let's wait and see. You never know.



This is the problem!
We have an absolute piece of junk for bowling coach.

Yes, a good bowler at his peak but as a coach, haven't we discussed this a million times before?

He could not stop the decline of Abbas and Amir, and he miserably failed to groom Naseem. And how could he, if he is not ready to get his head out of Musa Khan's rear end?

Waqar is simply not someone who can act as a trust worthy friend and fatherly mentor in the name of a bowling coach. He just simply doesn't have that attitude and that personality.

He is all about a self entitled all knowing mama ji type personality with a huge ego who is never open to new changes and new possibilities.

He does not exhibit a good leadership role where he is easily approachable by youngsters. You can't question his methods and you must be a yes man, otherwise, you are in his bad books as he seems to be full of vengence.

This is how things run in Pak cricket, and Waqar is no different.
Some dehaati mindset who has no idea about the professional man-management skills that a successful leader MUST have.

Look at the Tim MacCaskill's coaching video of James Pattinson.

How he introduces Pattinson, and smoothly overviews the summary of mechanics. The both seem to have a good bond where respect and trust both go hands in hand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu4uKWWTMUo&t=7s

But when you hear Waqar, it's all about lectures on philosophies and "I know it all" attitude.

He can't stop the decline of talent pacers and he can't teach them the art of taking wickets in TEST cricket. That's one of our major issues.

I will continue supporting our youngsters into the international arena so that they can face tougher oppositions and up their game. Domestic machoism means nothing in Pakistan.

Potw. Can’t blame our bowling too much if you’re not holding onto catches of Kane Williamson. Please send a link to that video of Imran Khan if you can

 

[Abdullah Rabbani]

If a country fast track players like musa khan who averages 45 in fc then its black mark on your transparency there is no need of domestic setup

 

[Colorblind Genius]

Potw. Can’t blame our bowling too much if you’re not holding onto catches of Kane Williamson. Please send a link to that video of Imran Khan if you can

It's very short 10 seconds clip starting at 6:00 timestamp.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdA-sGB319s

 

[leg-side-flick]

In the old days ( 80's and 90's ), one could fast track pacers as reverse swing acted as a big cushion. If you had pace, the system would teach you how to make the ball n swing it late, then you could guarantee at least 1/2 wickets every match.

Waqar / Wasim / Shoaib / Razzak n co, all had that cushion, but unfortunately for Shaheen Shah Afridi, that thing has vanished.

Go back and look how much damage was caused by Waqar / Wasim / Shoaib in their first 15 test matches with the new ball and then compare it with old ball. Please also note that these 3 we're the best 3 fast bowlers of Pakistan in last 30 years.

So the new kids are at a huge disadvantage as they are being compared with older generation when the scales are not balanced.

P. S. I have kept Md Asif out of this discussion, as that guy was a freak who could make the new ball talk even on flat tracks

 

[Usman Chadda]

The issue is that these youngsters regress for some reason. It's one thing to struggle with international cricket, but why on earth do these lads lose the very basic skills which they impress with in the first place?

I see Haider and Naseem both going in the wrong direction, and if Misbah and Waqar do not address this soon, we will lose both of them to this mediocre system. It's all well and good creating hype, but these boys need to be pushed to work as hard as they can do develop their game rather than lose the very basic skillset that brought them on the forefront in the first place.

 

[Corridor of Uncertainty]

Seriously, both are knee-jerk kinda posts.

Had the catches been taken and if the captain had the basic intelligence to review KW's lbw, you would've probably gotten 5 to 6 wickets by now. And we would've not had these posts.

Bowlers can only do so much. What do you want them to do? Make Kane Williamson give 5 chances, and the fielders will latch on to at least one?

Come'on, this is TEST cricket. These Batsmen won't give away their wicket in a platter. We missed out on our chances. Can't blame bowlers that much. These are not Wasims and Waqars.

IMO, Our bowling has done not too bad except of Yasir Shah. A good effective spinner should've played his part and dented the batting line just like Ashwin did for India today. We need a potent spinner than anything else in the bowling attack.

And then surely our fielding and captaincy had been ordinary.

In the set of pace bowling attack, not all three or all four pacers bowlers will always set things ablaze. One or two of them will succeed, the other one or two will not be so successful. This is how the game pans out.

If you think differently, then may God help you.

Naseem produced some great deliveries and must have been the given the second new ball but the captain was dumb enough not to realize that he already tried Abbas with the first new ball, and Abbas was toothless as he couldn't swing it. So why waste the second new ball with Abbas again? You had better chances of taking a wicket if Naseem had been given the second new ball.

We surely need a pacer like Naseem on these wickets. Watch the match again and see how many balls were collected by Rizwan on his chest and shoulder height. The wicket seem to have good bounce.

What's the problem here?
There are so many factors but watch one of Imran Khan's interview where he states that when Wasim came onboard, he was loaded with talent but he needed to learn "The art of tacking wickets", and this is what I tried to teach him.

Naseem needs to learn the art of taking wickets. This is something that Waqar can't teach him since Waqar was a one trick pony in his days. And he can't teach that inswining yorker skill to anyone. It came naturally to him. So he doesn't know how to teach it to others.

Think about it, since how long has been Waqar been coaching this team? Is he able to produce just ONE pace bowler who can bowl a good Yorker? Just one?

So far as the "domestic machos" go,
Sohail Khan and Rahat Ali are what? Earth Shatters in the international arena? We have already seen both of them and they aren't far from being tried and tested failures in the international arena.

Injecting new blood in the team is our need, but yes, I do agree - every other day a new "talent spotter" thread appears on PP and it's as cringeworthy as it gets.


And surely, there is also another POV; these days, Test cricket is more of a see-saw game, and we are on day one so lets relax a little. Let's wait and see. You never know.



This is the problem!
We have an absolute piece of junk for bowling coach.

Yes, a good bowler at his peak but as a coach, haven't we discussed this a million times before?

He could not stop the decline of Abbas and Amir, and he miserably failed to groom Naseem. And how could he, if he is not ready to get his head out of Musa Khan's rear end?

Waqar is simply not someone who can act as a trust worthy friend and fatherly mentor in the name of a bowling coach. He just simply doesn't have that attitude and that personality.

He is all about a self entitled all knowing mama ji type personality with a huge ego who is never open to new changes and new possibilities.

He does not exhibit a good leadership role where he is easily approachable by youngsters. You can't question his methods and you must be a yes man, otherwise, you are in his bad books as he seems to be full of vengence.

This is how things run in Pak cricket, and Waqar is no different.
Some dehaati mindset who has no idea about the professional man-management skills that a successful leader MUST have.

Look at the Tim MacCaskill's coaching video of James Pattinson.

How he introduces Pattinson, and smoothly overviews the summary of mechanics. The both seem to have a good bond where respect and trust both go hands in hand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu4uKWWTMUo&t=7s

But when you hear Waqar, it's all about lectures on philosophies and "I know it all" attitude.

He can't stop the decline of talent pacers and he can't teach them the art of taking wickets in TEST cricket. That's one of our major issues.

I will continue supporting our youngsters into the international arena so that they can face tougher oppositions and up their game. Domestic machoism means nothing in Pakistan.

To be fair, I wasn't just talking about this match alone. One match can't impact strategies and you shouldn't take evidence of one match to base your arguments on either. Even if Naseem Shah takes 5 wickets in the next innings or if Abdullah Shafiq had scored a 100, I'd still argue for delaying their introduction.

My context is last 10 years or so.

Wasim Akram is an odd example. I watched live on TV the side match against NZ where he took 7 wickets in an innings (if I recall correctly) when he first burst into the team. He also took 10 wickets in a test match in NZ and a 5 wicket haul in ODI in Australia - before Imran even did anything about his wicket taking prowess.

But that kinda proves my argument. If someone is that good, get them in. Just don't fasttrack youngsters early in their development, without monstrous talent on display like Wasim had.

 

[The Viper]

Fawad Alam showing what proven domestic talent can do on the International stage.

 

[ShoaibM]

Fawad Alam showing what proven domestic talent can do on the International stage.

Agreed. And also that one of the biggest qualities needed in test cricket is patience. Which also applies to how failed players are replaced and new players brought into the team. The process must be slow and deliberate. So far we are doing a good job. Rizwan and Fawad are both good pieces in the overall puzzle. Haris and Azhar are next, possibly Abid as well. But we shouldnt rush these changes rather be deliberate and calculated about it. Pick good performers from domestic cricket. If they perform in the A team give them a chance in the national team.

 

[shamaan]

Agreed. And also that one of the biggest qualities needed in test cricket is patience. Which also applies to how failed players are replaced and new players brought into the team. The process must be slow and deliberate. So far we are doing a good job. Rizwan and Fawad are both good pieces in the overall puzzle. Haris and Azhar are next, possibly Abid as well. But we shouldnt rush these changes rather be deliberate and calculated about it. Pick good performers from domestic cricket. If they perform in the A team give them a chance in the national team.

You think haris and abid are good peices of the puzzle ?

 

[ShoaibM]

You think haris and abid are good peices of the puzzle ?

No I meant Haris, Azhar and Abid are next in line for replacement. Need to find similar replacements for all 3, certainly the first 2. Even if it happens over the next 12-18 months I am ok with that, its better if we do it 1 at a time instead of all 3 at once.

 

[shamaan]

No I meant Haris, Azhar and Abid are next in line for replacement. Need to find similar replacements for all 3, certainly the first 2. Even if it happens over the next 12-18 months I am ok with that, its better if we do it 1 at a time instead of all 3 at once.

I think abid haris then Azhar will get dropped in that order.
We can easily replace haris with saud
And Azhar can be replaced by usman salahuddin or kamran ghullam.

But abid thiers no openers only baring imran butt.

 

[naseem]

Good one. But need zia hasan too alongsid3

 

[ShoaibM]

I think abid haris then Azhar will get dropped in that order.
We can easily replace haris with saud
And Azhar can be replaced by usman salahuddin or kamran ghullam.

But abid thiers no openers only baring imran butt.

Imam while nothing great is a better option particularly away from home so I would replace with him as a stop gap. Long term yeah, it will be tough for us to find openers at the level of Warner its been a long term issue.

 

[shamaan]

Imam while nothing great is a better option particularly away from home so I would replace with him as a stop gap. Long term yeah, it will be tough for us to find openers at the level of Warner its been a long term issue.

and i think it will continue being a issue .if we can produce a batter half of what warner is id be happy.yes i agree i didnt want hin part of the test team but we have no other option snd should be given ago instead of abid

 

[MenInG]

Aliyan another prospect but am sure PCB will think twice about fast-tracking!

 

[Saj]

Spoke with Hassan Ali about this for an upcoming interview.

He said the youth setup in Pakistan cricket is all wrong and players are rushed into playing international cricket when they are simply not ready.

 

[UzmanBeast]

The issue with Pakistan cricket is the fact that our nature of putting up inconsistent performances leads to us fast-tracking youngsters as if they can perform on a consistent basis. There are very few youngsters in the current setup that I rate as being possible international standard bowlers, and I am of the firm belief that they should be left alone in domestic until they have matured in their bowling skills. The thing with fast-tracking talents is that there is always a lot of pressure on the players and on the team, because nobody knows how the youngster will perform. Once you as a fast-tracked talent take up a spot on the team, the expectation is that you will perform, and sadly, most youngsters don't fire straight away. This leads to people calling them out and the fear of being dropped and never being selected again, and that's too much pressure for a young player who is just starting their career.

There have been so many problems with fast-tracking youngsters into teams, not just on the international level, but even in the domestic levels at times. I blame the domestic coaches and management for falling victim to such methods of selection, because they defy logic and spit in the faces of players who actually merit the selection. I can tell you that if there was a bowler in our domestic system right now capable of bowling 145+ consistently, his name would be on the team guaranteed. It wouldn't matter how poor his stats were, or how inexperienced he was, our management would just staple the tag of "talented youngsta" on their foreheads and put them into a pit with some of the worlds best players.

Player development starts at the grassroots where they perform to get noticed by higher ranked domestic circuits, until they get into the FC, List A, and T20 main teams. That takes time, and after that, they must play continuously in the domestic system to get recognition as one of the top performers. Notice how I didn't say top talents, I said top performers. You could be a supremely gifted talent yet average 32 with the ball as opposed to a hard working bowler who averages 25, and I would not hesitate to pick the bowler with a 25 average. Performances deserve more recognition than talent or technique, something the story of Fawad Alam has told us, and we are too arrogant to admit. The next minute when there's some flashy youngster who takes a 5 wicket haul, we're talking about picking him on the team without considering that there is a very long queue of domestic performers who merit a spot in the team.

Talent is never to be put in the same bag as performance. You can be averagely talented yet put in the hard yards and become a world class player, and you can also be an incredibly talented player and have no recognition of a successful international career. This is Pakistan, you have the examples of Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal in front of you. Both were highly talented, but never confuse that with performances and the right mindset to succeed.

I've said my bit about fast-tracking players, and I'll leave it at that. The bottom line is that our selection committee should know the difference between gold and pyrite, one shines properly in a distinct light whilst the other shines in every light. Performing in one season of domestic cricket doesn't mean that you merit selection, you are just starting to enter the line for meriting a selection. Consistent performances over a long period of time define you as a player.

 

[mazkhan]

Well maybe there might be an option of having 2 extra teams in domestic cricket

One a team made up of of 20-23 yrs old only

And the other 16-19 yr olds

This will let the younger players have the opportunity to play and get experience because many are blocked from making the first xi in the state teams because of already established players .

Maybe we could try this In the second xi , add these 2 young teams to see how it goes and if there is positives then also make it happen in the first xi tournaments

So we end up with 7 teams in each league

 

[MenInG]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Pick players when they are ready and have done the hard yards in domestic cricket, not when they are raw and have only played a few matches. Devon Conway 108 first-class matches across 12 years before making his Test debut <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cricket?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cricket</a></p>— Saj Sadiq (@Saj_PakPassion) <a href="https://twitter.com/Saj_PakPassion/status/1400514902557667329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 3, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[MenInG]

Salman Butt on issues with Pakistan fast-bowlers:

“Bowling at 140 kmph makes no impact if you don't bowl at proper line and length. The batsmen love playing these types of half-volleys. They only need to direct the ball towards the boundary. Pace will help you only if you know how to swing and bowl at the correct line and length. The bowlers need to spend more time playing first-class cricket; not at the gym working on their legs. You’ll become an athlete, not a bowler. It is just like becoming a doctor without MBBS"


Salman Butt on Azam Khan

“Azam Khan needs to perform. He played a couple of good knocks in PSL, but there were many discussions about his fitness. So, every time he fails or misfields, these people will question his fitness. The only way out of all this is to keep performing"

 

[Shoaibbtt]

Salman Butt on issues with Pakistan fast-bowlers:

“Bowling at 140 kmph makes no impact if you don't bowl at proper line and length. The batsmen love playing these types of half-volleys. They only need to direct the ball towards the boundary. Pace will help you only if you know how to swing and bowl at the correct line and length. The bowlers need to spend more time playing first-class cricket; not at the gym working on their legs. You’ll become an athlete, not a bowler. It is just like becoming a doctor without MBBS"


Salman Butt on Azam Khan

“Azam Khan needs to perform. He played a couple of good knocks in PSL, but there were many discussions about his fitness. So, every time he fails or misfields, these people will question his fitness. The only way out of all this is to keep performing"

Couldn't care less what Salman Butt has to say, only thing i will say is that Azam Khan doesn't look like he's lost weight. In fact he looks like he gained weight and then lost a bit of that excess weight.

Give me 5 weeks with this lad and i'll whip him into shape.

 

[MenInG]

And this is the problem - not enough A tours for the youngsters to show what they are capable of.

==

PCB was originally scheduled to send its “A” team to Sri Lanka to play three ODIs’ and two four-day games in the month of May, but then was postponed to June and finally to July this year.

According to SLC sources:

“The Indian team is arriving here for three ODIs and three T-20Is in July. During the current pandemic situations, we cannot host two teams simultaneously. It is unsafe and unwise in the present situations”

"The country is still in lockdown here in Sri Lanka. I doubt it will be confirmed”

 

[MenInG]

Former Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi feels playing for the national team has become way too easy and the players should only be picked after spending at least a couple of seasons in domestic cricket.

Speaking at a function, Afridi hit out at the selection policy adopted for the national team for red and white ball formats.

He was particularly critical of the way players were changed and debuted in the Pakistan white balls squads.

"It has become so easy to play for the national team whereas in the past playing for the Pakistan team was the ultimate for any professional cricketer,” Afridi said.

He said the pathway into the Pakistan team had become so easy that even players with little domestic cricket exposure were rushed into the side and then dropped and shunned in the same way.

"That is why our performances are not consistent with the amount of cricket we play in Pakistan.” The popular all-rounder felt that each player must be given at least two or three years exposure in the domestic circuit before he is considered for the national squad.

"Why have we made it so really easy for players to represent their country. I am sad to see that a player gives one or two good performances in domestic cricket or the PSL and he is in the national team.” “What is this? You should make your cricketers play domestic cricket,” Afridi said.

Afridi felt that batsmen and bowlers needed at least exposure of two to three years before selectors could judge their talent, temperament and ability to cope with pressure.

"The real difference playing international cricket is how strong a player is mentally to handle all the pressures that come in international matches and that includes the criticism and glare of the media and fans.

"We must now judge the difference between just talent and mental strength of a player,” Afridi added.

The former captain said that when a player appears in domestic cricket for two or three years, selectors and coaches get a chance to judge his temperament.

He also called for the selectors and coaches to not shun players after a few chances if he failed to perform.

"If you give a chance to a player and he doesn’t perform, he should be sent back into domestic cricket. Don’t make playing for Pakistan so easy. Players must know the value of international cricket. I am totally against players coming into the side on just one or two performances,” he added.

https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cric...e-too-easy-laments-afridi/article35184011.ece