"Some of the bowling by Pakistan was brainless" : Steve Harmison

[Abdullah719]

Steve Harmison on Straight Drive (Ten Sports) after the 3rd ODI:

"England were helped by some average Pakistan bowling"

"We can't sugarcoat it, we talked about how good the bowling attack was coming into this series but I'm sorry I've seen an abject performance there"

"Apart from Junaid Khan's opening spell of 4-5 overs, the rest of it was average. Not even that, it was brainless, some of the bowling"

"Over the wicket, into Jonny Bairstow who was batting on off-stump, to the short boundary, left-arm seamers in the powerplay, it just didn't make sense"

"It was poor thinking, poor execution"

 

[Ronaldo7]

This is the Sour truth.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Must have been Azhar Mahmood instructions.

 

[Destroyer88]

What do you do when you have minnow calibre players in the team.

 

[ritzy_123]

I think it's not just Azhar Mahmood but we do lack some sense when we're under the pump.

Our bowlers need to learn the art of absorbing the pressure otherwise going into the world we're almost done and dusted.

 

[Destroyer88]

This has to be the worst ever bowlig unit in a while. There is no leader..no mentor..no coach. All they can do is huff and puff for the cameras

 

[Usman Chadda]

Specially disappointed by Shaheen's mediocre line thus far this series. He thinks he is the second coming of Wasim Akram, trying to boomerang the ball from leg-stump away from the right handers.

Hasan has been short and wide, and hitting random lengths.

The rest of the bowlers aren't worth talking about. Faheem takes the cake for being the most dumb bowler in this line-up. The batsmen are waiting on the backfoot, with that short boundary in mind, and he continuously keeps bowling back of a length into the body

 

[Syed1]

Azhar Mahmood who himself was a hit me bowler in his prime is teaching our bowlers where to bowl and the result is for all to see. If that isn't a recipe for disaster idk what is. Keep in mind Abdur Razzaq used to be selected ahead of Mahmood for primarily his bowling (at that stage Azhar was thought to be a better bat), and Razzaq barely bowled above 130kph.


Jo khud kuch kar nahi saka woh dosroon ko kya sikhayega...

 

[cricketInsight]

Steve Harmison on Straight Drive (Ten Sports) after the 3rd ODI:

"England were helped by some average Pakistan bowling"

"We can't sugarcoat it, we talked about how good the bowling attack was coming into this series but I'm sorry I've seen an abject performance there"

"Apart from Junaid Khan's opening spell of 4-5 overs, the rest of it was average. Not even that, it was brainless, some of the bowling"

"Over the wicket, into Jonny Bairstow who was batting on off-stump, to the short boundary, left-arm seamers in the powerplay, it just didn't make sense"

"It was poor thinking, poor execution"

Spot On - all the talk of pitches our bowling lines were pretty terrible.

 

[Shaddy86]

Azhar Mehmood was a below average bowler and always got tonked around. He's not a suitable bowling coach. Surprised he's survived this long in this role.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Blaming Azhar Mahmood is the easy way out. The bowlers have to execute the plans put in place.

 

[Shaddy86]

But one has to wonder, what were the plans? Most of the times it seems like there's no bowling plan whatsoever.

 

[pakistani pride]

The problem is there is no plan.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Honestly I think it's a good thing the Pakistan bowlers are getting put to the sword by England batters. They get inflated ideas of their own worth when they knock over brittle batting line ups like Windies or Sri Lanka. This should at least make the camp humble enough to realise they are not that good. They will need to utilise a lot more craft and guile rather than rely on fast bowlers who aren't actually that fast, and spinners who can't turn a ball.

 

[topspin]

Sarfraz's lack of leadership has also played a part. Agree with Harmison's comments.

 

[Ilan Bluestone]

Azhar Mahmouds fault? Why is bowling execution when we win in our captains favour, and when we lose in our coaches favour?

 

[Zaz]

Surely the bowlers should have some sense and change up when they were being smashed

Think on your feet

Bouncer bouncer, different slower balls or wide yorker yorker yorker

Seems like they cant think for themselves

 

[Chokli]

Sarfraz's lack of leadership has also played a part. Agree with Harmison's comments.

Absolutely brainless is Sarfraz.

He has no plan whatsoever, he's not even proactive enough to think outside the box and come up with tactics to attack the batsmen.

 

[IMMY69]

Our bowling was brainless....
Fielding was pathetic too

 

[Pete Rose]

I am not sure if it’s an issue of coaching or falling to pieces under pressure

 

[Slim]

Yet another horrendous, abject performance by the bowlers. I am shocked at their sudden lack of ability to take wickets. Its almost like they have forgotten to take wickets?

The symptoms of this unknown disease appeared first during the Asia cup and became severe and are in full show right now.

I dont know whats going on with these bowlers. Azhar Mahmood definitely needs to go, however i am sure he is not the only reason.

 

[thelandofthebravepeople]

Why blame the bowling coach..
It's not as if he is bowling for the bowlers.

Even if his instructions are not working the players should quickly think of something themselves.

 

[topspin]

Absolutely brainless is Sarfraz.

He has no plan whatsoever, he's not even proactive enough to think outside the box and come up with tactics to attack the batsmen.

Sitting duck on the field and a sitting duck with the bat.

 

[Chokli]

Sitting duck on the field and a sitting duck with the bat.

His best position is sitting at home watching the game on TV and cursing the players from there.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Lol! As if England bowled exceptionally well. Eng bowling was horrendous too. It was like watching a contest between two worst bowling attacks. When Pak of all teams can score 350+ consecutively, imagine how pathetic this English bowling is!

 

[Savak]

Azhar Mahmood was the bowling coach when Pakistan won the CT in 2017. The bowlers were in great form at the time. To blame him alone completely is a simplification though its about time he be held responsible. The bowling attack is over rated, lacks variety and is not good enough.

In international cricket you have to keep developing and learn new tricks because the opposition is constantly watching video tapes and observing you. Otherwise you will see players who start off with a bang and then fade away.

 

[cricketAXEpert]

Bowling has been awful for a while now. But not all pitches are going to be run fests. We will come across some bowler friendly situations. But Bowling needs an overhaul.

 

[Titan24]

All the people defending Azhar Mehmood should tell that at what point a bowling coach should be blamed? I am really intrigued to know what exactly Azhar will ever do when he will be held accountable?

 

[KingKhanWC]

Ironic from Harmisson, he sprayed the ball like a sprinker system on steroids.

Every single bowling team would have conceded 350+ on this pitch. England top order went hard and it paid off. If Afridi had taken that first catch, it would have been a lot closer.

 

[Titan24]

Azhar Mahmood was the bowling coach when Pakistan won the CT in 2017. The bowlers were in great form at the time. To blame him alone completely is a simplification though its about time he be held responsible. The bowling attack is over rated, lacks variety and is not good enough.

In international cricket you have to keep developing and learn new tricks because the opposition is constantly watching video tapes and observing you. Otherwise you will see players who start off with a bang and then fade away.

Even in that other than exceptional bowling from Hassan in the middle with vital breakthroughs other bowlers werent exactly setting the world on fire. They were decent support but it was form of one bowler mainly which helped us.

 

[Major]

This isn't the fault of Azhar Mehmood. This is the problem in sarfraz's captaincy.

Give these same bowlers to Misbah, and he will defend you scores of 250. Misbah had guys like Aizaz Cheema, Tanveer Ahmed.

Sarfraz has left the selection of bowlers to the coaches, he himself isn't involved.

Biggest problem is Imad Waseem's selection.

 

[MMHS]

Must have been Azhar Mahmood instructions.

Azhar Mahmood doesn't instruct bowlers during game - Captain does. Azhar won't instruct bowlers ball by ball - someone else from behind the sticks should have noticed that Pom openers were taking off-guard and swing bat on the short boundary side - anything on even middle stick is a sitting duck and umpires won't even give LBW to left-armers bowling over the wicket and slanting away from right handers.

 

[topspin]

This isn't the fault of Azhar Mehmood. This is the problem in sarfraz's captaincy.

Give these same bowlers to Misbah, and he will defend you scores of 250. Misbah had guys like Aizaz Cheema, Tanveer Ahmed.

Sarfraz has left the selection of bowlers to the coaches, he himself isn't involved.

Biggest problem is Imad Waseem's selection.

Oh stop being so biased. That 250 you speak of was the 2012 Asia Cup. ODI cricket has evolved so fast in the 2010s, it is suffice to say that was a different era to the one we have at present. 350 was not the norm back then, as it is now.

Also if Misbah was so good as captain, why did he fail in the 2 x ICC comps he was captain? Don't get me wrong I detest Sarfraz more than anyone in this team but even he won us an ICC trophy because he wasn't as backwards as Misbah was.

If you look back at all of the ICC competitions held in England (in the last 20 yrs), only Misbah's team (2013 CT) got knocked out in the group stage, losing every single game! Whereas all the other sides (99 WC, 2004 CT, 2009 WT20 and 2017 CT) won 2 x tournaments, 1 x runner-up and 1 x semi-finalist.

This shows how bad Misbah was as a captain, even in Pakistan's happy hunting ground, he could not win a game - let alone reach the semis!

 

[Saj]

Fielding was just as bad as the bowling.

The Pakistani fielders looked like they didn't want to be out there, looked unfit and disinterested.

Really some harsh truths need to be told to some of these 'superstars'.

 

[Hasan123]

Blaming the bowling coach for all of our problems. It's about desire to improve and having the brains. Hasan Ali and Amir haven't shown that desire to improve. We also lack common sense at times. It's pathetic to blame coaches for everything.

 

[Robert]

Surprising as from the early eighties I have associated PAK with skilled, committed and aggressive bowling.

 

[gazza619]

Dont blame the bowlers. This pitch and the small ground deserved 425.

I swear if i see faheem again in the eleven i will quit watching.

 

[Junaid_ahmed]

Surprising as from the early eighties I have associated PAK with skilled, committed and aggressive bowling.

This isn't the fault of Azhar Mehmood. This is the problem in sarfraz's captaincy.

Give these same bowlers to Misbah, and he will defend you scores of 250. Misbah had guys like Aizaz Cheema, Tanveer Ahmed.

Sarfraz has left the selection of bowlers to the coaches, he himself isn't involved.

Biggest problem is Imad Waseem's selection.

On this wicket with these bowlers misbah will eat 500 runs.

 

[sshakir411]

Shaheen and Hassan will find the right areas. Not worried about them. Faheem is the true Achilles heel in the line up and Imad has been mediocre. Desperately need Shadab and one of Imad or Faheem feature in the 11.

 

[90MPH]

Pak bowling has been up and down for the last few years. Not what it once was which was consistent.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Believe on this pitch only wrist spinners and 145+ kph bowlers can provide breakthroughs.

Pitch is absolute cement phata

 

[workkey]

Imad should be dropped.
We need 5 complete wicket taking bowlers
Wahab is needed along with Amir, Junaid, Shadab and Hasan Ali

My playing eleven is

Fakhar
Imam
Babar
Haris
Sarfraz
Asif
Shadab
Wahab
Amir
Hasan Ali
Junaid khan

 

[shah_1]

Believe on this pitch only wrist spinners and 145+ kph bowlers can provide breakthroughs.

Pitch is absolute cement phata

Wahab Riaz was a must in the squad or at least play Hussain

130pkh with no movement is a canon fodder, and we will lose all our games that have got such cement tracks if these trundlers play again. Amir is not the solution, he is another medium fast bowler.

 

[ARK Rafay]

Wahab Riaz was a must in the squad or at least play Hussain

130pkh with no movement is a canon fodder, and we will lose all our games that have got such cement tracks if these trundlers play again. Amir is not the solution, he is another medium fast bowler.

From current lot Amir will definitely do better won't leak runs as much Shaheen and Faheem do. But yea we need couple of phaast bowlers. I would've picked Haris Rauf and even Wahab here.

 

[iniqbal223]

you need bowlers with pace variation. People talking about wahab, he will sprays himself to world record figures. Only bowler loke sohail tanveer can be successful

 

[BreadPakoda]

From current lot Amir will definitely do better won't leak runs as much Shaheen and Faheem do. But yea we need couple of phaast bowlers. I would've picked Haris Rauf and even Wahab here.

Totally agree. Wahab is the way to go.

 

[Duckworth Lewis]

Totally agree. Wahab is the way to go.

They scored 444 when Wahab played.

 

[KyoOne]

Our bowling has been mediocre for a while. Azhar should be held accountable for poor returns of the fast bowlers, its not like he's not getting the best talent from domestics to polish.

And then we have selectors/coaches who hate selecting proper LOI spinners. Its a complete reversal since Misbah times when they had 3 good-quality spinners (Ajmal, Hafeez, Afridi) but used to select mediocre fast-bowlers for most part.

 

[Kroll]

The fielding is just as awful as the atrocious bowling. If such and such held the catch it would be a lot closer is becoming a recurring theme after every match. An amateur team could field better than this outfit.

 

[Energy]

There is no doubt about it. 350+ on any track is near impossible to chase down. All you need is disciplined bowling and the batsmen will make mistakes.

But no, why would we do that? Let's spray it down middle and leg. Let's bowl half volleys and get smacked for sixes. Let's ball half tracker slower deliveries.

 

[the Great Khan]

sorry but we are done..I am completley demoralised after yesterday..I cant see us winning a single game at this rate in the WC..I mean where are our spinners? these pitches are screaming for a couple of good spinners who can slow the game down and build pressure..just watch how the indians do it..its not even rocket science..its basic asian cricket..Mickey arthur thinks we are south africa when he has forgotten we are an asian team who will now be playing on asian pitches..we should have brought a genuine off spinner with us..coupled with shadab and a leg spinner..should not have brought faheem...

 

[Bewal Express]

But one has to wonder, what were the plans? Most of the times it seems like there's no bowling plan whatsoever.

All the bowling plans normally go back to bowling good lines and good lengths.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

All the bowling plans normally go back to bowling good lines and good lengths.

And mixing up the speed of delivery to keep the batsman guessing...but I guess some folk think a bowler needs a coach to teach him some common sense.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Azhar Mahmood doesn't instruct bowlers during game - Captain does. Azhar won't instruct bowlers ball by ball - someone else from behind the sticks should have noticed that Pom openers were taking off-guard and swing bat on the short boundary side - anything on even middle stick is a sitting duck and umpires won't even give LBW to left-armers bowling over the wicket and slanting away from right handers.

It was touched with a lace of sarcasm bro. I can see the value of having a good coach, but international bowlers know the basics, and executing them under fire is where their calibre is shown.

 

[Bewal Express]

And mixing up the speed of delivery to keep the batsman guessing...but I guess some folk think a bowler needs a coach to teach him some common sense.

We have average bowlers just like England but we lack the speed and the nouse to be able to stop batsman on good tracks that have power.

 

[the Great Khan]

All the bowling plans normally go back to bowling good lines and good lengths.

err bowling on a good length was sending you into the stands or to the boundary..just look at imams innings..

a good yorker can only be bowled sometimes..there is no reverse swing..no mystery spin, just up and down and chukka choaka..this isnt cricket..

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

err bowling on a good length was sending you into the stands or to the boundary..just look at imams innings..

a good yorker can only be bowled sometimes..there is no reverse swing..no mystery spin, just up and down and chukka choaka..this isnt cricket..

Everyone will have to bowl on the same pitches though, it's not like these pitches have been designed to make Pakistan bowlers look useless. It will be interesting to see if other rated teams manage to find a way to keep stronger batting line ups in check.

 

[the Great Khan]

Everyone will have to bowl on the same pitches though, it's not like these pitches have been designed to make Pakistan bowlers look useless. It will be interesting to see if other rated teams manage to find a way to keep stronger batting line ups in check.

The ICC will be making the pitches..im hopeful they wont be this flat..

we wont win a match so I have already written them off..every win from now on will be seen as a final win by me..

 

[Bewal Express]

err bowling on a good length was sending you into the stands or to the boundary..just look at imams innings..

a good yorker can only be bowled sometimes..there is no reverse swing..no mystery spin, just up and down and chukka choaka..this isnt cricket..

I take your point but if its bowled at good pace and its mixed in with variations of pace, it can work. Trying to bowl too many variations can lead to a loss of control, especially if you are not very good at bowling them.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I take your point but if its bowled at good pace and its mixed in with variations of pace, it can work. Trying to bowl too many variations can lead to a loss of control, especially if you are not very good at bowling them.

Also it's important to take your chances on pitches like these. Hasan Ali's first ball produced what should have been a wicket only to be one of two dolly catches that went down. Woakes managed to get two early wickets with the new ball, these things can make the difference between winning and losing. 350 was a par score on that pitch, but it could have been defended by bowlers and fielding which had their act together.

Not much we can do about the lack of spin options, I have said from day one that Imad is okay in short spells, but no spinner is going to keep batsmen quiet if he doesn't turn the ball. 10 overs of darts? You must be having a laugh.

 

[Rana]

Although I believe Waqar Younis is Captain obvious with some of his remarks but he made one very valid point during England’s bowling innings around the 36th over. He said this is where you would like a bowler who bowls 150kmh to run in at the batsmen looking to attack.

England openers were feasting on bang average pace bowlers (83-87 mph) and showing them that they are pure rubbish.

 

[MMHS]

It was touched with a lace of sarcasm bro. I can see the value of having a good coach, but international bowlers know the basics, and executing them under fire is where their calibre is shown.

In cricket, Captain is the ultimate coach, manager, mentor .... lots of incidents are instant on field and Captain has to react on that. I felt, Sarfraz was out of depth for operating with pace bowlers both in SAF & ENG. Next PCB's Captain should have some bowling orientation, preferably pace bowling, but I guess Amir's time is over - should have led PAK in this WC.

 

[hashimafzal]

I disagree with a lot of these knocks on Azhar Mehmood bringing criticizing his record as a player. Thats a low blow. You don't need to be an all time great player to be a good coach. Jose Mourinho has not played at a high level, yet is considered by many to be one of the best in the world. Even our own Mickey Arthur has not played for South Africa.

Coming on to the subject of our bowling, we need to realize they are professional cricketers and have been playing cricket their entire lives. Bairstow scoring I believe it was 90% of his runs on the leg side is an absolute joke and anyone with any sense should have seen that.

Even if there was a plan in place, the plan goes out the window seeing the damage being done. As a bowler its your job to see that and alter your game plan.

Unfortunately, there was no sense of urgency and we just continued to bowl poorly. Pinning it all on the coach is an easy way out.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Ironic from Harmisson, he sprayed the ball like a sprinker system on steroids.

Every single bowling team would have conceded 350+ on this pitch. England top order went hard and it paid off. If Afridi had taken that first catch, it would have been a lot closer.

I remember once how Chanders of all the people smashed him all over the park. He was an expert spray gun lol. Touch of irony. But can't deny he has a point. To good stroke makers your line and length have to be spot on.

 

[hadi123]

Very true. We bowled awfully, it may have been a flat pitch, but some of the bowling was terrible regardless of pitch conditions.

 

[Savak]

Bowlers need some tough love.

 

[Mueez]

This isn't the fault of Azhar Mehmood. This is the problem in sarfraz's captaincy.

Give these same bowlers to Misbah, and he will defend you scores of 250. Misbah had guys like Aizaz Cheema, Tanveer Ahmed.

Sarfraz has left the selection of bowlers to the coaches, he himself isn't involved.

Biggest problem is Imad Waseem's selection.

I agree.

If the captain doesn’t trust his bowlers what do you expect?

“Their bowlers were bowling at 140+ while ours at 130+.”

When your captain says statements like these it hurt the bowlers.

And on top there isn’t any plan to target batsmen’s weaknesses.

Did you see how Morgan turned to Joe Denly a leg-spinner when Asif Ali came to bat yesterday?

That’s what a smart captain does.

And that’s why we are seeing the results of it in the form of “brainless” bowling.

 

[Bhaag Viru Bhaag]

Nobody is talking about England's bowling.

 

[The_Odd_One]

We were told that Pakistan could not take Australian wickets because the main bowlers were rested. The theory has been laid to rest after seeing similar performance in England. The bowling has been absolutely garbage since the CT fluke. It was complete toothless in NZ, thrashed in Asia cup, could not rattle the same SA which was destroyed by India previously, butchered by Australia in the UAE, and now getting massacred in England.

 

[Savak]

We were told that Pakistan could not take Australian wickets because the main bowlers were rested. The theory has been laid to rest after seeing similar performance in England. The bowling has been absolutely garbage since the CT fluke. It was complete toothless in NZ, thrashed in Asia cup, could not rattle the same SA which was destroyed by India previously, butchered by Australia in the UAE, and now getting massacred in England.

To be very honest, Pakistani bowlers have done very poorly under Mickey Arthur. Atleast Amir showed glimpses of his previous self under Waqar. Every bowler has ended up regressing under him.

 

[Usman Chadda]

Nobody is talking about England's bowling.

Bowling is supposedly our stronger suit

 

[Oneking]

Bowling is supposedly our stronger suit

We need to go back to Nasir comments, he made earlier.
Give bowler the bowl and tell him to give you wickets without worrying about leaking runs.
People need to realize we gave away 3 easy catches, if Root would have been caught earlier things could have been different at no point there was any pressure on batsman or any momentum towards our bowlers

 

[wasimjunior]

We were told that Pakistan could not take Australian wickets because the main bowlers were rested. The theory has been laid to rest after seeing similar performance in England. The bowling has been absolutely garbage since the CT fluke. It was complete toothless in NZ, thrashed in Asia cup, could not rattle the same SA which was destroyed by India previously, butchered by Australia in the UAE, and now getting massacred in England.

Azhar Mehmood needs to go. The bowlers just get worse and worse under him and dont fix their faults. Hes sitting there picking up a free paycheck on his level 2 ECB coaching certificate

 

[Hasan123]

Our bowling being dangerous is just a buzz word. It has not been great for a consistent period for a while. It may perform now and then but the way the media hype our bowling up is hilarious.

These typical Pakistan cliche sayings just need to stop. They don't apply to this team. We have been consistently poor in all facets for a while and the results are there to see. Do not see the optimism for the WC that others see. Just because we won it 92 doesn't mean we will win it 2019. At least 92 had Imran as a captain,Wasim as a strike bowler ,and Inzi and Mindad with the bat. There is no star quality in this team. Babar is a consistent run getter but doesn't impact games and seems very soft. Hasan Ali has the personality but his performances have fallen off a cliff. Amir is toothless but economical. Shadab hasn't progressed. The so called experienced players are on the decline. Don't even get me started on the specialist captain. Him being our captain sums up the decline of Pakistan.

Another point is that everyone talks about us turning up in tournaments, this doesn't apply in 50 over World Cup. We have only reached the final once since 92 and we have only got to the semis once since 92 as well. We have shown numerous times we cant hack the pressure. So that myth needs dispelling that we are a great tournament team. That isn't the case in 50 over World Cup.

We need to lower our expectations for this WC. If we win the WC, let banghra commence. But I really don't see it. I hope I am proven wrong but the results over the last year show the capability of this team. PP and people who don't follow Pakistan are the people who actually think we have a chance. We are not a unpredictable team , we are an average team who every now and then may upset a big team.

 

[aloo paratha]

People need to chill out. Removing Faheem and adding Shadab will do a lot for this lineup.

Pitches in the world Cup won't be this flat, we scored 350 against the #1 team. Yes we also conceded 350, but we aren't playing the #1 side in every game, plus our bowling was weakened, and Fielding was bad. I'm sure both will improve before the world Cup. It's not the end of the world.

 

[IMMY69]

We need to improve our fielding...
If we don’t take our catches and stop silly singles on midfields we’ve got no chance whatsoever.

 

[CricFan2012]

This isn't the fault of Azhar Mehmood. This is the problem in sarfraz's captaincy.

Give these same bowlers to Misbah, and he will defend you scores of 250. Misbah had guys like Aizaz Cheema, Tanveer Ahmed.

Sarfraz has left the selection of bowlers to the coaches, he himself isn't involved.

Biggest problem is Imad Waseem's selection.

how did Misbah enter this thread?

Misbah was chucking his way to victories in ODIs because of Ajmal and Hafeez, even though I dislike Sarfraz, so would he.

Take your bias to a Misbah fan club.

I'm not sure if it was brainless Pakistani bowling or Englands dashing batsmen combined with the road of a pitch that resulted in this, I hope no one forgets the dropped catches here as well.

Our bowlers have been performing similar to this to a lesser degree so its unsurprising.

Our World Cup hopes rest on luck like the CT or inspirational bowling like Hasan Ali. The batting is going to click, but it is still not as good as the 5 teams above us.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Criticism is fine but calling these bowlers brainless is completely OTT. I would like to see how former fast bowling greats (forget Harmison) would have gone in this era against this batting lineup. I doubt they would have done much better. Ultra flat pitches, fast outfields, 2 new balls that don't swing, monster bats, cameras everywhere . Bowling in ODIs is much harder than it was even 15 years ago when there still was balance between bat and ball.

 

[moghul]

Steve Harmison on Straight Drive (Ten Sports) after the 3rd ODI:

"England were helped by some average Pakistan bowling"

"We can't sugarcoat it, we talked about how good the bowling attack was coming into this series but I'm sorry I've seen an abject performance there"

"Apart from Junaid Khan's opening spell of 4-5 overs, the rest of it was average. Not even that, it was brainless, some of the bowling"

"Over the wicket, into Jonny Bairstow who was batting on off-stump, to the short boundary, left-arm seamers in the powerplay, it just didn't make sense"

"It was poor thinking, poor execution"

Only "some" was brainless ?

 

[giri26]

Criticism is fine but calling these bowlers brainless is completely OTT. I would like to see how former fast bowling greats (forget Harmison) would have gone in this era against this batting lineup. I doubt they would have done much better. Ultra flat pitches, fast outfields, 2 new balls that don't swing, monster bats, cameras everywhere . Bowling in ODIs is much harder than it was even 15 years ago when there still was balance between bat and ball.

Even though I would agree that what Harmison said is over the top but again just saying that no one can bowl well in this era is ridiculous. We have bowlers like Bumrah, Rabada, Chahal, Kuldeep, Rashid Khan, Cummins, Starc et all who have taken a stick here an there but have largely been brilliant with the ball taking wickets and also keeping the runs down. As a bowler even on this wicket you should be able to go under 6 runs per over with some skills which none of the Pakistan bowlers were able to do. England were poor as well but again the chase which should have been difficult was walk in the park which is ridiculous.

Chasing 359 in 44.5 is just poor bowling. I don't know about Harmison but a prime Waqar, Wasim, Saqlain, Donald, Pollock, Warne, McGrath, Ambrose etc would have at least made it difficult. So don't agree that greats from the past cannot do much on these wickets.