When will the visiting teams to Pakistan start playing practice games against local sides?

[MenInG]

Think we are over the whole "lets get in and out of Pakistan quick" phase - aren't we?

Used to the be the case that practice/warm-up games for visiting sides was a place where local talent could showcase their skills and possibly make a case for national selection.

Of course, the whole security issue put an end to the whole thing such that when foreign teams did finally start to visit us, they would come in, stay the minimum time needed to play their games and fly out of the countryas soon as they could.

But times have moved on. Pakistan should no longer be considered a "hardship" assignment.

PCB needs to step up and start demanding foreign teams to make space for a few warm-up games against local sides as part of the tour.

This would help them acclimatize but also build some hype for the main games.

 

[tiger_khan]

Think we are over the whole "lets get in and out of Pakistan quick" phase - aren't we?

Used to the be the case that practice/warm-up games for visiting sides was a place where local talent could showcase their skills and possibly make a case for national selection.

Of course the whole security issue put an end to the whole thing such that when foreign teams did finally start to visit us, they would come in, stay the minimum time needed to play their games and fly out of the countryas soon as they could.

But times have moved on. Pakistan should no longer be considered a "hardship" assignment.

PCB needs to step up and start demanding foreign teams to make space for a few warm-up games against local sides as part of the tour.

This would help them acclimatize but also build some hype for the main games.

you are absolutely correct


however, due two busy schedules of players and the sinister Approaches of host boards like Cricket Australia, side-games have been decreasing in numbers

Australians were notorious for fielding a very weak team in a side-game along with a very flat pitch to throw off the visiting teams during the tours of Australia

 

[MenInG]

you are absolutely correct


however, due two busy schedules of players and the sinister Approaches of host boards like Cricket Australia, side-games have been decreasing in numbers

Australians were notorious for fielding a very weak team in a side-game along with a very flat pitch to throw off the visiting teams during the tours of Australia

I agree yet it was a place for local guys to get some exposure too.

 

[tiger_khan]

I agree yet it was a place for local guys to get some exposure too.

yes

actually, not only local players but side-games also you should give the visiting sides the opportunity to a climate to the conditions of the host

I'm getting used to the weather alone is a big factor in cricket

i don't know how they do it anymore

maybe that's why the standard of Test cricket is declining in general

 

[tiger_khan]

yes

actually, not only local players but side-games also used to give the visiting sides the opportunity to acclimate to the conditions of the host

just getting used to the weather alone is a big factor in cricket

i don't know how they do it anymore

maybe that's why the standard of Test cricket is declining in general

 

[pillionrider]

The PCB have managed to get away with a lot of their mediocrity and plain incompetence by often turning the attention to India, the evil BCCI and the battles therein. They seem to have kind of mastered the sm-friendly lines needed to keep fans buzzing for lengthy periods of time. Pointless and ineffective posturing and billion dollar lines that are worth nothing to the game will continue to feed their existence until fans start seriously questioning and mocking them everywhere.

I too have often fallen victim to what's easy to do - focus on the crimes of the BCCI and ascribe everything good that comes out of Indian cricket to the crazy wealth the IPL and international rights generate. But for a Bumrah to emerge in the IPL, a Siraj to seem so natural a bowler, the much-mocked but extremely significant Ishant Sharma, Shami, Yadav, Aaron to all just appear - they all had to come out of a system put in place with the determination to no longer be an embarrassment. And all of this was created by capable individuals (honestly don't know who), before they had the vast resources the board currently have.

Does the Army have influence over the PCB. That could also explain mediocre individuals being allowed to occupy positions of power with little accountability or responsibility.

 

[Devadwal]

I think the team is reluctant from playing practice matches against some local teams because the home team provides them completely different conditions.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Miss these days...before security was suffocating the players and the spectators. England playing Pakistan A at the picturesque Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore back in 2005 - one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in Pakistan.

Side-note: Pakistan A actually beat England in this tour game. Asif took a 10-fer.

 

[Hellion]

Why would a host board demand a visiting team to play practice matches ?

I've never heard of this. It's usually the visiting team that requests practice matches.

Anyway extra practice matches would mean tours will become longer with PCB incurring greater costs

Given their way, I'm sure PCB would have cut even these 2 Test matches and played only white ball cricket.

 

[jnaveen1980]

India just plays inter squad match in SENA.. They are almost always match ready although not time zone ready. In 1998 Tendulkar played tour game against Australia and absolutely beat the living daylights out of Shane Warne. Then in the actual test Warne got Tendulkar in the first innings. Tendulkar responded with an epic 155 in the 2nd innings. Tour games are rare these days.

 

[RedwoodOriginal]

Back in the day when Tulla20 didn't exist visiting teams used to play numerous tour matches against local teams. It was quite common for teams to play more tour matches than test matches on a given tour. Ofcourse this is back when test cricket actually meant something and was treated with respect. Both by the cricket boards and the players who played it. In this day and age, with the cramped international schedule and so much garbage T20 crowding the calendar, teams prioritize rest for their players so they remain fresh.

 

[pillionrider]

India just plays inter squad match in SENA.. They are almost always match ready although not time zone ready. In 1998 Tendulkar played tour game against Australia and absolutely beat the living daylights out of Shane Warne. Then in the actual test Warne got Tendulkar in the first innings. Tendulkar responded with an epic 155 in the 2nd innings. Tour games are rare these days.

Haha that tour and that tour game. Ponting smashed all the bowlers in the tour game and proceeded to have the worst series of his career. There's a video of him with Nasser saying - got a hundred in each innings. After I got back into the dressing room, I told the boys, if that's what they've got, we've got nothing to worry about

 

[BouncerGuy]

Yeah. Could be a good practice if they play on same type of pitches that will be used in the actual series, but we know for a fact that no board will lay out similar pitches to what is actually coming ahead of them in the series. Like Australia did with Pakistan.

Practice games are good for your confidence but I don't think they will make much difference.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

I think it's more to do with the packed schedules that make teams want to get in and out as quicky as possible rather than it being solely about security.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Miss these days...before security was suffocating the players and the spectators. England playing Pakistan A at the picturesque Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore back in 2005 - one of the most beautiful cricket grounds in Pakistan.

Side-note: Pakistan A actually beat England in this tour game. Asif took a 10-fer.

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Wasim was also sort of discovered in a tour game wasnt he.

The tour game Asif was discovered actually made news amongst Pak fans worldwide. We were always on the hunt for new bowlers and world travelled quickly that a new guy had run through England.

 

[Savak]

Weren't home boards accussed of giving visiting teams very weak domestic sides to practice against which defeated the purpose of these games?

I remember Kohli as captain refused to allow his Indian team to play the practice game in South Africa because he felt the team they were playing against was extremely weak and being played in conditions that were in complete contrast to the conditions they were going to face in the main test matches. He instead instructed the team to utilize the time by working hard in the nets on wickets that were more reflective of the conditions they were going to face in the test matches.