Cricket

catcherintherye said:
I thought they both did themselves proud really, as you say in largely very unfriendly conditions-cold and overcast.

Yesterday in particular it would have been easy for them to fold in the 2nd innings. They batted it out well. I hope teams start to go and tour Pakistan again. One of those iconic sides to me, who produce so much unorthodox talent.
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Don't agree with the touring Pakistan bit. The government there is and has always been a basket case. Abetting terrorism, denying the presence of terrorists and refusing to cooperate with international authorities regarding information over their whereabouts. As long as the country does not reform, no side should tour. I can't imagine the feeling players have about going to play sports somewhere and being surrounded by an entire battalion of security putting their lives at risk for the sake of protecting the players. Far too dangerous.
 
Mildredblues said:
Don't agree with the touring Pakistan bit. The government there is and has always been a basket case. Abetting terrorism, denying the presence of terrorists and refusing to cooperate with international authorities regarding information over their whereabouts. As long as the country does not reform, no side should tour. I can't imagine the feeling players have about going to play sports somewhere and being surrounded by an entire battalion of security putting their lives at risk for the sake of protecting the players. Far too dangerous.
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You probably know more about it than me mate. Isn't Imran Khan Prime Minister though?

I'd love to see cricket back there, but as you say, it needs to be safe.
 
catcherintherye said:
He's in the Lords now Beefy isn't he? You never know!
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Tbf Imran is a highly intelligent and very well educated man too - it doesn't mean you can't be a populist too but to a certain extent you have to court favour with all the disparate tensions, problems and the historical baggage involved. Leading Pakistan with it's huge 'baggage', chequered history and long standing border disputes around the contentious Kashmir area is a tremendously difficult and delicate task as there are very complicated issues - supporting terrorism as it's often accused of doing or a significant percentage of the population sympathising with these 'causes', being part of that baggage.

Noone not the military dictatorship of General Zia or at the other extreme, the democraticaly elected first female leader Benazir Bhutto's corrupt leadership could change that since secession, most of the problems are deep rooted, almost that ingrained within the attitudes and even culture to an extent, how on earth you govern such a territory beset by so many issues isn't easy.

Cricket can't solve a country's problems all you can do is assess whether it's safe to tour. An MCC team led by Kumar Sangakarra have recently toured, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have too. English players play in the PSL franchise T20 tournament and former players such as Atherton, Nasser and Alec Stewart say it's ready. We're not due until 2022 and a thorough assessment of logistics and safety will be made nearer the time, it may be left to individuals to go or not, which is as it should be, but all you can do is get the facts and supply the best intelligence
 
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Chris O'Connor said:
Tbf Imran is a highly intelligent and very well educated man too - it doesn't mean you can't be a populist too but to a certain extent you have to court favour with all the disparate tensions, problems and the historical baggage involved. Leading Pakistan with it's huge 'baggage', chequered history and long standing border disputes around the contentious Kashmir area is a tremendously difficult and delicate task as there are very complicated issues - supporting terrorism as it's often accused of doing or a significant percentage of the population sympathising with these 'causes', being part of that baggage.

Noone not the military dictatorship of General Zia or at the other extreme, the democraticaly elected first female leader Benazir Bhutto's corrupt leadership could change that since secession, most of the problems are deep rooted, almost that ingrained within the attitudes and even culture to an extent, how on earth you govern such a territory beset by so many issues isn't easy.

Cricket can't solve a country's problems all you can do is assess whether it's safe to tour. An MCC team led by Kumar Sangakarra have recently toured, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh have too. English players play in the PSL franchise T20 tournament and former players such as Atherton, Nasser and Alec Stewart say it's ready. We're not due until 2022 and a thorough assessment of logistics and safety will be made nearer the time, it may be left to individuals to go or not, which is as it should be, but all you can do is get the facts and supply the best intelligence
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I don't really know enough about the political situation on the ground, however I would just love to see test match cricket, and cricket in general back being played there. I am very partial in this I'm afraid!
 
A side strain has sidelined Jason Roy for the three T20 games against Pakistan. David Malan or Tom Banton will open with Bairstow. His injury means the team will have only 3 players left who were part of the world cup winning odi final team.

While it's perfectly true T20 and the odi 50 overs formats are different, despite the 50 overs format rapidly evolving into just a longer version of T20, and there are still some T20 specialists who don't feature so much in the longer version - Chris Jordan being a case in point, the broadcasters will still try and pretend it's the same side minus a few big names and not minus almost the entire team.
 
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It's to be hoped some of England's white ball stars can return for the Australia series or I fear they'll get battered against a full strength Aussie outfit.

I would rate their chances close to zero against any decent side tbh which Pakistan's T20 side clearly are. This England XI is too dependent on too few. It's a shadow team at best and will probably perform like one. Beating Ireland at 50 overs (even that to me was s surprise) is one thing, but these are at more than just a few levels higher, the only advantage they've got is the shorter the format the greater percentage of surprises as a rule.

I think England's full strength T20 side would be big favourites to beat both but this is nowhere even close
 

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