Nihar

After a string of successes i come down to earth with a bang by calling the Pakistan/Aussie series completely wrong. Very frustrating especially after Pakistan had won the first game.

I don't think the lights played too much of a part, rather it was Pakistans inability to string together middle order partnerships. This is the area they been very strong in the past with Younis, Inzy and Yousef the engineroom that was reliant for amany a year.

Younis, Misbah and Malik are also great players , but all seem to have lost form together and this has been Pakistans main problem this series.

Good Luck.

hi joe looking at some of the previous fixtures at abu dhabi is there a concern to bat under lights???specially when pak beat lanka in the previous series all 3 matches were won by side batting 1st.And same with the ind vs pak series.Your thoughts Thanks

Hi Nihar, Sorry i missed your message regarding yesterdays game. Australia indeed squared the series, despite still looking vulnerable against spin.

Next 3 games are in Abu Dhabi and pitches there will be more batter freindly. These will be much higher scoring affairs. Australia still have a fundimental weakness against spin and i expect them to struggle again.

Pakistan got great overall record in Abu Dhabi and i believe they will still go on and win this series comfortably.

hi joe so do you see any chance of an aussie fight back or same old story of spin dominance.Thanks

Hi Bobbesuri, and thank you for the interesting post.

Whilst obviously he cannot be ruled out completely, i will be very surprised if Mendis proves to be as great a success as his reputation suggests.

He came on the scene in spectacular fashion in the asia cup against India, then followed it up with an even more devasatating performance in the Test Series that followed against the same opposition.

However its interesting that in the ODI series that followed, we saw the first signs that teams were starting to work him out. India went on to win that series, and since then Mendis has not been as devastating. Pakistan played him well and most recently , again against India, he looked a shadow of himself as India dominated him and the series to win 4-1

Other teams will have noted this and made plans to tackle him. Uppermost in those plans will be the fact that he struggles if batsmen take the game to him and not let him settle.

In this Twenty20 Format, batsmen , by defention, will be going after the bowling and again i feel Mendis will find it hard to get into a rythm.

Also , like most spinners, Mendis is most effective with an older ball, bowling on a wearing pitch. In this format the ball will remain reasonably new for the whole 20 overs, the pitch will not wear too much during those 20 overs and add in the fact that if he bowls second under lights, he will find it hard to grip the ball, then its clear that he will not be the force that he can be in tests or the longer ODI formats.

Good Luck.

do you discount the wonder guy mendis totally for the IPL? I believe he is going to be a handful and unplayable. Looking at the South African side recently, they have got a few spinners and their pitches have been a bit spinner friendly of late.

Hi thanks for your question.If you dont mind i will keep that information between myself and my bank manager !!

Its important however that whatever pounds per point you use, you keep it consistent, dont get tempted to up the stakes to get greedy, or to chase up any short term losses.

Pounds even, thanks

What amount in ?s do you use per point?
Thanks

Hi All
Just a quick note to introduce myself and invite you to ask me any questions. I will endeavor to reply to any messages as soon as possible.

Thank you
Bigjoe