Thoughts for Pakistan

Peter B

Well after a very good performance against Zimbabwe to sneek the draw is anyone feeling we could have won that without some reasonably simple errors. Some of them might have been down to inexperience and big game nerves.

I'm not trying to be negative but if I was the coach where would I be looking for improvments for Saturday?

1. I thought our fielding was reasonably poor. Too many dropped catches.
2. Thought we should have bowled more consistantly to the off side allowing us to move a fielder over to off side to save more singles.
3. Also our lack of ability to get singles made a big difference to our overall runs scored.

Any other thoughts from people with more knowledge then me?

mikeruurds

1. Yes I agree. Though I do think that they gave a good account of themselves in the field considering it was there first WC appearance. There were good and bad points about the fielding effort.

2. I agree with you provided you don't mean that the bowlers should be bowling an off-side line (i.e. onto the batsman's legs). Bowling a line that results in the batsman being able to play off of his legs without serious pace will result in that batsman absolutely milking you for runs. Most batsmen, especially lefties, love it when the bowlers bowl on their legs. Especially nice medium pacers who can't maintain a consistent length.

The best thing to do is for the captain and bowlers to review the condition of the pitch before the game to make a determination as to how it will play... i.e.: The chance of early swing or inconsistent pace (2 paced), the pace of the pitch, any cracks or rough surface which could be used in the fielding sides favour etc.

On the basis of this a decision should be made as to how each bowler should vary his line and length to make best use of the pitch conditions to suit his bowling action and pace. If the ball isn't swinging for a bowler then he needs to focus on bowling in 'the channel' - to do this the bowler needs to make sure that when the ball reaches the batsmen after delivery that it is not too much on the on side to allow him to free his arms and lash it through the covers on the on side and at the same time not too much on the off side that the batsman can work it off his legs or pull it to the off side. Bowling in the channel with the correct length causes indecision in the mind of the batsman... if the length is right for the pitch, the batsman doesn't know whether he should play the ball leaning backwards off of his back foot or whether he should step forward when hitting the ball to play it off of his front foot. If the line is right he will be indecisive as to whether he should be playing the ball to the on side or the off side. This sounds very simple, but remember that most batsmen only have a split second to make the judgement as to what line and length the ball is being bowled at and whether it is swinging.

A good example of a bowler who does this well is Sean Pollock. It's the reason why he is the number one ranked bowler in the world. He's not an exceptionally fast bowler, averaging at about 130 km/h. His strength is his ability to adapt his line and length to the pitch and specific batsman (to exploit his weaknesses), to vary his pace, and to bowl the perfect line and length consistently.

Botha and Johnston are already fairly good at this, but the other Irish bowlers need to gain some more experience. I haven't really seen Langford-Smith bowling so I can't make any comment

3. I agree to an extent. When a few wickets fall quickly and early on in an innings the team can be put under extreme pressure to bat out the full 50 overs to put a respectable score on the scoreboard. The Irish team is still quite inexperienced and would be extra careful to not be bowled out early. Given time they will learn how to pace an innings porperly and also how to dig themselves out of a hole without allowing the run scoring to stall. I thought they did very well to recover to the score of 221. Jeremy Bray is a hero.

I'm no pro here... just a lifelong fan of the game. Hence I may be wrong

Mike

digitally-yours

For Irish team to win.

Fielding must be improved. <no missed catches no run outs missed>

Bowlers need to be consistent with their line and length.They should bowl a tight line and give no room for swinging arms

Extras should be controlled <no wide balls or no balls should be bowled>

When opening the batting irish team must adjust in first 5 overs and get usedto
to the swing and the pitch movement.

No Unnecessary shots need to be played.

Fielding should be set according to the bowler <should not be that you have 5 fielders on off side and bowler pitching bowles on leg side >

Running between the wicket is crucial.

I think Ireland Vs Pakistan will be a one side dominated game.

I am expecting to pakistan to put 280+ on the board at the end of 50 overs.
if batting second i am expecting pakistan to restrict Ireland below 200.

I support both teams. Its difficult to pick one.

But on experience pakistan have the edge.

Lets see what happens but thats my opinion and reading .in the end u know Cricket is unpredictable !!!

have been following cricket since last 15 years

mikeruurds

I agree 100% with Digitally-yours.

Ireland will have to lift their game by some way to do a number on Pakistan. Pakistan definitely have the better players. They are more experienced at this level and all their players are professional (cricket is their sole occupation). They were beaten the other day by the Windies and will be looking to dominate the game to put their first WC points on the table.

I would say that Ireland have a chance though if they can cut out the errors in the field and get their bowlers to be more disciplined in their line and length. Pakistan have been known to make stupid errors and they've been found out in the past by weaker teams. Odds are though that they'll bring their "A" game and totally decimate the Ireland bowlers in the batting department and skittle the Irish batsmen quickly.

I hope that this doesn't happen though C'mon Ireland!

Apologies for being a realist.
Mike

positron

The thing that sets Pakistan apart is - their guts! Put them in a situation like that of last night, the last Pakistani player will pull a sixer of the last ball and thats that! Raw but gutsy!

However, Irish team looks like real fresh blood, and probably their inexperience against Pakistan might come pretty handy.

No parade for me tomorrow - India (my team) is playing Bangladesh, which is not really a match, but the Indians are so inconsistent, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to sweat a little to get things their way.

Oh, I am so glad India and Ireland are in different divisions - I wouldn't know which one to support!

Marshy

Yeah I agree with what has been said. We'll need to play flawlessly tomorrow to stand the slimmest chance.

The one thing that worries me is how to get through the pakistan middle order. I mean the best teams in the world struggle to get the likes of inzamam and yousuf out. We're gonna have to hope for a real off day in that regard.

Our batsmen have to step up too. Having only 1 real contribution, brilliant as it was, may be alright against zim but for this game the morgans, o'briens and bothas have to contribute. We hear a lot about morgan and his aspirations but its in these kinda games that he'll show his true ability.