1st Investec Test: England v Pakistan at Lord's on Jul 14-18, 2016 - PAKISTAN WON BY 75 RUNS

[TheParraboy]

First of 4 tests begins this Thursday

Be interested to see where Pakistan cricket is. M Amir is back and could do well on this tour

Wonder if Micky Arthur will turn Pakistan into a test juggernaut?

 

[Twizzle]

Looking forward to this one, Pakis on the rise atm.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Should be good series. A lot closer than England's past series. Poms will be without Anderson & Stokes for the 1st test.
They have recalled Ballance who is now under a injury cloud. I don't know why they recalled him. He still has technical issues and his first class average this year is 33. Hardly banging down the door.
The final bowling spot could go to Ball or Roland- Jones. Ali will continue to get bludgeoned.
I think the key will be how England's fragile top order performs. Root is tipped to move up to 3 and needs to kick on with Cook & Hales with some big stands. If they don't Pakistan will rip right through Vince & Ballance and the wickets will tumble.

 

[vvvrulz]

Graeme Swann chimed in with his usual unwanted two cents, claiming it "makes him sick" to see Amir back in action.

Cricket's ultimate example of a keyboard hero.

 

[Timbo]

It made me sick to see how Swann cut and ran on his teammates during his final series.

Most punchable head in cricket.

 

[Blade23]

Most punchable head in cricket. I thought my avatar would be right up there.

 

[TheParraboy]

Pakistan won toss and elected to bat


England Team
AN Cook*, AD Hales, JE Root, JM Vince, GS Ballance, JM Bairstow†, MM Ali, CR Woakes, SCJ Broad, JT Ball, ST Finn
Pakistan Team
Mohammad Hafeez, Shan Masood, Azhar Ali, Younis Khan, Misbah-ul-Haq*, Asad Shafiq, Sarfraz Ahmed†, Wahab Riaz, Mohammad Amir, Rahat Ali, Yasir Shah

 

[Bazal]

An entirely left arm pace attack will be interesting

 

[Bazal]

Is it just me or has Younis' footwork gotten even more odd and exaggerated?

 

[TheParraboy]

Pakistan 6/282 at stumps day 1

Mishbah still there 110*

This is Younis Khans first test away from the sub continent / UAE since February 2013

 

[Twizzle]

He still managed 33, looking forward to seeing him in Oz next summer. One of my fav batsmen.

 

[vvvrulz]

Misbah and Younis showing amazing longevity, by contrast some great players faded away very fast in the late 30s.

 

[Buzzard Breath]

Misbah 42 years young and still going strong. Did anyone see the series of push ups he did when he brought up his ton?
Classic.

 

[TheParraboy]

Shaping up as a good test finish

Poms 3/57, need another 226 to win
68 overs left in day 4

 

[TheParraboy]

lol poms

lost by 75 runs

micky Arthur up and running

 

[vvvrulz]

Poms going down at home, brilliant
Warnie rated Yasir Shah, could be a rare sensible call

 

[The Mad Hatter]

It was a good test all round, though I was Joe rooting for Pakistan.

 

[hineyrulz]

Great win by the Paki's, they have the most balanced attack in world cricket.

Lol @ Ungerlund.

 

[Timbo]

England's middle order doesn't know what it is.

Moeen bats at 3 for Worcestershire and Woakes 6 for Warwickshire, but they're re-cast as lower order dashers for England and play accordingly. Vince looks very wobbly and Ballance still has technical issues.

Being seriously found out by a high-quality Pakistan attack.

 

[vvvrulz]

Bring back Ian Bell!