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Congratulations to Pakistan cricket team. Hats off to cricket coach Waqar, captain Butt and the young bunch of talented Pakistani cricketers. Well Played.


Dr. Cajetan Coelho

Well done Pakistan. Its good to see that you have it in you to keep nerve under immense pressure. Seeing some positive move forward in batting, I hope its a watershed.

It is not necessarily a bad thing for England as it prvides them a bit of a reality check well before the Ashes. Clearly they will have to carry out some fine tuning.

A fine win for Pakistan, congratulations. Despite the nay-saying from sections of the England camp, the quality of Pakistan's attack is there for all to see, and the batting can only improve- most of the top order are toddlers in the test arena, and can only grow.

For England, as suggested above and elsewhere, a much needed reality check. Collingwood can slate his opponents all he wants, but they have got the better of him and most of the England batting all series- poor fielding has been the major contributor to the losses. In Australia, with less seam and flatter tracks, the England attack will be under pressure, and the batsmen are going to have to come to the fore and provide targets to bowl at. The lack of form of much of the England line-up needs to be addressed, and quickly.

Last time before the tour somebody asked Alan Donald how England will going to fare down under, when the English media was still relishing in 2005 victory. His answer was -' England will be going to catch a slap', how true he was after 5-0 trouncing.

I'm telling you guys in advance that this England team will loose its mojos in Australia. The simple reason is that ball won't swing and Australian batsmen are lot better in their own condition. Man of the Series - Mitchell Johnson. He will reverse and take wickets with innocuous and wide deliveries.

Fantastic win for Pakistan well done to some great bowling yesterday, and well done to all the Team a good effort.
Struss blames poor England batting , How about a very poor decision not to Bowl first on day one,a poor decisions by the Zim Coach, and South African Captain who don't understand the UK climate in late August.

There has been s distinct lack of consistency from England's top order. That vulnerability has been exposed by Pakistan at The Oval.

Australia will undoubtedly make this very obvious in a few months hence. Many notable members of the England lineup have been conspicuous by consistent failures.

Cook has delayed the firing squad by registering that timely ton at The Oval. But he must now build on it to cement his opening spot for this winter’s tour.

Kevin Pietersen has not helped his or England's cause with the bat, either. He needs to occupy the crease longer and make a, emphatic statement with the bat.

Paul Collingwood and Eoin Morgan are also due for big innings. With the focus on Cook and KP, lately, Collingwood has gone under the radar. It is time for him to become more than just a mere blip.

Lord's will be the place to start.

Its really good, Pakistan won this test, Pakistan did everything right.
Its important that Pakistan won for the test match series to make it more interesting! Pakistan now have a good chance to level the series 2-2 if they play like this at Lords on Thursday!

I personally would like to see Younis Khan to come to England for the final test, he is another world class batsman like Mohammed Yousuf. Both of them will strengthen Pakistan batting and give Pakistan a better chance to win at Lords

England have just been over confident of winning this test match and pay the price, batting was very poor except for Cook who has got a very important ton in this match

I expect weather for Lords will be similar to current weather at The Oval now

The biggest problem England have with their batsmen is that they only perform when their position is questioned in the team or if they are new. I think a few of them need a kick up their backsides to make them realize they are representing their country and if they dont value it someone else will take their place. In my opinion Pakistans poor fielding has masked the inabilities of the English batting line up. The conditions have been hard but its not like such conditions havent existed before. Players need to buckle down and take some pressure and play proper test innings. I appreciate that the game is reaching a result but its only 3 and half days. A little more resolve from the batsmen is needed. They have all been spoilled by batsman friendly pitches.

Pakistan on the otherhand have the problem that they dont play any tests at home so their record is bound to suffer a bit in addition to their team being in a transition phase especially the batting. The inexpereince of the batting has been shown up in the last 2 test matches. A mix of young and old players is needed to reduce the burden on the newcommers. Their bowling on the otherhand is probably one of the best in the world. This kid Mohammed Amir is only 18 and he has a better understanding of swing and seam bowling than most seasoned cricketers. We dont need to talk about Mohammed Asif cause everybody knows what he can do. Even Saeed Ajmal is a very handy spinner. The big concern is the wicket keeper cause Kamran akmal is too unpredictable with the bat and while keeping.

The fourth test will be very entertaining if pakistan field well. I see the teams as very equal especially with the addition of Mohammed Yusuf to the Pakistan Batting line up.

Strauss is right, there needs to be a big improvement in the top order batting, himself included. There is one major problem with all of them of whom Pietersen is the biggest culprit: they don't understand that test matches are 5 day affairs not thrash it around like limited overs cricket.
In fact, I believe the side would be far better off without Pietersen who has never been a team player. Furthermore, as the old saying goes, "One swallow doesn't make a Summer, so Cook's century wouldn't, if I was a selector, make him an automatic choice for the Ashes Tour. I would want to see a marked improvement in his technique and a string of consistently high number of runs per innings until the end of the season before I would include him in the tour party.

For this winters ashes, personally i think England should open the batting with panesar and anderson, the aussies clearly cant bowl them out. Then when theyve seen off the new bowl they can start tonking it all over the shop with nothing to lose and then the real batters such as (hopefully) rob key and mark ramprakash can come in to post a solid total. Also I would drop graeme swann because he is clearly losing the plot drink driving and after getting 100 wickets its all downhill from there.

Is there a doc in the house?

Scholes proves... (great user name btw)

This is the sort of thinking thats got to be done ahead of the ashes. Psyche them out, plus everyone knows Panesar loves a bat against Australia.

Hope to read more of your comments soon.. Fantastic!

A very good game out there...
but from Pakistan's point of View they need their experiance Batsman back to game. Yousaf has played without playing domastic cricket still giving 80%.I think this is the time for PAKISTAN cricket Board to come out from favourtism.
Still Younus Khan is out and no reason is there when yousaf is playing in the team so it is certain that sending Yousaf to England not have any performance aspect but experiance.

From Egland Point of View i think winning the TOSS and batting first was not a good idea based upon the OVAL wather.

Great bowling display from both sides. I would love to have a Swann kind of bowler in my team any day. Aamer's balls move as though he were a 'spinner at high speed', a mirage. And to be so young!

The Anderson ball that bowled Mohammed Yousuf yesterday was one of best I have seen. It had a wicket written on it and I do not think any batsman could of negotiated it.

'It is not my job to big them up', whats the matter cap'n Strauss taken the defeat hard have you? This series was always going to be tough for both sides, but the English, supported by the media thought it was going to be a nice warm up for the 'real test' in Australia. Their was real disrespect shown to Pakistan, especially after the first two tests. Even now the tone is that England played badly, not that Pakistan had raised their game, dropping fewer catches & their batting finally backing up some great bowling. So cap'n Strauss & Mr. Agnew, give some credit & stop being sore losers!

Is sick of 41 international games between Sri Lanka and India since July 2008 and a 42nd one going on now, during these tragic times it was so much refreshing watching Pak vs Eng series.. fantastic tournament, quality drama. Good for cricket, true!

Sorry Ben but this is typical media hyperbowl.

They were rubbish and a disgrace to cricket against the aus, till the last of the games in England where they then were "back on the up" then they were rubbish and a disgrace to cricket for the first 2 games against us, and now they are back?

Sorry but thats a load of rubbish!

When Pakistan Start winning Series (after all they drew the last test Series against the Aus) then that will be an improvement.

What happened in the last few days simply proved what the real problem with Pakistan cricket is

The PCB!

Rather than finding out the cause of the splits in the winter tour, and finding out if the captain was right or wrong, the simply found out who was involved and banned them all.

Now if they were right to ban Yousuf then they were wrong to re-instate him no matter his batting performance and have now lost credability. If the were wrong to ban him then perhaps they were wrong to ban others? The problem is so little info has been released about what went on (hint hint, get us some Ben!) no-one can judge.

The simple fact is that until there is a root and branch reform of the PCB which for starters ousts all politicians, and until people stop using it as a platform to launch political careers and score political points in Pakistan and start running it with the goal of making Pakistan the worlds best team (which with their bowling attack they could if they worked at it), untill all this happens, Pakistani cricket will continue to lurch from one crisis to the next.

Whats going to happen if England destroy them at Lords? The media will be writing more "Pakistan are useless" articles is what, we'll have more reactionary journalism an not some proper investigations and analysis, which in Pakistans case are sorely needed!

If England had bowled first, I'm very confident they'd have won the game. The oval is a good batting pitch, but for those first few hours they had swinging weather.

With Pakistan's low batting confidence, it would have been the perfect time to test their resolve. I'm sure they'd have faced the same problems we did in those first few hours. So that would have been that. We then take the initiative in the game rather than always chasing it and we would have found victory.

Yes congratulations to Pakistan and the final Test will now assume a lot more importance - and interest.
On another (perhaps minor)note:
If Strauss appeared a little "tetchy" when invited to reassess the Pakistan bowling attack, might this not be because he is getting a little tired of hearing the English media heaping such extravagant praise on the (undoubtedly very good) Asif and Amir, both of whom certainly have enjoyed a fine series to date,while rather ignoring the fact that the outstanding bowlers of the three matches so far have been Anderson and Swann -look at the figures...
I also agree with the poster above that Strauss might well have been better advised to bowl first , given the overhead conditions and the fragile Pakistan batting. But I cannot really blame him for going with established Oval practice and taking first knock. He backed his batsmen to get through the first couple of hours and enjoy themselves later , but Pakistan bowled too well and...it happens.
On to Lord's...

Before all the doom-mongers get started, let's not forget that this Pakistani b

If pakistan somehow get either younis khan back or zulqarnain haider to miraculously recover and replace kmaran akmal, then i can see their batting being on a par with england. Furthermore what with pakistan's superior bowling attack, pakistan have every chance to level the series at Lord.

I predict it will be the best match of the series so far.

It will all be down to the batting. Trott playing like a no9 defending his wicket at no 3 was not good. It also causes batsmen around him to force the pace. I would drop Collingwood For Bopara, Carberry for Trott and drop Pieterson if bell is fit regards England batsmen. Pakistan are on the up and will be going for the win with the knowlage it will tie the series Pieteson Trott and Collingwood are not even playing well at county level at least Cook has been doing that. No county cricket to fall back on as an example of form should be taken into account by the England selectors.

Damn computer! I'll try again: before all the doom-mongers get started, let's not forget that this Pakistani bowling attack recently inflicted an even heavier indignity on Australia's much-vaunted batting line-up. They are a class act, fact. As regards our bowling in Australia, it just might be that in the harder, bouncier wickets, England's tall pacemen find assistance of a kind that they don't get over here. Broad, Finn and Tremlett, if he's picked, are tall enough to take advantage of this IF they improve on their performances here, bowl well and discover, very early, the right length to bowl. The batting is more of a concern; let's hope the 'hard-wicket specialistas', Pietersen and Trott, are as good as they're cracked up to be.

Didn't understand Smoggie3's comment re decisions by South African captain.

I wasn't aware that Strauss was South African.

The idea that you need to be 6'5+ to bowl in Oz is a myth. Lille, Thompson. Botham ect. ect, ect........

Pakistan were worthy winners in every department. England have for as long as I can remember shown blind faith in the under achievers of the top flight batsmen/bowlers and it is this philosophy that has constantly dragged the team down from being world beaters to simply being the tired side that they resemble today.
Ability can be measured in different ways, batting and bowling averages seem to dominate all cricket but there is another measure and that is of unselfishness. Some individuals despite being obviously talented will never make team players, one individual that springs to mind is Kevin Pieterson but there have been many more over the years.
Please England be ruthless and put together a winning side so that I can die happy.

Martin Gleeson

It irritates me when people keep saying that its good that the Pakistan team beat England as its a good test for them prior to their Ashes tour, as if that's the most important thing in the world, and everything else is just 'good experience' or 'good preparation' for this event.

In 2005, the Ashes was the pinnacle of Test cricket. That is no longer the case, and the last Ashes series was a classic example of two average sides slugging it out while duping themselves into thinking this was the biggest test for them as teams and players.

Forgive me, but I thought that the two best sides in the world are India and South Africa.

Well done Pakistan. But let's not go overboard shall we.

It's typical of the media here that one half decent performance against a side who genuinely had an off match all round can be lept on as potentially "turning the corner". Really it's nothing of the sort. If Pakistan can continue to perform for ahalf a dozen tests in a row then perhaps we can start talk of a recovary, until then its just one decent match.

Same thing in reverse with England. Sure there have been cracks for some time but up until now some part of the team has come through and got them the wins, one match in which none of those elements stands up is no cause for the mass calls for heads to roll that have appeared this week.


As for the Ashes, no it isnt the pinnacle anymore, but then neither are most opf the biggest rivalries out there. Everton vs. Liverpool, United vs. City, Leicester vs. Bath, Islanders vs. Rangers? None of them are the pinnacle but all are seen as hugely important by the teams participating. Tradition still counts for something.

Well done Pakistan. Good bowling performance and just enough nerve to get home. I wonder if the 'mystery' Ben refers to is how Ajmal is allowed to bowl by the ICC? He's been looked at before and I think they need to look again.

Not looking too hot for the Ashes. I just hope that Cooky keeps playing positively as it seems to make him move his feet.

I think the fielder's contribution is worth mentioning.Had they stuck to their reputation, in particular our Aristocratic keeper Kamran, they would have lost this game.

I strongly feel Pakistan need to sort out a lot of things off the field in order to become world beater.Selection is based on nepotism as reflected by the inclusion of Malik and Akmal though it seems Butt and Waqar have instilled unity in the team.It's speaks of Pakistan 's talent that they have a good record playing overseas despite been afflicted with off field theatrics.

No, hopeforthebest, you don't have to be tall to bowl in Australia...but it has proved a more than useful attribute before now (Ambrose, Walsh, Garner, Bruce Reid, McGrath, Rackemann, Holding... and Lillee and Alderman wouldn't have begrudged the extra bounce they got, either...).

Heartiest congratulations to the 'Green Shirts' for winning their third test match against England at the famous oval by four wickets.
Hopefully, they can capitalize on this historic win and be able to beat England once again in the fourth and last test match of the current series at 'Lords' cricket ground starting from August 26, 2010.

My message to the Pakistani cricket team at this crucial juncture in time and history is to 'keep it up and hang on tough.'

If Andrew Strauss appears "tetchy" during an interview, then I would interpret that as most likely just a response to wilfully provocative questioning by journalists after a defeat, Ben.

Strauss always strikes me as having a pretty even keel, which is good for a test captain. Many journalists seem to regard it as macho proof of their professional credentials if they can get someone angry. When they succeed, the response is like that of sharks when they sense blood in the water.

Yet a few days ago I think I read Agnew asking (someone) if this was the best-fielding English side he had ever seen, and writing that the English slip-catching was "absolutley brilliant."

But now he too has (already) said how good it was for England to lose this match. Australians in disguise, or just bi-polar?

Pakistan's problems in australia were with Younis Khan in the side, do Pakistan want him back? truthfully? they are a young side that will get better with experience, england have had a few collapses in this series with the bat but majority of the time we have had one or two people to get us out of it, Moggy ton, Prior ton then 84*, cooks ton (gave us a fighting chance anyway).

England have not had all summer a batting score where everyone has contributed at once, that needs to be addressed, england need to display a commanding batting performance at Lords ideally Pieterson and Strauss will get tons as they are the two without recent centuries. Bowling is ok (not bad not great) in my opinion despite Butt's warnings, Broad needs to be more disciplined but thats about it.

This was a great test, I just hope the last Test bring even more drama and is as closely fought. Everyone is fully aware that the problem with Pakistani cricket lies at the door of the PCB. But is there any blame on them when the whole country is run by corrupt and disorganised government? Corruption runs though our blood and unless there's a major reform for the whole country this will continue. Every generation we see a flood of talent break into the national team only to be misguided by the PCB. There is only one person that can bring the change that's really need and he is Imran Khan. I remember under his leadership there were no betting/match fixing, and the whole team played their heart out every time.

Wise words Ben. Cricket needs its most exciting and unpredictable side to be competitive so even as an Englishman I am pleased to see pakistan bounce back at the Oval. And in Butt, they seem to have a captain who is there for the long term. As you say, if they recall Younus they will have quite a side.

Here are our marks out of ten for the England and Pakistan XI's who played at The Oval:

England marks out of ten
Pakistan marks out of ten

laughingdevil, you are wrong, the pcb didn't have any credibility to lose.

Big problem with the Pakistan team is their fielding. If the English bowlers had the horrible fielders to deal with that the Pakistan bowlers do, the Pakistan batsmen would look just fine.

Catches win matches. When the Pakistan team support their bowlers, especially in these conditions, they can clean up anyone.

To all the people calling for Colly to be dropped, you have very short and selective memories. He was one of our best players in South Africa, averaging 57 including some vital innings, and he averaged just under 50 in Bangladesh. He hasn't had a great time of it in the three test matches so far in this series, but are you seriously suggesting we drop him after failing in 3 test matches? You cannot get any team consistency with a cut-throat policy like this.

1. The decision by Strauss to bat first was bizarre - the recent weather and atmospheric conditions have been the most swing conducive that I can remember. Movement of the pitch is secondary. Even a club captain would bowl first.

2. Batting against excessive swing and a decent spinner has shown weaknesses in technique but it will be technique in Aussie conditions that will be key.

3. Most of the top test teams can beat one another on any given day so the league table is overated. Plus in the sub continent it seems that an early match win leads to a series of batter friendly wickets with either a draw or a gambling opposition losing.

4. It is good to see Pakistan show that the win against the Aussies was no fluke. We have regained a test class nation from the brink. But they will have to continue their away form for a while to come I suspect.

5. As for the Ashes again neither side will be at the top of their game but the little urn will mean so much more than a 20/20 or ODI trophy to both sides...

laughing devil - what is hyperbowl?? :h

Why was there no mention in the live commentary of the dearly lamented Umpire Shepherd when the run total was at 222?