and it is becoming increasingly difficult to argue against.
http://content.cricinfo.com/engvban/...ry/210082.html
I remember lop sided contests of the past. England v Pakistan 1962. West Indies vs. India 1961-62. England vs. India 1952 . Virtually all NZ matches. But in any of those matches , a fighting hundred or a good bowling performance always came by.
Burki and Nasim scoring hundreds at Lords. Pataudi scoring a hundred at Leeds. Of course, the weather helped Pakistan hugely in 1954 and then in the final test, England were Fazalled.
But this cannot happen now. We are basically a good club side, like it or not.
Application and technique both are lacking. To some extent, also courage. Nafees Iqbal showed that he does not really want to go behind the line of the ball. Aftab after playing some good strokes perished because bat and pad were not close together. Omar was out to a good catch, yes, but if he had played with soft hands, it would not have gone anywhere near Thorpe.
Ashraful effectively left the ball alone because he had probably never seen a ball swings back and hit him plumb. The less I say about Bashar the better.
Mashrafe showed that he is not a prospective all-rounder twice. His first reaction is to get his body out of the way. But he bowled with great heart and some hostility.
Who comes up with a plus from this match ?
Mashud, Mashrafe, Rahim.
Rafique [ Neutral ]. The rest are all minus. I am possibly being a bit harsh on Anwar. Given his limitations, he did his bit.
In a team of the blind, do not go in without at least one one-eyed. Do not leave your potentially best bowler watching the game. He should have been operating from the Nursery End for long periods. Bring back Enamul, please.