Pakistan vs England in UAE 2012

[DexteR]

Welcome to the Discussion Thread for
Pakistan vs England
Cricket Series to be played in UAE

Here is the schedule

3 Tests, 4 ODI and 3 T20 Matches to be played from January 17, 2012 to February 27, 2012

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Finn wants to stop carrying drinks

You might expect a man on the fringes of a team - and a losing team at that - to point out the failings of his colleagues in an attempt to advance his own ambitions.

Steven Finn, however, is not that sort. While he admits to frustration at having been 12th man throughout England's Test series against Pakistan, he remains fiercely protective of his under fire colleagues, insisting this is not the time for knee-jerk reactions.

Finn came within an ace of playing in both the first two Tests of the series against Pakistan in the UAE. On the first occasion he missed out to Chris Tremlett and on the second he missed out to Monty Panesar. Panesar's subsequent success ended Finn's hopes of selection for the third Test and he was a powerless onlooker as England, their batsmen bamboozled by Pakistan's spin attack, succumbed to a 3-0 whitewash.

"In terms of having to change personnel, I don't think we need that kind of knee-jerk reactions at the moment," Finn said. "The side has been very, very successful over the last two years with the personnel who played in this series. There's no doubt we have the best people available in the country playing in the team, we just didn't adapt to the conditions as quickly as we'd have hoped.

"The bowlers did a fantastic job during this Test series. Obviously I wanted to play every game and I was disappointed that I didn't, but that's the way it goes.

"I'm getting very good at mixing drinks for the boys. I've sort of got used to it over the last 12 months. But it's not the sort of thing you enjoy getting used to."

The worry for England is that they have lost nine of their last ten international games. It is a run that extends back to the final Twenty20 international game against West Indies in September and includes the tour of India, the current tour of the UAE and all three formats of the game.

While their Test form has been, until recently, good, their ODI form away from home has been wretched. They lost all five ODIs against India in October and have lost 14 of their last 20 ODIs outside England. There are few realistic grounds for optimism going into the ODI series against Pakistan.

But Finn was one of the few successes of England's limited-overs tour of India. Not only did he take the most wickets of any English bowler - eight - but he also proved the most economical, conceding 5.27 runs an overs. He bowled at a sharp pace and showed a newly acquired ability to reverse swing the ball. Aged just 22, he is one of England's brightest prospects.

Now he hopes that he can be part of a fresh injection of young talent into an England camp that is looking to the future and the World Cup in Australasia in particular. In Finn, along with new additions Jos Buttler (aged 21), Danny Briggs (aged 20), and the likes of recently capped Jonny Bairstow (aged 22), England hope they have the nucleus of a bright, young side that can lead the team to brighter times.

"This one-day team is a very youthful, very exciting place to be," Finn said. "The guys coming in, the fresh faces, are going to be very enthusiastic to show what they can do.

"They're very skilled players as well, so they're going to be breathing down the necks of the guys in the team. I think this one-day series is going to be a great opportunity for us to put what's gone under the carpet."

Finn also feels that Friday's game against England Lions will present an excellent opportunity for young players to catch the eye of the England management. While Andy Flower, the England coach, has confirmed that Lions players will not be promoted to the senior squad irrespective of performances in the game, Finn knows from experience that such games can provide a useful 'shop window.'

It was in the same stadium in Abu Dhabi in February 2010 that Finn, along with Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb, were part of a Lions side that beat England. On the strength of that performance, Kieswetter and Lumb were selected as the opening partnership for the World Twenty20 while Finn wasn't far behind in a call up.

"Friday's game is going to be important for everyone, on either of the two sides," Finn said. "There's great opportunity for people on both sides to push for places in every format of the game. If you look at Kieswetter and Lumb, they played against the England team over here two years ago, the next month they were opening the batting in the World Twenty20. I played in that game, too, and less than a month later, I was playing Test cricket.

"Andy Flower and the management team are looking for people's attitudes; they're looking for things other than just performances - and games like this are a great opportunity for people on both sides to show everything they can give."

The Lions team will contain all the members of the senior England squad who do not make it into the main England side for Friday's match.

Meanwhile Andy Hurry, the first team coach at Somerset, has joined the England party to deputise for Richard Halsall, the fielding coach and Flower's unofficial deputy, who has returned to England to be with his heavily pregnant wife.

England are also looking into the possibility of some of their players - notably Ian Bell, who has been left out of the limited-overs squads - travelling to Sri Lanka ahead of the rest of the party to acclimatise to the pitches and conditions. It is possible that Bell will be able to represent a local side in Sri Lankan domestic competition, as have the likes of Varun Chopra and Moeen Ali in recent weeks.

[DexteR]

fir to theek hy hamary rozana just 2 lectures hote and we are free at 11;30 am

to 12 bajay ghar

mujhy zehar lagta ya malik am dead sure ye bi fixing men involve raha hy

aur sheem tm ne avy men api iti haseen photo q laga rakhi
u k hairstyle per to men sadqy wari hi ho jaon


@

Mera office 12 bajay shuru hota hai aur yeh Nida BB 12 bajay ghar pohanch jati hain.

[Nida_Ali_Nido]

chali jao na wari. . par chali jao

12 baje ghar aa ke kiya karti ahi fir sara din tu milti nahi hai

Kahan chalna hy tello na
aur me net per nahi aying zayda pata to hy u ko

aur parhna bi hota....

2nd semester thora difficult hy as comparative to 1st

Nahi men awin hi wari thori hoti kisi per

@

[Nida_Ali_Nido]

Mera office 12 bajay shuru hota hai aur yeh Nida BB 12 bajay ghar pohanch jati hain.

to 8 bjay class bi to hoti na

aur hamain sat & sunday off bi hota

[DexteR]

to 8 bjay class bi to hoti na

aur hamain sat & sunday off bi hota

Fayr kada rola paya hoya ae?

[Nida_Ali_Nido]

Nido ko punjabi nai samjh ati

[DexteR]

Awais Zia ready for Pakistan chance

The route from Chakwal in northern Pakistan to the UAE will mark the start of Awais Zia's journey into international cricket. Called into Pakistan's Twenty20 squad to play England, Zia is expected to bring some flair and power hitting to the top of the order - and the nerves are already mixing with excitement.

"A new journey has started and I am a bit nervous," Zia, who was travelling between Multan and his home village of Bhown, told ESPNcricinfo. "I used to believe that it's not easy to be selected for the international team in Pakistan. It's a long journey but ultimately all the hard work has paid off and now another chapter of my career has started. I am excited and privileged to hold his opportunity because I am the one who is selected from millions playing cricket in the country. "

Although he made his first-class debut in 2007, it was only last season that Zia caught the Pakistan selectors' attention, with a series of impressive, televised performances for Rawalpindi Rams in the Faysal Bank T20. Zia, 25, served further notice of his promise by scoring 353 runs - with two hundreds, off 44 and 52 balls respectively - at an average of more than 70 for Pakistan in the SAARC Twenty20 Cup, an Under-25s competition in the Maldives, towards the end of 2011. He was the Man of the Tournament.

"I knew that the only way to catch the selectors' attention was to make a big impact and T20 cricket served my purpose, mainly because matches are broadcast on television," Zia said. "Obviously they are calling me a Twenty20 specialist, maybe because most of my T20 games I played in Pakistan were televised but not the first-class games. But that isn't in my focus - I've been given a big platform to establish myself."

Zia said he had not talked with the selectors about his prospects but that the Rawalpindi coach Sabhi Azhar and team-mate Sohail Tanvir had been pushing him to take his chance.

"I know what exactly I have to do now," Zia said. "What I wanted was a single chance and I am terribly lucky to get a chance to play against a team like England. I am positive about it as I am young, energetic and have plenty of time to serve the country."

Zia, marked down as an explosive opener, hopes to "cross" Shahid Afridi in the field and combine fast scoring with the temperament to play longer innings. "I am not comparing myself to Afridi in powerful hitting as he is so good at it," Zia said. "But my focus always is to play powerful and longer innings. I love to spend time on pitch and hit runs off every ball. I am fortunate to get a chance on pitches like in the UAE, and England are a top side to play against."

The Pakistan selectors have been searching for a long-term opener in the T20 side and they may have found their man in Zia.

"This guy is confident with the bat," selector Azhar Khan told ESPNcricinfo. "I am labelling him a T20 specialist. I know he's got temperament for the big cricket as well but now he has to prove himself to see how far he can go. Selecting a young player is always tough and a risk, but we took a lot of time to select him. He was sent to Maldives for a tryout and he came up as the best batsman of the tournament so we had to pick him up."

"The transition process in the team never stops, it's an ongoing process but we don't want to disturb the consistency of the team as well. We always look for a space to test players, as we are deprived from hosting international teams, and bilateral series, both at the top and the domestic level, are on hold. So most of our players remained untested."

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Afghanistan's remarkable rise achieves new heights

The rise of Afghanistan cricket is, as Tim Anderson puts it, "a wonderful story". Anderson, the ICC's global development manager, has hailed the rise of Afghanistan cricket as "a shining example" and praised the team's remarkable ability to "overcome every challenge that has confronted them".

Afghanistan take the next step in their remarkable journey on Friday when they play Pakistan in an ODI in Sharjah. It is Afghanistan's first ODI against one of the ICC Full Members and the first ODI between a Full Member and an Affiliate nation. A crowd of up to 14,000 is anticipated - more than watched any day of the recently concluded Test series between Pakistan and England in the UAE - and the match will be broadcast to millions more by Ten Sports.

The fact that Afghanistan remains, for now, an Affiliate member of the ICC - the third tier of membership, below the ten Test-playing nations and the 36 Associate nations) speaks volumes for their swift progress. As recently as 2008, they began in Division Five of the World Cricket League, playing the likes of Jersey, Botswana, Vanuatu, Japan and Nepal. They are now in Division One, pitted against Ireland, Kenya, Scotland and the Netherlands.

In Twenty20 cricket, they are already outdoing several Full Member nations. They are ranked ninth, ahead of Zimbabwe and the currently unranked Bangladesh. From a standing start, cricket is already arguably the most popular sport in Afghanistan, with around 50,000 participants, and crowds of up to 5000 watch domestic matches. By any standards, that is remarkable progress.

That said, 2011 was a quiet year. They played only two ODIs, beating Canada on each occasion, having missed out on World Cup qualification because of a system that rewarded success a couple of years previously rather than current merit. They would have enriched the event had they participated.

They did feature in the 2010 World Twenty20, however. While they lost both their games - India and South Africa were the opponents - the experience helped to identify weaknesses that need attention. Their fielding and bowling were fine, but against the pace and bounce of the best international bowlers, there was room for considerable improvement.

There are plans for them to acquire Associate status and, with it, extra ICC funding. Achieving that will depend on far more than playing ability. They will need to prove evidence of sound governance and an administration system, publish accounts, draw up strategic and operational plans, agree upon a constitution, and run annual meetings. A junior development programme would also be a tangible sign that the undoubted enthusiasm that exists for cricket in the county is being put to practical ends. It will be a surprise if Associate status is not achieved before the end of 2013.

At present the ICC provides about $700,000 a year in funding. Based on current distributions, that will rise by around $150,000 once Associate status is assured. There are several other funding sources for cricket in Afghanistan, however, with numerous organisations recognising the positive social influence that sport, and cricket in particular, can play in a country that has experienced so much hardship over the last few decades. The ICC estimates that its funding only equates to about 30% of the money coming into Afghanistan cricket.

It is fitting that Pakistan are the first opponents. The seeds of Afghanistan cricket were sown in Pakistan in the 1980s, when a group of young men, dispossessed by the Soviet occupation of their country, were exposed to the game in refugee camps in Peshawar. Many of the current Afghanistan squad were born or raised in Pakistan after their families fled the war-torn land. Most have now returned home.

Pakistan has, of late, taken a paternal interest in nurturing its neighbour's development. Last year several matches between Afghanistan and Pakistan A provided a gauge of their current progress as well as valuable experience. There may well come a time when Pakistan benefits from this investment too. Several Afghan players might, before long, be attracting the attention of the Pakistan selectors in much the same way that England has benefited from the recent resurgence in Irish cricket.

One man who might well interest the selectors of many international sides is Hamid Hassan. The 24-year-old fast bowler is capable of generating speeds of over 140kph, swings the ball both ways, and when he represented the MCC in 2007, became the first Afghanistan cricketer to play at Lord's. He dismissed Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott in his opening spell while representing the Associate and Affiliate XI against England at the start of their current tour of the UAE and won a contract to play in the Bangladesh Premier League. Sadly, it appears injury will prohibit his involvement in this game.

Mohammad Shahzad, a feisty wicketkeeper-batsman who made half-centuries in both innings of that game against England, is another whose progress should be monitored. Mohammad Nabi, an offspinning allrounder who took five wickets in the match against England, is also a fine cricketer. While Pakistan will be overwhelming favourites in the ODI, victory is no foregone conclusion. As Anderson remarked, when you have experienced bombs, bullets and life in a refugee camp, the "pressure" of a cricket match does not amount to much. Afghanistan will not wilt in the spotlight.

In the medium term, their opportunities to play against full ICC members will depend largely upon qualifying for major events. While there is talk of an ODI against Bangladesh, there are currently no more scheduled games against Full Member nations. The FTP limits the possibilities of such encounters. Afghanistan do, however, have a decent chance of qualifying for the 2015 World Cup - there are four qualifying places up for grabs - while, more immediately, they have an opportunity to qualify for September's World T20 in Sri Lanka. The qualifying tournament - a 16-team event - takes place in the UAE in March. Only two teams will make it.

In the much longer term, it is going to be hard - morally, in particular - to limit the likes of Afghanistan and Ireland to World Cricket League encounters. Promotion and, as a consequence, relegation between the WCL and the Full Member nations seems like an obvious incentive and a way of generating spectator interest. As ever with these things, the self-interest of the main Test-playing nations may delay such a step. In the long term, however, it may well happen.

Cricket is not and never has been all about winning and losing. Whatever happens on Friday, Afghanistan cricket can take enormous pride in the swift progress they have made in recent times and look to the future with a sense of optimism that would have been impossible only a few years ago. Cricket, like Afghanistan as a whole, has many issues; many problems. The example of the Afghanistan cricket team reminds us that the game can transcend them.

[sheem]

ahaan tu kaal afghanistan k sath match hai humara

Only ODI: Pakistan v Afghanistan at Sharjah
Feb 10, 2012 (15:00 local | 11:00 GMT | 16:00 PKT)

Pakistan squad: Misbah-ul-Haq*, Abdur Rehman, Adnan Akmal†, Aizaz Cheema, Asad Shafiq, Azhar Ali, Hammad Azam, Imran Farhat, Junaid Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Malik, Umar Akmal, Umar Gul, Wahab Riaz, Younis Khan

Afghanistan squad: Nawroz Mangal*, Dawlat Zadran, Gulbodin Naib, Hamza Hotak, Izatullah Dawlatzai, Javed Ahmadi, Karim Sadiq, Mirwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Shahzad†, Noor Ali Zadran, Samiullah Shenwari, Shabir Noori, Shapoor Zadran

[ch kashif]

Pakistan's Younis Khan reacts as walks off the field of play after losing his wicket to England's Stuart Broad