Durban next

Pakistan 234 all out
v England 306 all out
Pakistan 355 all out
England 156 all out
Pakistan win by 127 runs

Sharjah CA Stadium

Thursday 5 November 2015

Twitter @ball_sup

Well, that ended. Put that as batting failure. Although it was clearly a tough ask. Some top of the range appealing by the Pakistanis early on. A very strange review by Bairstow. After sweeping across the line. Did he think he'd hit it?

Sharjah has a charm. But, it would have felt more charming at the beginning rather than the end. It's more rough & ready than Abu Dhabi & Dubai. I know most of the English tourists who were here stayed in Dubai & commuted. It's not too far & taxis are cheap & safe. There is horrendous traffic from Sharjah to Dubai in the morning rush hour. But, the cricket crowd are travelling in the other direction.

We stayed in Sharjah. But, the hotel was still a good taxi ride away. I think we'd happily stay in Sharjah again. But probably somewhere closer to the ground. (Although there is nothing very close).

One of the features of all 3 grounds has been the outsourcing. The company who cleans the bogs - facilities management - outsourced. The fellas who sell & scan the tickets - outsourced. Security - outsourced. G4S. Headingley. Prisons. Sharjah Cricket.

You know the drill. Have to be seen to be doing summat. But, whatever they do. You think, why are they doing that? There was essentially one way in & one way out. But, three gates, maybe 20 yards apart. If you went out at Lunch, you'd go out of a different gate each day. And, by close they'd have decided it was better to use a different one again.

You'd try to get back in & be asked why your ticket hadn't been initialled (for eg). You'd eventually work out that the initialling system had been invented AFTER you'd left the ground for Lunch.

The Pakistani fans were comers & goers. Passing tickets around. Trying different gates. As a Blagger myself, I salute each & everyone of them. Some World Class Blagging on display. G4S were essentially inventing different systems to keep them out. But, each system had a shelf life of maybe 5 minutes before the fans sussed a way around it. World Class. And, remember, I know some Mancs.

The grounds have been pitifully empty. But, I read something very interesting. Written by Osman Samiuddin in his History of Pakistan Cricket, The Unquiet Ones.

“The relocation to the UAE has also meant higher overall revenues. Pakistan covers the cost of staging matches there and shares money at the gate, which is also higher than what they would raise in Pakistan. Net gate income, for example, can touch close to a million dollars for tours, figures they couldn't imagine in Pakistan. Additionally, sponsorship with UAE-based companies generate bigger windfalls, sometimes almost double of what they would get from a sponsor in Pakistan.”

He does however point out that the tours are NOT profitable.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time in UAE. My second three Test tour here. And (hopefully) I'll be back for Yorkshire’s pre season in March.

What do we know? Well, they're dug in aren't they? At Durban they…

Stick with Moeen as the opener. Surely not.
Use next cab Hales, Surely not.
Go back to a jettison. Surely not.

Hales can't have gone backwards sat on his Arse. They'll “have to” give him his shot.

I doubt whether they know who they prefer from Buttler & Bairstow. If Bairstow continues to try & play everything to leg and stitches stumpings like the one off Adil, it'll be Buttler.

They'll probably not have to use two spinners until Bangladesh/India in late 2016/early 2017. So, it'll be Mo until then.

In Durban, they'll go - Cook, Hales, Taylor, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Ali, Broad, Anderson, Wood

And someone who is not Bell. I'd go Ballance. They'll go Buttler. I'd also go back to Compton rather than Hales. But, I can't see them doing that.

All to do. Beers to be had.

235/471