4th Test England v Pakistan, The Oval, Aug 11-15

[Gingerfinch]

Looks like a field first day?

[Dr Cricket]

Holding reckon a bowling day and the greenest deck he seen in England for a long time.

[Arthur Crabtree]

Iftikhar and Wahab come in for Rahat and Hafeez, as predict by cricinfo

[hopeforthebest]

Maybe they are fearful of 4/5 day spin so are taking what seems a calculated risk. Perhaps they believe the Pakistan bowlers may not have a lot in their legs so why give them an extra days rest.

[hopeforthebest]

Finn keeps his place which I think is fair enough but the improvement he showed at Edgbaston needs to continue. Hope he's able to do so.

[Dr Cricket]

Important test for hales, ballance or Vince will be their last chance for while to score runs and all 3 playing for their spot.

[backfootpunch]

Plenty of swing for Amir

[Making_Splinters]

I don't get why there is such continued pressure on Hales, he actually averages 38 this summer, which as an opener is very acceptable in England.

[Dr Cricket]

Talking of hales it shouldn't be forgotten he scored most of his runs against Sri Lanka the way he played against Pakistan was quite poor would need to do far more with the bat to be an solid option for England.
Probably deserves a few test in India though but a tough tough in India could mean England looking for anther opener.

[Making_Splinters]

I wouldn't say that Hales has been poor against Pakistan, he's been on the receiving end of some very good deliveries especially at OT, he also out scored Cook against Sri Lanka which suggests it was a merit worthy performance.

[Dr Cricket]

I wouldn't say that Hales has been poor against Pakistan, he's been on the receiving end of some very good deliveries especially at OT, he also out scored Cook against Sri Lanka which suggests it was a merit worthy performance.

Not sure it is merit worthy to score runs against Sri lanka in England.
ok hales hasn't been poor against pakistan but has shown weakness in the game and at the moment he might struggle to make good runs in the Test arena.

[Gingerfinch]

He averages 29 after 11 matches. You can see why some might think he needs to score some runs. From the little I've seen of him, I'd persevere.

[Dr Cricket]

if Cook is the barometer for merit worthy performance than Carberry, Robson, Compton would have never gotten dropped in the first place since their outscored cook for 2 years.

[Dr Cricket]

also it is a myth that Hales is a dynamic player so far in his short international career in odi/test he has failed to score runs off good deliveries isn't able to score at a quick pace.
really hales is quite limited in his stroke play.
not that it means he can't play Test but not sure he is the dynamic or attacking player people think he is.

[Dr Cricket]

He averages 29 after 11 matches. You can see why some might think he needs to score some runs. From the little I've seen of him, I'd persevere.

yep should get the first 2 india test but after it is up to hales or the England selectors/coach/captain to see if they give him another go next english summer or not.