It happens everywhere mate, England, India, Australia.
Fine innings by Bell, really putting pressure on the selectors when Flintoff returns, but do expect him to make way and he knows it himself. Collingwood's catch was an absolute ripper. Has to be up there with one of the greats. Harmison bowled pretty well and is back to his old ways of bowling fast and using his height to his advantage.
Not out of it yet Pakistan, Yousuf who looks pretty good so far and is one of the best batsmans against spin, Inzi who is a real class act, Afridi who can be very dangerous in these situations where he can easily build a handy 50 or so, Abdul who can always stick around and make a decent innings and Akmal who has been on fine form.
barmyarmy said:
Once we go 5 down you really start to expect the next 5 to follow quickly. Jones isn't performing at 7, Plunkett looks way out of his depth at 8, Hoggard can stick around but is limited and Harmison and Panesar are good for entertainment but you never expect them to last long. Add that to the fact that Bell is at 6 for this game and usually gets either 0 or 50! Had Pakistan held their catches and had some close decisions go their way England could have been struggling to get 250.
That said credit to the team for a great performance and lets hope we can keep it up in the series.
Agreed, but same occured to Australia against SA in the home test series. SA consistently dropped catches in vital stages of the Australian innings and could of dismissed them cheaply every innings. What makes Aus and now England in this match the best team in the world is that they make these mistakes pay heavily.