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ArkRoyal wrote: BH: it is a funny game cricket as you know: they are now putting Sir Garry's bowlling to the sword

Nothing funny about the Labushagne dismissal AR...it was/is downright embarrassing at Test Match level!

You have to admire West Pakistan for the flamboyant way they play there Cricket.They hit there way out of trouble .And that now looks to be a competitive score in this test.

Does Nathan Lyon have an arm ball? Every ball he bowls is the same off break, I’d love him to use the crease more with angles & throw a straight one down every now & then..

The Marsh brothers would have to be skating on thin ice I would have thought especially if they fail in the 2nd innings of this match. Sorry Labusagne is not a test cricketer no matter how much enthusiasm he has.

How bad is aussie test cricket at the moment? I know we're missing quite a few first choice players but the Pakis are the 7th ranked team in the world behind Sri Lanka and we're playing them in neutral territory....so much for the new broom from JL.

BC, that was always going to happen.....more so after the 1st test heroics from a selected few of batsmen.....don't forget 3 of Aust top order batsmen scored 13 between them in the 2nd innings saviour dig.....be interested to see what Langer does with Shaun Marsh.....appears to love him dearly but struggling again......if Langer is true to his word and if Marsh and others fail to score big in the shield before the India tests, one should expect the broom to come out...….that young Victorian bat joined some esteemed company making his 240 odd yesterday.....definitely showed his mettle and temperament......understand Langer going for experience without Smith and Warner in his 11......but if those experienced keep failing then what use are they in the end?......no doubt the Marsh boys and others currently in Dubai will score some runs on their return....thus saving their bacons....but hopefully some youngsters can step up and score consistently big to put pressure under both Langer and those current Aust batsmen to pull their fingers out.

BC wrote: How bad is aussie test cricket at the moment? I know we're missing quite a few first choice players but the Pakis are the 7th ranked team in the world behind Sri Lanka and we're playing them in neutral territory....so much for the new broom from JL.

You seem surprised by this BC???....we are currently missing the following first choice players-

Steve Smith (C) Susp
David Warner (VC) Susp
Cam Bancroft Susp
Josh Hazlewood Inj
Pat Cummins Inj
James Pattinson Inj

Then throw in a bunch of players in their first Test Series let alone away from home deck, the terribly out of form Marsh brothers and our woeful form in Asia against a side that is playing on their home deck (has been for the last 15 years or so) who also play those conditions and heat well it would seem only the uninitiated or uneducated are shocked by the current result considering we pulled off a remarkable draw against the odds in the 1st Test!

Blah, blah, blah...make all the excuses you want but the runs are on the board...or more to the point, not on the board. Besides, Pattinson is a long term out so forget about him for the time being and the sand paper threesome are missing because of their own stupidity, so whose fault is that? I fully understand there's mitigating circumstances but the fact remains we're getting towelled up by the Pakis who are no world beaters themselves. If the Marsh brothers are so out of form, replace them with others who can make runs....and remarkable draw!!! we shouldn't have been in that position in the first place.

You must be the only one outside Langer who realistically thought we would win this series with as I termed them when the squad was chosen- the worst Test squad I had ever seen Australia pick!
Pakistan are always a dangerous side in Asia with quality spinners and a decent pace attack.

I'm sure they are in Asia but this is being played in the Middle East...Abu Dhabi in fact where it's currently 32 degrees with 50% humidity....hardly conditions the Aussies would struggle to cope with.