Siddle’s Energy Bursts Worth Watching

I remember some commentator saying that Peter Siddle was built like a small horse but his bowling performances are far better than to be horsing about the issue. He has incredible bouts of energy and seeing him bowl, almost makes you wish you were so athletic, packed with so much stamina and could do what he does best — constantly bowl at 142 + km/hr without showing any signs of drop in intensity or energy. Siddle reminds a bit of the young Ntini from SA who had started out in a very similar style but then eventually the workload of the balling probably slowed him down. Hillfenhaus, the other recently introduced Aussie bowler too is impressive but he is more of the McGrath type with a measured length and line being his main thing. Siddle is a bit like Brett Lee and Waqar Younis rolled into though his wickets tally usually don’t match the wicket-taking fame of these two ultra-quick bowlers.

Pakistan's fielding standards set new benchmarks for being hopeless

If you did happen to miss the second test match between Pakistan and New Zealand then consider yourself lucky in a way for you didn't have to witness what must be one of the worst fielding displays by any team. At one point, commentators from both the nations, Pak and NZ simply said that they had 'resigned' to the fact that this Pakistani side was hell-bent on mocking the demise of the NZ innings by delaying it via dropping a catch, nearly every 20 mins! Shoaib Malik was actually seen retracting his hands from a simple, straightforward catch that came his way in a manner that suggested that he was instructed no to accept a catch - yes, some of the catches were so simple that Waqar Younis who on air commentating actually said that he had seen school cricket games that had set better fielding standards. An the biggest irony - even after so many lef-offs the Kiwis were still sent packing> you can call it the talent of the Pakistanit bowlers to deliver despite the utter chaos that was unleashed around the stumps or another nail in the coffin of test cricket.