I’m happy to report the following news: this test match is alive. After a dour first test and a slightly anticlimactic first day in Dubai, today’s play was actually quite watchable. The bowlers managed to extract a little more life out of the slow surface, and the batsmen didn’t have everything their own way for a change. How refreshing.
Although Pakistan were in a good position overnight, we all felt that a few early wickets today would change things. And so it proved. Our bowlers really put in a good shift and deserved their rewards. I’ve been a five-bowler man my entire life. I’ve just discovered something even better: six bowlers. Talk about giving the captain options.
This England attack actually looks pretty useful now. Anderson offers swing and guile; Broad offers aggression and experience; Moeen offers orthodox off-spin and Rashid adds variety and spice. What’s more, because all the pacemen can operate in short spells, our attack has suddenly found an extra dimension: pace.
Because they know they’ll be used sparingly, Wood and Stokes are able to charge in and let rip. They’ll never be Patrick Patterson and Sylvester Clarke but they’re frequently getting the ball down at a fair lick. Long may it continue.
I don’t think anyone’s pretending that England’s bowling unit is the finished article – there are obviously more experienced and consistent spin twins operating in Asia (Babar and Shah aren’t bad for a start) – but I believe that variety is the spice of life. England have most options covered at the moment, and that makes it harder for batsmen to settle into a rhythm. Call me a fan of the current line-up. I’m enthused.
Our batsmen also put up a decent fight this afternoon. After a difficult start, in which Moeen was dismissed somewhat freakishly at short-leg and Bell edged a ball he probably could have left, Cook and Root rebuilt the innings courageously.
Root and Cook are by far the best batsmen in the England side. We really needed them today and they stood up brilliantly. They’re England’s mailmen: they always deliver the goods.
Root was obviously the busier of the two batsmen. He needed a bit of luck to survive against Riaz early on, but he stood his ground and looks in good form. Let’s hope for a big score tomorrow.
Cook also looked untroubled – as he usually does on slow pitches away from home – and it was actually a bit of a surprise when he got out. I almost expected him to do a WG Grace and refuse to walk off “I’m sorry lads, but do you know who I am? I don’t get out. Period. Now kindly go back to your bowling mark and get on with the game”.
Joking aside the skipper will be disappointed with his dismissal. He simply lost concentration and tickled one straight to leg-slip. Ian Bell was absolutely roasted for doing the same thing last summer. It was a tad disappointing, but Cook obviously has enough credit in the bank at the moment to avoid censure.
The period following Cook’s dismissal was a crucial one. Jonny Bairstow has never really convinced against spin in the past. He hasn’t got the softest hands in the world, and he hasn’t scored many runs in his career to date. Pakistan probably smelt blood.
To Jonny’s credit, however, he fought his way through and survived until the close. Well done mate. I hope you make a big score tomorrow.
One more thing. We had our first glance of Yasir Shah today. Mike Atherton, the master of the understatement, said he looked ‘alright’ at tea. I think he looked a little better than alright, Mike.
Even so, England played Shah fairly well. He’ll be a handful later in the match I’m sure, but at the moment I’m just thankful the sky didn’t fall in the moment Misbah tossed him the ball. He’s good but he’s human.
James Morgan
Cook will be censured for his soft dismissal. No matter what Cook does he will always be censured by someone, somewhere. Keep Maxie in his box for a while longer. Peter T is doing a fine job in his absence! :)
I almost expected him to do a WG Grace..
Chuckle.
Wasn’t WG’s (almost reasonable) rationale that the crowd has paid to see him bat ?
Not quite sure our great leader could say the same with a straight face, man of integrity that he is.
;-)
The way some of our specialist batters are playing, we could probably accommodate another allrounder.
Seven bowlers would really confuse the oppo.
Why not eight? :-)
Whom else would you drop ?
And at some point there’s a law of diminishing returns.
Bowlers did really really well to restrict Pakistan to less than 400 but I still think we’re going to struggle. Losing Cook was crucial. We probably need 450 to have a chance and I can’t really see where another 250-300 runs are going to come from. With Buttler in poor nick and Moeen up front, the tail looks vulnerable. It’s going to be turning like hell by Day 5, so chasing anything over 100 against Yasir will be tricky. Great to finally have a decent contest though – and Joe Root might just be the world’s best batsman at the moment. He scores heavily, and fast. An absolute gem.
I’m a bit worried too.. for me the key is Root and Bairstow surviving for a couple of hours tomorrow and I’ll feel much better.
Hungerpang is right though about Root – apart from everything else his ability to score consistently AND proactively is the reason he’s in the top three batsman in the world on merit.
The worst thing England have done in this Test is lose the toss..
We’ve got an 8 (if a test player at all) opening, a number 5 (past his best) at 3, a wk number 7 at 5, a all rounder number 7/8 at 6 and then Buttler who is nothing more than a slogger of the modern 2020/win-lose cricket,kind.
What on earth do,we expect from them when they don’t ‘come off’
Cook is my favorite player. I always follow his style and batting techniques. He is my mentor in cricket
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