PAKISTAN v ENGLAND: 1st Test, Day 3 - Where it all went wrong for 'the Andrew's' England

“We won’t be panicking” explained Andrew Strauss; “we’ll come back strong in the second Test match” was the message from the captain after England suffered their first test defeat since Perth back in December 2010.  For the first time in over a year we were watching an under-prepared England side, which had under estimated Pakistan’s ability in the sub-continent.  The third day did give England reason to “panic”, at least a little.  The batting order collapsed again, unable to master the line and length of Umar Gul and of course Ajmal struck to take a total of 10 wickets in the entire game. 

The morning began with England needing 3 wickets for as few runs as possible, an easy task for the world number one test side.  England did their best to keep Pakistan from making a large score, but their lower order, namely Akmal, found boundaries with effective use of reverse sweep.  Graham Swann finished off the lower order, with a little help from Broad, but it was clear to see that Pakistan had done enough to secure victory.  Bowled out for 338 runs, they led by 146 – far too many runs for an out-of-form batting line up to make up.  To make England’s life even tougher, Gul removed Andrew Strauss just before lunch.  England trailed by 130.

Cook and Pieterson, two of England’s strongest and most experienced batsmen gave away their wickets cheaply, by misguided shots – Cook feeling for the ball and gloving it, whilst Pieterson carelessly sent the ball high straight to deep backward square.  The middle to lower order batsmen followed quickly behind, with Bell and Prior victims of Ajmal’s doosra and teesra.  Trott was the only batsmen who looked close to his usual playing standards, but worrying signs of England’s lack of preparation and focus were demonstrated by a lazy swipe, causing Trott to edge the ball into the slips.  England’s second innings displayed a team lacking focus and concentration.  Players like Cook and Trott, famous for never giving their wicket away cheaply, displayed a remarkable lack of concentration.  England played less than 10 fours and no sixes in their innings, and chose to play defensively. 

Pakistan were brilliant with their bowling and at times unplayable.  However, the skill, experience and quality of the England batsmen are so great that you would not expect them to crumble so easily.  So why did they?  I believe it was a mixture of a lack of concentration and inadequate preparation.  None of the batsmen appeared comfortable at the crease and playing the Dubai conditions.  When you compare the performance to  that of the Ashes, England looked settled and happy to play in the Australian climate, whereas over the past three days England have looked like they have not adapted to playing in the UAE.  More warm up games, certainly were needed, to acclimatise to conditions and to bring the batsmen up to scratch.  My view is that the way to solve the batting is to put in more time in the nets between now and the next test match and to snap the boys back into focus.  Talent does not disappear and cannot be turned on or off, it just relies on 100% concentration, and no batsman brought that level of focus to the crease.  In theory, this is an easy problem to solve, and will be solved, the only question is, will it be in time for the next test?   

Also, I believe there was a problem with the team selected.  It is not often that you criticize Flower, but I do think he made a mistake in this match.  If you’re playing in drastically different conditions to home, why put out a team that is so used to playing on English pitches.  If the conditions change, as management, they needed to ensure that the team changed with the conditions.  It does not mean that particular players do not deserve their place; it just means that the combination of players must complement the environment of play.   Why was Tremlett there?  Why was Monty not playing?  Granted, it is unusual for England to play two spinners, but in the warm up matches Monty was so promising that he should have been playing and supporting Graham Swann.  Surely the warm up games indicated to the England management, that Monty was better suited to playing on UAE wickets that Tremlett, or even Swann for that matter.  On paper and in practice, at home and in Australia, Tremlett has been the better bowler, but in the experience of the UAE, Monty provided the damage. 

England must regroup, refocus and attack.  They are a side that does not deserve the label of losing by 10 wickets.  But, perhaps this defeat occurred at a critical time.  By England’s recent performance rumours of ‘complacency’ could be whispered.  With hindsight, you might be able to look back on this Test match saying “thank goodness Pakistan thumped them; it gave them the kick up the back-side needed to avoid long-term complacency”.  

Only time will tell if this theory is true – but let’s hope so! 

Statistics of Note: 

Pakistan 338-all out 

England 160-all out 

Gul 4-63

Ajmal 3-42 (10 wickets in match)  

Akmal 61 

Trott 49 

PAKISTAN v ENGLAND, 1st Test, Day 2 - The England fight back begins

The England dressing room were all too aware that they have not made this easy for themselves.  On the second day in Dubai, Pakistan were confident, taking to the crease with an intact batting line up.  It was a day like today where England had to show how and why they are world number one.

Play began with two wickets being taken in the morning session.  Hafeez fell to LBW by Swann, having contributed a very useful 88 runs & Stuart Broad led the fight back, by taking the wicket of the second top order batsman, Umar.  Broad delivered with venom to bowl Umar out for 58 - one of the key wickets of the day.  Broady may look baby-faced but when England needs someone to push that little bit harder & dig that little bit deeper, Broad is usually the man for the job.  His second wicket came in the form of, Azhar Ali and Pakistan's number 3 was another important batsman to remove from the crease. 

Strauss' captaincy is also worth a mention.  He showed good vision by bringing on Johnathon Trott to bowl from the Emirates Road end, and Trotty took Pakistan's number 4 by LBW, a brilliant confidence booster for the part-timer.  Trott also has reason to be disappointed; Strauss had removed the slip cordon which, if in place, would have provided his second wicket of the day.  Anderson opened his account in the session before tea, gaining his first wicket from a wonderful Prior catch, after Shafiq came feeling for the ball, guiding it low to the right-hand side of the keeper. 

The real England fight back came in the evening session.  Throughout the day the English bowlers were able to keep Pakistan's lead low.  Strauss' use of Tremlett & Trott to bowl the remaining overs before the new ball was an inspired move, it reduced Pakistan's run-rate to just over two, but the most significant breakthrough came from Anderson & Swann striking late.  Together, the off field partners in crime, took the fight to Pakistan - all guns blazing.  In the penultimate over of the day Swann sent a ball down the off-side to Misbah-ul-Haq, which turned and hit the pad.  Umpire Billy Bowden gave 'not out' & from initial viewing the ball appeared to be just missing leg-stump.  England reviewed, and low and behold the ball was hitting the top of the stumps - Swann had his second wicket & highlighted the importance of the DRS review system in the modern game.  Anderson was handed the ball for the final over of the day, and struck with the very last ball - hitting Rehman's off-stump.       

England played with determination, keeping Pakistan grounded.  Still Tremlett did not look aggressive enough & with 0-48 he is looking like a wasteful bowler, which in England's position, they cannot afford.  At the end of play Pakistan lead by 96 with 3 wickets remaining, suggesting that today the tide turned more in England's favour.  Tomorrow, Stauss must look to his bowlers for fast wickets & be prepared to once again face Ajmal.  

Statistics of Note, Day 2: 

Pakistan 288-7 (104.3 overs) lead by 96  

Trott 1-16

Anderson 2-57

Broad 2-72

Swann 2-89 

Hafeez 88 

Umar 58

Misbah-ul-Haq 52

PAKISTAN v ENGLAND: 1st Test, Day 1 - It's all about one man & Pakistan

It seems to be English tradition to have a batting collapse on the first day - but even by England's standards this was a bad one.  Torn apart by Pakistan's right-arm offbreak bowler, Saeed Ajmal, England were suffocating under the tight fielding on this first day.  The Dubai Sports City stadium offered up so much before play with talk of huge scores and balls turning - not today.  Instead, England's run-rate was less than 2.

The top order batsmen collapsed in real style, beginning with Alastair Cook, and it is fair to say the majority of the dismissals were down to batsman error.  The England batsmen appeared to have no answer to Ajmal and from a team that prides themselves on preparing for test series through detailed analysis of opposition bowling styles, this was particularly worrying. Pietersen, Morgan and Broad reminded me of  playing a video game for the first time, when you're unsure of the controls, making you swing and miss too early or late.  These three, and the others who fell to the mercy of  Ajmal, miscalculated the timing of the ball and played the reverse-sweep far to early, resulting in their dismissal to LBW.  

Nonetheless, only Matt Proir stood up and gave Ajmal and Pakistan a fight.  It was Prior's 70 not out that saved England and got them the score of 192, which in retrospect is a higher score than expected at tea.  Prior built a good partnership with Swann and Anderson, which allowed both of these lower order batsmen to come and play some shots.  The most exciting batting of the day came from Anderson & Swann, who used the pace of the ball nicely to push shots over the top for 4.  

Pakistan's performance must be commended.  They took to the field eager to play and stood firm in their positions.  The field was strong - not allowing England to break through to the boundary.  Pakistan were confident and along with the outstanding Ajmal, challenged England.  I believe their battle had the element of surprise; England did not expect Pakistan to be so strong, that was obvious, and the fact that Pakistan have started their first innings with confidence and determination, suggests that it will be an uphill struggle tomorrow.  England's bowlers must push the Pakistani batsmen back deep into their crease, to push the balance of power in England's favour.  I felt Tremeltt, despite bowling well, wasn't showing enough aggression with his bouncers, as Hafeez and Umar left them to sail over the top of the stumps.  England need wickets and fast!  

Statistics of Note, DAY 1:
England won toss & chose to bat first

England 192 - all out (72.3 overs)

Pakistan 42 - 0 (15.0 overs)

Ajmal 7-55

Prior 70

Swann 34