England need to brainstorm before final test at Lords against Pakistan
The Test defeat at Oval for England at the hands of Pakistan was perhaps not that bad for England. They have plenty to ponder and analyze before the last test at Lords and then the mighty Ashes clash with the Kangaroos.
After losing the first two test matches miserably, Pakistan staged a remarkable comeback in the third test to win the match by 4 wickets.
England’s tactics in the game were unfathomable. They reverted back to a ploy that had never worked for them and didn’t even here. Asking the leading wicket taker of the series, James Anderson, to bowl wide of the stumps and swing away is just criminal, as it takes away any chances of the batsman being bowled or trapped LBW.
Inevitably, Anderson looked out of sorts and bowled some short balls, which, were cut brutally and when he drifted onto the legs, he was worked off the pads with remarkable ease. All this because he was not allowed to bowl like he naturally does, right arm over the wicket, in swinging the ball to the right hander.
Trying to take the wicket with a ploy like this was like trying to win the jackpot at a casino. You just can’t put all your eggs in one basket and expect your opponents to be daft. Although, recently Pakistan has failed to chase low totals, this time they had a plan and they stuck to it.
All the blame does not lie with the bowlers as it was also England’s batting that disappointed. No batsman was able to spend long periods of time in the middle and that was the main cause of their downfall.
England will need to sort their batting out before the start of Ashes or else they will face dire consequences.
The conditions in the test match were not the most conducive for batting and with the Pakistani pace attack in-form, life was made difficult for the Poms. But if this bowling lineup is sending shivers down the English spine then may God have mercy on them when they go out to face the likes of Shaun Tait, Doug Bollinger and Mitchell Johnson.
The batting in this series by both the sides has been unpredictable and the moment Pakistani batsmen pulled their weight, the Englishmen were in trouble.
The bandwagon heads to the South of London for Thursday’s test at Lords and one interesting fact here will be that for the first time in at least 30-years a series decider will be played at Lords. Usually the first or the second match is played at the venue and it will be very interesting to see what kind of a pitch Mick Hunt comes up with. But it is hoped that the last test will not be a four-day match.
Both teams are unlikely to be changed for the match unless Umar Gul makes a miraculous recovery from his hamstring injury.
England’s opener, Alastair Cook was under scrutiny for a string of low scores but the Gloucester born http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Essex-c783 opener redeemed himself with a gutsy ton.
For Pakistan, the inclusion of Muhammad Yousuf proved to the missing link in a fragile batting lineup and provided the much needed stability. The 35-year old showed no signs of any nerves despite not having touched a cricket bat for over six months. Now there are even talks of Younis Khan being called up for the final test and had this occurred to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 earlier the series might have turned out differently.
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