What to make of that series? A closely fought campaign or one where there was a clear winner. An unfortunate team meeting a fortunate one? I have to say, I’m not really sure.

So while I’m reading some ultra-defensive pieces about the team, and also some coruscating attacks on county cricket and the players we have, I find myself somewhere in the middle. I had a twitter discussion with Innocent Bystander before this series where he made a point that he thought England were perhaps transitioning earlier than other teams, and that there is a distinct lack of top class international test cricketers compared to a few years ago. I agree to a degree. Let’s look at Pakistan. There were key batting contributions in the tests by their old guard – Shoaib Malik in the first test, Misbah and Younus in the second test, Hafeez in the final game. But alongside them there is some youthful batting promise, that is becoming increasingly battle hardened. This blog, when it has been bothered to update Century Watch, notes that Asad Shafiq and Azhar Ali make test runs regularly. Safraz Ahmed is a more than interesting prospect as a keeper-batsman (and he’ll need to be because Kamran Akmal seems to be making runs in domestic cricket – three centuries in four matches). Their bowling was always interesting. They have some top spinners, and in Yasir Shah a star. Shoaib Malik had a glorious swansong, while Babar is a really good number two spinner (as he showed when being the lead in Abu Dhabi). Wahab Riaz is a really exciting bowler, while Imran Khan and Rahit Ali gave good support. Lurking in the wings is the man to split world cricket, Mohammed Amir, taking wickets for a Gas Company.

Pakistan’s bowling was better than England’s. The results of the last two matches suggested that we were found wanting a little when the heat rose. England’s inability to make more of their position in the first innings at Sharjah was ultimately fatal to their hopes of drawing the series. The fingers were pointed at our spin bowling as if England’s score of just over 300 was acceptable. Maybe Alastair Cook’s monstrous 263 in Abu Dhabi was an outlier, but top players need to be making hundreds against good bowling in difficult conditions. Root did it at Trent Bridge for example. It wasn’t the abomination that was 2012, but it wasn’t a quantum leap forward either. 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s are all well and good, but they need to be your second best score in an innings rather than the highest. Williamson, McCullum, Warner, Latham (twice) and Ross Taylor have scored tons in the UAE in the past three years. Alastair Cook is our only man to score over 90 in six attempts!

Anderson and Broad can’t really be faulted. I saw that some thought this was back to the days of bowling dry, but they took wickets and kept control, which meant exerting pressure. Sure, there were frustrating times when the spinners were hammered, and that’s where the fingers are pointed.

I think the key issue from a series like this is whether England are moving forward, and that is what is so confusing here. We have a winter in India and Bangladesh (I’m not so sure that’s going to happen) next year so our all round development has to be in our thoughts as well as the here and now.

We still don’t have an opening partner for Cook. Many have tried, none have truly succeeded. The least worst have been Compton and Carberry, the oddest was Trott, the most expedient was Moeen, and the two that were given the post and failed to last were Robson and Lyth. Now what? Hales? Yeah. Good luck with that. He looks a test number 6 to me, at best.

Number 3 is currently the residence of Ian Bell. He had a nearly series, but the frustrations of his critics have hardly been calmed by his output here. He’ll bat here against South Africa (unless he jacks it in) and I’ve a feeling we will be saying the same thing as we are now. Is he ever going to be prolific again? Is this the slot James Taylor eventually lands in.

Joe Root is a fixture at 4, and his lack of hundreds on this tour, while a concern, also show how much we rely on him. His output is crucial, perhaps too crucial. I see many saying why doesn’t he bowl more, and I’ll say we need his back spared for batting, not bowling.

At number 5 we had Bairstow and Taylor. Bairstow is going to get the gloves for South Africa, one would imagine, and I thought I saw some development on this tour with the bat. But the question remains over whether he is really good enough. He’s never been given the sort of run he has now, and I think it essential he gets the first two or three tests in South Africa, and if it isn’t a total disaster, stick with it. While I would have stuck with Buttler (but a close call), this role is his now until he loses it,

Ben Stokes is a frustrating talent, but we know that. He’s not the problem, so it’s something we can pass by. But he’s got to get better against spin. His bowling will reap rewards on other days.

The one thing you can’t get away from is that the middle order is a total mess. While we can all look back and laugh to those six months ago who said there were no middle order vacancies so you KP fanboys can go whistle, the fact is if this team were being picked on merit, the spectre from Kwazulu Natal would be looming large. It’s too late now, of course it is, and his record in the UAE last time was dreadful (but he came back to form with that magnificent hundred in Colombo soon after) but that middle order misses him. It….just…..does.

The bowling was odd. Broad couldn’t take wickets early, but then kept the runs down and tooks some scalps. He batted pretty well (his disasters of a year ago seem a thing of the past) too. He’s an unappreciated player, and he’s a superb player. Let’s hope he stays fit. Jimmy bowled very well, of course, and we take him for granted. While I know we all get fed up with the hyperbolic press, making him into the “greatest ever” or the “best in the world”, he’s a world class performer, one of the best around, and he’s on our team. He’s not my favourite player, but that’s irrelevant. He’s a treasure for England.

The spinners were thrown under the bus (the batsmen are as culpable) and to a degree it is deserved. The Adil Rashid that bowled out the Pakistanis in Abu Dhabi must have been fed up with being told how many bad balls he bowled, how he bowls too slowly and those little dog whistles about his commitment carrying over from Lord’s last summer, that it must get to him to a degree. We do focus on what he doesn’t do. His batting in the second test showed he has something to give. I do hope we don’t give up on him. Moeen is being ruined by this team – he’s neither here nor there. A spin bowler asked to open. A middle-order bat asked to spin. A spin bowler batting at 8. He’s not an all-rounder, he’s a utility player. I’m absolutely clueless about what they want from him, what they expect. This is as curious a test career as I can think of. The only player I can think treated anywhere near like this is Shane Watson. That’s not a precedent to be set. Samit Patel won’t play for England again, I suspect. Zafar Ansari will have that sort of place next time, and we might watch England wonder what the hell to do with him, when (or if) they pick him.

So what do we do now? I have absolutely no idea. The Durban test starts on Boxing Day. England will line-up like this, maybe? Cook, Hales, Bell, Root, Taylor, Stokes (if fit), Bairstow, Ali, Broad, Wood and Anderson. Anything else will be down to injury or a shock selection. Who knows if it will be good enough, because we won’t be facing green seamers, but pacier, better wickets, perhaps. There seems some confidence that we will do better on those wickets. I’m not so sure.

I’m really not sure what to make of this. It was better than 2012, maybe the same as 2005. There are calls to reform county cricket. There are cries about the state of spin bowling. There are questions over team selections. I’m at a loss. Probably best to just appreciate an interesting, testing series, with some good cricket and some not so good. It was more appealing than watching green seamers and 60 all out. I don’t think England were bad. They just weren’t as good as Pakistan. Maybe it’s the simplest way to look at it. England to me are a team of confusion, and without an Ashes win, the pitchforks might be well and truly out. Maybe those green seamers saved more than Alastair’s skin; they bought him some time, and his team some time.

I’d be interested in any other thoughts.

This won’t be a long piece (it is). I’ve not had the best 48 hours (and thanks for those who have sent kind wishes, but the real sympathy must go to my cousin who lost her mum, and to mine and my wife’s friend who is about to lose hers), and added to that terrible stuff having a raging migraine and head cold is not the stuff to make you want to blog.

So let’s get that self-pitying stuff out the way before someone gets all prissy about it and I flee to some grotty South London boozer to avoid the flak.

Karl Marx once said that “Every step of real movement is more important than a dozen programmes.” (and you don’t know how many deadly dull Marx quotes I had to go through to get to that one) and despite some of the more doom-prone members of my lovely comments section, I have seen some steps of real movement. I think James Taylor’s first innings was very promising. I think Jonny Bairstow hasn’t done at all badly with the bat. I think we’ve seen, in Mark Wood, a bowler who will do well on the sub-continent. It’s not all doom and gloom. But it’s not all sunshine and light either. Tomorrow, we’re going to need something special to pull this off, and hope is in short supply. This won’t be a draw. 240 in a day to level a series does not indicate that we’ll be trying to avoid defeat. They will deserve untold stick for that.

Now, I’ve got to be honest, and say that I’ve seen very little of the last three day’s play because I have a job. Following the game has come from comments here, and various people on Twitter. In a theme I’m going to adopt a bit more as the weeks go on, the tendency for extreme reactions in the press is getting tedious. This is, at one time, the worst display by spin some people have ever seen. Really? Is it? Richard Dawson? Simon Kerrigan? Ian Salisbury? Come on, people. I’ve seen England cough up 600 on pitches like this, and yes, they had good pace attacks too. I’m not saying our spinners are the world’s best, but we are a bit hanging judge here. If it’s not the worst ever, it’s the greatest ever, and yes, we’ve heard that about Broad and Anderson. There was an article I linked from Awful Announcing, which people have picked up here, about the Kardashianisation of Sports Reporting. These are good people (and not so good) resorting to this pants on fire, I don’t remember yesterday type stuff. It’s ADHD reporting and ex-pros are the worst at it. I’m looking at Shiny Toy Vaughan in particular.

This has been a series to appreciate stuff we’ve missed. Younus Khan, Misbah, Cook’s 263, Root’s consistency, the tantalising flair, if just for one afternoon, of Adil Rashid. There’s the two Khan’s Yasir and Imran, different in approach, in reputation, in appreciation of their talents. The left arm fury of Wahab on a mission, or the metronomic consistency on pitches with little assistance by Anderson and Broad. To lose this series 2-0 would not be a disgrace. They have come on some way for the experience, but lost key parts to it. More of this is for review if I get the chance, but this has been a series to savour, when I’ve seen it. It’s not the breakneck, madhouse that is Ashes cricket, but what test cricket was like when I was younger. Wickets were hard earned, but so were runs. Chances had to be taken, because they were few and far between. Hafeez has probably sealed the series, but is there one more chapter to be written. One more story of derring-do to finish this contest.

I still have hope…

It was noted that Kevin Pietersen made 115 this evening for Sunfoil Dolphins. I’ve not seen the strength of anti-reactions I usually see, which indicates that the print media have now sought to leave this be. Maybe. I saw some made a case, which any sensible person would back, that he should be in our World T20 team. I saw some doubt the class of opponent. It is what it is. He still is a damn fine player. That’s not the issue, and I wish people would stop that pretence. It’s personal. The end.

Australia host New Zealand in the first test at the Gabba (reminding me of my trip down that way in the same week in 2002 – oh those memories). Personally, I think Australia will win pretty comfortably, probably 2-0, maybe even whitewashing them. They are playing on the three wickets that would suit the hosts the most, and while it will be entertaining, it may bring the Aussies back up to their confident best/worst. There are huge question marks, but Aussie seems to regenerate better than most.

India v South Africa tomorrow as well, I believe. In Mohali. Again, a fascinating series, and will depend on the pitches put up for the games. South Africa are resilient on all surfaces, and I fancy a drawn series. Maybe 1-1?

Kusal Perera. You poor thing. Something about 99s.

A couple of things I saw from domestic cricket around the globe. How about those Sui Southern Gas Corporation guys who torched (geddit) Hyderabad in a pretty one-sided affair, with a particularly inflammable subject taking 5 for 29 in the first innings. He even added 60 to SSGC’s first innings pouring oil on troubled waters for the hosts. Enough of that.

We could be on the brink of another double ton early on tomorrow……

Comments on all the international cricket, a hope that Nathan Lyon’s #1 fan makes a seasonal reappearance, and that we can all enjoy the valedictory pieces of our press-men, as many come home after the test series.

As tradition dictates……”comments below”

Well, I have to be honest. I’ve not seem much at all of today’s play. A bit of a problem when you have a cricket blog! You also have to say that the highlights are not going to give you a great sense of the rearguard action and accumulation that Taylor undertook, in concert with Johnny Bairstow (who, I’m chuffed to say, is making me eat my words). But the sense from Twitter, if FICJAM allows me to source that, is that these two played compactly, sensibly and within their limits. They have put England in a good, but not unassailable position. Tomorrow needs to be more of the same, with the best outcome being two new centurions. England need them.

I posted this on Twitter at around 9:20 (actually I was on the train coming in to work – still can’t figure out how to get Sky Go on the tablet via Virgin Media – does my head in) and it did reflect the sense of pessimism I was seeing:

Hey. A rare time I can say, I was right!

I’ll say nothing on the cheap lines that have been put on the internet regarding the “relationship” between Taylor and some former batsman who didn’t rate him. OK. I will. Those who thought that remains a salient point are muppets. The end.

Just checked up on the Independent – Bunkers wrote a piece yesterday, but today it’s agency staff? Not sure what’s going on. Thought he’d mention you-know-who. I’m all disappointed now. Newman did, but I actually didn’t have a problem with how he did it.

But, Dean Wilson, please. Tut Tut…

Despite putting on 147 together against South Africa, Kevin Pietersen told then England coach Andy Flower that he ‘didn’t think Taylor was up to it’ at Test level, and somehow that view stuck for longer than it should.

Pietersen also had an issue with Taylor’s height. At five foot, six inches tall, he is one of the smallest players in the game, prompting team-mates to have a joke on him with ‘youth’-sized equipment earlier on the tour.

I am very disappointed.

No-one can ever be certain that a player will do well for his country, and it is easy to appear clever after the event. But you always felt he should be given another go. The jockey has his nose in front…

Comments on Day 3 below.

UPDATE:

Hello…

The paradox of successful traditions, however, is that they rely on constant adaptation and subtle change. In The Invention of Tradition, the English historian Eric Hobsbawm showed how apparently iconic national traditions were, in fact, skilful constructions, creations of opportunism and salesmanship as well as the stock of collective memory.

 

Double Century Watch…

I’ll try to feature every double hundred I come across…Paras Dogra, a 30 year old middle-order batsman, made 209 for Himachal Pradesh v Tripura at the lovely looking ground at Dharamsala. It wasn’t his career best – that is 230 not out. He completed his 200 yesterday and HP went on to win by an innings.

Another double hundred to report…..

Bangladesh test batsman Mominul Haque made a career best 239 for Chittagong Division against Barisal Division. It contained 37×4 and put his team almost on terms.

The Leg Glance has had his say on the day’s play, so please read his review. Little to add to the mix myself, except that if we win this game from here, many hats need to be tipped. We will need to bowl Pakistan out with a seamer almost certainly out of action, and with the spinners so far not really living up to expectations. This will be a tremendous win, if they can pull it off. Broad and Anderson were remarkable today. They’ll have to be when we bowl again.

There are other reviews available from today.

Selvey. I would say it’s OK, but then I don’t know anything about cricket so it’s probably rubbish.

Newman. I really don’t know what to make of this. Someone help.

Bunkers. Tough for me to get through the first paragraph.

Berry.

The batting needs to come to the party now, and in many ways let us hope someone other than Root or Cook plays the major role. We do need to find someone else to do the work.

Other bits. Ajantha Mendis hit a six to win an ODI by one wicket against the Windies. Someone post the video link if they can find it. I can’t.

Steve Smith is dropping to bat at 4 in the upcoming series against New Zealand. I’ll give Cook his due. He didn’t rock back in the armchair of lower middle order cosiness.

Also, we may have several guest posts this week. We may also have none. Let us see…

Comments on a potentially thrilling Day 2 below.

The lot of the England cricket supporter is to imagine in great detail the impending disaster which is to follow, and so it is that having bowled out Pakistan for 234, on a pitch that certainly offered far more life than expected given the series position, the fear is that Pakistan’s superior spin attack will skittle England for far fewer.

That is always possible, for certainly England are going to have to bat superbly in order to get into a position of strength, but there’s no reason why they shouldn’t and a lead of even 50 would be like gold dust on a surface that is taking considerable turn on day one.  Safe to say that we’re unlikely to find out how much it turns on day five, for this very much appears a result pitch, and England could have asked for nothing more.

At the start of play, having lost the toss, England would have bitten an arm or two off to be batting by the close, so whatever happens tomorrow, day one couldn’t have gone much better than it did.

Sure, there were quibbles, as there always are: the spinners didn’t exert control, or perhaps weren’t allowed to exert control, but the seamers were outstanding, particularly Anderson and Broad who took six wickets between them for just 30 runs in almost as many overs. Given that the most startling thing was the turn from the beginning, for those two to perform as they did was both astonishing and highly praiseworthy. How England’s batsmen perform is a matter for tomorrow, but unquestionably Broad and Anderson have given England a chance of squaring the series.

Not that Patel, Rashid and Moeen bowled especially badly, there were just too many freebies, which really shouldn’t come as that big a surprise given that England’s spin attack is markedly inferior. But they will have to bowl better in the second innings for England to truly have a chance.

In fact the only really sour note of the day came with the injury to Ben Stokes. It didn’t look at all good, but it’s very hard to tell with shoulder impact injuries. If he’s fortunate it’ll simply be a matter of popping the shoulder back in and putting up with some bruising. If it isn’t, then it could be months and with an uncertain prognosis. Undoubtedly a serious blow, and for the game position at least, his batting will be missed too.

And so on to tomorrow. The old story of judging a pitch after both sides have batted on it is as true here as anywhere, but that England have created an opportunity for themselves is equally true, it’s just a matter of whether they take it or not.

We’re going to get a result. That in itself England would have taken before the start.