Sharjah – Day 5 – The Final Act

LordCanisLupus146 Comments
He's got us by the......
He’s got us by the……

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”

Sharjah Day 3 – Short On Detail, Long On Hope (and a couple of 200s)

LordCanisLupus89 Comments
Sharjah Racing
If that had been number 5 in front, the picture would have worked!

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…

Paras Dogra - 209 not out for Himachal Pradesh
Paras Dogra – 209 not out for Himachal Pradesh

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…..

239 and a carerr best - Mominul Haque
239 and a carerr best – Mominul Haque

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.

Sharjah Day 2 – With Some Bits And Bobs

LordCanisLupus28 Comments
Remember Sharjah Stamps As A Kid
Remember Sharjah Stamps As A Kid

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.

TLG Report – Pakistan v England – 3rd Test Day One

thelegglance21 Comments
Dash, Damn and Blast...
Dash, Damn and Blast…

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.

Sharjah Day 1 – And Bits Of Other Stuff

LordCanisLupus46 Comments

night_sharjah_23_by_amirajuli-d4ipmv5

So we move to the Third Test of this fascinating series. Both the first two tests have gone down to the wire, both in unlikely circumstances. In the former, the spinner derided by the journo who tells us know-nothings what’s what, nearly won us a game, and in the latter the spinner derided by the journo who…., nearly saved us when all seemed lost.

But we are where we are, 1-0 down. There’s stuff about we deserve to be level, etc. but that’s just the stuff of hopes and dreams. Winning a test match, as the Pakistanis found in Dubai, is about sealing the deal, closing the match, and sometimes it is bloody hard to do so. Clearly, a win in Sharjah by this team would be up there with Mumbai 2006, Colombo 2001, Karachi 2000 in the pantheon of great, unexpected, away wins. I don’t include either of the two in India in 2012 as that was an experienced, road-tested, England team out there, great as those wins were.

England will make changes. One is forced – Mark Wood’s ankle problems are being managed (and please God, not by another cortisone shot…) and so he steps down. While the wickets column isn’t totally his friend at the moment, he is developing rapidly as a test bowler and has tremendous promise. I fear for his injuries. Fingers crossed for him.

Also, widely trailed, is the “resting” of Jos Buttler. The replacement keeper will be Jonny Bairstow which, in my view, is cripplingly unfair to both of them. Bairstow has shown a bit of stickability in the middle order and is trying to nail down a place. Having to do that while keeping wicket in a one-off test is ratcheting up the difficulty level. Also, will dropping Jos Buttler do him any good? There’s a school of thought that he’ll get his confidence back in the ODIs – that didn’t happen in England.

James Taylor may well be getting the nod for this game, but I’m also seeing others floating someone else opening (Bell – WTF?). I’m pretty sure they’ll stick with Ali for this test, but who knows? Bayliss doesn’t seem the type to chop and change without due thought and process. With the press confirming that Taylor and Bairstow are playing, we have to believe that with Plunkett for Wood, we have our XI. If this tweet is anything to go by, it’s looking good for James. All the best to him.

KP isn’t happy at the dropping of Jos. His article is very insightful though on how to come to terms with spin bowling, and for that, I think it is well worth a read. Haters will hate, though.

Pakistan are without Imran Khan. Will Azhar Ali come into the team? Will we solve the Yasir conundrum? A fascinating contest is in store.

Some statitude….

There have been 15 test centuries in Sharjah. Brendon McCullum’s 202 is the highest. Mohammed Hafeez (197) and Kane Williamson (192) made the next two highest scores in the same test match in November 2014. The next hundred by a Pakistani will be the 10th by a “home” player there. Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Younus Khan (2) all have hundreds there.

New Zealand’s 690 there in 2014 is a major stat outlier which will be tough to beat. The next best innings total is 493 by Pakistan in 2002 v West Indies.

Of 7 test matches played in Sharjah, there has been one draw.

In those 7 tests, there have been hundred partnerships for each of the first 7 wickets. Most vulnerable? 125 for the 4th by Misbah and Mohammad Hafeez? 116 for the 3rd by Taylor and Williamson for New Zealand? Record partnership is for the 2nd between Williamson and McCullum.

Mark Craig has the best ever bowling figures at Sharjah in tests; 7 for 94. Other five wicket hauls have been from Shoaib Akhtar, Shane Warne, Chanaka Welegedara and Rangana Herath.

England have made 20 hundreds in away test matches against Pakistan. Cook has the two highest scores for English players in the UAE – 263 and 94.

Elsewhere we’ve seen the conclusion of the day-night round of the Sheffield Shield. All three matches ended in results:

Tasmania v Western Australia – Scorecard here. Double century watch – Michael Klinger made 202 not out in the first innings

Victoria v Queensland – Scorecard here. Including a massive performance by Travis Dean who was on the field for the entire match (unless he nipped off for a call of nature, of course)

South Australia v New South Wales – Scorecard here. Steve Smith and Ed Cowan with hundreds. Mitchell Starc with 8 wickets.

Of course, double hundreds for Aaron Finch (288*) and Ryan Carters in the warm-up match were buried under the stories over the pitch. Australia are getting a bit of a rep for preparing stupid surfaces for warm-up games. Going to be an interesting test series. My mate in Adelaide has been saying there has been a ton of complaints, but this seems to indicate batsmen can make scores, and bowlers can take wickets. A balance is important. There have been a few 150s, and some decent bowling performances. There will be more news to come.

Some house news. You will note we’ve changed the domain name. Using the old domain still works, but it might be best to update your bookmarks. beingoutsidecricket.com is ours……

Sad to see The Full Toss reaching the end of the road. We were aware something was in the wash as Maxie has a new baby and freelance work to get to grips with and had said to us over a beer in the summer that he thought he would step down after the Ashes. James has a hell of a task widening his remit on the new venture, but we wish him all the best. It may be that we get even more attention than before, now that Maxie, who was increasingly becoming a punchbag for certain posters, will now not be available to have a pop at. Us sinister lot!

On the matters of yesterday, where according to the usual supsects I was part of some conspiracy with Maxie, I am gobsmacked. I had no part in it other than to say to Tregaskis that he still had “it” and saying I was watching while munching popcorn! To be honest, I knew nothing about the golf game, who played with who, or why. Frankly, I don’t care. I’ve been on the end of hospitality before, and I’m not influenced other than I like people who have done it. If they ain’t VFM in what they supply, they don’t have a chance. I think that goes anywhere. I thought the reaction was more interesting than the substance, to be fair. I spoke to some of the contributors during the day but barely touched on the golf. I’m just too busy at work, and enjoying myself with mates after work to be conducting some grand plan. Some people need to look at themselves, frankly.

OK. Test cricket. Sharjah. Game on. Comments below.

A Hornet’s Nest

thelegglance34 Comments

Over at our friends at the Full Toss, a proper debate has been going on – it started initially on Twitter, with Tregaskis raising a point, and snowballed from there.  The whole thing can be read through Maxie’s post on TFT, and I’m not going to repeat it here, so the link is as follows:

The return of Caesar’s wife

Here’s the thing.  I like Maxie.  I like his writing, and I like him personally.  I’ve had a couple of good nights out with him, and enjoyed his company thoroughly.  Which is why I know that saying I disagree with his premise is not going to be met with shock and horror, but more “Oh really, why?”   Because if there’s one thing I do know about him, it’s that he’s exceptionally comfortable with the idea people hold different views to him – it’s something that always makes me smile when you get the more virulent criticism of him for his articles, he is quite interested in those who don’t agree.

It’s one of those things that is striking across a few of these blogs.   Dmitri is the same, forever worrying about whether his perspective is a reasonable one.  The irony is that it’s me who tells him to ignore the trolling and the abuse, yet I’m the one who is probably thought of as less polemical and more nuanced.  The true beauty of all of these debates is that it involves real people, who can be hurt.

From his post, it seems Lawrence Booth in particular felt that he was being unfairly maligned, and here I have enormous sympathy with him.  I really can’t see a thing wrong with something like a golf day that might involve a few players.  And this is why – in my own line of work there is a fair bit of what we might call “promotional” activity.  The deal is what is has been for generations across many kinds of career, we take them out, spoil them, show them a good time and when it comes to contracting maybe they’ll be better disposed to us than our competitors. Naturally, our competitors do the same.  It’s the kind of thing that tends to be pontificated about as somehow dubious, but it’s normal practice.  More specifically, I’d fall down in a faint if something like that made a potential client switch to me, it doesn’t happen, it’s way more complex than that involving building trust and – the key point – getting to know people.

For journalists, their stock in trade is copy for their newspapers.  It’s nothing like as simple as on here – I can write any old rubbish and click “Publish” and up it goes.  The press pack have to pass it via their editors and hope that some kind of simulcrum of what they wrote appears in the paper the following day.  It is extremely easy to be totally cynical of all media output, and it just ain’t that simple.

Want the proof?  I can write a piece on here talking about Kevin Pietersen, and the hits we get double from normal.  Hell, just the fact his name is used will add a few extra ones. It’s extremely easy for us to manipulate the content if we were so inclined, and thus when online papers do it, the line that it’s clickbait might be true, but it’s successful clickbait.

Neither Dmitri nor I make a penny from this place, so we can say what we like, but it’s pretty easy to see how commercial sites love it when you can do something that straightforward to get extra hits.

So for a newspaper journalist, first and foremost they need to create copy that attracts attention.  That might be about – say – Joe Root, as we’ve seen with the Telegraph interview with him that has got plenty of notice.  But what we can’t do is expect those articles to come out of the ether, and that’s where the whole point of argument has stemmed from.  It’s a fair bit easier for former England batsman and captain Michael Vaughan to do it, but for a normal cricket journalist, to provide an angle requires them to do the legwork both before and after.

We know what Root (poor lad, still using him as the example) did in raw figures and anyone can write that, it’s just that barely anyone will read it because it’s dull.  How does a journalist provide context and colour?  It’s by getting to know them, talking to them, allowing a sufficient degree of trust that they will speak to them in the first place.  So both because of my rationale about hosting events, and because of the peculiarities of sports journalism, events such as a golf day are critical.  What else would people desire of their correspondents?  Glorious isolation? It simply is not going to happen, and the journalists aren’t doing their jobs if it does happen.

The unguarded comment from someone suckered in by a journalist they trust is in itself part of the job, but they can’t do that unless they know them in the first place.  It’s just not a fair argument to attack people for doing what is in reality their job.

On here we have offered up plenty of criticism for journalists not holding the ECB or ICC to account, and those criticisms stand absolutely. The frustration about that can’t mean though that everything they do is therefore criticised, we have to be fair about this. When we get a fascinating interview with Nick Compton, it’s because that journalist spent time getting to know him well enough for him to talk, and created sufficient trust for him to open up. It doesn’t help anyone to pretend the means by which that happened shouldn’t.

Criticism for not doing their jobs properly is legitimate and necessary. But not for when they are.  And heaven only knows there are enough things to complain about there, for there really is much too cosy a relationship between some journalists and the ECB, while the fact that the senior cricket correspondent of one of the broadsheets can’t even be bothered to watch Death of a Gentleman remains as pathetic a dereliction of duty as there is.  But seeing reds under every bed weakens the argument, it doesn’t strengthen it.  Sometimes they’ve simply done nothing wrong.

The Cricketer – November 2015

LordCanisLupus26 Comments

Thought I’d do a quick piece summarising what is in the Cricketer this month. A sort of “I read it so you don’t have to……”

There’s an additional insert on “The Playing Fields of England” recognising schools cricket across the country. I see my one isn’t in there….

Mark Wood is on the cover.

The Editor At Large’s article is entitled “Watching England and Pakistan grind out runs in front of Abu Dhabi’s deserted stands was intrinsically depressing”

The first paragraph lays on the depression “It was if we were witnessing the slow death of test cricket (is that why the umpires took the players off?)” Always leave em’ laughing “Analyst”.

We all know why Pakistan are playing test cricket in the Emirates, and thus the conclusion to an article about the revolution of day-night tests etc. is a bit daft. “Tests should be played where people can watch them, and on pitches that offer a proper balance between bat and ball.” If Abu Dhabi had had its full allotment of overs, we’d have had a result! What’s he on about!!!! Green tops rule!

20 questions are with Brian McMillan.

Selvey’s article is written after Day 3 of Abu Dhabi. Arron will not be disappointed….

“Once again, it is no reflection on the effort or skill. He bowls several miles an hour slower than ideal, which makes him easier to play off the back foot and to get down the pitch to, and, in trying to spin the ball hard, invariably bowls bad deliveries, for which the canny batsman can wait.”

Actually Fred will like the comma-fest too. To be fair, he’s actually a good deal nicer about Rashid than we’ve seen elsewhere. Otherwise, it seems to be an article about playing a round of golf with Peter Parfitt. As you do.

Michael Henderson writes a piece about Ian Botham’s 60th birthday calling him “the greatest English cricketer to have lived in the lives of most people who watch the game.” It’s positive. Someone mention Pietersen to him!

The Moment in Time didn’t exist in the world of Giles Clarke. It’s a picture of Allen Stanford and his Superstars!

Tim Wigmore has an article on the Big Three. Not read it yet, but sure it will be good. Tim’s a decent old writer.

There’s a piece on Oman cricket by Derek Pringle. I’ll read it. I really will.

Dileep Premachandran has a piece on the retiring Kumar Sangakkara and Geoff Lemon on Michael Clarke.

Sir Michael Parkinson writes an obituary for Brian Close. Huw Turbevill has a piece on Bob Willis. About his role on The Verdict he says “It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, to call it how it is. It alienates the dyed-in-the-wool, can-see-n0-wrong England fan. You hear the voice of the minority all the time.”

There’s a season review, a piece on the 1993 NatWest Final, an interview with Devon Malcolm and the regulars.

No Alec Swann. Lord have mercy.

2nd Test, a few idle thoughts

thelegglance63 Comments

As has become traditional for me, I return from a busy work trip of a fortnight to then spend the next week flat on my back ill. Great. The teasing about it being malaria or dengue fever has already begun.

You might think this perfectly allows
me to watch the cricket, but instead I fall asleep through most of it, which given the nature of play in the UAE might actually be the best way to experience it.

So England lost and have gone 1-0 down in the series. As most have pointed out, it stems entirely from the first innings collapse that saw a position of some strength turn into almost certain defeat in a couple of hours.   After two matches, the series has turned on a single session, for England could well be 2-0 up in this series had things gone slightly differently at key moments. Them’s the breaks, sport has always been about seizing the moment when it arrives, and England have shown themselves less than perfect at doing so for some time.

To some extent it could be said England haven’t learned from their last visit to the UAE, some of what happened then is happening now, yet a difference is that it is possible to see England winning in Sharjah and squaring the series – last time it just got worse by the match.

The batting is obviously a concern, as only Cook and Root are getting any runs, but this isn’t exactly new, and has been an issue for some time. Cook loves these slow pitches – he’s an extremely odd kind of opener, one who is vulnerable to pace and the moving ball (more so than many openers) but an outstanding player of spin. Equally, his levels of concentration are the stuff of legend, so his first Test mammoth effort don’t actually come as a surprise; it’s what he does, and does so well.

Root is now getting to the point where we have to start wondering if he’s not just going through a rich vein of form, that maybe he really is this good. Because if so, he’s going to shatter every England batting record there is.

Mark Wood is one who can hold his head up, and not just for his bowling. We know he can bat, but his innings yesterday showed a depth of character as much as anything. In his primary role, he’s been a revelation. The pitches offer him nothing, so he’s taken them out of the equation. It’s clever, thoughtful and effective. 

Adil Rashid too has shown why those who called for him a year ago and more had a point. He’s been inconsistent sure, but leg spinners are. The trouble is that they are all measured by Shane Warne, who is pretty much the only leg spinner ever who wasn’t inconsistent and wasn’t expensive.   Rashid is a Test novice and has done ok. His batting too has been good, all of which should mean he has a decent shot at the South Africa tour. Whether it will…

Ian Bell is once again under pressure. Given that he’s hardly alone in struggling, it seems a bit unfair to single him out, but that’s what the media do, usually having been given a nod that it’s a consideration by the Powers That Be.  If it is near the end, it’s a sad way for a player with his record and skill to fade away. But it’s hard to avoid the sense that this may well be it for him. 

Jos Buttler too has struggled, and for the first time it seems to be affecting his keeping as well. Players do go through poor form, and those that are backed tend to come through the other side. Some players are backed for a couple of years to allow them to do so. It’s more about what is best for him at the moment, but mid series always seems a peculiar time to change horses, especially if it’s just three matches as it implies the selection was wrong in the first place.
Likewise, it shouldn’t really be a surprise that Moeen isn’t an opening batsman.

For Pakistan, a quick word about Misbah ul Haq. He’s been captain for a few years now, a player less honoured in his own land than abroad. Pakistan cricket was in meltdown when he took over, the hangover from the spot fixing episode, the continuing inability to play matches at home. Misbah has given them back their self respect, and led from the front throughout, all while giving the firm impression that anyone wanting to suggest match fixing to him had better have their hospital arrangements in place beforehand. He’s been a terrific player, one who has performed far above expectations of someone in the autumn of his career, but more than that he’s been a leader. Whatever happens to England, it’s hard to experience anything but pleasure that one of the good guys has led Pakistan out of the darkness.

And with that, I’m going back under the blanket. Ugh.