Inter-Galactic Test

Observing the recent Test series between Pakistan and England, taking place at Pakistan’s ‘home away from home’ on the slow turning pitches of the United Arab Emirates, highlighted amongst other things that the renascent spin bowling gravy train has resumed its journey after a couple of years in the sidings and is approaching something resembling full speed once more.

Not since Messrs Warne and Muralitharan were relentlessly depressing batsmen’s averages the world over has the spin bowler been such a prominent protagonist in Test cricket. A whole heap of spin induced batting woes in the aforementioned series in particular appeared to be the sum of two parts: the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) and downright poor technique.

Indeed, it could be argued that the inclusion of the UDRS in to Test cricket will in time see a visible change in the way batsmen approach spin bowlers; developing a means to combat the exponential increase in lbw decisions being awarded to spinners that we are now witnessing.

Whether it is UDRS that is the main driving force behind this spin revival is a topic that has already been extensively discussed, but certainly in terms of technique there have always been those that stood out from the crowd. Watching over some clips of the epic battles between Shane Warne and Brian Lara recently got me thinking: who are the greatest players of spin in the history of the game? Further to that, on a turning wicket, what is the best all time XI that could be assembled?

Sir Jack Hobbs - masterful

Leaving the realms of reality behind then, we travel to the Planet Teesra, light-years from Earth. As you might guess, the conditions are a spin bowler’s paradise; crumbling dust bowls with a dearth of moisture in the wicket, and many a delivery causing chunks to explode from the surface.

The Planet Teesra resident cricket team have challenged us Earthlings to a one-off Test match, to be played in their home conditions, of course. They represent a fearsome prospect, boasting a selection of the finest spin bowlers the universe has ever seen; difficult to read from the tentacle and with the ability to turn it on space ice. Their batsmen are equally masterful players of spin.

Such aliens are not the usual kind one would expect from the movies. They're similar in stature and form to human beings, so we shouldn't be facing anything too out of the ordinary, or likely to see our batsmen 'retire hurt' through alien induced savaging. They're a sporting bunch, and to counter their home advantage they have offered us the following terms and conditions:

•  An atmospheric dome will cover the venue, where gravity is equivalent to that on Earth (otherwise there would have been some serious six hitting!)
•  The aliens of Planet Teesra have offered use of their advanced technologies; allowing any cricketer from any era on Earth to be resurrected in their prime years in order to participate in this one-off Test match.
• The current ICC rules will apply, restricting the degree to which the alien spinners can use their flexible tentacles when bowling a delivery.

As selector, who would you pick? Remember, we must assemble the very finest side that Earth has had to offer in spin friendly conditions. Here is the Silly Point(s) XI:

Sir Jack Hobbs – whilst seldom batting on ‘dust bowls’, Sir Jack played many an innings on ‘sticky’, spin friendly wickets that others could only marvel at. His mastery in 1909-10 of South Africa’s leg-break bowlers when playing on the matting wickets then used in South Africa where, according to Wisden, “South African spinners were at their most viciously angular” adds further weight to the selection of cricket’s original ‘Master’.

Virender Sehwag – an extremely aggressive opening batsman that rarely lets a spinner settle. Sehwag has had his critics for his technique against the seaming and swinging ball, but his dominion of spin bowling in his home conditions of India, perhaps the nearest thing on Earth to ‘alien’ conditions, sees him selected as an opening partner for Sir Jack Hobbs. Plus, as Wisden tells us, “the sight of a spinner brings the savage out in him.” Let those aliens be scared of us, for once.

Sir Don Bradman - the greatest batsman that ever lived has to have a place, doesn’t he? Perhaps slightly weaker against spin than seam, but still outrageously effective against it; you would always back The Don to score runs.

Sachin Tendulkar – perhaps the most complete batsman of his time, ‘The Little Master’ has prolifically scored runs in all conditions. Possesses a vast array of strokes along with the perfect balance and poise at the crease that proves so effective on a turning pitch, and holds a very strong record against the greatest spinners of his time. More than capable as a back up spinner.

Brian Lara – quite simply amongst the best players of spin bowling that I have seen in my lifetime. Sublime footwork and plenty of aggressive intent that never let a spinner settle. Notable success against Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan makes his inclusion a certainty.
Sir Garfield Sobers - the finest all-rounder in the history of the sport slots in well at number six. A magnificent batsman against any type of bowling, and a very good left arm spinner in his own right, adding further variation to the Planet Earth XI spin attack, not to mention being one of the great leg-slip fielders; a key position in these conditions. 

Andy Flower (wk) – as perhaps the one Zimbabwean batsman of true Test quality, Flower consistently proved himself to be one of the finest players of spin in world cricket, enjoying tremendous success on the turning wickets of India. Will have a hard task keeping wicket in such conditions, but makes it in ahead of Alan Knott for his excellent technique when combating spin bowling.

Wasim Akram  - picked as the solitary out and out fast bowler for this Test. One has to imagine that such a pitch will be particularly abrasive, lending itself to the reverse swing of Wasim as the ball gets scuffed. More than handy with the bat for some late order runs.

Shane Warne (c) – possessing every variation in the book, including a few that existed only by name, the leg-spin of Shane Warne would be expected to play a pivotal role. Prodigious turn, accuracy and with that all-round ‘X-factor’, the greatest captain that Australia never had takes his place at number nine as captain of the Planet Earth XI. Has the ability to add further late order runs.

Sydney Barnes – sharing the new ball with Wasim, Barnes would utilise his mixture of medium pace and both off-spin and leg-spin deliveries to devastating effect on a crumbling pitch. As Wisden say, “Barnes was creative, one of the first bowlers really to use the seam of a new ball and combine swing so subtly with spin that few batsmen could distinguish one from the other.”

Muttiah Muralitharan – the record holder for the most number of wickets in Test cricket is a certain pick at number eleven to complete the Planet Earth XI line-up.  A mystery bowler whose stock off-break delivery would perfectly complement the leg-breaks of Warne, Muralitharan’s variation and lethal doosra would prove a nightmare for even the finest alien batsmen to contend with..

Perhaps our team strip will involve black suits and dark sunglasses, too.

Over to you.

Rehman gives England the Trott's...

Whilst Jonathan Trott was experiencing plenty of uncomfortable off field troubles of his own in Abu Dhabi this afternoon, his fellow England batsmen were providing a similarly gut wrenching performance to a horror struck audience back home, only this time in a cricketing sense.

After the continual successes of the past two years, England supporters could perhaps have been forgiven for believing that a run chase of 145 was well within their achievable means. England of old would have made hard work of such an insignificant total, leaving nails chewed to the bone by the time all was said and done, but not this England; someone always steps up to the plate.

Alas, not in Asia, it would seem. Ghosts of Multan in 2005 returned to haunt Andy Flower’s men, and it was painfully evident that England’s batsmen are yet to conquer this particular fear. 198 was the fourth innings target set in Multan, only for England to be bowled out for 175. Danish Kaneria did the damage then, taking 4-62 as England crumbled in Pakistan’s backyard, and it was the spinners that left England humiliated once more here in Abu Dhabi as they crashed to an abysmal 72 all out.

There are two striking similarities between the debacle of 2005 and the humbling in Abu Dhabi; both defeats were to Pakistan, and both were in a series following England beating the then number one ranked side in the world, Australia and India respectively. After wins of such enormity where runs have come at ease, the travails of England’s batsmen in sub-continental conditions are highly unlikely to be confidence related, one would think.

Abdur Rehman decimated England with 6-25

Of course, there is always pressure involved with a run chase; particularly those targets that you are expected to comfortably reach. An early wicket, as was the case when Mohammad Hafeez removed Alastair Cook caught and bowled with England on just 21, only serves to increase the anxiety.

In this instance, though, England’s batsmen did not look panicked or outwardly ruffled. England’s problems, as has been the case in each of the two Tests played thus far in this three Test series, stemmed from the lack of technique and absence of intent from each and every one of their top order batsmen.

An infuriating tendency to play back to almost every ball delivered by Pakistan’s trio of spinners, coupled with a complete lack of willingness to utilise their footwork to nullify the purchase gained from the surface, left England’s batsmen prodding and poking at ball after ball from deep within their crease, simultaneously allowing the spinners of Pakistan to build pressure whilst adding very few runs to the total.

Ian Bell, in at number three as a result of Jonathan Trott’s unfortunate ailment, was rather unlucky; defending an Ajmal delivery down in to the pitch, only to see it spin back through his legs and dislodge a bail from the stumps. Captain Andrew Strauss fought hard, struggling to an agonising 32 from 100 balls before being put out of his misery by Abdur Rehman, but the stagnant nature of his innings summed up just how insipid a batting effort this was from the team who prior to this series had no less than four batsmen sitting inside the ICC top ten rankings.

Despite the ghastly showing from England’s batsmen, full credit must go to the bowlers of Pakistan. Abdur Rehman and Saeed Ajmal in particular were truly outstanding, giving the batsmen very little to hit without taking significant risk. Rehman exploited the appreciable turn on offer to cause nightmares for the right handed batsmen as he saw many a delivery played at and missed, but it was against the left handers that he had considerable success. Pitching in the rough and spinning back in to the left handers, Rehman dismissed Andrew Strauss leg before wicket and rearranged the stumps of both Eoin Morgan and Stuart Broad, before picking up the final wicket courtesy of a top edged slog from James Anderson. Final innings figures of 6-25 were just reward for a magnificent spell.

Ajmal, as is his wont, again had England tied up in knots with subtle changes in pace and clever use of the dreaded doosra; a delivery that very few England batsmen are showing even the faintest sign of reading. Playing constantly off the back foot, England’s batsmen were nothing more than sitting ducks waiting to be picked off by these unerringly accurate marksmen.

Pakistan’s captain, Misbah-ul-Haq, is the antithesis of his countries recent cricketing history. Calm, composed and a strong believer in consistency of selection, he has almost single-handedly reformed Test cricket for this great cricketing nation. Gone are the political controversies, departed is the inner turmoil inside the Pakistan dressing room, and no more are the brainless shots that cost many a Pakistan batsman his wicket that were so evident during their last tour of England. Under Misbah, Pakistan are once more a force to be reckoned with on the international scene, and Test cricket can only prosper as a result.   

If confidence amongst England’s batsmen was high coming in to this series, it will have all but deserted them by now. A captain that has scored just one century in almost two and a half years, and a middle order that cannot buy a run out here in the United Arab Emirates will cause plenty of thinking to be done ahead of England’s next tour to Sri Lanka where similar conditions are likely to be experienced. Calls for widespread change are of course premature after just two poor Test matches, but Eoin Morgan is one batsman that will be spending plenty of time looking over his shoulder prior to the dead rubber third Test at Dubai next week. After failing to consistently impress even as England crushed India last year, Morgan’s abject failures in this series will likely see him replaced by Ravi Bopara at number six in the England line-up.

At 2-0 down, the third and final Test at Dubai has now become something of a salvage mission for England’s batsmen; a chance to regain a measure of pride and faith in their own ability to play successful cricket in these conditions. You have to feel for England’s bowlers, Stuart Broad and Monty Panesar in particular, who have taken to the task of bowling on difficult pitches with aplomb only to be let down by their batting counterparts. That is one positive to take from this otherwise disappointing series, and a source of hope for their tour of Sri Lanka, at least.

England are still number one, just, and a big performance is needed in Dubai if they wish to persuade anyone that they’re still worthy of such a title. They say a win in Asia is the benchmark of a great side, but going on the evidence presented across the last two weeks we may just have to be a little less lavish in our praise for the time being.

Pakistan v England 2nd Test Preview - Abu Dhabi

England's cricketers returned to training yesterday for an unscheduled session in Abu Dhabi, on what should have been the fifth and final day of the first Test in Dubai. The mystery spin of Pakistan's Saeed Ajmal and the renewed struggles of English batsmen on Asian pitches had put paid to any possibility of that a whole two days prior as Pakistan romped to a ten wicket win, and many reports are suggesting that the England coaching staff wasted no time in putting their charges through a rigorous session. Not so much as punishment to the players, but as a sharp reminder that they are here to win Test matches, sustain their world number one ranking and that a Test series win in Asian conditions is perhaps the one obstacle separating this side from English cricketing immortality.

Of course, to do so, England know that their batting simply has to stand up better to Pakistan's trio of spin bowlers. Of the 20 England wickets taken in the first Test at Dubai, all but five fell to spin, with Jonathan Trott the sole England batsman to be removed by pace in both innings.

Merlyn - can it imitate Ajmal?

Enter 'Merlyn'. This infamous machine, capable of bowling a variety of spinning deliveries to batsmen in the nets, was initially designed to combat the genius of a certain SK Warne during the 2005 Ashes series in England. Now, England have shipped it out to Abu Dhabi, where hours of practice will no doubt be endured by England's top order in preparation for round two with Saeed Ajmal when hostilities resume this coming Wednesday. England, as you probably know, went on to win that historic series in 2005, but whether Merlyn can provide the same effect this time around remains to be seen. One thing is for sure; England will be hard pressed to perform any more incompetently against Pakistan's spinners than they did in Dubai.

There is however one key difference between the use of Merlyn in this current series and the Ashes series of 2005; Warne extracted prodigious turn from almost any wicket he played on, whereas Ajmal actually turns the ball very little. It would appear, then, that the deceit lies in the flight of the ball after leaving the hand. How much Merlyn can hope to replicate that remains to be seen, but I'd suggest that it may prove rather difficult, and thus allow Ajmal to keep his title of 'mystery spinner' intact.

Many of England's spin induced batting problems in Dubai stemmed from their apparent tendency to get caught in two minds. The indecision as to whether to play forward or back to Ajmal's deliveries invariably resulted in many of the batsmen, perhaps Matt Prior and Jonathan Trott aside, to play almost half-forward, tentative strokes that left them more than susceptible to the doosra. In Abu Dhabi, a greater degree of conviction is no doubt required. England's number nine batsman, Graeme Swann, highlighted this particular necessity when playing authoritatively against Ajmal in each of his innings, and with far greater success than many of the illustrious batsmen above him. Pakistan and Ajmal, it would seem, don't like being attacked; a handful of aggressive shots from Swann saw the field drop back and the threat posed by Pakistan's man of the moment significantly reduced. Calculated risk may just be the order of the day for England's top order batsmen; allowing Ajmal to bowl at them simply won't do.

Not a huge amount is known about the nature of the pitch in Abu Dhabi, though there has been plenty of talk suggesting it to be even flatter than the batsman's paradise of Dubai. Make no bones about it, England's batsmen had no business being bundled out for two vastly sub-par totals in Dubai, and any hint of complacency should now have been well and truly banished. What they must contend with now, however, is the added pressure to post a big first innings total under the scrutiny of the cricketing world, and to prove that they do indeed belong at the summit of the ICC Test rankings. As for England's bowlers, more of the same is required. To remove Pakistan for a still below par 338 was a more than acceptable effort given the nature of the pitch, and the bowling unit should carry none of the demons that their batting counterparts can expect to have with them.

As for selection, one would have to imagine that Pakistan will stay unchanged after the emphatic nature of their victory in Dubai. For England, there are calls typically ranging from the wholesale replacement of the batting line-up, captain and coaching staff to the suggestion that Monty Panesar might be an effective pick. Under the guidance of Team Director Andy Flower, consistency has been the key word, and to envisage any more than perhaps one change is rather optimistic. There would appear to be two viable options, both involving the replacement of Chris Tremlett. One would be to replace the economic but ineffective Tremlett with Panesar, which at this point is probably the most likely change, with a further option being to introduce the additional pace of Steven Finn to the attack in place of Tremlett in an attempt to take the benign pitch out of the equation somewhat. England, as is their wont, will keep their cards close to their chests until the day of the match when conditions have been thoroughly assessed.

This series has just got all the more interesting, and England's first real test as the number one ranked side in world cricket is well and truly upon them. All eyes are on their batsmen, and you simply have to imagine that they will make a better fist of things this time around. Have they learnt from their mistakes in Dubai? Will Merlyn have had an effect, or will the mystery spin of Saeed Ajmal continue to leave them bamboozled? It is all very intriguing and makes for a great spectacle, but my official prediction for the second Test in Abu Dhabi is: Draw.