Pakistan v England 2nd Test Preview - Abu Dhabi

England's cricketers returned to training on Saturday 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.

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.

i'm not 100% sure how "merlyn" works and what options it has but for me the issue in the first test was the batsmen picking the length and pace and using their feet accordingly

good footwork and trying to actually watch the ball and play what you see rather what you think is going to happen is what they need to do better, having said that it was gul that took the top4 in the second innings so lets just hope it was rust and the loss and the subsequent work theu have been doing in the interim gives them the shake they looked like they needed.

Good point regarding Gul in the 2nd innings, Rich. He didn't actually bowl particularly well, it was very much a case of our batsmen getting themselves out again. We cannot ignore the fact that so many throughout the two innings fell to spin, but I guess the overall issue is that we aren't making the bowlers get us out, and are instead handing them plenty of gifts.

As I mention in my article, I think the flight of Ajmal's deliveries was causing us the most problems, but you make a great additional point about the mindset of the batsmen. The uncertainty as to whether it will be a doosra or an off-spinner seems to have our batsmen unsure whether to stick or twist, whereas in reality they shouldn't be trying to second guess Ajmal, and would do better to concentrate on what is actually coming out of the hand each delivery.

Footwork is incredibly important against spin as we all well know. Name some of the best players of spin in world cricket; Michael Clarke? Rahul Dravid? AB De Villiers? One consistent trait of these batsmen is their footwork, something that was worryingly lacking from almost all of England's batsmen in Dubai, again resulting in the 'half forward' prods that we were seeing.

Big, big pressure on England the first time they come out to bad in Abu Dhabi, make no mistake.

As for the workings of Merlyn, I'm not entirely sure. I may well do a bit of research, because it'll be interesting to know if the machine can indeed alter the flight of the ball between deliveries.

Hope to see a better show from England
I guess Merlyn may not be the answer. Even in the 05 ashes series, Warne managed no less than 40 wickets? Think its more about the mindset and technique. England batters have to be decisive when playing spin. The footwork has to be sharp, and they should understand sweep is not the only shot that can be played against spin. Also, they should get their mindset right, shouldn't fall for too much mind games, Ajmal's newly developed ball always seemed to trouble the English batters, when it was nothing more than his usual off spinner. there was nothing new in that, and England were looking for something that wasn't really there. Full marks to Ajmal for springing it on England, but this time round England should be better prepared.
Senior batters like Alastair Cook, Kevin Pietersen, and captain Andrew Strauss should take up more responsibility. Cook always did well in India, and Strauss showed he has the ability to deal with spin in tough conditions. KP managed to take the attack to both Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan when both were on top of their game, and he did score a ton in India aswel.
Going into the 2nd tet, I think Pakistan got a bit of an advantage, particularly considering the track is more on the flatter side, and Pakistan under Misbah has given up the more flashy kind of cricket and opted for something more settled and less inconsistent. Against such an outfit, it will be dificult to take 20 wickets quickly enough on a flat track.
Will be a stern test of England's resolve.
Looking forward to a close contest, and hopes England win. But as fists said, the draw seems the most likely, if England batting lineup get their act together.

put it this way; we cant be any worse.

Even if England don't get after Ajmal. They should target Gul and Khan, assuming Cheema is injured. Gul was bowling around 125kph in Dubai, that should be cannon fodder in these conditions. Even Rehman should get the treatment, he's just a roller, nothing more.

Tend to agree, Demon.

we were awful in the last test...


also though this isnt knee-jerk i been thinking about this for a while, but i think Misbah is a better captain then strauss

Misbah has done a seriously good job as skipper of pakistan. He took over at a bad time, got them playing as a unit, and they all respect him, and play for him

:O sorry, mate, but whilst Misbah has his merits it is a heck of a lot easier to solidify an unstable team in to a solid but unspectacular one than it is to consistently win Test after Test and rise to the top of the world rankings. A very premature suggestion, particularly given that England are the first half decent side (though you wouldn't think it after Dubai) that they've encountered.

cricketfan90 wrote:
also though this isnt knee-jerk i been thinking about this for a while, but i think Misbah is a better captain then strauss

Misbah has done a seriously good job as skipper of pakistan. He took over at a bad time, got them playing as a unit, and they all respect him, and play for him

You kidding right? Whilst Misbah has been captain, they haven't lost a Test series, but most of the opposition hasn't been top draw.

Played South Africa in UAE. 0-0 series result.
Played NZ away 1-0 series result.
Played WI away. 1-1 series result.
Played Zim 1 off Test. Won the match/series. 1-0
Played SL in UAE. 3 match series won 1-0
Played Bang away. won 2-0
Playing Eng in UAE. Currently 1-0 up.

They've played 3 Tests vs good teams, SA and England. Which they are 1 win and 2 draws.

The rest if their matches results are against the weaker teams, and in SL case - a side in re-developmental,

our fielding needs to improve as well in this next test...we dropped a few catches in the last test, and they cost a lot of runs.

We need to stop treating Ajmal as the second coming of Warne. Forget the Teesra, he has less variation than Monty. I say, if Strauss wins the toss, stick 'em in, I don't care how flat it looks, bowl them out for 350 (which we're well capable of) and that will give our batsmen confidence. We then total 550+ and romp home by an innings. Comprende? Good