SHAMBOLIC – AND JIMMY WAS WORST OF THE LOT

IT IS not often we need to be critical about England’s bowling but that spell after lunch yesterday, at what could be a pivotal stage of this first Test, was poor. There have been plenty of times in recent years when England have been 30 for three and the batsmen have been found wanting, but the bowling on the whole has been excellent, most recently in South Africa and against West Indies at Old Trafford. But here, England got it wrong. They had taken two cheap wickets before the best batsman in the Pakistan side, Babar Azam, came in and struggled at first. He was getting squared up by the bowlers and was looking nervy. So the last thing England needed straight after lunch was to give a man who has averaged more than a hundred in his last five Tests a few free hits to get his confidence going. Babar is a wonderful talent and will make you pay for any lack of discipline. That’s exactly what England did — and he cashed in. Jimmy Anderson was most culpable. First there was a clip ball on the legside that was hit for four, then there was a leg-stump half-volley that also went to the boundary. That set the tone for a costly mini-session. Anderson was certainly ticking. Perhaps that was because he was bowling into a strong breeze — he has said himself he’s not always happy to bowl from the end that bears his name here — and it was blowing straight into his face yesterday rather than across him like last week. Or maybe he became frustrated because he cannot shine the ball with saliva in the current climate and it wasn’t swinging, I don’t know. But we had an angry Jimmy Anderson and inwardly he was probably annoyed with himself because he had very little rhythm in that spell. Nobody really got it right, with the possible exception of Stuart Broad, who was OK. Jofra Archer started the day well but after lunch he immediately delivered a full toss to Shan Masood, then Dom Bess repeated that in his short spell and also bowled a lot of drive half-volleys. When Bess comes on to bowl into the breeze at a time when the captain needs discipline, his job is to bring control. But he has no control of length at the moment. He’s not expected to get a first-innings five-for — as he did in Port Elizabeth last winter — but he has to dry up an end and he couldn’t do it. And when Bess did bowl a couple of good balls to Masood and forced mistakes, Jos Buttler dropped the catch and missed a stumping. The only man not to blame was Chris Woakes, who didn’t bowl after lunch. We have to remember these guys are not machines and bowlers cannot just switch it on all the time. But it was as if England were going through the motions, expecting rain to come before it finally did. And frankly, it was rubbish. And that’s unusual. It was all a bit shambolic and the rain actually came at a good time for England because it allowed them to re-group and remember the usual disciplines that have served them so well. But when they did come back, their hopes of putting things right on the first day were curtailed by bad light even though two spinners were bowling. That is hugely frustrating after all the hard work and expense that has gone into staging Test cricket this summer. The game does not do itself any favours at times.