BUMBLE ON THE TEST
WHERE ARE THE ICC?
I GAVE this pitch the benefit of the doubt on the first day but, I’m sorry, it was just as bad as the last one. The big question has to be asked again of the ICC — is this how you want the game to go? Tests finishing well under time, this one not even lasting two days? We need answers from Dubai though I’m not expecting to get a single one.
LOTTERY TESTS A DISASTER
I AM really not bothered who wins when it is a lottery like this. It is just not a contest. Yes, techniques have been poor but if this pitch is acceptable to the ICC and there’s more of this, there will be huge ramifications for world Test cricket. Boards make the bulk of their revenue from the length of play, certainly in England. Short Tests are a financial disaster.
UMPIRE CATCHES ON
I DID say before the series that umpiring might become an issue. Only Nitin Menon is on the ICC elite panel. But it should be remembered that the TV director has a big part to play in helping the third umpire. He needs to be pro-active and offer plenty of angles. At least Chettithody Shamshuddin seemed to have learnt from his mistakes on day one.
IS BESS UNSELECTABLE?
PLENTY are saying England got it wrong in not picking the second spinner but my mind goes back to that time Ashley Giles said Steven Finn was ‘unselectable’. Once Moeen Ali had gone home they only had one spinner they could trust in Jack Leach. Sadly, I think they believe Dom Bess is ‘unselectable’ right now. It looked like he had the yips in the first Test.
I’D HAVE GOT WICKETS!
BUT it told you everything you need to know that without a second spinner, a part-timer in Joe Root took five wickets in six overs! I remember Allan Border once taking a seven-for with part-time spin. And Michael Clarke grabbed a six-for. When part-timers can do that, something is not right. Even I would have got wickets on that pitch and I was hopeless.
KP’S A RADIO STAR
I TURNED down my TV and put talkSPORT back on where Kevin Pietersen was very forceful on this rotation policy. He pointed out careers are defined by performances against big teams. This talkSPORT team have real gravitas.