OUTBOWLED OUTBATTED OUTFIELDED OUTCLASSED
England so bad it’s enough to make you scream
INSIPID, undercooked, and outclassed England were routed by nine wickets at Lord’s and do not have a clue what to do about it.
While a deserving Pakistan side could enjoy the warm afterglow of their second successive win at the home of cricket, skipper Joe Root offered the sort of platitudes that have become so familiar following defeat.
No wonder. He has had plenty of practice, losing six of his last eight matches in charge. But this was the worst of the lot, coming at Lord’s in May in conditions of which he and his team should be masters.
Pakistan were superb, England played as if this game was sprung on them last week and they had only just managed to cobble together a team after a lastminute ring round.
“We know we’re underperforming,” said Root. “We’ve not performed to anywhere near where we need to, we’ve just got to be better.
“We have been outperformed in all three departments. We have not batted well enough – first innings in particular –but we need to keep the faith.
“These conditions suit us as well, which is why it’s so disappointing. We’ve just got to find a way to be a bit smarter and maybe a bit more patient.”
Root has been asking his players to be smarter for a while now, which suggests either they are thicker than anyone can have imagined, or the message is not getting through.
Coach Trevor Bayliss said much the same and cut an exasperated figure after England lost their last four wickets within 25 balls on day four before Pakistan chased down the meagre 64 runs they needed to win.
“It’s not as though we haven’t talked about this before,” Bayliss said. “They are working hard on it but we keep making the same mistakes. The batters have to have a good hard long look at themselves.
“The message hasn’t changed. The guys keep making mistakes. I think it’s probably more mental. We’ve seen all these batters score runs in the past – they just need to be more consistent.”
How to get that consistency is what is stumping Root and Bayliss because the only thing you can be sure of when it comes to England’s batting these days is a collapse.
Their preparation for this series was woefully inadequate when compared to Pakistan, who had three games and a Test match to fine-tune their plans.
The assumption that England’s players would rock up at home and just be fine was wrong. They will be better at Headingley thanks to this game, but in a two-match series that is too late.