CAN MAGIC OF MERLIN STOP YASIR?
Cook cranks up bowling machine to combat Shah
ALASTAIR COOK admits that England will have to overcome a bowler who can be regarded among the greats of the game if they are to get back into this series against Pakistan.
England’s captain is under no illusions about the size of his team’s task as they attempt to recover from their 75-run defeat in the first Test at Lord’s.
Yasir Shah was sensational in that match, the leg-spinner taking ten wickets in his first Test outside Asia. No other bowler has taken more than the Pakistani’s 86 wickets after 13 Tests.
Cook spoke of the size of the challenge facing England at the nation’s most spin-friendly venue.
“One thing he does very well is he doesn’t bowl many bad balls,” said Cook. “That is the skill of a great spinner. How many wickets he has taken in his first 13 matches is up there with the greats. When he bowls bad balls you have to cash in and he is obviously the linchpin of their bowling attack. They rely on him and if we can play him better it will put pressure on their other bowlers.”
England’s players have been working intensively on countering Yasir this week, with bowling machine Merlin being cranked up to offer meaningful practice and former Pakistan spinner Saqlain Mushtaq being drafted in to work with the squad.
Saqlain has worked as much with the batsmen, offering tips on how to play Yasir, as spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid.
Cook, though, has some very simple advice for his team-mates.
“Clearly Merlin has been out,” he said. “You don’t face too many leg-spinners so it is about the angles, the length and the more you are in against him the easier it gets.
“The great spinners I’ve faced… I remember facing (Muttiah) Muralitharan for the first time and the first 30 to 40 balls you are thinking you are never going to score a run against him.
“I remember thinking I can’t pick him but the more you face and the more time you get against him you get more in. But it is about getting through that first 30 balls.”
When he was asked of how much more of a threat Yasir would be here in Manchester, Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq replied ominously: “It doesn’t matter which ground we play. If a bowler is really good he can produce results anywhere. He bowled beautifully at Lord’s.”
Asked if England’s batsmen can work out a gameplan against Yasir in such a short space of time between Tests, Misbah said: “That can happen. It’s all about how you apply yourself to overcome mistakes of the previous Test.
“Every game is new, every wicket different.You have to adjust and that could sometimes be a challenge when you’re a little bit down and short on confidence, but international players can do that. We have to be ready for that. If they play Yasir well we should have other plans.”
Ben Stokes, speaking on Wednesday, insisted he would counter Pakistan’s leg-spin threat with aggression on his return to England’s team following his recovery from a knee injury.
However, Misbah seemed delighted at the prospect of England following the allrounder’s lead.“They can try to attack Yasir, it’s up to them what they want to do,” he said.“We have to be ready for that challenge and Yasir knows that.”
James Anderson will also return to England’s team on his home ground of Old Trafford, the leader of the attack proving his fitness beyond all doubt when bowling 22 overs for Lancashire in their County Championship match against Durham.
For Lord’s, Cook and coach Trevor Bayliss had been keen to pick Anderson, who had insisted that he would be fully recovered from a shoulder injury.
The furore after the selectors overruled Cook and Bayliss on Anderson has put the future of the way England squads are selected under the spotlight.
And Cook admitted: “It was a slightly messy affair – no one intended it to be like that – and we’ve got to move on, and play better cricket.
“It’s great to have Jimmy back. He’s an outstanding bowler, and it’s great to have him fully fit.”
The real business of getting back into this series is now chief among England’s concerns and Cook said: “Of course, when you lose a game of cricket, your confidence is dented.
“But we’ve got some really good cricketers in that team, who will be hungry to bounce back.”
The teams, meanwhile, may have to deal with a patchy outfield at Old Trafford after the ground hosted a Beyoncé concert 15 days before this Test. The 80,000 music fans cut up the grass and Lancashire were forced to bring in hydroponic lamps to assist with the regrowth of the surface.