Chasing the new ball is crazy, our batsmen made basic mistakes

Hdespite seeing what their own bowlers could do, England’s top order made a hash of facing Pakistan

In English conditions, if you give a new ball to most Test bowlers, they will be a handful. This pitch has bounce and England’s batsmen should have seen the movement their team-mates got against Pakistan, so they should have been aware that their technique would be tested.

Against a new ball there is no substitute for technique and a great defence. You can have all the shots in the coaching manual but if you cannot stay in, those shots are useless. The key is to see it early, but wait, and play the ball close to your pad under your eyes. Going hard at the ball is OK against an old ball when it is not doing much, but against the new ball that is a recipe for disaster. If you go hard at the ball it is risky.

Ben Stokes was a perfect example. Yes, it was a corker of a delivery, but Ben made it look great as he stood out of his crease and walked or advanced towards the bowler and then pushed hard in front of his pad, leaving a gap. That may work against the old ball if he has runs behind his name, but on nought and at the new ball! For me, it was not smart. I have said before that playing solely as a batsman can involve a very different mindset to playing as an all-rounder.

We can all see Dom Sibley prefers to play to the on side. Fine, that is his way, but his front foot never got out of the crease. If your front foot hardly moves forward down the pitch towards the ball then you finish up pushing the bat way in front of the pad. Unbalanced, he lost control as his bottom right hand came off the bat and he falls over to the off. Footwork was his downfall. Rory Burns nearly always goes forward too early, before the bowler lets the ball go and – worse still – he plants his foot on the wrong side of the line of the ball. His front foot goes on the off side and he cannot get his bat to the ball without having to go around his pad.

I was taught to look to go forward, but not stick my leg out before I judged the length of the ball. Because of his wrong foot position he closes himself off and he makes it harder to play the ball or rock back and play it. You wonder who is teaching them because it’s elementary, Doctor Watson.

In the morning session, the quality of the England seam bowling was exceptional. Overnight, Pakistan were in a good position at 139 for two but England’s big two, James Anderson and Stuart Broad, went back to an old ploy. Bowl dot balls, dry up the runs and wickets will come. They have been, and still are, masters at making the batsmen play, while stopping them scoring, and waiting for pressure to do the trick. But, amazingly, after lunch, England opened with both off-spinners and lost control. I could not understand that. England had worked so hard, with their seamers doing a fantastic job. Why no spell for Jofra Archer? Why let Pakistan get some momentum? The batsmen played “tip and run” and at times ran England ragged. In no time, the field placings were spread out and we were a different side. Once a team loses control it can be hard to get it back. Between lunch and tea, England lost the plot – and it was their own fault. So mean in the morning session, allowing only 48 runs, and then in the afternoon allowing 125 runs. I understand this Test cricket can be a strange game, but this was crazy cricket.