Amir had it easy – just as well it wasn’t in Brisbane!
WE’VE prepared to face Mohammad Amir in the same way we would prepare to play any high-class fast bowler. What happened six years ago may be a talking point for some people, but not many in the crowd at Lord’s on Friday — when he walked out to bat for the first time since his ban — would have been in the crowd six years ago.
As it turned out, he actually got an extremely warm reception when he walked out to bat for the first time. He may well have been wondering before the match about how he would be received and on the whole I’m sure he’ll be delighted that the crowd didn’t give him much abuse.
I’m not sure the crowd would gone as easy on him if he’d made his comeback at a ground like Brisbane, where fans are much more inclined to get stuck into the players than they are at Lord’s.
On the whole, the Lord’s crowd tends to be a bit more reserved than others and once the first Champagne cork pops in the morning, the cricket can sometimes come a close second to enjoying the atmosphere and socialising.
I’ve made my thoughts clear on lifetime bans for any form of fixing in cricket. If it was up to me, lifetime bans would be automatic for anyone found to be involved in corruption. Having said that, I totally accept the ICC’s call and we’ve all moved on from what happened in 2010.
I don’t anticipate it cropping up again during the series and it’s certainly not something we’re discussing as a team.
A far bigger priority for us is working out how to post bigger first-innings totals on a more consistent basis. A number of our batsmen will be disappointed with how they got out in our first innings and will be looking to put things right when our second innings comes around.
We have some world-class players in our top order and there’s no doubt a few of them will be disappointed with their first-innings dismissals. I’ve got absolute faith in all our top-order batsmen and I’m convinced they’ll cash in at some point in the series. But there were not enough demons in the pitch to be all out for 272 and we all have to take responsibility for that.
Yasir Shah bowled very well and is clearly someone we’re going to have to improve against, but I’m sure some of our batsmen will be kicking themselves for the manner of their dismissals. It was especially frustrating after Cooky and Rooty had set things up so well with their first-wicket partnership.
There’s no doubt we’ve got a massive amount of work to do to save this Test, but this England team will never give up without a fight.