NASSER’S 3RD TEST RATINGS
NOW THE TOP ORDER NEED TO FOLLOW HIS LEAD
ENGLAND
ALASTAIR COOK 4/10 CONDITIONS are tough for an opener at the moment, especially if you are lefthanded. Last year, england had Vernon Philander coming at them with the new ball, this summer it is Ishant Sharma from round the wicket. But what concerns me is that Cook keeps getting out the same way. And his catching is still a concern. But we’ve spent so long looking for an opener to replace Andrew Strauss — we don’t suddenly want to be looking for two. I would give Cook until the end of the series, then let him make a decision about his future. KEATON JENNINGS 3 AS with Cook, he keeps making the same mistakes. I thought earlier this summer that Jennings had moved away from that very stiff technique he showed a year ago against South Africa. But the more this series has progressed, the more he has reverted to old habits. He had to leave that ball on length from Sharma on tuesday — it was going way over the stumps. He isn’t catching well either, like Dawid Malan before him. these things can grind you down. the selectors have shown they are ruthless, so Jennings had better cash in at the Ageas Bowl. JOE ROOT 4 I WOULDN’T over-criticise his decision to field first. I just don’t think england bowled well up front. As for his batting, for the first time in a long a time, he looks out of nick. And that was a poor shot in the second innings. I know Jasprit Bumrah goes wide of the crease, but he had to leave that ball well alone. OLLIE POPE 3 He was unlucky in the first innings to be caught down the leg side, but that was a loose shot in the second. I know he is just starting out, but he looked loose throughout, and there can’t just be one way of playing. Coming in at No 6 at the oval for Surrey at 250 for four is different from test cricket at 20 for two. You have got to let the bowler come to you. JONNY BAIRSTOW 5 He didn’t get many runs, but he got a decent ball in the first innings, when he played the line but got beaten by the swing. And the second innings hardly counts. Psychologically he must have been all over the place because of his broken finger, and in any case he got a jaffa. england will miss him if he is out of Southampton as he is one of their form players. BEN STOKES 7 He looked a bit rusty with the ball at first, but improved in the second innings. And his batting yesterday, when he made his slowest test 50, showed he can play in so many different ways. It is a good sign if england’s two most flamboyant batsmen — Stokes and Buttler — can bat so sensibly for so long. JOS BUTTLER 9 THAT was a magnificent hundred in the second innings, and it reinforced the view that this lad can play any role that is handed to him. When he got stranded in the first innings, it made you think he is wasted at No 7, and when he got the chance at No 6 in the second he showed the top four how to leave the ball outside off stump. He proved that, if you occupy the crease, the runs will come. CHRIS WOAKES 7 He showed Broad and Anderson on that first morning that the fuller length will always get you wickets when the ball is moving around. But what was noticeable is that his speeds have dropped off during these back-to-back tests. that is something for england to look at. ADIL RASHID 7 BOWLED better as the game progressed. Virat Kohli was a good scalp in the first innings, and in the second he got Shikhar Dhawan with a good googly, which he didn’t pick, and Ajinkya Rahane with one he did pick. You don’t judge Rashid on how many bad balls he bowls — it is about the wicket-taking deliveries. Had a bit of fun with the bat too. STUART BROAD 6 LIKE Jimmy, he was a bit short first time round — nothing like the lengths which brought him eight for 15 here against Australia three years ago. Look at how Hardik Pandya bowled — full, with a bit of swing. Some people reckoned it was swinging less than it did at Lord’s, but Cric Viz tells us that was not the case. JIMMY ANDERSON 6.5 He he’s was been a unlucky bit short with with dropped the new catches. ball, but to see him with his head in his hands after Jennings dropped Kohli on 93 in the second innings summed up england’s problem in the slips. But he did bowl better in that second innings, even if he got only one wicket.