FLUMMOXED ENGLAND SEND SOS
ENGLAND’S bamboozled batsmen will turn to their very own spinball wizard, Merlyn, in a bid to cope with their latest twirling tormentor.
Kuldeep Yadav’s left arm wristspin is the rarest kind of bowling style and England cannot find anyone in the county game that bowls it to the standard they require to practice.
Instead ahead of tomorrow’s match in Cardiff they will use the bowling machine made famous for helping previous generations deal with Shane Warne and Muttiah Muralitharan.
“These bowlers seem quite hard to come by,” admitted Jos Buttler, who made 69 at Old Trafford. “One thing we can do is use Merlyn to replicate the angle.
“It’s a very good machine to get used to that. But it was the first time some guys have faced him and it may take one or two games. Plus we have some video to look at and that will help.”
As it happens the only England batsmen not to have faced Yadav before were Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow who lasted two balls between them
The rest of the order had played him in either the IPL or India A in a one-day warm-up last year.
Buttler added: “It’s about understanding that you shouldn’t get too flustered. It gets easier.”