England left the Sharjah stadium at the end of an eventful third day smarting at the decision to reprieve the opener Mohammad Hafeez two runs into a potentially Test-turning unbeaten 97 and some seemingly unnecessary goading from Pakistan’s 12th man.
Hafeez, who powered his side into a lead of 74 with seven wickets remaining, was given out on the field by the umpire Bruce Oxenford in the fifth over after being caught behind off Jimmy Anderson only for the TV official, Paul Reiffel, to overturn the decision on review.
Despite the absence of Hot Spot or Snicko – the host broadcaster, Ten Sports, has chosen not to pay the estimated £100,000 for the two aids this series – Reiffel was confident enough to overrule his on-field colleague. Alastair Cook’s side felt aggrieved.
“It was massively frustrating,” said the batsman James Taylor. “It was a huge moment in the context of the game. I did [think Hafeez hit the ball], the guys behind the stumps did and so did the umpire, that’s why he put his finger up. The third umpire has a job to do and he made his decision.”
England’s frustration was compounded by the sight of Pakistan’s drinks-carrier, Mohammad Rizwan, making the cross-chested arm signal used by officials when overturning a decision before word came through from Reiffel that Hafeez could bat on. Both Anderson and Joe Root exchanged words with Rizwan, with England’s assistant coach, Paul Farbrace, visibly angry in the pavilion. “He was smiling a bit too much for our liking,” said Taylor, England’s top-scorer with 76 as they made 306 in their first innings for a lead, at the time, of 72 runs.
If that incident felt slightly trivial, there were more emotional scenes at Pakistan’s stumps press conference when, to the surprise of those present, a tearful Shoaib Malik announced his intention to retire from Test cricket at the end of the match.
The 33-year-old all-rounder, who made a career-best 245 in the first Test in Abu Dhabi following a five-year absence from the team, cited family reasons for the decision but stated his intention to continue in one-day and Twenty20 cricket, with the 2019 World Cup in England his end goal.
Shoaib, whose form with the bat has fallen away since that maiden double-hundred and was trapped lbw for a duck by Anderson in Pakistan’s second innings, had earlier added career-best figures of four for 33 with the ball to a cap a curious series that has been both comeback and swansong. The last of his four wickets wasBen Stokes, who had come out to bat at No11 despite being impaired by what has now been diagnosed as a “collar-joint injury” by the medical team following his heavy fall in the field on the evening of the first day attempting a diving catch. Unable to bowl or field in the match, and awaiting further tests in “seven to 10 days’ time” that will determine his chances of making the tour to South Africa that starts in December, Stokes blocked nine balls before being bowled for a duck, adding 10 runs in a 10th-wicket partnership with Stuart Broad.
“Ben is a tough northerner,” Taylor said. “He showed a lot of guts and character to battle it out. And you never know how important those 10 runs could prove to be. That was massive for the team and it shows what we are about.”
Taylor also spoke generously about his Nottinghamshire team-mate Samit Patel, who was England’s most fluent batsman in the morning with a Test-best 42 before being bowled by a ripping delivery from the leg-spinner Yasir Shah that echoed, both in trajectory and dimensions, Mike Gatting’s famous dismissal by Shane Warne at Old Trafford in 1993.
He added: “That was a decent ball to be fair but I don’t want to say too much about it. Samit scored runs when we needed him to and looked very confident at the crease. He’s had three years without a Test match as well and I know personally what a good player is. He showed that.”
