Off England go to the United Arab Emirates and a three-Test series with Pakistan: a very different challenge with a slightly different team from the one that raised a few eyebrows and regained the Ashes in 2015. There is not much time to wallow in the warm glow of defeating Australia against the odds. There seldom is now.
Alastair Cook, one of only four players in the squad who toured the UAE in 2012 when England lost 3-0 to Pakistan, understands he cannot dwell on recent successes for long.
“It was a brilliant summer, great for English cricket and cricket in general. People were talking about the right stuff,” says the captain.
“For the previous 18 months or so English cricket was dominated by off-field stuff. But talking about young, English talent winning against Australia is fantastic. There is a really good vibe about the game. But every professional sportsman will tell you that you have to look forward and not back.”
No doubt Cook and Trevor Bayliss have been looking forward to a daunting, contrasting winter schedule. In the UAE before Christmas the spinners will be busy; in South Africa after Christmas the fast bowlers are likely to dominate.
A major decision to be made concerns the identity of Cook’s opening partner now that Adam Lyth has become the latest jilted partner of the England captain. Cook understandably declines to reveal his hand before the party has landed in the UAE. “We haven’t totally decided but we are pretty clear which way we want to go from the selection meeting,” Cook says. “What is exciting about this team is that we could go with two spinners and four seamers including Ben Stokes with Rash [Adil Rashid] and Mo [Moeen Ali] as all-rounders. There’s a lot of flexibility in the squad, which gives me, as captain, lots of options. And that’s excluding Joe Root’s off-spin.
“So we could have seven bowlers in 40 degree heat. That’s what’s given me some real optimism – we seem to have a lot of options covered. Clearly that’s just on paper and it depends how we play and react to conditions.”
So does that mean that Moeen opens? “That’s not the only way you can get all those bowlers into the team,” says Cook. “Mo can be moved up to five as well as the top of the order. It would be wrong for you to write that Moeen is definitely going to open the batting.” Nonetheless this looks the likeliest scenario.
Cook also acknowledged he might have a different partner in the UAE than in South Africa. “That is a possibility. But if the guy who does it in the UAE does it well, he might keep the job. In any case the balance of the side will change in South Africa.”
As ever Moeen is being asked to carry a remarkably weighty burden for the England team. Last time they were in the UAE, England had two specialist spinners: Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, whose brand of fast finger spin was more successful. Then the lbws came thick and fast to the spinners of both sides. The pitches turned a little but were also skiddy; hence the umpires seldom had to consider the possibility of the ball going over the stumps. This time they have Moeen, learning as fast as he can, Rashid, who has yet to play a Test (thanks to heads being in the sand back in Barbados nine months ago), and Samit Patel, shunted back into contention after the novice, Zafar Ansari, broke his thumb.
Cook is bound to express confidence in his spinners but he must also be aware of their limitations. “I’m confident they can take wickets,” he says, “but in a different way to Monty and Swann. Mo has had a fantastic start to his international career with his all-round contribution. He’s not an out-and-out spinner like Swanny was but he provides a lot of all-round value. Monty’s Test record was fantastic but Rash can also bring runs. So we have a different balance to the side this time.”
Cook may have to finesse his spinners rather than simply toss them the ball and let them get on with it. Moreover his batsmen have only four days of competitive cricket to adjust to conditions in which the Pakistan leg-spinner, Yasir Shah, who has never played against England in a Test match, has caused some havoc in recent times. He is likely to be accompanied by Zulfigur Babar, another unknown to England but a left-arm spinner of considerably higher pedigree than Patel. The expectation is that the tempo of the game will be slower than in the summer of 2015, which is not so difficult. Cook declines to promise anything: “After some of the cricket we’ve been involved with over the last 18 months I don’t think anybody knows what to expect.”. Even so an England win would be surprising; Pakistan know how to win in their adopted home.
Candidates to open with Captain Cook
Moeen Ali He has batted at three for most of his county career; he will play his shots and any frailty against the short ball is tougher to exploit on the low-bouncing pitches of the UAE. May be the first choice.
Alex Hales Will – and should – play his shots as well if given the chance. That is his natural way. He is a streaky player, dangerous when in form, rather than a technical one. Hence he needs to be picked when confidence is high.
