On a day when England toiled and Adil Rashid was foiled Moeen Ali and Mark Wood emerged as the pick of the bowlers against Pakistan A.
This match was meaningless as a contest, given it had been rigged to allow each side to bat for the entirety of one day and then field for the other. A result was not even an option.
It was all about getting acclimatised to conditions and individual performances before the three-Test series against Pakistan that begins in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
To that end Moeen, who had disappointed when given the chance to open the batting on day one, gained much, demonstrating his threat as England’s No1 spinner. The Worcestershire all-rounder bowled with control, variety and intent. His return of three for 41 in 22 overs was rich reward for his guile.
In contrast Rashid struggled to make an impact on a turning pitch that should have played into his hands as a wicket-taking leg-spinner. The Yorkshireman sent down 20 fruitless overs at a cost of 51 runs, with too few deliveries showing the variation or magic needed to outfox seasoned players of spin.
Such was his luck even when he did find an edge in his 13th over that James Anderson spilled the chance at slip to allow Iftikhar Ahmed to survive on 61 and continue to an unbeaten 92.
But while Rashid’s performance was a let-down, Wood’s was anything but. Conditions in the Emirates are not kind to seam bowlers, with unresponsive pitches and unrelenting heat making their job a thankless one.
The arduous nature of the task that lies ahead for England was made plainly clear when they were forced to endure 44.4 wicketless overs in 40C heat as Fawad Alam and Iftikhar put on 112 for the fourth wicket.
England will endure many more days like this over the coming weeks and Wood, who must surely now have confirmed his place as England’s third seamer for the first Test, will be a crucial presence.
The Durham fast bowler’s infectious enthusiasm and light-hearted nature make him a hugely popular member of this England dressing-room. However, he is in the squad because of what he can do with the ball and what he did here was bowl extremely well.
It helps when a bowler starts brightly and that is exactly what Wood did when he came on as first change, his extra pace extracting more life out of the pitch than both Anderson and Stuart Broad had managed.
At the end of his first four-over spell Wood had taken one for one. The wicket of Sami Aslam, England’s first, was the result of a fantastic catch by Broad at backward square.
And while Wood failed to pick up any more wickets, his return of one for 24 from 13 overs was a reflection of a performance that displayed skill, aggression, precision and heart.
Wood’s ability to reverse swing the ball on abrasive pitches will be vital for England if they are to have a hope of beating a Pakistan side who not only beat them 3-0 on their last visit to the Emirates in 2012 but are unbeaten in all seven Tests series they have played here.
“The type of character I am, I wouldn’t say I’m a naturally patient bloke,” Wood said. “I’m hyperactive and want to be in the action all the time but that’s the way the cricket is here and I’ll have to adapt to keep my spot in the team. I’d tried to be aggressive at times, hoping that would get us a wicket, but I have to be patient at times as well.”
England were forced to be more patient than they otherwise should have been here, dropping four catches in all.
That is something Wood admits the team cannot afford to do in the Tests. “We try to create 20 chances in a Test match and we hope that’s all we’re going to need,” he said.
“We saw in the summer at home we took those chances. We’re going to have to do the same here because we know we’re not going to get as many here with the pitches and the heat.”
