Same old England

It seemed as though we had gone back in time on the final day of the second Test match between Pakistan and England as the visitors collapsed in an all too familiar fashion for people of my generation. Clueless against spin along with a lack of grit or determination meant the result was inevitable. In a match which was controlled for the most part by England it was a pathetic effort in the last innings chasing a very modest total.

Pedestrian batting once again from Pakistan started the Test match and the 257 posted was below average with Stuart Broad picking up four wickets and proving he is an effective cricketer on all surfaces around the world. This being said how can the top four in an International team be bowled? It is the one dismissal that should never occur when you are in the top order it shows a lack of discipline, technique and more worryingly ability. Whilst on the subject, in the match going on Down Under where Australia were destroying India Shaun Marsh was somehow able to get bowled through the gate playing outside of the ball even though it had spun. To say he played down the wrong line would be an understatement it was as playing two balls at once and picked the wrong one.

England responded with a decent total and by gaining a lead made it very difficult for Pakistan to win from that position but after solid contributions from Cook and Trott the middle order is brittle to say the least. This should be explosive with the talent of players coming in but they cannot play spin at all. Even if they were told which way it would spin before the delivery they would struggle it seems. So it was left to a cameo from Broad again to revive England and get them up to a competitive score. It was Pakistan's turn to bat so no need to set any alarms for this as after watching each batsman bat with a strike rate of twelve you will be back to sleep in no time. I am not someone who is after all out aggressive cricket but when you are on top as a batsman you need to kick on and take advantage in order to make match winning contributions.

Just as a side note Panesar bowled beautifully throughout the match and it was because of the team selection although I still maintain that one of the middle order should have been sacrificed as they put up a fairly meagre total between them so it would not have made a difference to go with another bowler despite Tremletts injury. Now onto the debacle that was the England second innings the brainless attempt at chasing down 145 for victory.

It began with Cook working against the spin and a leading edge back to the bowler, this is supposed to be one of the most intelligent bowlers in the team. Followed by Bell, promoted to three as Trott had some sort of virus, and as a big Bell fan it pains me to watch him bat against good spin bowling but he was bowled playing on which essentially put him out of his misery. The main man in at four, the superstar, the hero but this was not to be again as Pietersen was out lbw to a straight ball yet he still had the audacity to review the decision. Morgan bowled second ball playing back. You cannot play back to quick spin it's such common knowledge it has been around for as long as cricket has so surely the rest of the team would be aware of this? Nope skipper out lbw playing back along with Trott out in the same fashion it was like watching the remedial class batting although they would easily have shown more intelligence.

The procession continued with more batsmen playing back and the game was over in no time another comfortable victory in the end for Pakistan who have outplayed England the whole series despite being a pretty average side themselves. The series in Australia has been just as one sided with a dismal display from India who are as abject at playing hostile pace bowling as England are at playing spin. The circus surrounding Tendulkars' potential hundredth International hundred is now threatening to become about as interesting as whether Carlos Tevez will ever play for Manchester City again.

The final Test begins tomorrow morning so we will see if England have learnt any lessons but judging from the previous two lacklustre attempts I wont be holding my breath.