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Originally Posted by Mike  We knew the England bowling was going to struggle on these pitches so no surprises there from the seamers. Panesar must be doing something wrong to be averaging 50 per wicket. |
The seamers have by and large bowled well... the one small quibble being that at the start of this Test they had conditions that demanded an old fashioned (pitched up) length.... and (perhaps because they almost always play on pitches where back of a length is the only safe length to bowl) they didn't find that length.
Re: Panesar - he's not been hugely effective... but there's not really been much in the pitches to encourage him. Look at how easily Murali's been played this series: even Sidebottom was playing him with comparative ease. It's not been easy.
Two further things:
1. Vaughan has never shown himself to be a master of attacking through the spinner: he could have played Swann, or have tried bowling Pietersen more, but he's seriously averse to setting attacking fields and risking runs let alone "buying" runs.
2. This performance has really highlighted just how good Giles' performance was the last time England toured: he carried the attack that time.
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Originally Posted by Mike Looking at the England dismissals on Day 3 it looks like the England batsmen were playing from the crease with little footwork. This allowed the swing bowlers to pitch it up and swing the ball both ways. England's batsmen must be more positive tomorrow and attack the bowlers more. |
They simply have to follow the exemplary style of Jayawardene: not "attacking" anything... just being positive and patient. That said... Vaughan, Cook and Bell have all shown themselves more than capable of doing that in this series, and Pietersen and COllingwood have shown those characteristics often enough - not an issue.
Excepting Bopara, of course... but you can't pick someone because they play the way he does and then expect him to do something different once selected!