England vs Pakistan: England seal series at Lord's | How good is their bowling attack?

0:01Yeah, gone! Gone! He gets his fairytale ending! An epic way to go to a Test Match 100. The London Spirit of First Time win is the most remarkable thing you'll probably ever see in cricket. 604 and final Test Wicket for Stuart Wall. It's ended when the T20 World Cup. England's captain Ben Stokes, while he is there, England have hope.

0:34Welcome to the Sky Daily Review and a wrap of the second Test match. Final time here at Lord's Day 4. England have won the series and won this match by 194 runs. So 2-0 win the series as we head into Edge Paston for a few days from now. But to deconstruct and talk about this game, particularly today, Nasser Hussain and Dinesh Karthik, thank you for your time, gentlemen, Nass. England obviously had still had Dan Lawrence at the crease, and they're going to look at the weather and how the remaining tail batted with him. But you'd reckon that at the start of the day also they had enough runs? Yeah, I think you were on commentary yesterday saying, declare, I've got to fly home.

1:12I think everyone felt that the amount of overs Pakistan had batted in the series. They hadn't even batted 90 overs combined. That's not, you know, a day's cricket. They hadn't batted in a combination of innings. So I think everyone felt they had enough. But why, when you've got two days and the weather forecast is decent, why chance it? Bat a little bit longer, swing hard and get some runs. And if you don't get some runs, you get out and you go and have a bowl again. So it was a better day for batting today. I did the pitch report, and even though there's still those dents on the surface, you felt it would be slightly harder today because it was so different, the overhead conditions, which are vital at Lourdes.

1:49The sun was out, so they needed to make sure they give themselves plenty of time to bowl Pakistan out second time round. And in the end, it only took 50 overs and a delivery or two. Yeah, you say it was a better pitch England, 177 for seven with a 357 run lead at the end of play. 208 all out eventually. Someone to talk about in slight silver light would be Mohamed Abbas, probably the lone ranger with the ball. A phenomenal 3-4 first consecutively here at Lord's and finally onto the honours board. Absolutely. I do feel it was a very important session, if not for England, definitely for Mohamed Abbas.

2:23because you want to be on that Lord's honours board if everything goes well for you. And so far, he's been so close. Three, four wicket hauls means he's obviously thinking about it, saying, can I get on that honours board? That's so close. And it's a very prestigious thing. You have some of the greatest players who have come and done well here. And it's something that you remember for the rest of your career, for the rest of your life, in fact. And you couldn't be more happier for them because, first of all, let's just admit he was their best bowler, without a doubt. Walking into the series, everybody spoke about how effective Mohamed Abbas can be.

2:53And he's played what's in front of him, which is go out there, hit lengths, trouble the English patterns and make sure, give nothing away easy. And he did that all of his spells. He was very economical in Leeds, didn't get the wickets he wanted. Here again, he was quite economical, but most importantly, ended up getting the Pfeiffer that he was searching for. And you couldn't be happier for the man. Obviously, he's at the tail end of his career. So whatever games he gets to play for Pakistan, he wants to do his best. And what better place than Lodge to be doing it? You know, with so much history attached to this ground, Everyone who comes here wants to get on the honours board.

3:23Not everybody can. But if you do have the opportunity, you should make the most of it. And that's exactly what he did. Went past 900 first-class wickets and onto the honours board. Nine wickets in the game. Now, Nass, this pitch has obviously offered most amount of movement. We've seen that in the numbers that we put up, even more than what New Zealand had. England versus New Zealand earlier in the summer. And two of the bowlers, one on either side, we've already spoken more about the bus, we exploited the conditions really well. Olly Robinson, eight for in the game again. Yeah, perfect bowlers for the conditions.

3:50perfect length, perfect wobble seam. I did a piece on thirders of the challenge of playing swing compared to the challenge of playing the wobble seam. And when it swings, you can pick it up early and line it up. It's not easy. There's been some great swing bowlers over time, but nowadays there are more and more wobble seam bowlers because you have no clue. However much they say, I know which way it's going. They don't. And if they don't, the batter doesn't know. And so his length that he bowls, in particular here, Lourdes. He just bowls a length that finds the pads and finds the stumps. And you're always in play with the LBW and bowls.

4:29It is seriously hard work to face Oli Robbins. I would find him a nightmare to face in these conditions because at times you're just putting your bat there and guessing if it's going to hit it. Adik, I think maybe you get your thoughts on Oli Robinson as well. 99 wickets in his test career, shy of one at under 20. Yeah. The record speaks for itself, But what amazed me about him, I think he's had a tough time when he was outside the England team. I think he's gone searching for a lot of answers, be it his antiques off the field or his skill on the field or his ticker, basically. Because they feel that at times when the conditions were not going his way, he used to not be there for the team.

5:09And he's come back in. And guess what? In three test matches in the summer, all three matches, he's been the man of the match. And that is a testament to the fact that he's put in the work. He is obviously making sure the ball is talking more than himself, which is a great thing. And he is almost making the selectors and the rest of the people involved in the sport feel, why didn't you take me before? And that's exactly what you can do as a player. And he's ticked every box possible after he's made his comeback. Doing his part right. And I'm sure the front runner in this four-prong attack, it's never easy, Nass, because it has to be done in partnerships.

5:42We talk about batting partnerships, bowling partnerships as important. and he's got pace of Geoffrarch on the other side and then Gus and Josh Tung to follow. Yeah, it's a good quartet of bowlers, actually, especially in these conditions. But the three of them are very quick at the other end. So you've got Tung, Atkinson and Archer is the quickest of the lot. And obviously Robinson, hugely skillful. Tung with his angle, Atkinson with that skiddy pace. He's been a bit unlucky in this series, actually. I think he's only got the one wicket, which considering the conditions, he'll be scratching his head going, how fun he got that.

6:15And obviously, Archer's just box office. He really is. And the spell and the ball he bowled to Barbarazam, that would have spread a little bit of panic in the Pakistan dressing room. When you see your best player bounced out like that, it reminded me of the Steve Smith spell he bowled here when in the end Steve Smith has to go off with concussions. So it's an incredible, incredible skill that he has because he makes it look so effortless. And yet at the other end, it is flying around. Well, it leads me quite nicely into Pakistan and the batting bit of it. Probably the only time Pakistan showed a little bit of fight and grit was that exceptional knock from Saoud Shaqeel.

6:55And almost as a fan of the game, you wanted him to get the three figures. He wasn't afraid. He stood his ground, played some glorious strokes and in the end fell short to the short ball. But impressive in terms of the overall poor showing with the bat from Pakistan. I have to say he's been Pakistan's best batter in the innings that's gone. and I was amazed, first of all, that there were discussions of whether he would be playing this match because of the record that he has. But you ask people about South Shaqeel and they'll say that he's been a good player of spin. But today it wasn't about playing spin.

7:26It was about playing high pace with movement. And I think he showed a good effect of what it means to have a solid game plan. You could see he was stretching a lot to Ollie Robinson. He was making sure he was playing in front of his pad to a lot of the bowlers who bowl on the middle and off stump because Nasser made a piece about how they're going to target him and they did that exactly. and he had a plan which is to get in front with his bat and towards the end when they did bowl the short ball, he took it on, was lucky a few times. But overall, I would say if you look at the Pakistan batting, what would be most disappointing?

7:56Number one, you know, if there are only two people getting into double figures, that in itself says everything you need to know, which in itself is an issue. And across four innings, four different batters have got decent scores. First innings at Leeds, it was Abdullah Shafiq. In the second innings, Rizwan got a 40. And if 40 is your highest score, you can imagine what that is. and in the first innings Azana Ways I thought fought it out quite nicely and in the last innings it's Sao Chakil but you got to put up all four together in a test match if you want to compete if you want to be there England is a good team it's home conditions for them they know exactly what they're going to be coming up with now if you're Pakistan you're coming from the subcontinent you want to match up to them right now I don't see the fight that you require across a batting line there are individuals standing up and together as a collective they have yet to bat 90 overs across two innings.

8:42Even in this game, they've gotten all out for 37 overs and 51 overs, which adds up to 88, which is still less than a day. So was the case in Leeds. I can understand here to an extent because of how much the pitch did, but in Leeds, it was a good pitch. So they have plenty of questions about their batting lineup and their techniques and how they are going to match up against some good polling attacks. Well, they have plenty of days to think and ponder on and get it right.

9:13I think from England's point of view now, they can only play with the cards dealt at them. If Pakistan was average or below, that's not really on England. How do you measure it? Because you have to take this performance in isolation as well, but also there will be challenging times in terms of conditions and oppositions ahead. How I've measured it is I've been sitting upstairs either on commentary or off commentary and thinking how would this England bowling attack have gone in the ashes? and I think they'd have gone pretty well because in three of those games the ball did quite a bit and I think they selected poorly in that and having Robinson, having Tongue and obviously Atkinson and Archer they had but I think they'd have gone really well in that and I think in South Africa this attack will go really well they'll be tested more because of the back line so I don't think they should judge themselves against this Pakistan side I've said constantly this is a poor Pakistan side so you've got to judge yourself against Australia South Africa and India and those batting lineups in particular and I think in these conditions they would go well.

10:14Now in conditions away from home where you may need a spinner, then what they're going to do, I still like, I still think your fourth bowler should be your best bowler. So are you going to drop a tongue or an Atkinson or a Robinson for a spinner that you're not so sure of? So these are challenges and questions down the line that England will need to make and And in the batting, I thought it was an important game because the lads they brought in, Cox and Lawrence, have played well now. Cox in both games at number three. Lawrence, second innings, got 50-odd, was out this morning, 54. And the lad that was under the most pressure, you'd say Jamie Smith, batted well, got runs in the first innings.

10:53And DK will agree, I'm sure, his keeping in both innings on a difficult pitch was superb. Absolutely. I mean, his keeping was top-notch. And a word for Mohamed Rizwan as well. I thought he kept up quite nicely to Mohamed Abbas, which was a challenge. But I think Jamie Smith was even better because Ollie Robinson is a slightly tougher bowler to obviously keep purely because of the movement he gets and also the height. And because of that, yes, he skids through. But I think Jamie Smith got into much stronger positions, a lot more balanced. I'm talking from a technical point of view. And England should be very happy.

11:23I do think credit to Sarah Taylor. I've seen her work with him every day. And the effort that she's put in, she's a very accomplished keeper. And now she's obviously a solid coach as well. It's great to see her put in the work with Jamie Smith and the kind of results that she's seeing with the kind of Consistency that he's able to hold on to the ball when he's up to the stumps And that's going to play a major factor from here on even when they go to South Africa, etc There will be Ollie Robinson bowling and there will be Jamie Smith up to the stumps So it is good news that England have obviously found a keeper who's able to live up to the expectations Yeah, Adam Gilchrist once said that Sarah Taylor is probably the best he had ever seen So that is testament to her work and showing in Jamie Smith Now, Nais, before we wrap this up, lots for Pakistan to think about.

12:04And you always hope and the expectation. It's never easy for the subcontinent teams to come here, but you want them to be getting better. Difficult place to put yourself in, but what is it? Because there is obviously a difference in skill, and then it results in the mindset and the temperament. Like DK said, barely batted out 90 overs on either test. Fight, character, passion, all the words that you've historically used about Pakistan cricket that we unfortunately don't use now or say they are lacking in. Fight and character can mean, as in a way, he's batting the way he did. It doesn't mean you have to go out and absolutely belt it around everywhere.

12:43I'll tell you what used to fire me up was when, like in the games, DK's just mentioned, in both games they've not gone 90 overs combined. So as a batting line-up, you sort of go, oh, well, everyone's struggling. But when I used to fire me up was when Mike Afferton got runs and I didn't or Graham Thorpe got runs and I didn't or Mark Butcher got runs and I didn't. And I used to go, well, if they're getting runs, why aren't I? So if I was them, I would look at Sal Chakil today and see the way Sal Chakil played and the tempo of his innings. If Sal Chakil, who everyone said was a really good player of spin, how's he going to go in England?

13:15If Sal Chakil's getting 97 and playing like that, the rest of them have to look at themselves and go, if he's doing it, I can do it. So sometimes you just need lifting from a personal teammate teammates showing you, come on lads, we're better than that. With the ball, I do think they're a one-dimensional attack. Birmingham can be flatter and they may need a bit of express pace in Birmingham. Something slightly different. I've said all along, this is an untypical Pakistan attack. It's like an English attack. They need to find a Pakistan attack. Well, the only person they have is a 20-year-old, youngest brother of Nassim Shah and Ubaid Shah, who can hit about 140.

13:54Take it before we wrap up, a word on Joe Root. Return to test captaincy. He's had plenty of shenanigans to deal with off the field. He also said about his bowlers, they probably don't know how good they are yet. But a good record to come back to. Martialist troops extremely well as a good place to start. Look, I think if you're Joe Root, you know walking into the series, it's not going to be a toughest series as a captain. It's not a real test per se. But what did tempt him into getting the captaincy is the fact that he had a good bowling attack to work with. And that is definitely reflected in these two games that we have watched.

14:27This bowling attack looks a solid attack. Their challenges will come. As Nasser said, when they play on slightly flatter pitches, how much of a spinner would they need? What sort of role would they need to be playing? But that's for a different day. For the moment, Joe Root will say, yes, I'm very happy with my bowling attack. And the fact that they won convincingly. One thing this England team was found wanting is the ruthlessness. And they did show versions of that at different times in this test match and in the Leeds test match. And that is something that should really please them because that is a very important attribute to have, not as an individual, but also as a team.

14:58And they did show that in this game, the way even Josh Tang came and mocked up the tail was good to see because, you know, when others weren't getting wickets, the fact that he had a name saying, I could get the tail out, he came in and did the job. That's what you want. And it was good to see the likes of Cox and Lawrence do well. But one thing for Joe Root, I would say, there is an issue with this batting. And he's a problem solver. And he is a captain. If he gets out another game like this, Again, people start speaking about the fact that is captaincy affecting Jo Root the batter? He's always going to deny it, which is right.

15:27But the stat will say, paint a different picture. That will be his first challenge. To make sure Jo Root the batter is as successful as he was when he wasn't the captain. But when it comes to field placings, I personally think he's a good captain. He's somebody who's tactically not the strongest, but somebody who can definitely work with the bowling attack that he has. And all things said and done, I think his start will please him. but I wouldn't read too much into it as of now because the bigger challenges are going to come in the next six eight months Well a small challenge for Joe to take to edge baston plenty for Pakistan to take as they can think about the 9th of September When we will see you there nice and DK.

16:02Thank you for your time. We will see you on the 9th of September in edge baston