Cook’s England ready to face a new trial by spin
Skipper insists harsh lessons have been learnt from their recent nightmares on the subcontinent but Pakistan will look to exploit some familiar failings
ALMOST exactly a year on from their torrid World Cup campaign the relatively recent change of captaincy and minor reshuffle in personnel has up until now given England’s one-day set-up merely an artificial air of change.
Alastair Cook, who will embark on his fourth series as England’s one-day skipper against Pakistan today, has set about trying to accelerate a move towards a more progressive brand of cricket by dropping a mainstay in Ian Bell and promoting Kevin Pietersen up the order, but the composition of the side and its weaknesses appear to be all too familiar.
Many of the mistakes England committed last February in the subcontinent were subsequently replicated in October’s 5-0 one-day series whitewash in India and although the format was different, the Test side’s recent failure to dominate Pakistan’s spinners represents a worrying precursor to this upcoming four-match series.
Furthermore, Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel remain unclear as to where they fit, if indeed at all, in the team, while a battery of pace bowlers would not appear to offer Cook the sort of variety Pakistan’s Misbah-ul-Haq will have at his disposal.
Somerset’s Jos Buttler (inset), who has been ruled out of today’s series opener in Abu Dhabi due to split webbing in his left hand, and Hampshire spinner Danny Briggs are the only new faces in the squad, but Cook is counting on their presence to reinvigorate a group of players who he claims have learnt from their recent chastening experiences on the subcontinent.
“One of the things we said in October was we tried as hard as we could and we came up quite a long way short again against India,” said Cook. “There’s no shame in that, but there will be a shame if we don’t learn individually from that and where we need to take our game.
“The Tests (against Pakistan) didn’t go to plan, and we didn’t play very well. But it’s a new format, and the squad has introduced six new faces. It’s brought a freshness and enthusiasm to the squad.”
England’s preparations were hardly helped on Saturday when a taxi carrying Pietersen, Stuart Broad and Jonathan Trott was involved in a dramatic high-speed incident. The players emerged unscathed after the bonnet suddenly flew up and into the car’s windscreen and all three are expected to play today.
CAPTAIN COOK | ODI RECORD
SRI LANKA, 2011 (HOME)
28 Jun: Won by 110 runs
1 Jul: Lost by 69 runs
3 Jul: Lost by 6 wickets
6 Jul: Won by 10 wickets
9 Jul: Won by 16 runs
INDIA, 2011 (HOME)
3 Sep: No result
6 Sep: Won by 7 wickets
9 Sep: Won by 6 wickets
11 Sep: Match tied
16 Sep: Won by 6 wickets
INDIA, 2011 (AWAY)
14 Oct: Lost by 126 runs
17 Oct: Lost by 8 wickets
20 Oct: Lost by 5 wickets
23 Oct: Lost by 6 wickets
25 Oct: Lost by 95 runs