Sports reporter(wp/es):
England started their sub-continental odyssey with a win against Bangladesh in Chittagong. However, much improvement will be required in the Second Test, starting tomorrow, if they are to move on to India with confidence.
The stakes will be high for Alastair Cook and his players here in Dhaka, not only because they will want to avoid becoming the first England team to lose to Bangladesh in 10 Tests but because they know even victory in this series will mean little when they arrive in Mumbai in the middle of next week.
Despite Bangladesh’s recent improvements, evidenced by their spirited performance in an opening Test they lost by just 22 runs, they are still the ninth-ranked team in the world.
England came perilously close to losing in Chittagong because the shortcomings that were so obvious before they left home for a tour that will see them play seven Tests before Christmas were plain for all to see again.
To win consistently in Asia a team need two things — a reliable top-order batting line-up and a world-class spinner. Unlike 2012, when England won in India for the first time in 27 years, they have neither.
Back then three of the top four in Cook, in his first tour as full-time Test captain, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen averaged above 40 in the series. They were backed up by the spin pairing of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who took 37 wickets between in the series.
This time, England’s top four is their Achilles heel, with the collapses in Chittagong to 21 for three in the first innings and 46 for four in the second almost costing them the game.
Cook is still there, of course, and in Joe Root England have another batsman whose quality is beyond question. But when both fail, it exposes the rest of a fragile top four.
Judgement must be reserved on Ben Duckett, who made scores of 14 and 15 opening against spin in his first Test.
However, Gary Ballance has no excuse. The Yorkshire batsman averages just 22 since coming back into the side last summer and, short on confidence following that fallow run, he needs a significant score from No4 in Dhaka to save his Test career. England cannot rely on the middle order runs of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to bail them out as they did in Chittagong every time. India’s spinners will seize on any weaknesses during the five Tests that await, starting in Rajkot on November 9. And their batsmen, led by captain Virat Kohli, will also see the spin-bowling department as a significant weakness.
Moeen Ali was the best of England’s spinners in the opening Test. But neither him, Gareth Batty nor Adil Rashid will worry India. Zafar Ansari, who will make his Test debut in Dhaka, falls under the same category.
Yet England’s spinners can bowl better and at least head to India with confidence with an improved display.
That much is at least required given there are no warm-up matches between now and Rajkot. Dhaka will be England’s final dress rehearsal for a series that will see them not only face a team who are ranked No1 in the world but who have not lost a home Test since England won in Kolkata four years ago.
In between they have won 12 of 13 matches, whitewashing Australia 4-0, New Zealand 3-0 and West Indies 2-0. South Africa also lost 3-0 in India this time last year, with a washed out Test sparing them a whitewash. England will get no favours in India, who are determined to avenge their defeat of 2012.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan warned this week: “If they perform like they did against Bangladesh, it’ll be 5-0.”
Vaughan is not known for understatement but on this he might be right. Forget winning for now, England will need to improve significantly if they are to even compete in India. Those improvements must start tomorrow.
England started their sub-continental odyssey with a win against Bangladesh in Chittagong. However, much improvement will be required in the Second Test, starting tomorrow, if they are to move on to India with confidence.
The stakes will be high for Alastair Cook and his players here in Dhaka, not only because they will want to avoid becoming the first England team to lose to Bangladesh in 10 Tests but because they know even victory in this series will mean little when they arrive in Mumbai in the middle of next week.
Despite Bangladesh’s recent improvements, evidenced by their spirited performance in an opening Test they lost by just 22 runs, they are still the ninth-ranked team in the world.
England came perilously close to losing in Chittagong because the shortcomings that were so obvious before they left home for a tour that will see them play seven Tests before Christmas were plain for all to see again.
To win consistently in Asia a team need two things — a reliable top-order batting line-up and a world-class spinner. Unlike 2012, when England won in India for the first time in 27 years, they have neither.
Back then three of the top four in Cook, in his first tour as full-time Test captain, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen averaged above 40 in the series. They were backed up by the spin pairing of Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar, who took 37 wickets between in the series.
This time, England’s top four is their Achilles heel, with the collapses in Chittagong to 21 for three in the first innings and 46 for four in the second almost costing them the game.
Cook is still there, of course, and in Joe Root England have another batsman whose quality is beyond question. But when both fail, it exposes the rest of a fragile top four.
Judgement must be reserved on Ben Duckett, who made scores of 14 and 15 opening against spin in his first Test.
However, Gary Ballance has no excuse. The Yorkshire batsman averages just 22 since coming back into the side last summer and, short on confidence following that fallow run, he needs a significant score from No4 in Dhaka to save his Test career. England cannot rely on the middle order runs of Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow to bail them out as they did in Chittagong every time. India’s spinners will seize on any weaknesses during the five Tests that await, starting in Rajkot on November 9. And their batsmen, led by captain Virat Kohli, will also see the spin-bowling department as a significant weakness.
Moeen Ali was the best of England’s spinners in the opening Test. But neither him, Gareth Batty nor Adil Rashid will worry India. Zafar Ansari, who will make his Test debut in Dhaka, falls under the same category.
Yet England’s spinners can bowl better and at least head to India with confidence with an improved display.
That much is at least required given there are no warm-up matches between now and Rajkot. Dhaka will be England’s final dress rehearsal for a series that will see them not only face a team who are ranked No1 in the world but who have not lost a home Test since England won in Kolkata four years ago.
In between they have won 12 of 13 matches, whitewashing Australia 4-0, New Zealand 3-0 and West Indies 2-0. South Africa also lost 3-0 in India this time last year, with a washed out Test sparing them a whitewash. England will get no favours in India, who are determined to avenge their defeat of 2012.
Former England captain Michael Vaughan warned this week: “If they perform like they did against Bangladesh, it’ll be 5-0.”
Vaughan is not known for understatement but on this he might be right. Forget winning for now, England will need to improve significantly if they are to even compete in India. Those improvements must start tomorrow.
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