2nd Test: England's marks out of ten

After a stuttering performance in the first test and then the first day and two sessions of the second, England finally slipped into top gear and took ten Bangladesh wickets in two successive sessions for 213 to canter to an innings and 80 runs victory at Old Trafford.

It had all looked so different with Tamim Iqbal again inspiring Bangladesh to reach 96/0 in only 18 overs by tea on Saturday. Tamim went on to record his second successive century, but then Graeme Swann and impressive debutant Ajmal Shahzad inspired a Bangladesh first innings collapse. Then yesterday, under grey skies and conditions tailor made for swing bowling, it was James Anderson and Steve Finn's turn to destroy Shakib Al Hasan's team.

Bangladesh have made a lot of friends in this series, but ultimately they have been beaten heavily twice. So what of the men that bested them at Old Trafford? How do they rate on the Reverse Sweep approval monitor?

Andrew Strauss - 6 Disappointed with the bat this time, but his captaincy was much improved bar ridiculously negative field settings for Tamim Iqbal. Enforcing the follow-on was a good sign of the positive intent England will need to have to have any hope of retaining the Ashes though.

Alastair Cook - 5  Another low score following two failures at Lord's. Needs a good series against Pakistan to set himself up for another crack at the Aussies.

Jonathan Trott - 4 265 runs for once out at Lord's became a solitary innings of 3 at Old Trafford. That is the biggest comedown since a certain Rolling Stones guitarist entered rehab. We are still not convinced that Trott is a test match number three. How he performs against Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Aamer and maybe Shoaib Akhtar should tell us more.

Kevin Pietersen - 7 England were in a spot of bother at 83/3 on the first morning, but KP hit them out of trouble before suffering another brain failure against Shakib. Looked a bit bored at the crease and is maybe suffering a feeling of anti-climax after the double joy of winning the World T20 and becoming a father. No doubt will be reinvigorated for the much tougher battles ahead.

Ian Bell - 9 Has become a bit of a flat track bully against Bangladesh with that stratospheric average. However, this time his 128 helped hold England together after they had slipped to 223/5. Was undone by a wonder ball from Shakib, but has now scored three centuries in his last seven tests. Throw in his career defining rearguard at Newlands and it would seem that the boy finally become a man.

Eoin Morgan - 6 Combined well with Bell in a 5th wicket partnership of 70, but given the opposition his 37 here and 44 in the first test, doesn't really tell us how Morgan would do against Pakistan let alone Australia. Is likely to be the man to drop out when Collingwood returns, but is certainly worth another look later in the summer.

Matt Prior - 7 As we wrote yesterday, Prior is batting like a man under extreme pressure given the looming figure of Craig Kieswetter. That said his partnership of 153 with Bell put England in the ascendancy and despite his innings being one of the scratchiest we've seen from the Sussex keeper, he should keep his place for now. Was a bit scrappy with the gloves yesterday too, but that can probably be put down to an injured finger.

Graeme Swann - 8 Relished the opportunity to bowl on an Old Trafford wicket that offered turn and bounce, and his five wicket haul in the first innings was well deserved. Still not at his best, but can be forgiven for saving his top form for the tougher battles ahead after such a stellar year. Will be glad to see the back of Tamim Iqbal for a while.

Ajmal Shahzad - 8 Hugely impressive debut. Shahzad was fast - regularly touching 90mph, accurate and found some reverse swing. If he keeps up this level of performance, he could well play himself into the Ashes squad. He certainly offered much more than Tim Bresnan did at Lord's.

James Anderson - 7 Poor again with the new ball in Bangladesh's 1st innings, but unplayable yesterday under grey skies that favoured his form of swing bowling. We are still concerned that Jimmy doesn't offer much though when he cannot find swing and he probably won't find too much of that on the Australian wickets.

Steven Finn - 8 Went from an imitation of Steve Harmison at his most wayward in the first innings to the Finn we saw at Lord's in the second. Another five for was good reward for another rendition of penetrative bounce and accuracy. We are now wondering whether his continual habit of falling over is part of a ploy to unsettle the batsmen though!  

Comments

[greyblazer]

I thought Anderson's spell of 8 overs for 10 runs on the second day when he kept Tamim quiet by getting it to reverse and got him out was perhaps the turning point of the match and that effort wasn't under cloudy conditons.

He also bowled well to Kayes with the new ball on the second day but only when he went around the wicket did he look ordinary. So you're perhaps a bit unfair on Anderson as I thought he bowled well especially to Tamim with the old ball.

[The Reverse Sweep]

True. But other than yesterday, he bowled woefully with the new ball at the start of the innings each time this series. Given that is his main job, it was a disappointing 'series' for Anderson, which isn't shown in his overall figures. If England give Australia those sorts of starts, they will be in big trouble. That said, it was good to see Jimmy get some reverse, which may mean that he has more than one string to his bow.

[greyblazer]

As I said he didn't bowl well with the new ball at OT only when he went around the wicket to Tamim but I can remember him beating Kayes at least four times in a single over on the second day with the new ball or did I see some other match?

[greyblazer]

I would actually say Finn got some cheap wickets yesterday as the tailenders looked to slog him but Anderson did the damage upfront.

[The Reverse Sweep]

Anderson bowled really well yesterday and getting Tamim early was key.

[greyblazer]

I see that it was the ninth over of the match when he beat Kayes four times in a over and he perhaps would have got Ashraful out too but he kept playing outside the line of the off stump.

Anderson's figures on the second day was fourteen overs, 45 runs and one wicket which perhaps shows that he may not have been great but at the same time bowled reasonably well.

[The Reverse Sweep]

True, Anderson bowled much better in his second spell in the first innings. My criticism is more that he has wasted the new ball in three out of the four innings in this series. It could be down to a bit of rustiness having being first injured and then a spectator in the Caribbean. But don't get me wrong, I think Anderson is a very good bowler when conditions suit swing.

[Mahek]

Most fast bowlers seem to fall in love with bowling short of a length with the new ball. Anderson would be close to unplayable if he pitched the ball up on a consistent basis. I can't think of any other bowler in world cricket who is able to swing the ball either way with such good seam position. Even Steyn isn't able to bring the ball in and relies mostly on his outswinger. Ofcourse he's a bit quicker and a lot more accurate.

Saker needs to impress upon Anderson the need to bowl a length that gets the batsmen driving. They say the ball doesn't swing as much in Australia. It's bullshit. I saw RP Singh and Irfan Pathan swing it a long way in 07-08. I'm sure Anderson can get it to move too.

[The Reverse Sweep]

I hope for England's sake you are right. As you say at his best, Anderson can be unplayable. That's what makes us England fans so frustrated with his habit of blowing very hot or very cold