A lot has happened since England last played a Test match. Regimes have fallen, cricketers have been incarcerated, David Warner and Vernon Philander have taken to Test cricket like ducks to water and man has finally landed on the moon.
Ok we made the last one up, but it has been a long time – 148 days to be precise – since England wrapped up a 4-0 series against India at The Oval. It was a fitting end to a perfect year that saw England replace the vanquished Indians at the top of the Test rankings and win six out of its eight (the other two being rain affected draws) Tests – four by an innings.
2012 is likely to be both busier – with 15 Tests in all – and tougher given that England face tough assignments in Sri Lanka and India in the sub-continental conditions that have proved to be their achilles heel in the recent past. But first up is an intriguing clash with a rejuvenated Pakistan in similar conditions in the UAE.
One school of thought is that England should stick to the six specialist batsmen, three seamer and one spinner policy that has served them so well in their climb to the top of the pile. But will this lead to success on the flat, slow and entirely different conditions that await them in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka and India?
We think not and believe that England should be bold rather than defensive and trust that Matt Prior is a more than competent enough batsman at six on pitches that will strongly favour the batsmen.
True, it would be better if Tim Bresnan was fit to add ballast at number seven, but Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann both know which end of the bat to hold and in benign conditions should be equipped to perform well enough at seven and eight if they apply themselves.
In any case, if England are to take 20 wickets on pitches where there has been only one positive result (four draws out of five so far) since Pakistan made the UAE its temporary home then Monty Panesar, in form after an eight-wicket haul in the warm-up last week, simply has to be picked alongside Swann and three seamers – Broad, James Anderson and Chris Tremlett in our view with Eoin Morgan the batsman to miss out.
If England do decide to be positive we would expect them to have enough to take 20 wickets in at least one of the three Tests to win the series, but it will be far from easy not just due to the alien conditions but also because Misbah-ul-Haq has made Pakistan a resilient side that will be extremely tough to beat.
Whatever the outcome the return of the number one Test side after such a long sabbatical certainly whets the appetite.
Where next?
See THAT catch by Monty Panesar again and again and...
Cricket memories of 2011: England trounce India to reach number one
Responsibility and Misbah-ul-Haq
Cricket memories of 2011: Pakistan rise from the abyss
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Monty may get into contention only after the first test, depending upon the way England seam plus Swann attack goes. Playing more spinners against Pak line up might not pay off.
Posted by: Navin Anand | Monday, January 16, 2012 at 18:33