ENG vs PAK | Old Trafford Day 3 Talking Points: Yasir ‘warne’ Shah and James Anderson regression

08/07/2020

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On Day 3 of the opening Test between Pakistan and England at Old Trafford, the visiting side tightened the grip in solid fashion, with an effective lead of 244 runs. While Yasir Shah (4/66) was absolutely fantastic with the ball for Pakistan, England were left to rue their Anderson-sized problem.

The enduring class of Mohammed Abbas

Mohammed Abbas is never about pace. Mohammed Abbas is not about that weird angle too. Mohammed Abbas is actually about the hostility of different kinds. When things get conjured up and life gets tougher with all complexities, you need Abbas to bring the magic. Under the gloomy Manchester sky, Abbas swore by his skill and penetrated the English batting attack with surgical precision. It was pace bowling at its purest form - something world cricket seems to have forgotten after their fascination for the likes of Jofra Archer, Pat Cummins and more recently, Naseem Shah. The special fact is even on a day he didn’t pick a single wicket, he was one of the stand-out performers for the visitors.

According to CricViz, Abbas is the most accurate seamer in the world and has bowled a higher proportion of his deliveries on a good line and length than any pace bowler to have bowled 600+ deliveries since 2006. To the naked eye, this was visible too and the subtle art of Abbas’ bowling meant England had their tails up right from the beginning. After the wicket had undergone its fair share of deterioration on Day 3, Abbas started extracting reverse while his seam movement made things tricky for English batsmen. England failed to replicate their tactics against Kemar Roach in the first two Tests, playing with a forward stride. Abbas operated within the stump line, leaving the corridor of uncertainty in a lonely daze. It meant a mistake was always around the corner and Yasir Shah found that next to his bowling tally. It would be really unfair if the leggie doesn’t treat Abbas with a heavy dinner at Hilton tonight.

Turn, accuracy and repeat - the Yasir code to success

19 wickets on the last trip to England was Yasir Shah’s best England tour yet, but when Pakistan drew the series, he had his fingerprints everywhere, with 15 wickets for 272 runs at Lord's and The Oval at an average of 18.13. At Old Trafford and Edgbaston, he averaged 125 with the ball and if anything the 2020 series came as a redemption of sorts for Yasir to own Old Trafford too. What he eventually managed to do here was the fulcrum on England’s path to hell with the leg-spinner channelling his inner Shane Warne to dismantle this English side.

Firstly there are a couple of things that Shah mastered his way to success. His drift was second to none, with a diagonal seam position luring batsmen forward before turning into the right-hander. The likes of Jos Buttler fell prey to the trap with the wicket enduring a worn look. The leg-spinner surely messed with the line, but that was propelled by Azhar Ali’s plans of having two fielders up on the on-side. Buttler was looking to go aggressive as were Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer but then Shah forwarded his length to spell the death kneel. Had it not been two dropped catches, things would have been way better for Yasir, even though it is mighty impressive in the current form.

Harsh on Anderson or a fair call?

Never in recent times, England have found themselves in such a situation that almost every pacer is fit and raring to go. It came to such a situation that Chris Silverwood, during the Windies series, had indicated that they would turn their pace attack to ensure no one plays more than two matches in a series. However, that thought has gone for a toss with almost everyone in the side playing their third matches of the summer, with Wood, Robinson and Curran being sidelined after limited opportunities. However, what has been a bigger concern though is Anderson’s bowling performance for the Lancashire bowler, who bowled all his life at the Emirates Old Trafford, struggled the most among all English bowlers.

The king of the English conditions has been largely silent, with only six wickets in three matches and his swing effect being extremely low. In conditions where Chris Woakes managed to gobble the conditions in his favour with a sub 20 average, Anderson proved to be redundant. As per the statistics flashed on-screen during the broadcast, Anderson had managed to extract the lowest amount of swing among Broad, Wokaes and himself - which is his worst ever for a home summer. Kudos to Joe Root for being proactive and getting him off the attack for Dom Bess, which somehow put some pressure back on the visitors.