ENG vs PAK | Ageas Bowl Day 1 Talking Points- A rested Jofra Archer, rains all the way and a scoreboard injustice
Jofra Archer was 'rested' for the second Test against Pakistan
|Getty
Ahead of the game, it was always going to be about how England can pressurise Pakistan to cruise to another home series victory but they had to do it without Jofra Archer, who was ârestedâ. Pakistan ended up scoring just the 126 runs losing five wickets after a tough dayâs play in Southampton.
Brief Scores: Pakistan 126/5 in 45.4 overs (Abid Ali 60, James Anderson 2/35) against England at the end of Day 1.
Jofra ârestedâ Archer
When England played At the Ageas Bowl the last time around, against West Indies, they opted for the inclusion of both Jofra Archer and Mark Wood. This time around, both of them did not make the cut as England walked in with one change to their playing XI, the exclusion of Jofra Archer. At the toss, Joe Root made it clear that the management decided to ârestâ their premier pacer for this clash in Southampton. But we have heard ârestâ a quite few times in the recent past and it all points to only one thing - drop.Â
Clearly, when these two sides faced each other at the Old Trafford, there was frequent criticism for the Barbados-born pacer for not living up to his words. On top of that, he came out and stamped down his authority by claiming that no one can bend their backs every day to bowl 150+ kmph deliveries. Guess what? The very next day, Naseem Shah came out and opposed that opinion, which Archer stated as facts with a session of raw pace, one that was last seen from Archer in the Ashes, the very reason he made the English wave.Â
However, the right-arm pacerâs current form has been giddy at best. After returning with 22 wickets in the Ashes, Archer has managed to get eight wickets combined against New Zealand and South Africa across 118 overs, which was bettered by all the other pacers. Post that, in 94 overs against a lacklustre Pakistan and West Indies batting lineup, all he could manage is eight wickets at an average of 35.5, which combined does not guarantee him a place anymore based on his hype. Gone are his hyped days, Archer now really needs to step back and do what he does best
Heatwave Rains all the way
Letâs put it out of the window first up, a heatwave in the United Kingdom? It was more like - rain stops play again and arguably it was there on and off, showing more signs of forcing things than Jofra Archer in the first Test against Pakistan. Rains have been part and parcel of Englandâs culture since days unknown and it still exists, which poses an important question. If it does rain this much in the country, why canât the ECB put out a roof to their grounds, preventing play being delayed by the constant spell of rains? If you think of it more and more, it will start making immediate sense. In the day and age, where ECBâs rivalling board, Australia have similar facilities already arranged, why canât the ECB employ a similar closed-roof encounter?Â
It might look too drastic of a decision but by the trend of it, rain seems to be a constant feature of Test cricket in England. With the World Test Championship set to be played in England, surely it would be a huge booster to put up such advancement to their already top-of-the-world infrastructure. While it hasnât affected any of the results in the past year, it surely has the making of spoiling one big encounter someday in the longest format. In the shortest format, it already has, with Indiaâs semi-final clash against New Zealand, on top of their group-stage encounter against the same opposition.Â
Scoreboard injustice at Rose Bowl
How many times have we heard this term, âscoreline injusticeâ in football where a team dominated for the most part of the proceedings before succumbing to a defeat. Well, yesterday surely was a prime example of it, as Paris St Germain looked in trouble till the last minute before they snatched a win. However, on the field, was it the same? Nope, they dominated the proceedings for the entire game and were so much more dominant than Atlanta.Â
Similarly, today there was another such occurrence of a scoreboard injustice when Pakistan took on England at the Ageas Bowl. The game had as many as three stop-starts, in a day that was heavily dominated by the English weather, which we have heavily discussed already. Essentially, it was always going to be an advantage to the hosts, who excel in overcast conditions. Today was one such day, as the English bowlers made full advantage of the stop-start breaking Pakistanâs batting confidence.Â
Every time a Pakistani partnership was on the horizon, developing rapidly, there was an occurrence of rain which took away the momentum from the visitors. Despite that, in 45 overs, the visitors safely went on to score 128 for the loss of five wickets. Another 125 runs from hereon would be enough for the Pakistani bowlers to make an immediate impact on Day two and three of the encounter but until then, donât rule them out!
