England coach Flower hints at changes to team (From The Northern Echo)

England coach Flower hints at changes to team

1:58pm Monday 30th January 2012 in Cricket

ANDY FLOWER will be prepared to change England’s losing team to arrest the world Test number one’s fall from grace in the Middle East.

The England coach has called on the tourists to show skill and courage, and prove they can after all conquer the demons of spinning Asian pitches – starting by avoiding a series whitewash against Pakistan in Dubai next week.

Flower has found himself delivering an all-too-familiar refrain so far this winter, picking over England defeats – against India in limited-overs cricket and now after losing the first two Tests against Pakistan here to concede this three-match series in under seven days.

There was inevitably more of the same yesterday as he was called to account for the hapless batting which resulted in England’s lowest ever Test total against Pakistan, and another embarrassing early finish for the second successive match.

In difficult conditions, tailor- made for the talents of Pakistan’s spin bowlers, England’s hopes of making a relatively modest target of 145 to level the series foundered as they were all out for 72.

A spectacular sequence of single-figure dismissals dominated the scorebook as England were undone in less than 40 overs, and two-and-a-half hours, when it had seemed they began with a better than even chance of victory.

“We expect to learn and learn quickly – and that is a big part of our job, of my job,’’ said Flower, who spoke of England’s bowling and firstinnings competence but could only lament what followed.

“I thought in the first innings some of our batsmen did an excellent job.

“(Jonathan) Trott and (Alastair) Cook were outstanding in that partnership of 145. (Stuart) Broad was outstanding; he played an aggressive, courageous knock to give us the lead – that was a match-turning performance from him both with ball and bat.

“But yes, (there were) familiar mistakes. We need our batsmen to learn – very obviously.’’ If they do not, or do not appear capable of doing so by next week, time may have run out for someone.

“Continuity of selection has been part of our strength, but very obviously we have to pick players who are most adept at dealing with these conditions,’’ added Flower.

“Indeed, that is what we have tried to do.

“We have lost the series now – and, of course, we have to go into this third Test and pick what we think is the best XI to try and win the game.

“If that means making a change here and there, then we won’t be afraid to do that.’’ He cites the successful return of Monty Panesar as a second spinner in Abu Dhabi, after two-and-a-half years in the Test wilderness, as an example of his and captain Andrew Strauss’ readiness to make a tough call.

“What probably looks an easy decision in hindsight – to play two spinners – that wasn’t an easy decision at all,’’ he said.

How exactly then did England’s batsmen go so badly wrong against Abdur Rehman and his Pakistan spin colleagues?

“We didn’t put any pressure on their bowlers in the second innings. We allowed them to bowl and create pressure.

“In saying that, the conditions to play against quality spinners were difficult – and we weren’t good enough.’’ Flower still retains faith in his world-beating charges to demonstrate those table-topping credentials, even in an environment which has so often been beyond both them and many of their predecessors.

The alternative, after all, is unthinkable.

“This is a great challenge for all of us,’’ he said. “The issues are not going to disappear.

“We’ve got another Test; we’ve got a one-day series; we’ve a couple of Twenty20 games and then and we’ve also got Sri Lanka and India before the year is out.

“So we’ve got to face these issues with skill and a bit of courage.”

􀁧 Batsman Mike Hussey has underlined Australia’s determination to reclaim the number one Test ranking from England, revealing his side speak about it “every day’’.

Australia sit fourth in the official rankings after completing a 4-0 series whitewash over India in Adelaide this week.

Young names such as James Pattinson, David Warner and Patrick Cummins have helped fuel Australia’s improvement, with the 36-yearold Hussey revealing they were now fully focused on displacing England at the top.

“There’s no hiding our ambition in the wake of our 4-0 Test series win over India," Hussey wrote in his column in Perth newspaper The Sunday Times.

“We want to reclaim the world number one mantle from England.

“How often do we talk about it? Every day.”

The batsmen who must do better

THREE England batting collapses from four attempts have left the world number ones in danger of series whitewash against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, and coach Andy Flower conceding he may consider changes for the final Test.

But who are the batsmen who can and must do better?

ANDREW STRAUSS
It seemed for a while that redemption might come for England’s admirable captain, with a match-clinching and series-levelling innings in adversity in Abu Dhabi.

Instead, even after an unaccountable third-umpire let-off for a bat-pad catch, he was unable to get close to finishing the job. Strauss’ position will not and should not be under threat for a long time yet. But his run of 44 innings without a hundred, and only one half-century in the last 12 months, is increasingly uncomfortable.

IAN BELL
England’s technical paragon can vie with Pietersen for the tag as most talented, even in world-beating company. But the perfection Bell often approaches is offset by an apparent diffidence when the going gets tough. He shed that reputation in his purple patch of form stretching back to 2009/10 and culminating in his career-best doublehundred at The Oval last year.

But after three single-figure scores when the chips have been down in the Middle East, the doubts are creeping back in.

KEVIN PIETERSEN
England’s mercurial matchwinner has conspicuously failed to deliver on this tour.

Pietersen’s world-class figures, interrupted by injury and possible loss of focus after his short tenure as captain ended abruptly three years ago, began to stack up imperiously again from the 2010/11 Ashes onwards. But he has found some astounding ways to get out over the past two weeks, and owes England another major contribution soon.

EOIN MORGAN
Inched ahead of Ravi Bopara last summer, and made good on his promotion with his second Test hundred in the mammoth score – mostly down to Alastair Cook – which helped England go to the top of the world rankings above vanquished India at Edgbaston. The Irishman has looked all at sea at times against spin in the desert, though – and there is no point in persisting with the insurance policy of an extra batsman if he is unable to make any runs.