England must be aggressive in the UAE
Andrew Strauss should not get caught up in trying to ensure England's series against Pakistan in the UAE is incident-free, Michael Vaughan writes in the Daily Telegraph
Dustin Silgardo
25-Feb-2013
Andrew Strauss should not get caught up in trying to ensure England's series against Pakistan in the UAE is incident-free, Michael Vaughan writes in the Daily Telegraph. England's aggressive body language in the field is one of their biggest strengths, Vaughan says, and they must use it because they will be up against the best bowling attack they have faced since they went to South Africa two winters ago.
Aggression is not all about being lippy. England are aggressive in other ways. In the field it is with their body language and the way they hunt in packs. They crowd the batsman and constantly throw the ball in to the keeper which annoys the opposition and keeps them on the back foot. Matt Prior is at the heart of it all with the tempo he brings to the fielding unit. England have a body language that says “we want to be out here”.
Scyld Berry, in the same paper, says Andrew Strauss and Misbah ul-Haq seem calm and wise, so the usual dose of controversy that England-Pakistan series spark might be missing from the field of play this time around.
Stephen Brenkley, writing in the Independent, says England have a selection conundrum on their hands in Monty Panesar.
Dustin Silgardo is a former sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo