England's batting failures raise questions
England’s twin batting collapses against Pakistan at The Oval has raised questions about the solidity of their batting ahead of the Ashes later this year
Tariq Engineer
25-Feb-2013
England’s twin batting collapses against Pakistan at The Oval has raised questions about the solidity of their batting ahead of the Ashes later this year. In the Independent, Stephen Fay says England’s soft underbelly has been exposed, and batting coach Graham Gooch must bear the blame.
With the loss of six wickets for 27 runs in 15 overs, a dreadful truth was exposed. England's batting is dangerously brittle. The truth has been masked, partly by the fact that of nine Tests played so far this year, four were against Bangladesh. Dropped catches had let them off the hook against Pakistan when they collapsed at Old Trafford and Edgbaston. On Friday the mask was ripped away.
This was a sad litany of batting breakdown. Jonathan Trott, Paul Collingwood and Matt Prior all edged Aamer, thinly to the keeper or thickly to gully. Kevin Pietersen and Eoin Morgan saw their defences pierced by Ajmal's spin. The cumulative impact of these batting failures is illustrated by the averages of the top batsmen in nine Tests this year, including this one. Four of the top batsmen average below 40. Strauss manages a disturbing 33.08. Collingwood (37.00), Morgan (36.57) and Pietersen (36.14) are little better.
Tariq Engineer is a former senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo