Alastair Cook has warned his England colleagues that they face a
thorough examination of their character if they are to avoid the
humiliation of a 3-0 series whitewash against Pakistan
Alastair Cook has warned his England colleagues that they face a
thorough examination of their character if they are to avoid the
humiliation of a 3-0 series whitewash against Pakistan.
The teams will resume on day three of the third Test with Pakistan
having already built a lead of 180 with eight second-innings wickets
in hand. Younis Khan (115 not out) and Azhar Ali (75 not out) have so
far added 194 runs for Pakistan's third wicket and, in a low-scoring
series in which England's batsmen have posted a total over 200 just
once, the tourists will have to produce a much-improved performance to
avoid another defeat. Pakistan have already earned an unassailable 2-0
lead in the series.
Cook, perhaps worn down by experience, did not sound full of
confidence about the struggle to come, but insisted that England's
pride and professionalism would ensure they fought hard to deny
Pakistan victory and retain England's position as the top-ranked Test
side. If England lose this series 3-0 and South Africa subsequently
beat New Zealand by the same margin, then South Africa will leapfrog
England for the No. 1 position.
"We all know we're a very long way behind in this game," Cook said.
"But if we sit here and say 'well, we've lost this
game already' then we might as well give Pakistan victory right now.
If we're thinking that in our dressing-room, we might as well just not
bother turning up.
"It will take some serious guts to drag ourselves out of this. But
there are some bloody good players in that dressing-room, and I hope
we can stand up. Anything is possible, but it's going to take a lot of
mental toughness to deliver it."
Cook accepted that England's batsmen had endured a grim tour to date -
none of the side are averaging as much as 30, while the middle order
of Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan and Kevin Pietersen are all averaging under
11 - but admitted that their repeated failures were starting to
frustrate the entire squad.
"We have had our struggles on this tour and it is going to take some
serious character from the top six to turn it around. I
know we've got the players in there. But there's only so many times
you can keep saying that - we're going to have to get out there and do
it.
"It has been very frustrating, and we haven't played to the standards
we know we can. But we never once thought, just because of what
happened over the last two years, we'd turn up and wipe the floor with
everyone."
Twenty-two wickets fell in the first four sessions of the match but, since
then, Younis and Azhar have batted for 72 overs without giving a
chance. While Cook accepted that the Pakistan batsmen had played very
well, he also felt that the pitch had eased.
"The pitch characteristics have changed. There were less
wicket-taking balls around than there were yesterday. It was quite
easy to see that.
"But they didn't give us a chance in those last two sessions, and
played very well. When they came in, they were still 20 runs behind us
- and we had a really good opportunity to take a couple more wickets.
If we had got them 50 for 4, we would have been right in the game.
But now they have given us a real mountain to climb. We tried a lot of
things. But Younis took the attack to us. He was never reckless, but
he never let the bowlers settle into any type of rhythm."
Younis agreed that conditions had eased for batsmen, but also said
that his anger at his first-innings dismissal had inspired him in the
second innings. He also said he expected a tough fight from England
over the closing sessions of the series.
"The pitch is much better for batting," he said. "The first day was
difficult with the ball seaming around. It seems like a totally
different pitch now.
"I was very angry about how I got myself out in the first innings.
Seriously angry. So I decided to play more positively and I had a very
good partner, who has a fantastic technique and plays according to the
situation.
"England tried their best, but we have the edge on them. England
have fantastic players and they are No. 1 in the world, so it
won't be easy for us. There could be a fightback, but they will need
some luck."