Analysis: England team's batting lineup

Pakistan’s tour of England commences today and there are no surprises as to who will be on top of their game because traditionally speaking, the bowlers have to be dominant in a 4-match Test series in England at this time of the year while the batsmen will be seen buckling under the bouncers and avoiding any involvement of sorts with the out-swingers. Pakistan’s famed bowling order is undoubtedly its biggest strength today and they seem confident enough to tackle and challenge the best in the world. One of the most experienced bowlers in their lineup, Wahab Riaz pointed out that England’s middle order is fragile and much of the onus will be on skipper Alastair Cook and Joe Root to build up the innings.

Riaz however may have forgotten the fact that discounting experience, England nevertheless has been known for batting really deep and its lower order has more often than not, rescued it from tricky situations by forging a partnership when all seemed lost. With the likes of Stuart Broad, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali in the squad, Pakistan can be sure to expect some frustrating partnerships lower down the order. Their bowlers though have honed their skills of swing bowling by playing a ton of tape-ball cricket tournaments in suburban Pakistan preferably Karachi where the variation of sorts originated in the 1970’s. Exploiting the swing worthy conditions will surely be a source of joy for the Pakistani fast bowlers and with a lot of them yearning for a permanent spot in the Test team, it may well turn out to be a pulsating contest between bat and ball.

England’s batting order being led by a mix of experience and youth fresh out of county cricket will be looking to keep the Pakistani bowlers at bay and hence, the batting performance of the hosts needs to be up to the mark to counter the swing bowling challenge.

1. Alastair Cook:

The most experienced batsman in the England lineup and the captain of the side, Cook recently scripted his name in history when he became the youngest man and the first Englishman to score 10,000 Test runs and it would certainly be a confidence booster for Cook who continues to go from strength to strength defying the human limit of consistency since his inception in the England Test squad at the age of 21 as a last minute replacement for Marcus Trescothick. Cook scored a century on his debut against India and hasn’t looked back since.

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Captaincy came naturally following the departure of Andrew Strauss and it only nourished his game. In the most memorable of England’s Test wins, it was Cook’s steady and composed innings at the top of the order which laid the foundation for a solid score. The Pakistan Test will be source of potential redemption for Cook and his men on home soil as they look to brush aside the Pakistan bowling attack and storm home with the series win.

The return of Mohammad Amir at Lord’s hasn’t gone down well with the England captain and driving on the back of a hostile crowd reception for Amir, Cook will hope to unsettle the left-arm pacer who is potentially the driving factor behind Pakistan’s successful campaign here!

2. Joe Root:

Joe Root’s ever widening broken grin of sorts is a source of frustration for fast bowlers around the world as he continues to scamper through thick and thin and at times, effortlessly blasts on for sixes and fours. His potential is difficult to or rather cannot be summed up in 3-4 paras because apart from growing from strength to strength, what captures international cricket’s imagination is the fact that more than his batting prowess, it’s his maturity and character that has grown exponentially since he first took guard in international cricket; a factor which is sure to earn him English captaincy in the future.

Joe Root has exemplified what it meant to build on one’s own technique and yet not lose out on the distinctly personal batting touch, the “uniqueness” as we may call it. As a batsman, Root is not a heavy striker, he is more so the one who scampers through, doesn’t sell his wicket easily, the one who doesn’t look at ease in the beginning and yet, it’s his remarkable resilience which seems to be tailor made for the Test format. Relying more on precision than the weight of the stroke, over time Root demonstrated his adaptability and took to international cricket like a sponge eager to soak up on other’s experience.

Also read – England v Pakistan, 1st Test: Pakistan Probable XI

Being promoted to No.3 means that Joe Root is once again riding high on people’s expectations and bearing the onus of a rather inexperienced middle order is a huge task. Here’s hoping Root responds to it well!

3. Gary Ballance:

Balance who today is looking set to make heads turn while playing England strangely has his roots somewhere in Harare, Zimbabwe. He grew up on a tobacco farm and honed his cricket skills in the domestic cricket circuit of Zimbabwe which while today is reeling through a financial crisis, may have been better off sometime in the distant past. Courtesy a sports scholarship at Harrow and an academy contract with Yorkshire, Balance traced his way to county cricket in England and a few noteworthy performances in the circuit saw him represent England soon enough.

His method of batting deep in the crease attracted criticism from various spheres following a slump in form after what promised to be a stupendous start to a cricketing career which saw Ballance hit 4 centuries in his first 9 Tests. A steward in the Lord’s pavilion refused to let him enter the pavilion as he did not recognize him as a part of the England team. Confusion was soon resolved but the incident seemed to have created a mental block for Ballance who after a few weeks was dropped from the team. Balance started doubting his technique and tried to tinker with it but in the end decided to keep things as they were having some faith in the technique which had fetched him runs in the domestic circuit.

A Test call-up in the series against Pakistan is Balance’s chance to silence his critics who had demonstrated their judgmental behavior as they targeted his technique last time around. The stakes are going to be high and Balance needs to make sure that he doesn’t buckle under pressure because if he does, he might have to wait for long for another chance.

Also read – England v Pakistan, 1st Test: England Playing XI

4. Alex Hales 

Standing at 6 foot 5, Hales height is tailor made for fast bowling, his height permitting him to extract bounce from the wicket and yet, he is known for his batting prowess. Hales is known for his destructive batting skills as he hits every ball with the intent of sending the ball upstate. It took Hales a strenuous stint of mercurial batting display in the limited overs format before selectors considered him as a part of the Test team.

His progress in Test cricket is evident to all and yet, his performances still need to be at the top of their game so as to fetch him a stamp of approval from the selectors thus stemming and proving his belief that he’s here to stay in the long run. His 6047 runs in first-class cricket speak immensely of his potential in the 5-day game.

5. Chris Woakes

Woakes is fast emerging as an exciting prospective all-rounder in the international format; that is until he, like many other all-rounders, starts giving preference to one of the skills and loses the x-factor. Though prolific in the county circuit, Woakes is yet to completely establish himself in the international side in any format. Most of his chances have come in the limited overs format and while he missed out on the earlier bunch of chances, he seems to be utilizing them now as indicate by his performance in the first ODI against Sri Lanka where after returning with figures of 2/56, he went on to score 95 not out in a drawn match.

Woakes’s explosive batting down the order coupled with his bowling prowess could turn out to be an exciting combination for England in the Test team, however the fact that Woakes’s competition with Ben Stokes will be enriching itself with each passing day means that Woakes has to make his chances count!

Also read – Eng v Pak, 1st Test Preview: Pakistan aiming for a fresh start

6. Jonny Bairstow

Bairstow is a wicket-keeper batsman who for long has been hovering around the fringes of the team in all 3 formats. Bairstow has been utilized as a replacement for long, in the earlier period of his career, he was the replacement for Kevin Pietersen and responded magnificently well to the situation. 2015 was a breakthrough of sorts for the young Bairstow as he scored 1108 first class runs for Yorkshire.

The English selectors were receptive to Bairstow’s good form and a late call up for one of the ODI’s against New Zealand proved fruitful as Bairstow scored 83 not out. The faltering form of Joss Butler was beneficial for Bairstow as he was awarded a call-up for the contest against Australia in the Test format. The fact that Joss Butler has been sidelined for a thumb fracture this series may have been the main source of motivation behind the selectors placing some faith in Bairstow. Discounting the fact that he may have been just an alternative for Joss Butler, Bairstow needs to step up to the occasion and prove why he can be the better alternative among the two, if at all that was the case behind his selection.

7. Moeen Ali:

Moeen Ali’s confidence would be sky high coming from the back of a career-best 155 against Sri Lanka in the second Test match in the recently concluded series. For a player who’s long been touted as a spinner first and a batsman later, Moeen Ali who at one point of time was seen as Graeme Swan’s successor seems to have grown leaps and bounds in both the departments.

Chance conversations with fellows from the international cricketing fraternity like Kumar Dharmasena and teammate Ian Bell, Ali over time learnt to add a certain amount of zip to his ball which increased its speed while not affecting the flight of the delivery. He coupled this with the doosra he learnt during his prolific days in the county circuit and Moeen Ali who was once criticized for his bowling soon started to stand out as “the beard that’s feared.” He is only the second man to earn this coveted title because alas, not many cricketers have been able to maintain a flowing beard in their playing days. Moeen Ali adopts this title from legendary English cricketer W.G. Grace and apart from approaching the distinction of being a seasoned international cricketer, has also become a role model of sorts for British Asian community.

A strong performance in the upcoming series will go a long way in establishing Ali’s credentials both as a batsman and a spinner.

8. James Vince:

The Hampshire regular James Vince reminds former England coach Duncan Fletcher of former England great Michael Vaughan. For someone who for long has been tipped off as a future star for English cricket, Vince is yet to enjoy a prolonged and perhaps steady stint in the England team which will go a long way in permitting him to respond to situations which are worthy of testing his full potential.

His 6708 runs in first-class cricket at just 25 years of age are proof enough of the adaptability, given he enjoys a regular stint in the English cricket team.

The most interesting factor in the upcoming series would be to see old war horses, Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan take the field as they look to guide Pakistan to a series win in the chilling English winter.

For Misbah, a bulk of his runs in international cricket came after he touched the sloppy age of 35. An age which is ripe for retirement for international sporting standards saw Misbah touch his prime as he defied predictions and exceeded expectations very often saving his team’s face as they stared at a batting collapse.

Misbah’s English counterpart, Alastair Cook has everything going for him and yet, a lost chance at redemption here won’t go down well with the selectors and more so with the English press. Pressure is mounting on both sides; it’s just a question of who buckles up better!