England v Pakistan
2nd
Test
Day 3: Break
Their Hearts. The Specious Follow-On Debate
July 24th
2016
Day 3 was
all about England showing the sort of superiority over the opposition that used
to be the mark of the West Indians of Clive Lloyd or Viv Richards, or the
Australians of Steve Waugh: do not just beat the opposition, break their
hearts. The wailing and whining after Alistair Cook failed to impose the
Follow-On made one think that England were playing for a draw in a desperate attempt
to avoid an ignominious defeat, rather than winning comfortably and having the
luxury to win the easy way, putting the smallest possible strain on the team.
On a pitch
that is still a batting paradise, England’s target was to get at least one
wicket in the first hour. It came and, by Lunch, Pakistan at 119-8, had
basically surrendered the match. What followed shows why Alistair Cook was
reluctant to enforce the Follow-On. Misbah, Wahab and Mohammad Amir together
added 60 for the 9th wicket and then the last two added 19 for the last
wicket. It was a hard slog for the bowlers and showed that there was nothing
wrong with the pitch and that even a tail-ender could hang around for a long
time if he was determined. With Pakistan 391 behind on the first innings, Alistair
Cook could have bet on Pakistan folding again. He may have remembered though
the game in which Sri Lanka arguably finished Andrew Flintoff’s career prematurely.
1st
Test, 2006: England scored 551-6d and then bowled out Sri Lanka for 191.
Andrew Flintoff
enforced the Follow-On, despite the fact that the pitch remained flat. Sri Lanka
batted for 199 overs to score 537-9 and many feel that the 51 overs that Andrew
Flintoff bowled in an increasingly desperate attempt to win the match, contributed
to the injury that finally ended his career.
Alistair
Cook reasoned that there was a danger that his bowlers could have to spend three
full days in the field if he enforced the Follow-On and Pakistan failed to fold
tamely a second time. With barely a week before the 3rd Test and
then just 4 days between the 3rd and 4th Tests, the risk
was to leave his attack totally exhausted by what is likely to be the deciding
Test of the series.
Cook also
did what Clive Lloyd, Viv Richards and Steve Waugh would have done. How often
did we see them bat again and increase the lead to a figure beyond all reason
before deciding to declare? You knew that England were not going to score 500,
or 550 to win, but those captains made a point and only declared when they
could see that the opposition was totally destroyed and their will to resist,
gone. “Don’t just beat them”, was the watch-word, “break their hearts”.
Pakistan are
still a dangerous force. Winning this Test big will help win the next two [it
is similar to the reasoning of the hero in the film Ender’s Game. When Ender is
asked why he kept hitting his obviously defeated opponent in a fight, he
replied “I’d won this fight, I wanted to win the next ones too”. You do that
by breaking the spirit of your opponent and destroying their will to come back
at you next time].
With time to
be made up tomorrow there are, in theory, another 196 overs to bowl still.
Expect England to bat for perhaps an hour in the morning and to go after the
bowlers again, looking for quick runs. Pakistan will be set at least 550 to win,
maybe closer to 600: a target that they will know is impossible, although they
will say that, with sensible batting, they can still win. Cook will declare,
knowing that they will get a blast with the new ball before Lunch, have a break
and then have another blast after Lunch with still fresh bowlers and a
reasonably new ball.
Pakistan
will need to bat around 180 overs to draw. Only four sides in the history of
Test cricket have batted
that long in the fourth innings of a match and none of them were Pakistan:
their best effort is just 137.5 overs in
their defeat at Melbourne in 1990.
If Pakistan
can save this game they will have deserved to. It will have been by far the
most remarkable rearguard action in their history.
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