Nasser Hussain says the conditions should not hide the simple fact that England’s bowlers had a bad day at Old Trafford.
Let’s be honest, England were poor now. However, I believe you have to put it it’s turned into a day for bowling. Any bowler who has performed in windy conditions, it was cold too, will tell you’ve got difficult it is to get in any sort of rhythm.
A day like that was tough work and it seems somewhat flat. The pitch is still an absolute belter and after what happened at Headingley, what is going to seem a bit flat. You’ve gone from 1 extreme to another.
Also, only the body language to get a freezing cold day just like that – and it had been arctic cold out there – gamers do wander around with their hands in their pockets so it seems somewhat flat, as you have got handwarmers in your pockets.
You need to give it a little context but doesn’t take away from the fact that I believed they were poor.
I thought it was wrong that Jofra Archer bowled seven balls at Steve Smith before the lunch break, although a brilliant spell bowled.
That was and Joe Root had just 2 options: to maintain Archer going after he had already bowled five overs and bowl him and go once Smith was previously in. Or take off him and put him back just before lunch, you have given a break to him so you can request him to steam in for three or even four overs of bitterness.
We got neither and that enabled Smith to listen and all of us know once he excels he is a difficult rock.
He has looked bothered has there actually been a time of sustained hostility at him? Has anyone gone round the wicket in him? Has anybody really targeted him? A small bit but not actually, and it is likewise a pitch to play the ball on.
Smith explained himself interview this morning he was looking forward to batting on it as it goes through, it is a bit like an pitch. It’s not quick but you can trust the bounce so when it does go in summary, you can escape the way.
A number of those other pitches within this series have been two-paced and you also don’t know whether to duck or influence. I think they’ve shifted their technique marginally also, Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were still rocking to try and prevent Archer’s bouncers but because he nips the ball at the chunk was following them so what they have done today is phased out of their way, offside of it and let the ball go.
As for me, I would like to have why he had been left out and a bit more of an explanation on Chris Woakes. He’s a really good cricketer and England might know something he’s entering the’zone’ or his knee however, in my hands, a totally fit Woakes would be for me personally. That is nothing against Craig Overton, he’s a fantastic cricketer and he has done now.
The ball to get Labuschagne was a complete beauty, a great deal is not from the pitch and everything I’ve said throughout the day about the conditions applies to Overton since it does to everybody else and Archer – it has not been an easy day.
I was surprised that they did not possess the bails in Old Trafford. I could not believe that, especially here and using the prediction being exactly what it was.
I’ve played in many a game where they have called for the heavy bails and another day I was watching my child play in the Essex league where they only took the bails off, just as they did now, so I’ve seen it in club cricket but not in international cricket earlier!
For a while, conditions were dreadful; it was freezing cold, crisp packets wind, the bails fell off all the time, and at one point there was a beach ball blowing across the floor.
This was a very challenging day and play into the audiences who watched all of that because you have to be a cricket lover and a soul to do that and sat through it.
See two of the fourth Test between England and Australia on Sky Sports The Ashes from 10am.
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