Dirk Kuyt is facing an Anfield exit this summer as Kenny Dalglish looks to revamp his Liverpool playing squad, if reports in The Telegraph are to be believed.
The Netherlands international, who is a popular player on Merseyside, has played for The Reds for six years, but with first-team opportunities becoming increasingly limited, may well be shown the door when the transfer window reopens.
Other older players, such as Maxi Rodriguez and Fabio Aurelio, may also face the axe as Liverpool look to improve and challenge for a top-four spot next term.
Meanwhile, former Reds boss Roy Evans has stated that Dalglish should be given the full backing of the board, players and supporters if the club is to get out of its current poor run of results.
“You have to be positive,” Evans told the Liverpool Echo.
“You have to stick together in times like this from the players, to the manager, the backroom staff and the supporters.
“It is always a difficult time when you go through periods like this as a manager. Especially as, being manager of a club like Liverpool, you know what it means to the fans. They are suffering at the moment, and having a hard time of it.
“The league position is not what anyone at the club wants it to be, make no mistake, but my message to the supporters would be to stick together, and try to stay behind the team for the rest of the season.
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“Because the team, the players, the manager, they need fans’ support at times like this,” he concluded.
It may be a new Premier League season but some things never change; Sunday’s predominant instalment of déjà vu being yet another false dawn from ever-also-rans Arsenal.
Of course, how you finish the season is far more important than how you start and the 2-0 defeat to West Ham was just the first of 38 games in Arsenal’s pursuit of the English title. If there’s a silver lining to be taken from the Gunners’ tepid opening day display, rendering them rock bottom of the Premier League table, it’s that reigning champions Chelsea didn’t fare much better – drawing 2-2 with Swansea City at Stamford Bridge after going down to ten men.
Yet, following a pre-season in which the Gunners beat all of their opponents to produce an aggregate score line of 15-1 – seeing them claim such vastly coveted accolades as the Asia Trophy, the Community Shield and their self-invented Emirates Cup – amid a transfer window in which they’ve spent a paltry £10million on just one player, you can’t help but think Arsenal have entered the 2015/16 campaign naively; expecting the Premier League’s rank and file to simply bow down to the might of their midfield and the gap between themselves the other title contenders to be closed by the sheer presence of Petr Cech.
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If Arsene Wenger needed any proof, the Hammers provided it in abundance on Sunday. Petr Cech isn’t the answer to all of the north London’s problems – in fact, he created some of his own with the ill-fated decision to try and collect the looping Dimitri Payet free-kick that resulted in West Ham’s first goal. Clearly, Arsenal’s flaws stem a little deeper than simply the level of quality between their sticks.
He may not have committed an individual error like Arsenal’s debuted No.1 or a financially unjustifiable display like £42.2million signing Mesut Ozil, who is still trying to claw his way out of Reece Oxford’s pocket, but Francis Coquelin’s performance against the Irons really disappointed me – and created further doubts over whether he’s a realistic long-term option for Arsenal or was simply caught in a zeitgeist last season.
West Ham’s game plan wasn’t a particularly complicated one; three holding players to bog down the midfield with £12million signing Dimitri Payet playing just ahead and chipping into the defensive side of things whenever possible. The former Marseille man should have spent the afternoon struggling for room to breathe, yet he outmuscled, outpaced and outthought his countryman to run riot at the Emirates, completing 56 touches, 42 passes, four successful dribbles and two created chances.
Indeed, when Arsenal are pinning opponents back, Coquelin sweeps up loose balls with ease. Likewise, when the Gunners are compact in midfield – their 2-0 win over Manchester City last season being the predominant example – the ‘detective’ marshals his zone simply yet effectively. But against the Hammers, the north London outfit needed authoritative physicality to snub out counter-attacks before they encroached the halfway line, and in that regard the 24-year-old abundantly failed to deliver.
He actually finished the match, albeit substituted before the hour mark, without making a single tackle; the antithesis of the aggression required not just in the Premier League, but particularly against a West Ham outfit boasting brute force in every department. I don’t hold this against Coquelin – I certainly don’t think he’s a bad footballer or even a bad defensive midfielder. The fact is, in terms of midfield muscle, he’s currently the best Arsenal have.
Likewise, the Gunners lacked real venom in the final third. Much of the post-match analysis was devoted to how West Ham’s midfield funnel had forced the Gunners into attacking from less habitual wide positions. But even when the ball did find its way into good areas (as you can see from the heat map below, they spent a fair amount of time in the visitor’s penalty box) that cutting edge, that clinical streak you’d quickly associate with Chelsea’s Diego Costa or Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, was lacking.
There’s been a big debate about whether Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott should be Arsene Wenger’s first choice of centre-forward this season. Well, both featured against West Ham and managed just two shots on target between them. Neither have ever truly reached the realms of prolific throughout their careers and that really showed on Sunday; although both are relatively dependable when converting chances, they don’t possess the skill or ingenuity to create their own in the manner Chelsea, City or Man United’s striking options can.
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In my opinion, the underwhelming displays from Coquelin, Giroud and Walcott represent the problem areas requiring Wenger’s attention before September 1st. No doubt, the Gunners are stronger, in healthier shape and more competitive than last year, even if they didn’t show it against West Ham, but they’re still a few vital ingredients short of a title-winning side.
Signing Petr Cech, regardless of his world-class ability, simply doesn’t pave over all the cracks. If Arsenal are to avoid another also-ran campaign, Wenger needs to pull off some late masterstrokes in the transfer market.
Displaying exemplary grit and determination, Hamish Marshall and JamesFranklin rescued the New Zealand Cricket Academy from a tight spot onthe opening day of their three day MRF Buchi Babu all India invitationtournament semifinal against Oil and Natural Gas Commission at the MAChidambaram stadium on Monday.Shortly before lunch, the New Zealand team lost their fifth wicketwith the total on 92. But for the rest of the day, Marshall andFranklin batted in commendable fashion in a rescue act that won theadmiration of the sparse crowd present. Not until shortly before closewas the partnership broken with Marshall being held by wicketkeeperSandeep Dogra off Amit Bhandari. But by that time he had got a welldeserved hundred and the New Zealand Academy were able to end the daywith the cushion of having made 252 for six off 95 overs.And yet if the afternoon and the evening belonged to the New Zealandside and Marshall and Franklin in particular, the morning’s honourswere claimed by ONGC and Bhandari in particular. Winning the toss, theNew Zealand Academy soon ran into trouble. Off the last ball of thefifth over, JAH Marshall was caught at point by Mithun Minhas offBhandari for ten in a total of 16. In the eleventh over – his sixth -Bhandari struck again. The other opening batsman MHW Papps who hadstruggled for 52 minutes and 27 balls to score five was leg before.That made the Kiwi team 20 for two.L Vincent who came next tried to counter attack but at 37, he hitRahul Sanghvi to substitute Amit Sharma at mid on and departed for 11.AJ Redmond and skipper JDP Oram seemed to have steadied the boat a bitby adding 38 runs for the fourth wicket off 11.2 overs. But Oram whohad dominated the partnership was then bowled by Sanghvi for 20.Bhandari then came back and had the obdurate Redmond caught at slip byGagan Khoda for 25, compiled off 92 balls and inclusive of five hitsto the ropes.At 92 for five, the back of the New Zealand team’s innings seemed tobe well and truly broken. But then followed the partnership betweenMarshall and Franklin which came as a blood transfusion for a sidesinking fast. Battling both the accurate bowling and the intense heat,the right handed Marshall and the left handed Franklin batted withassurance. They nursed the innings through the afternoon sessionadding just 64 runs but more important coming through unbroken. In thepost tea session the pair applied the pressure on the now wiltingbowlers.In the first round game against Districts XI, the 21-year-old Marshallfrom Northern Districts had scored an unbeaten 155. He then missed histeam’s quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. Carrying on from where heleft off against the Districts XI, Marshall played a number ofpleasing strokes. His batting was a blend of power, elegance andtiming. He was very much the dominant partner in the partnership butthe role of Franklin was no less important.Taking three boundaries off one over from Sanghvi, Marshall made hisintentions clear. The 20-year-old Franklin from Wellington too pressedon the accelerator and under pressure, the bowling became wayward.Showing no signs of nerves even in the 90s, Marshall raced to his 100shortly before close. He did not add another run though, the new ball,taken after 90 overs, getting rid of him. Marshall batted almost fivehours, faced 195 balls and hit 12 of them to the ropes. The sixthwicket partnership, which added 158 runs off 57.2 overs, has broughtthe New Zealand side right back into the game.Franklin however could not be dislodged and came in unbeaten with 64invaluable runs when stumps were drawn for the day. He has so farplayed 174 balls and has hit eight fours. But the chief honours of theday were still with Marshall. So impressed was manager Richard Hadleeby his performance that he got the entire team out of the dressingroom to enthusiastically cheer Marshall when he got to his hundred.His gesture, besides symbolising teamwork, was also a handsome tributeto a batsman who had done the most to revive the New Zealand side’shopes in the match.It must have been galling for ONGC to come out second best in a daywhich they had dominated for the first half. Bhandari however put in afine performance, borne out by his figures – 15-8-23-4. Unfortunatelynot much can be said in favour of the other bowlers. Both Sanghvi andVirendra Shewag, in particular were expensive and wilted under therelentless pressure put on them by the Franklin-Marshall association.
The Zimbabwe national side has been invited to take part in this season’s South African domestic competitions according to The Star newspaper. But they will not, as reported elsewhere, take part in the main domestic competitions.The South Africa board are set to offer Zimbabwe the role occupied by Namibia last year and participate in the lower tier of provincial matches, the SAA Provincial Challenge. It is also first-class, but the three-day matches involve the 12 South Africa provinces’ amateur teams. Brian Basson, Cricket South Africa’sSA’s director of playing affairs, confirmed to Cricinfo that the invitation was not for the top-tier tournament.”I am hoping to expose the young players to this level of competition because this is good for the development of the game on our side,” Robin Brown, the Zimbabwe coach, told the Harare-based Herald. “I am not yet sure of the sides that we are going to play but our first game will be next weekend in Bulawayo and we are going to play six matches with the top two progressing to the semi-finals.”The tournament games are played on a home and away basis and we are going to play the first three games before the Christmas holidays then the other three next year.”
Sunday, August 16, 2015 Start time 1400 local (1200 GMT)South Africa will make a late call on the availability of regular captain Faf du Plessis, who is suffering from a knee injury•AFP
Big Picture
The takeaways from this series, for both South Africa and New Zealand, are not what they planned, but they can’t do much when even the best laid plans go awry. However, that may not be a bad thing in the lead to the World T20, as adaptability and spontaneity will be the key on the big stage.South Africa planned on using AB de Villiers in a new role as opener and keeper, with Hashim Amla as his partner. They could not do that because de Villiers had to captain thanks to an injury to Faf du Plessis. If du Plessis does not recover in time, de Villiers will still not be able to do that, and Morne van Wyk will get another chance to stake a claim for the World T20 spot.New Zealand banked on their youngsters to steal the show after having rested senior players. Instead, it was their old hands, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson, that produced the most authoritative performances in the first match with the rest barely pulling their weight. That could change more easily than South Africa’s situation, especially as the likes of Colin Munro and Tom Latham were reminded that they need to do more if New Zealand are to compete the way they wanted to.In the end, this series may not be about putting plans in place but learning what to do when they fall apart.
Form guide
(last five completed games, most recent first)South Africa WWWWL New Zealand LWLWL
In the spotlight
Rilee Rossouw seems to be stealing David Miller’s thunder as a finisher in the batting line-up with Miller finding limited opportunities to score big runs in recent times. He last scored an international half-century nine ODI innings ago in South Africa’s World Cup opening game against Zimbabwe in February and has never scored a T20 fifty for South Africa. Miller will want an opportunity to prove he still comands a place in the shortest format.Grant Elliott did not prove to be the same nemesis for South Africa in the first T20 as he was during the World Cup semi-final but that won’t be the only reason he will want to perform better in the second game. New Zealand need some muscle from their middle order and Elliott has been known to provide that in the past. As one of the senior players in a young squad, Elliot will want to assume some responsibility as New Zealand seek to level the series.
Team news
South Africa will make a late call on the availability of regular captain du Plessis, who is suffering from a knee tendon injury. De Villiers was optimistic du Plessis will be fit for the match, which will then see a shuffling of the batting order with de Villiers moving up to open and taking the gloves while van Wyk sits out. South Africa are unlikely to make any other changes unless they want to give legspinner Eddie Leie an opportunity ahead of Aaron Phangiso, who took 2 for 29 in the first T20I.South Africa: 1 Morne van Wyk (wk)/AB de Villiers (wk), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 AB de Villiers (capt)/Faf du Plessis (capt), 4 Rilee Rossouw, 5 David Miller, 6 Farhaan Behardien, 7 David Wiese, 8 Kyle Abbott, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Aaron Phangiso/Eddie LeieNew Zealand are looking for more from their middle order which could mean a place for James Neesham in the starting XI, perhaps at the expense of Munro or Latham. Their attack performed well in Durban so Matt Henry and Ben Wheeler could remain confined to the bench.New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Kane Williamson (capt), 3 George Worker, 4 Colin Munro, 5 Grant Elliot, 6 Luke Ronchi (wk), 7 Tom Latham, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Adam Milne, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan
Pitch and conditions
The effects of winter are expected to be more noticeable in Centurion than they were in Durban, with the grass likely to show the most signs of the season. The Highveld grass generally dries up over winter which could mean a less lush outfield than normal and a pitch that could lack some life. A warm afternoon is expected under cloudless skies, with temperatures set to touch 28 degrees.
Stats and trivia
South Africa scored their highest T20 total in Centurion six years ago when they posted 241 for 6 against England in November 2009. AB de Villiers is the only member of the current squad who played in that game.
The last time New Zealand lost a two-match T20 series was in June 2012, when they were beaten in West Indies. They have since played four two match T20 series, winning two and drawing two.
Quotes
“It was a great month off at home. I was a little bit worried going into the first game, having not hit a ball for a month but I prepared really well for this series in training.”I was happy with the energy in the field. The boys stuck at it and tried really hard.”
Eddie Leie strode in like a man high on life. There was a cheery hello to a largely empty room. There were a few seconds of hyperactive mic testing. And then there was an engaging conversation, not a press conference. One during which he admitted, “All I know is that I’ll pay money to play in the IPL.”The statement was clearly meant as a joke, but the enthusiasm the 28-year old legspinner had for playing as much cricket as possible could not be hidden.”I watch a lot of IPL,” he said. “I recently played in the Caribbean Premier League in West Indies and I think I did okay there. But I’m not thinking that far ahead. If it happens, I’ll be happy. But for me, my focus at the moment is honestly on the game against India A tomorrow, if I get selected, and doing well. Honestly, if you take care of your performance, everything takes care of itself. So the IPL is not on my mind.”
Manish Pandey bowled despite illegal action
Manish Pandey, who is presently on the BCCI’s list of players with an illegal action, ended up bowling in the match against Australia A on Friday. The on-field umpires Anil Dandekar and Nand Kishore caught on to the mistake soon after he completed his first over and asked India A captain Unmukt Chand to take him off. Pandey, a part-time medium-pacer, was called when he had bowled for Karnataka in a Ranji Trophy game against Madhya Pradesh in January. His primary role is that of a batsman, though, but if he wants to add to the 193.3 overs he has bowled in eight years of domestic cricket, he will need a clean chit from the BCCI suspect action committee first.
Leie holds the record for the best figures – 3 for 16 – for a South African on T20 debut. So it should be no surprise that he has been persisted with for their next T20 assignment against New Zealand. Perhaps if he does well in the A-team tri-series currently underway in Chennai, he might come back to India for the World T20 in March.But, according to Leie, he is quite a way down the pecking order. “I’m not even the best spinner in the country, to be honest. We’ve got Imran Tahir, great spinner. Aaron Phangiso, great spinner. We’ve got Robin Peterson. So I don’t even think I’m first line for selection. For me, I just need to do well tomorrow so as to get one up in the series and go to the final. Not what the senior team does. That’s out of my control.”All he plans to do is work on his game, with a little help from YouTube.”I relied mostly on the videos of legspinners around the world – Danish Kaneria, Shane Warne, Anil Kumble, my favourite, Mushtaq Ahmed, from back in the day,” he said. “So I try to learn as much as I can from them. My action might be a bit similar to most of them, with the arm coming from the top.”That isn’t the extent of his unconventional upbringing in cricket. Even the decision to become a legspinner was a fine story. An eight-year-old Leie was playing mini-cricket, a venture designed to bring more kids into the game in South Africa, when he was asked to go run an errand. Along the way, he figured out he had a nifty little talent.”With mini-cricket, everyone gets a chance to bowl, everyone gets a chance to keep, everyone gets a chance to bat. You rotate. So I was running in and just bowling and one day I got sent to the shops by my mother. But I was reluctant on going. So [on the way] I started playing with stones, just flicking like this [mimics the release of a legspinner]. Obviously, it was a gravel road and it kept on doing that [mimics the stone’s deviation] and when I went practice after that, I started getting a few wickets at training. So I just stuck to that.”
Sharad Pawar has emerged as a strong contender for the BCCI president’s election, necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20. Not only has Pawar received formal backing from N Srinivasan, the ICC chairman, but it is also understood that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the federal government in India and controls a sizeable number of BCCI votes, could be open to aligning with Pawar for larger political motives.However Pawar’s biggest hurdle could be his own supporters, a number of whom who are against any alliance with Srinivasan given their recent mutual hostility. Pawar – currently president of the Mumbai Cricket Association – has rarely faced open opposition in his long political and administrative career, preferring to negotiate and broker deals away from the spotlight, but the adamance of his supporters will test his skills.Pawar, who met Srinivasan on Wednesday night in Nagpur, is understood to have briefed his key supporters (Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Mumbai) about Srinivasan’s offer of support. However, a senior member of Pawar’s camp told ESPNcricinfo that some of the West Zone members made it clear that it was not a wise move.”Srinivasan promised him support and said they should have an election, but some of us are not in agreement to this and we told Pawar our support wouldn’t be unanimous,” the camp insider said. “Key members of Pawar group had resigned because of the allegations against Srinivasan.”Significantly, one of his key supporters and longtime associates, Shashank Manohar, was not present during the Srinivasan meeting though he was in the nearby hill station of Mahabaleshwar. Once allies, Manohar – who was BCCI president in the term between Pawar and Srinivasan – has turned into a vocal critic of Srinivasan in the last two years. Pawar would need all his powers of persuasion to get Manohar on his side in this matter.On Friday, Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke met Pawar at the Yeshwant Rao Chavan centre in Mumbai, but he said it was not to discuss the BCCI at all. “There is a book being published to mark Pawar’s 75th birthday celebrations and I am contributing a chapter there. We were there to discuss the book,” Shirke said. “He did not tell us about any deal,” he added.Shirke and Sanjay Jagdale had quit as BCCI treasurer and secretary, respectively, in 2013, after the IPL corruption scandal broke. They were protesting against Srinivasan’s refusal to take moral responsibility and step down as the BCCI president.According to the insider, if Pawar did stand for the elections with Srinivasan’s backing, he would only be guaranteed about 12 votes, which would not be enough to garner a majority number in the 30-member BCCI. From the West Zone vote bank, Pawar has assured support from Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Baroda and Mumbai, and from Central Zone he has the backing of Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh.One BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo he wondered why Pawar would be interested in aligning with Srinivasan considering the Tamil Nadu heavyweight just had a handful of confirmed votes on his side. “Why does he need to make a deal with Srinivasan? He [Srinivasan] is doing all this to stay in the news. Even on the eve the last AGM in Chennai he told his supporters he had the majority of the votes and in the end how much did he get – just 13 and lost the critical vote of the secretary. Between then and now his stock has improved? It is an effort to remain in fray and not get marginalised. And Pawar is too seasoned a politician to not understand this.”Such talk does not, however, dissuade the Srinivasan camp, which is confident that Pawar will get nominated for the elections, a date for which will need to be announced at the BCCI’s special general body meeting, scheduled soon. “At this time, BCCI needs an experienced person like Sharad Pawar to handle various difficult situations,” a Srinivasan camp official said.The X factor in this is IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, who is an MP from the opposition Congress party but has always maintained cordial relations with the rivals – both in the political sphere and within the BCCI. He also has a good rapport with current BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is head of the BJP youth wing. It is evidently clear that the BJP will play an integral part in who becomes the next BCCI president and it will most likely take that decision based on larger political factors.
Luke Wright has been named as Sussex’s captain across all three formats for the 2016 season, following Ed Joyce’s decision to stand down in the wake of the club’s relegation from Division One of the LV= County Championship.Wright, 30, took charge of Sussex’s T20 fortunes last season, leading his side to the quarter-finals of the NatWest T20 Blast. However, it was in first-class cricket that he made his biggest impression, scoring 1,220 runs at 46.92, including a career-best 226 not out against Worcestershire.”I am hugely proud and honoured to be the captain of this fantastic club,” Wright said. “To think that I am following in the footsteps of some great captains is a massive privilege.”Mine and the coaches’ challenge is to get this club back to winning ways. This starts with not only trying to get back to Division One, but to create a culture that can challenge to win it.”Sussex’s Championship campaign was undermined by a spate of injuries, particularly to their stable of fast bowlers, with Tymal Mills, Ajmal Shahzad and Chris Jordan all ruled out at various stages of the season. Michael Yardy, the former club captain, retired at the end of the season while Joyce stood down to concentrate on his batting after averaging 32.88 for the campaign.”Thanks to all the Sussex supporters for sticking with us through what has been a difficult summer but hopefully good times are ahead,” Wright said.”We also need to be successful in all forms and I was delighted with the improvements we made this season in the T20 competition, but a lot of hard work is required by all to achieve these goals.”Mark Robinson, Sussex’s team manager, said: “We’re delighted that Luke has accepted the offer of captaincy. It comes at an important time for the club, as we look to rebuild and come back stronger for the 2016 season.”Luke will bring a lot of experience from around the world, as well as passion, commitment and energy. He will have the full respect from everybody from within the club and the game.”
November 1-5, 2015 Start time 10am local (0600 GMT)1:28
Team changes for England and Pakistan
Big Picture
It’s been an unexpectedly tough struggle for supremacy, but after 10 out of a possible 15 days of their series against England, Pakistan have established the primacy that they had always assumed would be on the cards. The valiant struggles of Alastair Cook’s men to stay in touch and, for a heady afternoon in Abu Dhabi, to surge into the ascendancy have come to nought. The hosts are now dormie as they head into the Sharjah finale, their proud unbeaten record in series in the UAE guaranteed for another year.England have had a week to recover from the agony of their near-miss in Dubai, where Adil Rashid’s late-evening aberration against his legspinning counterpart Yasir Shah rendered futile the resolve he had shown through his preceding 171 deliveries. Thirty-nine more deliveries of dead-batted obduracy and England could genuinely be scenting a slice of history this week. From bad light to bad shot selection, the margins in both Tests have been extraordinarily fine.However, the fault, as Cook rightly pointed out after the Dubai defeat, lay not in that lax moment from Rashid but instead in England’s hopeless performance on the third morning of the match. That day had dawned amid visions of a decisive first-innings lead; instead it degenerated into the session from hell that England had always feared might come to pass in such hostile conditions.It has been isolated in its ignominy as well. The competitive spirit on show for the other nine-and-two-thirds days of the series has been faultless, but that morning’s loss of seven wickets for 36 would prove insurmountable.And so, with lessons learnt and changes – enforced and otherwise – made, England regroup and Pakistan restart, with one last five-day push to the finish in the offing. The batting of both teams has proven fallible and faultless in equal measure, with the magisterial performances of Alastair Cook and Joe Root for England and Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan for Pakistan atoning for some notable weaknesses elsewhere in both line-ups.For Pakistan, Shan Masood has spent most of the series in James Anderson’s pocket, while even Shoaib Malik, with series scores of 245, 0, 2 and 7, has been more bust than boom. And as for England’s middle order, the less said the better. The best of a bad bunch have been Ian Bell, who with scores of 63 and 46 appears to be battling himself as much as the conditions, and Jonny Bairstow, who has shown grit on occasions as well as a technique against the spinners that is fraught with danger.The unsung heroes on both teams have been the seam bowlers – Wahab Riaz’s Man of the Match award at Dubai was hugely deserved and a tribute to his stamina and impact in strength-sapping conditions, even though his overall match figures of 5 for 144 aren’t much to write home about. He has been matched in menace if not method by England’s quiet achiever, Anderson, whose canny spells with new ball and old have been repelled (or not, in Masood’s case) with utmost respect and caution.Jos Buttler is set to be replaced behind the stumps by Jonny Bairstow•Getty Images
Form guide
(last five completed matches, most recent first) Pakistan WDWLW England LDLWW
In the spotlight
The most likely quick bowler on either side to open up a game, Wahab Riaz continues to mature as Pakistan’s attack leader. His pace, stamina and ability to extract significant reverse swing have been impressive but he will have to back it up again after a five-day gap, particularly with his new-ball partner, the steady Imran Khan, missing through injury.James Taylor is back in an England Test shirt and raring to go. A confident player of spin, he thrived on his return to the ODI side in Sri Lanka last year and added a maiden hundred against Australia in September. Looked in good touch during his one tour appearance so far and is ostensibly in the sort of form to shore up England’s middle-order issues.
Team news
Azhar Ali missed the first Test with a toe infection and the second because of the death of his mother-in-law, but he is ready and waiting to resume his place in the side, with Masood making way. Whether it will be in his preferred slot at No. 3 or as an opener, for only the fourth time in Tests, remains to be seen. Pakistan are definitely on the lookout for a replacement opener in the bowling stakes, following the news of Imran’s hand injury, sustained while fielding on Friday and requiring four stitches and ten days’ rest. Rahat Ali, the left-arm seamer, is set to resume his place in the side having missed out in the second Test to accommodate Yasir Shah’s return. In better news for Pakistan, their reserve spinner Bilal Asif has been cleared to resume bowling by the ICC after undergoing biomechanical testing in Chennai.Pakistan (possible) 1 Mohammad Hafeez, 2 Azhar Ali, 3 Shoaib Malik, 4 Younis Khan, 5 Misbah-ul-Haq (capt), 6 Asad Shafiq, 7 Sarfraz Ahmed (wk), 8 Wahab Riaz, 9 Zulfiqar Babar, 10 Yasir Shah, 11 Rahat AliChanges are afoot in the England line-up, for a variety of reasons. Mark Wood’s gallantry at Abu Dhabi and Dubai cannot mask a bowling style that seems destined to send him to the knacker’s yard before his spirit is even close to waning. He has received injections in his troublesome ankle and will rest up ahead of the one-day series next month. Into the picture, most probably, comes Liam Plunkett, although Samit Patel retains a chance of playing if England think the pitch will support a third spinner. Plunkett is arguably the fastest of the England quicks on tour and a man who can be relied upon to keep up the aerial bombardment that has been a feature of England’s competitive spirit in this series.England have confirmed that Jos Buttler will be given a break from the front line – a top score of 42 in seven Tests since July would be no justification for selection even if his wicketkeeping was at its sharpest, and as a couple of galling errors behind the stumps in Dubai would testify, his all-round game has suffered. Bairstow is primed to take over the gauntlets, with Nottinghamshire’s Taylor making his first Test appearance since 2012. Moeen Ali has been backed to continue as Cook’s opening partner, so Taylor’s county team-mate Alex Hales will have to wait at least until the South Africa tour in December to make his bow.England (possible) 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Ian Bell, 4 Joe Root, 5 James Taylor, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Ben Stokes, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 James Anderson
Pitch and conditions
Cricket in Sharjah has come a long way since pitches were just “rolled sand”. England played their warm-up matches at the ground, with Steven Finn recording notable success in the second, but the Test surface is very dry and likely to favour spin – if it favours anything other than run-making. The forecast, unsurprisingly, is for another hot one.
Stats and trivia
This will be England’s first Test in Sharjah, although they have tasted ODI success here, winning the 1997 Akai-Singer Champions Trophy
Two of Pakistan’s three lowest Test totals – 53 and 59 – came in the same match against Australia at Sharjah in 2002
The team batting second has won the last two Tests at the ground
Quotes
“Obviously you have to think positively and we will do our best not leave any stone unturned and play well and win. Obviously your confidence is high after winning the last game and our team’s confidence is high, so its an important match for us and we will do our best to win it.” Misbah-ul-Haq promises there will be no let up now Pakistan are ahead in the series“Over this tour I think we’ve been a fairly consistent side, just that third morning in the second Test has cost us the result. Nine-and-a-half days we’ve matched Pakistan really well. The challenge is not having that session and about coming into the latter stages of the game and putting Pakistan under some pressure with the series at stake.”
It was a momentous day for Zimbabwe, the minnows of Test cricket, at theHeadquarters of the game, as they embarked on their first ever Test series inEngland.This historical tour has been a long while coming; eight years and 41 Testsafter Zimbabwe were elevated to Test status. It will be remembered thatEngland had opposed their entry to the highest level of cricket until 1992.In view of that, it is of some significance to note that the relative newentrants to the international scene have maintained a parity in the resultsof their previous encounters with England at both levels of cricket.Indeed, at one stage, the sequence of victories, in the shorter version ofthe game, stood at 6-2 in favour of Zimbabwe. This was not merely aflattering margin, but in fact, arose from the dedication and hard work that Zimbabwe had put into their game. They would, no doubt, wish to forge ahead in the outcome of Tests as well.Despite the distraction of the current situation at home and the unwelcomingweather conditions that the tourists have had to endure from the start ofthis tour, the players have remained focused to the task in their endeavourto reverse the result of their 2-0 defeat last month in the Caribbean.However, on the evidence of their performance on the opening day of thisinaugural Test, it appears that it would be quite a toil for them to get thebetter of England, a side which occupies only one position above them at thebottom of the table in the unofficial world Test rankings. They certainly did not rise to the occasion; the first day of the Lord’s Test match has always been regarded as something special.To have lost three wickets in the first six overs before the total had evenreached double figures would indicate, perhaps, a loss of nerves. But it hasto be said their batting has had a look of deficiency, judging from their previous couple of Test series. It has been a major problem through adispiriting recent past.Just how brittle the batting has been was further exemplified in their failing to chase a meagre 93 to win a Test against West Indies only six weeks ago.Zimbabwe’s wretched performance with the bat today arose from a combination of a lack of application and poor shot selection.England’s pace bowlers, on the other hand, took advantage of the favourableovercast conditions on a pitch which had a bit of grass on it. Zimbabwe neverlooked like being able to make a recovery after Andy Caddick had inflicted the early damage to the innings, removing the first three wickets for 2 in a space of nine balls.His figures, however, were not quite as remarkable as Ed Giddins who, playingin only his second Test match, had a haul of 5 for 15 from seven overs.Zimbabwe, through a most inept batting performance, had made the England bowling appear unplayable.