Last Updated on 23 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey
England have enjoyed a largely stress-free series against Pakistan courtesy of dominant bowling displays. Ollie Robinson has been at the heart of it all, tormenting the visitors with his control and seam movement.
Pakistan failed to reach 200 in their first five attempts, before fighting back in the final Test at Edgbaston. Babar Azam’s team hit 459 in the second innings to leave England needing 130 to win, with debutant Razaullah producing a remarkable 63-ball 81 against a shellshocked attack.
It’s the kind of test Michael Vaughan says England need to find ways of passing in the future. He says the attack is potent, but how they respond when challenged will be the key.
“This attack will bowl teams out, you know, I have no question about that. They’ve got pace, angle change, consistency, keeper stood up tactic has obviously worked well for them,” Vaughan told CricBlog after the second day’s play at Edgbaston.
“The challenge will be against South Africa. They’re a good team, and that’ll be a real good hardening challenge for the team. Because if you can come through that, and if you can win in South Africa before an Ashes series, I think it’ll go a long way to England winning next summer.
Michael Vaughan: Big tests to come for England
Robinson finishes his series with 21 wickets at a remarkable average of 8.76. Josh Tongue also had a fruitful series with 19 wickets at 16.31, while Jofra Archer took 12 at 26.66.
While the figures are excellent, Pakistan’s inability to bat long meant the England bowlers did not need to come back for spell after spell throughout the series. Vaughan believes this will be England’s big test in South Africa and beyond.
“I just need to see them in hotter conditions against batting units that might challenge them. You go back to the Trent Bridge game against New Zealand where Ollie Robinson didn’t play but the others did and they got damaged, you know. So, we shouldn’t get too excited yet,” Vaughan said.
“We’ll have to wait and see, but you can only beat what’s in front of you, and they’ve been ruthless in this series, and they’ve got to take that mentality into the bigger series that are going to be ahead… a little bit harder coming in South Africa and obviously the Ashes next year.”
While Vaughan has called for caution, the former England captain is impressed with the variety in the attack. There’s the skill of Robinson, strike of Tongue and intimidation of Archer.
“In terms of what I would want as a captain, this attack has got everything that I would want in terms of pace and a bit of intimidation, and obviously the skill of Robinson’s the key because he’s an incredible tone setter, but he will get challenged as well,” Vaughan said.
“It’s how he copes with an iffy game or someone that gets hold of him, or what’s he going to be like in the third and fourth spell coming back the next day.”
England have a host of white-ball assignments before their Test series against South Africa kicks off on December 17 in Johannesburg.
