The English Strugglers
Before the start of the Pakistan vs England test series, the UAE was known to be a batsman's paradise.
Sharjah has historically been a happy hunting ground for batsmen in ODIs. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have witnessed a number of high scoring draws in the test matches that they have hosted.
But the just concluded test series between Pakistan and England has put to rest all such notions.
Here are some intriguing numbers from the test series, that no one would have expected before the series started.
- The 3 test matches witnessed only 2 centuries, both from Pakistanis (Azhar Ali and Younis Khan) in their final innings of the series.
- The top score for an England batsman was 94, by Alistair Cook.
- Pakistan's top 6, barring Taufeeq Umar, all scored more runs than every single one of the England batsmen.
- Azhar Ali (50.20) is the only batsman who averaged above 50 in this series.
- England's trio Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan, and Ian Bell failed to reach a tally of 100 runs in their 6 innings.
- England's bowlers Stuart Broad, James Anderson, and Graeme Swann scored more runs collectively than Pietersen, Morgan, and Bell did collectively.
- Except for Alistair Cook and Jonathan Trott, none of the England batsmen could get to a 6-innings run tally of more than 157, what Azhar Ali managed in 1 innings. Even Trott and Cook surpassed 157 by only 4 and 2 runs respectively.
Definitely the UAE is not a batsman's paradise.
Not for England anyway!
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England are anyways going to struggle everywhere except in their own home turf or to an extent Australia. They are pathetic travellers, little less than India at this moment though.