England's batting the major worry
Nasser Hussain, in the Daily Mail , says England's batsmen can hardly complain about their poor performance in the defeat in Dubai, given they had four months of rest, and the major problem is their inability so far to read Saeed Ajmal.
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Nasser Hussain, in the Daily Mail, says England's batsmen can hardly complain about their poor performance in the defeat in Dubai, given they had four months of rest, and the major problem is their inability so far to read Saeed Ajmal.
The key to the last three days is that England still haven't been able to pick Saeed Ajmal's length. He can change his pace so quickly from his wrist and England just do not seem able to read his action.
People were still going back to full-length deliveries. So much of modern cricket is easier for batsmen, mainly because of the dearth of great fast bowlers, but the decision-review system and umpires' willingness to give lbws on the front foot makes it harder to play against decent spin.
The dispiriting thing about this defeat is that it came when one thought England had put their days of the dreaded collapse behind them, says Martin Samuel in the same newspaper.
Andrew Strauss' performance was a worry and how he recovers and picks himself up will depend on his self-belief, writes Scyld Berry in the Daily Telegraph.
England bowled well enough but their batsmen made Pakistan look more threatening with the ball than they should have been, writes Vic Marks in the Guardian.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo