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England v Pakistan: Alastair Cook slammed for changing his mind and refusing to enforce the follow-on in Second Test

Ex-England captains Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham blasted skipper's decision to bat again as England had huge first-innings lead of 391

The Sun

ALASTAIR COOK was slammed for changing his mind and refusing to enforce the follow-on.

Former England captains Michael Vaughan and Ian Botham were among those to blast his decision — which followed a last-minute switch of plan.

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Chris Woakes celebrates the dismissal Pakistan batsman Yasir Shah at Old Trafford today

England players congratulate Moeen Ali after getting his first wicket off the match
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England players congratulate Moeen Ali after getting his first wicket off the matchCredit: Getty Images
Cook played beautifully on his way to his second half century of the match to put England in total command
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Cook played beautifully on his way to his second half century of the match to put England in total commandCredit: PA:Press Association

SunSport’s Graeme Swann and Aussie spin king Shane Warne also insisted captain Cook was wrong for choosing to bat again — as England had a massive first-innings lead of 391 runs in the Second Test.

Test teams can enforce the follow-on if they dismiss the opposition for at least 200 runs fewer than their own first-innings total.

And Vaughan tweeted: “I can give you 391 reasons why I would not have BATTED again.”

Here are just six reasons why nearly everyone at Old Trafford was mystified by Cook’s thinking . . .

  1. England needed just 63.4 overs to dismiss Pakistan spread over two days. They bowled 39.4 overs yesterday so the bowlers should not have been tired.
  2. England have a five-man attack so the burden on each is less than if they had four bowlers. The next Test does not start until August 3.
  3. England are 1-0 down in the series so must push as hard as possible for victory.
  4. There were several showers in Manchester yesterday and there could be more rain over the next two days.
  5. Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad — England’s leading bowlers — had not bowled for more than two hours when Cook made his decision.
  6. There was cloud and the floodlights were on, creating perfect conditions for swing and seam bowling.

 

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The last thing Pakistan wanted to do was bat again.

Warne tweeted: “I’m hoping the science people around the team had nothing to do with England’s surprising decision to not enforce the follow on.”

Pakistan boss Mickey Arthur insists their chances of escaping with a draw have increased by not being asked to bat again — but England No 2 Paul Farbrace defended the decision.

Alastair Cook steps out to bat in England's second innings against Pakistan
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Alastair Cook steps out to bat in England's second innings against PakistanCredit: PA:Press Association

He said: “Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad did not bowl after lunch because they were being saved for Pakistan’s second innings in the expectation that we would enforce the follow-on. But then they scored some more runs (Misbah-ul-Haq and Wahab Riaz put on 80 for the ninth wicket) and the decision was made not to enforce.

“In the end, we decided to bat again while the wicket was still good.

“We think the pitch will deteriorate with more uneven bounce and we wanted to get our runs now rather than risk needing some in the second innings on a worse surface.

Alastair Cook leaves Old Trafford pitch as rain disrupts play during England's second innings
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Alastair Cook leaves Old Trafford pitch as rain disrupts play during England's second inningsCredit: PA:Press Association
Joe Root followed his score of more than 250 with four catches
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Joe Root followed his score of more than 250 with four catchesCredit: Getty Images

“You live and die by decisions and we think we made the right one.”

The bowlers swept through Pakistan’s first innings, with resistance only from captain Misbah, who made a half-century, plus wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed and paceman Wahab, who both swung the bat for a while.

Each of England’s five bowlers took at least one wicket, with Chris Woakes again the most successful.

He followed his 11 wickets at Lord’s with 4-67.

Joe Root became the only man in history to follow a score of more than 250 with four catches.

When England batted again, in-form Cook moved to 49 not out as they extended their advantage to 489 by the close of day three.

Root rushed to 23 not out from 19 balls but Alex Hales was caught behind for 24.

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