England Captain Spins Story
Following criticism from former players and sections of the media that England were unable to play the Pakistan spinners very well, coach Andy Flower insists his side have learnt their lessons and are now a better side for it.
Even those interested in top casinos online will be interested to note how he insists England are now better equipped to face what Pakistan have to offer, and going into the final game of their tour is confident they can end things on a high.
Having been beaten 3-0 in the test series, concerns were raised over England’s ability to deal with the spinners with former captain Michael Vaughan stating that the side have “a problem against spin.”
But having gone on to win the one-day series in emphatic style, 4-0, England levelled the Twenty20 series on Saturday, leaving Flower in high spirits.
“We’ve learned some lessons from that Test series, specifically on how to play the spin,” Flower said ahead of today’s game in Abu Dhabi.
England won the second Twenty20 in Dubai by 38 runs thanks to Jonny Bairstow’s unbeaten 60 and an impressive performance with the ball and in the field.
Flower added: “It was an outstanding performance – great to level the series and give us a chance of winning it in the last game.
“Playing spin in the limited-overs games is slightly different to playing it in the Test game, but I still think the lessons that we learnt there have served us well through this limited-overs leg.
“That’s part of it. We have got a group of people who are used to winning games of cricket.
“As disappointing as the Test series was, I don’t think it dented people’s confidence that badly that we couldn’t come back and perform outstandingly well, and that’s exactly what they’ve done in this limited-overs leg.”
England travel to Sri Lanka this summer as they bid to retain the ICC world title they won last time out. And Flower believes their exposure to high class spin during this tour will stand them in good stead for then.
He said: “The experience that those guys will have gained in a pressure situation against very good opposition in these conditions will be absolutely vital to their growth – and to our growth as a side. We have to have, at this stage, an eye on the World Cup.
“How we play against spin bowlers in these conditions – and how quickly we learn – is vital to our chances in Sri Lanka.”
England will now know that victory over Pakistan today will set them up nicely for the summer with all the confidence of back to back series wins. It will be a sure sign of how far they have come as a team if they can achieve that.
