a nightmare in the UAE: england in a spin.

after an exhilarating and eventful summer which saw england climb to number one in the icc test rankings, they were back in action against a much changed pakistan from the side they faced in 2010 (no mention of spot fixing here please). with the exception of series in bangladesh, england's recent record in asia is woeful and this series did not come close to changing those alarming statistics. the players, staff and fans were obviously aware of the challenge posed by pakistan but it is unlikely anyone could have predicted what would happen over the next three weeks. DRS was expected to play a huge role and that it did - with a record 34 lbw decisions in a three match series. for the majority, the umpiring was fantastic and this was proved in the lack of decisions overturned when a review was requested. technology is to help the umpires, not to undermine them in any way.

1st test - dubai - pakistan win by ten wickets:
england were left humiliated after a comprehensive pakistan victory within three days at the dubai international cricket stadium. england won the toss and elected to bat first. the team news announced at the toss had been eagerly anticipated as many expected england to opt for a second spinner after monty panesar's great performances in the warm up matches. in the end, chris tremlett was selected over the second spin option and steven finn. saeed ajmal tore through the england batting line up taking career best figures of 7-55. england lost their first seven wickets for just 94 and matthew prior's seventy not out, the only highlight on the batting scorecard, that saved england from total embarrassment. all out for 192 was a huge disappointment to the english fans who had witnessed great batting performances over the summer and in australia last winter but the conditions suited the pakistan bowlers, especially the spinners - not just ajmal but part time bowler hafeez and left arm spin option (a must inclusion due to kevin pietersen's presence for england), rehman also impressing. the pakistani batsmen took control of the game after a great opening partnership of 114 before stuart broad bowled taufeeq umar, not long after azhar ali became his next victim. captain misbah-ul-haq and adnan akmal provided more runs before pakistan's long tail were wrapped up by broad and swann.
the england batsmen needed a better collective batting performance to keep alive their chances of winning the first test. however england's second innings started disastrously when they lost captain, andrew strauss early on. by the drink's break mid way through the afternoon session, england were 35-4 and in danger of losing their first test match as number one in the world. trott and morgan looked as if they could steer england to safety but they were removed by rehman and gul. after losing matt prior to the ever threatening ajmal for four, it appeared as if england would lose by innings but after useful runs from broad, swann and surprisingly, number eleven james anderson - england ensured pakistan would have to bat again but only set them fifteen to win. as expected pakistan's openers had no trouble reaching this target and achieved it within four overs.

2nd test - abu dhabi - pakistan win by 72 runs:
this was a must win game for england to save the series and needed a much better performance after the disappointment in dubai. due to a recurring back injury, chris tremlett was sent home to recover and monty panesar was selected as his replacement after the success of the pakistan spinners in the first game. pakistan won the toss and as expected, chose to bat first. yet again, broad was the pick of the england bowlers as they restricted pakistan to 257. misbah-ul-haq top scored with 84 from 173balls, which included four sixes. again england lost andrew strauss cheaply in their first innings but a crucial partnership between jonathan trott and alastair cook (top scoring with 94, falling just short of yet another century). a mini collapse occured - pietersen, bell, morgan and prior all falling without making valuable contributions. a lively fifty eight from stuart broad added to his great start to the series and helped england achieve a first innings lead of 70.
monty panesar fully justified his place in the team as he recorded great figures of 6-62 as only one pakistan batsman (azhar ali: 62) reached fifty. pakistan were all out for 214 and england were set 145 to win: a hard target for a side who had looked short of convincing in spin friendly conditions but again, the best side in the world is expected to overcome such challenges. england had the evening session and a further day to reach their target yet didn't take the game into a day five - the scorecard did not make pleasant viewing for anyone connected with the english cricket team. supporters could only watch behind their hands as england were crushed by a combination of abdul rehman and saeed ajmal: all out for seventy two with only two batsmen making it to double figures (strauss and prior scoring 32 and 18). the middle order drastically collapsed, kevin pietersen falling to left arm spin - which despite pietersen fiercly denying, it is apparent he does have an issue with left arm spin and won't be resolved unless he admits it to himself. argubably england's best players of spin, bell and morgan had again disappointed as people began to question whether they should be in the team for the next match. a lot of their problems against saeed ajmal are purely physiological - once it gets into your head that a bowler is unplayable, to score significant runs off them is almost mission impossible. england had lost the series and just after the dramatic end to the match, it was confirmed if pakistan were to beat england 3-0 and if south africa beat new zealand by the same scoreline on their next scheduled score: england would lose their number one status.

3rd test - dubai - pakistan win by 71 runs
and pakistan secure series whitewash...
with only pride at stake (and the small matter of ensuring our number one status), england were back in dubai with an unchanged team, despite coach flower promising to replace out of form players - an over ambitious statment somewhat as the whole batting line up was clearly out of nick and lacking confidence. pakistan won the toss and of course, elected to bat. a combination of devestating bowling from england, in particular anderson and broad, and poor batting from pakistan saw them all out for 99 - the perfect start for england in a match they were even more desperate to win. however, all the bowler's superb work and fantastic performances were yet again cancelled out by another disappointing batting performances from the tourists. all out 141, a promising partnership between strauss and pietersen gave england hope before the latter succumbed to the left arm spin of rehman, again. rehman took 5-40 as england only secured a lead of 42, which was hardly what england fans would have expected after bowling the opposition out for a modest 99. before the start of the series, younis khan was said to be pakistan's main batting threat and up until the second day of the third test, had had a very quiet series. after losing the two openers cheaply, pakistan supporters could have been forgiven for being concerned that they wouldn't captalise on another poor england performance.
by early afternoon in dubai, six wickets had already fallen (with sixteen falling on the first day) but strangely, not another fell for the rest of day two and half the morning session of day three: azhar ali (157) and younis khan (127) batted superbly and were the first two scorers of a century in the series - surprising seeing as we were all told tales of long, high scoring, dramatic games in the UAE. monty panesar and graeme swann took care of pakistan's tail but most felt as if the damage had already been done: pakistan set england 324 to win, incredibly difficult for a side who hadnt reached 300 throughout the series. a solid opening partnership of 48 from cook and strauss, was important to england who had regularly lost early wickets in every innings so far. however strauss was trapped lbw to rehman on 26 and cook provided some resistence with a crucial 49, before becoming another one of saeed ajmal's victims. cook had already been dropped twice in the innings with pakistan's fielding looking scruffy for argubably the first time in the series. despite useful runs from morgan and prior: england were well and truly beaten, all out for 252.

pakistan had dominated this series and deserved nothing less than a 3-0 victory: they had out-batted and out-bowled england throughout, saeed ajmal deservedly picking up man of the series. now onto the one day series, another tricky prospect for the three lions.