Nasser Hussain urged the England team management to play an extra pacer in place of the England off-spinner Moeen Ali if he fails to recover from injury on time. The England team might be tempted to play another pacer in the playing 11 for the 2nd test against Australia.
Pat Cummins-led side is on a roll beating India in the World Test Championship final on Kennington Oval, followed by a thrilling win over England in 1st test. Australia is 1-0 up in the five-Test series as they won the first match in Edgbaston by 2 wickets, beating England’s ‘Bazball’ tactics.
Speaking on the ICC review, Nasser Hussain raised his concerns regarding the injury of the star spinner Moeen Ali during the 1st game, as he was unsure about the extent of the injury and also believe that he might not bowl many overs in the games in Lord’s as it favours the pacers citing the example of Shane Warne, who has never got a fifer on the iconic Lord’s. stadium.
“I think they need to have a look at their team a bit. Moeen Ali, his finger, that would be a gamble, I know he’s got a week off and he’s had this injury before in 2017. Only Moeen will know whether a week is enough for the skin to heal, or whether that would just rip it up again. He may not bowl as many overs at Lord’s. Lord’s is not a spinning paradise. Shane Warne never got a five-for there”.
Cricketer-turned-commentator Nasser Hussain said that he would play four specialized seamers in the team and Joe Root being the spinner in the side and expects Mark Wood to come into the playing 11 in place of the England pacer or else they can go with Chris Woakes as the fourth pacer in the team.
“I might play four seamers and Joe Root as your spinner, but I’ve not seen the pitch. He (Wood) would probably have to come in for Moeen and use Joe Root as your spinner, so go down the four seamers route, or Chris Woakes, Chris Woakes has got a fantastic record at Lord’s, and that would increase the batting as well, another all-rounder in there. So either Woakes or Wood for Moeen Ali,” Nasser Hussain said.
It will be interesting to see whether England persists with Moeen Ali or bring in the fourth pacer in the team, as Joe Root bowled exceptionally well against Australia on the fifth day of the 1st test picking up the important wickets of Alex Carey.
England Lived Up To It Right From The Very First Ball – Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain said that it was a brilliant first test in Edgbaston, as things went down to the wire until the final day of the last session, as the England team played up to the expectations of the fans playing an attacking brand of cricket for the start of the 1st test with Zak Crawley taking on Australian skipper on the very first ball.
“It was just a brilliant week at Edgbaston, it was. All the hype and all the chat and the build-up of ‘Bazball’ by fans and media, They lived up to it right from the very first ball when Zak Crawley drove on the up off Pat Cummins and it thundered to the boundary,” Nasser Hussain added.
Ben Stokes-led side will huge to against a well-oiled Australian team in the 2nd test, as they would look to stage a comeback in the 2nd test to level the series in the Lord’s test as they have resources to do well in the forthcoming games.