Rain scares England as former players criticises Cook for not forcing the follow-on

Jul 25, 2016 at 1:58 PM

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Rain scares England as former players criticises Cook for not forcing the follow-on

It was one of the worst collapses that the Pakistani team has faced in past few years. Following a score of 589 runs, the Pakistan team surrendered in front of England and could just post a mere total of 198 runs on the board. None of the batsmen could really live up to the expectation as only captain Misbah-ul-Haq was one who stepped up.

Still, the Pakistan team failed to touch even the 200 run mark. They were trailing by a big margin of 391 and all were expecting Pakistan team to bat again within a period of 5 minutes but suddenly Cook decided to surprise everyone following this game.

He decided to bat once again to pile up some more runs so as to make this an impossible task for the Pakistan team but his aim received a small dent as it started raining in Old Trafford. Though England team still has two days to go but still with rain in the air, the England camp will surely be worried regarding the result of the game.

Now the only thing that England team has to do is to score as many runs in the first session so as to have 5 sessions to complete the task. There is a forecast of light sunlight on Monday and rain on Tuesday. Going by the forecast, the England team needs to finish the task today itself and they can’t delay it now.

Surely the Pakistani batsmen are also aware of their role now. They will be more cautious this time as they know that weather will surely help them during their innings. The bowlers will be looking not to give away runs whereas batsman will go extra defensive in the fourth innings of the match.

Cook has received some criticism from some former players for his strange and surprising decision. Here is what the former players have t say about this decision –

Michael Vaughan –  “I’m absolutely staggered. They are 391 runs ahead and there have been intervals – 391 runs! Win the game today. Why delay it? What happens if it rains again?”

Shane Warne said: “It is perfect bowling conditions with the ball nipping around and, if you walked out to toss the coin now, you would bowl first, which is why everyone is surprised.”

Atherton, on Sky Sports, said: “If I was captain I think I would have enforced the follow-on. The bowlers were reasonably fresh and there is cloud cover, Pakistan’s top order is also vulnerable and here in Manchester – being a local boy – you can’t always be sure of two days’ good weather.”

All the three experts have made legitimate points and surely will bounce upon Cook if this Test ends in a draw.

On one side where Cook is criticised for his decision, the assistant coach of the England team Paul Farbrace came to his rescue and said “There wasn’t a lot of discussions, It was a simple conversation and, when you make them, it’s up to us to now back it up. There’s plenty of time to make sure the decision is right. Ultimately the decision comes down to the captain – that’s how this team works – but I don’t think any of us were against it.”

The result of the game will be a barometer that will decide that whether Cook was right or wrong in not enforcing the follow on.

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