Sky Sports’ Nasser Hussain reflects on England’s first Test win against Sri Lanka at Old Trafford, Joe Root’s winning knock on the final day, captain Ollie Pope and the fitness concerns surrounding the seamer…
Pope took over as captain for the injured Ben Stokes and had his work cut out for him for four days.
From a difficult morning on the fourth day trying to clinch Sri Lanka’s last four wickets, to setting the field while taking input from the bowlers, Pope is being scrutinized in management – and Hussain is here to break it down.
“Ollie Pope won the Test. And everything he judged was England’s captain,” Hussain said.
“Win what is in front of you – and against a very good Sri Lankan side.
“When you look down on the side, you can see the plans he set and he doesn’t look flustered. It doesn’t look like there are 10 captains out there who can sometimes get with a stand-in captain.”
England’s style of play against Sri Lanka was better than Bazball fans are used to – Root took 128 deliveries to reach 62 runs – but Hussain reckons Bazball will stay in the long run alongside “smarter” cricket. .
“England is not binning Bazball, far from it. They got Jamie Smith and Harry Brook, who will be on this Test side for a long time, who will really belt for the coming year,” he added.
“It just becomes smarter when you’re in a position where you can do it either way. In the big moments when we lose another goal, that’s where we’re going to sit back.
“Joe Root could have played a lot of different ways in the chase, but he saw the absence of (Ben) Stokes after him, he saw the tail was a bit long, and the pitch suited Sri Lanka, so he just said ‘I’ve got to be here in the end’.”
It has been confirmed that Mark Wood has been replaced by Leicestershire’s Josh Hull for the second Test against Sri Lanka after suffering a muscle strain.
Wood limped off late on the third day of the first Test after another exciting performance at Old Trafford, and subsequent scans have seen him ruled out of the rest of the series – with Hull’s left-armer planning to replace him.
Hussain believes that managing the fitness of the seamen will be a tough task for England this summer.
“It will be difficult for England at Lord’s. They have a lot of seamers but they are not fit, because there are a lot of injuries now,” Hussain said.
“You’d think Stone would come in for Mark Wood, which would be a straight swap.
“Chris Woakes is a fantastic cricketer and a fantastic cricketer at Lord’s – his record there with bat and ball is incredible – but, physically, he struggled with his groin or on the fourth day at Old Trafford.
“He’s won four out of four this summer, he’s just playing Bazball … he’s really smart.
“There are tougher tests ahead, but they are playing good cricket.”
ROOT channel ‘Husain batinku’ in UK
Joe Root joked that he was channeling his inner Nasser Hussain as he guided England to a five-wicket win over Sri Lanka on the fourth day of the first Test at Emirates Old Trafford.
Left chasing 205 in Manchester, Root used his old steel determination to see the home team over the line, hitting just two boundaries in his unbeaten 62 off 128 balls.
“I have to channel my inner Hussain, I guess,” joked Root when interviewed alongside Hussain Sky Sports.
“I’m still ahead of your career strikeout rate, but today was tough. It was long, slow, hard, but we got there at the end.”
England vs Sri Lanka Series:
- First test: Emirates Old Trafford, Manchester – England won by five wickets
- Second test: Lord’s, London – 29 August-2 September (from 11am)
- Third test: At Kia Oval, London – 6-10 September (from 11am)
Watch the second Test between England and Sri Lanka at Lord’s from Thursday 29 August, live on Sky Sports Cricket and Main Event from 10.00am.
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