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Andy Flower has admitted that England made a mistake in not selecting Monty Panesar
for the first Test of the series against India at Ahmedabad. England
lost the Test by nine wickets after conceding a first innings deficit of
330 with Flower, the England team director, also conceding that he
misread the pitch.
But Flower declined to confirm that England would alter the balance of
their attack for the second Test, which begins in Mumbai on Friday.
While he conceded that England's seamers had been out-performed by their
Indian counterparts in Ahmedabad, he said the England team management
will inspect the pitch before any selection decision is made. As things
stand, Flower expects Mumbai to offer more assistance to the seamers and
would only confirm that England would bring in a batsman to replace Ian
Bell, who is absent on paternity leave.
"With hindsight yes, it was a mistake not to play Panesar in Ahmedabad,"
Flower said. "I didn't expect that pitch to turn as early as it did. In
fact, once we saw it turning early in the game I thought it might
deteriorate more and I was surprised on day four and five how well it
played. I certainly misjudged that pitch.
"There might be a little more bounce in Mumbai which will help our
seamers. Of course we have to bring in a batsman, but on any other
changes I'd like to see the pitch first. Then I'll try to make a better
judgment than the last one. If it looks as though it will turn a lot, we
will contemplate two spinners.
"I don't think our seamers bowled as well as they could have and the
skill with reverse swing and finding the right length to hit the pads is
a particular skill. I think India did that better than we did. Their
seamers out-bowled our seamers, but I also think we gave them a couple
of soft dismissals."
England's attempts to square the series in Mumbai have been dealt a
severe blow with the news that Steven Finn will not be fit to play in
the second Test. Indeed, Finn undergoes a scan on Tuesday that will
define whether he had any further part to play on the tour. Stuart Meaker,
who was called into the squad when Finn was injured in the first
warm-up game, will remain with them rather than joining the England
Performance Programme squad.
| "This will not go down as one of his memorable Tests but he's got three more to contribute to winning games for England." Andy Flower sanguine about Kevin Pietersen's form | |||
"Finn unfortunately hurt that same area of his thigh and he's having a
scan," Flower said. "We don't think there's any structural damage, we
need to check. If there is not he will go and join our performance
programme. He'll rehab with them and they've got a three-day game
starting on the 27th which is the last day of this Test. Hopefully we
can get him in that and test him out and if he comes through well he'll
be available for the third Test."
Flower conceded there was an air of predictability about England's
troubles in India but, despite the side now having lost five out of six
Tests in Asian conditions this year, said "he would like to think" there
was nothing fundamentally wrong with the team or the team set-up.
Instead he felt that the batsmen, in particular, were guilty of simple
errors. He did not condemn India's decision to deny them quality spin
bowling in the warm-up matches, though he did jokingly suggest that
England would be unlikely to respond by providing only spin bowlers for
India in their warm-up games on their next tour of England.
"We have to overturn what seems predictable the moment," he said. "There
are some very basic things that we haven't done well enough and I hope
I'm not making personal excuses here. I don't think it's anything to do
with the environment, or team dynamics, or the way we train. I think
that we have failed in a number of first innings and if you do that in
the subcontinent you pay the price. That's the area where we have failed
and I don't think we should over-complicate it. I hope there is no real
reason why it should keep happening in the first innings.
"If we'd batted in the first innings like we batted in the second it
might have been a different story. Those three wickets hurt us at the
end of day two, obviously, and the ball turned quite sharply and quite
quickly in that first innings. And there were a few soft dismissals
which cost us."
Flower was keen to defend Kevin Pietersen, who, in his first Test since
his recall, scored 19 runs in two innings and was twice dismissed by the
left-arm spin of Pragyan Ojha, but Flower stressed the excellence of
his long-term record.
"Look, Kevin's a very fine cricketer and he has 21 Test centuries,"
Flower said. "This will not go down as one of his memorable Tests, of
course, but he's got three more Tests to contribute to winning games for
England.
"In this last Test the left-arm spinner got him out twice and he
obviously struggled against him. But, only a few Tests ago against Sri
Lanka, he scored a magnificent 150 and they had a reasonable left-arm
spinner playing in subcontinent conditions. The method he used there was
a very successful one. I'm not just talking about his very attacking
method but his defensive one too. He's a very experienced cricketer and I
trust he'll bring that experience to bear in the next Test match."
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: George Dobell
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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