The 4 - 1 victory to England was flattering in the extreme and revealed a number of serious deficiencies in the England squad:1) We have no bowlers of genuine pace.
2) The spinners are seldom consistent enough to play regular international cricket. Yesterday, the part-time spin of of Joe Root was close to as good as that of the regular spin bowlers.
3) Dropped catches are a serious matter.
4) There are too many left-handers in the batting line up - a particular disadvantage when batting in the final innings, with bowlers' footmarks being a gift to opposition spinners.
5) England need two new openers AND a Number Three who will not easily yield up his wicket. Mo Ali can only be seen as a 'sticking plaster solution'.
6) The batsmen who should be able to dig in and carve out an innings against an hostile attack seem inadequate.
On the positive side, Joe Root's captaincy has improved significantly over these five tests.
This series has been a superb example of entertaining cricket. The adage that low scoring matches produce the best cricket has been proved repeatedly.
It is now time to complete the picture. The Duke ball should be used in all international tests and 'cricket wickets' should be obligatory in every nation. Dry, flat feather-bed pitches which allow poor batsmen to score heavily should be outlawed. The dust bowl pitches found in many nations MUST be overcome.
Test cricket is the best cricket. Let us guarantee its future for at least the rest of this century.
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