Bayliss added: “I’ve thought Rashid’s been a chance for the last two or three Tests that we’ve played”. The sessions England won, they won convincingly.
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It is not always a role that has suited Ali, but at Edgbaston – where he was named man-of-the-match after scoring two fifties – he played his part with the ball as Pakistan were dismissed for 201 on Sunday. And obviously we are going to the sub-continent, so he’s probably the guy who will get the first opportunity there.
Rashid, who took 5-64 in his debut against Pakistan in October, is expected to be included in the squad for the winter tours to the spin-friendly conditions of Bangladesh and India. We saw past year at The Oval, the wicket had a bit in it for everyone.
But the Lancashire paceman fell foul of the umpires in Pakistan s first innings when he was taken out of the attack for running on the pitch – the second time this has happened to Anderson in 2016. They are also blessed with a raft of all-rounders, led by Ben Stokes, that includes Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes. If he’s in the team as one of four pace bowlers, we could have two spinners.
“The stats said that with a hundred-run deficit you only win three percent of the time”, Hales told reporters at The Oval on Tuesday.
Strauss’s side were at number one for barely a year before defeats by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates and a home series loss to South Africa knocked them off their perch. I’d say at this stage we’d definitely be taking three spinners to India.
“On a personal level, the runs haven’t come as I would have liked so far having got a couple of good balls and playing a couple of rash shots, so I made a few adjustments to my technique against the left-armers and still feel I’m heading in the right direction”.
“The spell just after lunch that he and Broad put together in partnership there, quite simply the difference with his bowling in that spell was his discipline of length”, Bayliss said. We’ve all seen him fall a little short at times but I thought he got it pretty much spot on in that spell.
‘The side back then had a lot of players in their early to mid-30s but now we have a backbone of a team that could go on for another 10 years and that’s very exciting.
‘I think our team at the moment is better equipped to get to No 1 and stay there, ‘ insisted Anderson, 34.
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‘If I’m being brutally honest it would be a bit soon for this team to go to No 1 now because we are still developing, there is still inconsistency, and we have plenty of improving to do. “I thought there were signs in this game that some of the more inexperienced players were starting to show a little bit of maturity”.
