Finn was just happy with the work out, especially given it gave him chance to further his case for inclusion in the side for Abu Dhabi on Tuesday. Finn will be better suited to the second Test venue in Dubai, which has the zippiest surface of the three Test grounds in the UAE, or the least slow. At the same time, I think it’s about all bowlers. “I think the Pakistan side never really got away from us today”. “I said at the end of the Ashes series (which England won 3-2) I expected this to be a tougher series for us to play in”.
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“I don’t think the same attack is going to play all the way through the series”. “The one thing we’ve just had a quick chat about is that, to win a Test match, you’ve got to take 20 chances – and we’ve missed a couple of chances”.
Bayliss remarked: “If he goes out and bowls like he did against Australia, he backs himself, he bowls aggressively to take wickets, bowls his variations – there’s no reason why he can’t be successful”. This was astonishing as a piece of physical endurance here, never mind his figures of two wickets for two runs.
Wood’s history of injuries means he is unlikely to play in all three Tests.
Iftikhar Ahmed was given a reprieve on one from Ben Stokes’ bowling but he became a gimme wicket for Finn straight after lunch – lbw aiming to clip his first delivery of the session to leg.
Finn doubled up two balls later, consigning Usman Salahuddin to the third duck of the innings when he edged low to third slip.
“The ball “reversed” a little bit – which is key for us”. Once Pakistan A had constructed a partnership, however, England began to run out of options.
In a repeat encounter starting Thursday, Ali was once more useful with the ball, returning 1-forty four in 17 overs as Pakistan A reached 192-9.
The rationale behind the thought of promoting Ali to open the innings will be his all-round capability, which will allow England to include another specialist middle-order batsman. Sami Aslam and Fawad Alam are at the crease for Pakistan A. He also suggested that the series would have been more interesting if Mohammad Amir had been included in the Pakistan squad, adding that the left-armer would have enhanced the quality of the Pakistan eleven.
The 26-year-old finished with 4-16 off his 15 overs, while Adil Rashid took three wickets and Liam Plunkett and Samit Patel marked their first action of the tour with two apiece.
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When Pakistan A came out to bat, England’s Moeen Ali – who has been promoted to the role of an opener in this tour – showed his all-round skills as he hung around for long enough to give the selectors hopes that he can do well at that spot.
