England cricket hero Michael Atherton fumes after famous Pakistan win - 'Shocking'

England cricket hero Michael Atherton fumes after famous Pakistan win – ‘Shocking’

Posted by Admin October 11, 2024 Cricket

England cricket hero Michael Atherton has blasted the state of the pitch after the Three Lions beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs.

The Three Lions had plenty to do after the hosts posted a total of 556 in their first innings.

But 317 from Harry Brook and 262 from Joe Root helped England post a mammoth total of 823 before declaring with three wickets in hand.

They then bowled Pakistan out for 220, with Jack Leach taking four wickets.

England cricket hero Michael Atherton has blasted the state of the pitch after the Three Lions beat Pakistan by an innings and 47 runs

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It was a brilliant win for England as they continue to go from strength to strength under the stewardship of Brendon McCullum.

Yet Atherton has criticised the state of the pitch, branding it ‘shocking’ for Test cricket.

“It’s a shocking Test match pitch,” he told Sky Sports.

“The only point about Test match and first-class cricket stretched over four or five days is that the pitch should change and offer a balance between bat and ball.

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And England captain Ollie Pope was left elated, with the skipper praising Brook and Root for their virtuoso displays.

“Amazing. The way Rooty and Brooky batted was phenomenal even coming off the field after the first innings we knew 550 was a lot of runs,” he said.

“We didn’t know how much it [the pitch] was going to break up, but it held together pretty nicely and the boys cashed in.

“Credit to those two and the bowlers with how they operated. We set some different plans, it felt like we had to get quirky with a few players but a satisfying win.

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“I knew it was going to be test, on a pitch like that. We had to find way of taking wickets, as captain you have to try get creative and set different plans.

“That was the main challenge for me trying to find a way of taking 10 wickets and being OK with them getting those runs and keeping your head if someone did get in.”

Pope added: “Obviously when a team bats and makes 556 you think you are in the driving seat but when you come out to bat again and you are 260 odd runs behind, with the pitch three days older than it was when you first batted, is never easy.

“We felt like we had a lot of different wicket-taking opportunities – the odd one was staying low, the ball was reversing and the odd ball to spin as well.

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“It’s never an easy position when you are 260 runs behind and even if you bat as well as you can and make 400 in that last innings then we would still have backed ourselves to chase it.”

The second Test between England and Pakistan is set to commence on October 15.