England’s
hundredth Test tour was one of its least successful, being whitewashed 3-0 by
Pakistan,
the first time this had been the result in England-Pakistan Tests.Andrew Strauss believed that England
improved during the Test matches and fared far better winning both
limited-overs series that followed.
England’s
preparations should have seen them sufficiently familiar with desert
conditions, and the pitch at Dubai played
well, but the Pakistan
spin attack led by Saeed Ajmal destroyed their batting line-up. He took seven
wickets on the first day of the series, and ten in the match to impose a
three-day innings defeat. He took 24 wickets in the series at an average of
14.7 each.
At Abu Dhabi the pitch was again
fair for batting but Abdur Rehman, slow left-arm, this time brought about England’s
batting collapse as they were dismissed for 72, chasing a target of only 145.
In the third Test it was Pakistan’s
turn to be bundled out for only 99 before a huge partnership (by the
low-scoring standards of this series) between Younis Khan and Azhar Ali
enabled the ‘home’ side to set England a target of 324.Saeed Ajmal, with 4 wickets, again ensured
they were never close.
Ben Langley had taken over from Kirk
Rusell, who had been physiotherapist for nine years, at the end of the
2010-11 Ashes series.
Andrew Hurry, Somerset’s coach,
deputised in the limited-overs matches for Richard Halsall, the fielding
coach who returned to England as his wife was about to give birth.
Selectors
Geoff Miller (national
selector), Andy Flower (Team Director),Ashley F Giles, James Whitaker.
Selection
Not considered:Paul Collingwood(retired).
Tour Party Announced : 9
December 2011.
Graham Onions would travel
with the squad as cover because three fast bowlers were still recovering from
injury: Bresnan (right elbow), Broad (shoulder) and Tremlett (back).
Not selected:Samit Patel and Jonny Bairstow
Withdrawn:.Tim Bresnan (elbow injury),replaced by Graham Onions.
Limited-overs squads announced :7 February 2012.
Time between selection and departure from England
25 days
(9December - 2 January)
Travel
LondonQDubai
Andrew Strauss, Eoin Morgan and Matt Prior prepared
for the tour in Pune and Mumbai while the fast bowlers - James Anderson,
Stuart Broad, Graham Onions and Chris Tremlett, prepared in Potchefstroom in South Africa.
The team assembled in London
and departed from Heathrow
Airport for UAE on 2
January.
Tim Bresnan was ruled out of the Test tour on 9 January and had
to return home when it was evident he had not recovered from surgery before
the tour on an elbow injury so Graham
Onions who travelled with the squad was elevated to become a permanent
team member. Bresnan was able to return for the limited-overs series on
Sunday 5 February.
Chris Tremlett suffered a back injury and had to return to England after
playing in the first Test for an operation on a disc in his spine.
Alastair Cook was retained after the
one-day internationals to be cover for the T20 squad.
Fixtures/Results
a
ϯ Dubai (CA)
ICC Combined Associate XI(2-day)
Won 3 w
b
ϯ Dubai (CA)
Pakistan
Cricket Board XI(2-day)
Won 100 r
c
DUBAI(DSC)
PAKISTANFirst Test
LOST
10 w
d
ABU DHABI
PAKISTANSecond Test
LOST
72 r
e
DUBAI(DSC)
PAKISTANThird Test
LOST
71 r
f
ϯ Abu Dhabi
England Lions
Won 9 w
g
§ Abu Dhabi
Pakistan(1st ODI)
Won 130 r
h
§ Abu Dhabi
Pakistan(2nd ODI)
Won 20 r
i
§ Dubai
(DSC)
Pakistan(3rd ODI)
Won 9 w
j
§ Dubai
(DSC)
Pakistan(4th ODI)
Won 4 w
k
Å Dubai (DSC)
Pakistan(1st T20)
Lost 8 r
l
Å Dubai (DSC)
Pakistan(2nd T20)
Won 38 r
m
Å Abu Dhabi
Pakistan(3rd T20)
Won 5 r
† not first-class
§ -one-day international
Å-T20 international
Time spent in United Arab Emirates before First
Test:
•No English batsman scored a Test century
(the first time in a Test series since 1999)
•
•Monty Panesar took 6 for 62 at Abu Dhabi, leaving England only 145 runs to chase for
victory
•Stuart Broad took 4-36 and Jimmy Anderson
3-35 at Dubai (3rd Test) to dismiss Pakistan
for only 99.
•The third Test at Dubai was only the second occasion in the
last 100 years in which a team has won a Test match after being dismissed for
less than 100.
Chris Tremlett had to fly back to England for back surgery on
Wednesday 25 January, as the 2nd Test began.Graham Gooch and Dr Mark Bawden, the England team psychologist, also flew
home just before the second Test but Dr Bawden was recalled for the ODI
series.
Ian Bell, Steven Davies, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Andrew
Strauss and Matt Prior returned to England at the end of the Test
series.Jonathan Trott returned to England at
the end of the one-day international series.
The Twenty20 team returned on 27 February
Time away from England
56
days
(2
January - 27 February )
Finances
Accounts
of the tour
Postscript
Graham Gooch was appointed as full-time batting coach at the end
of the tour, partly in reaction to England’s
batting collapses in the Test series against Pakistan. Pietersen finished the
Test series with a total of 67 runs, Bell
51 and Morgan 82. Partly, they were floored by how the DRS system operated to
the benefit of spinners when an lbw decision by the umpire was almost always
upheld.
Other
Test tours in 2011-12
Acknowledgements
To general reading of The Times newspaper digital archive
(Gale Group);Jamaica Gleanor
archive;National Library of Australia
Trove; Papers Past NZ.
From former British Newspaper
Library, Colindale and online:The
Age, Melbourne Argus, Bangladesh Daily Star, Barbados Advocate, Canberra
Times, Daily Telegraph, Dawn, Eastern Daily Press, The Hindu, The Independent
(Dhaka), Indian Express, The Island (Lanka), Lahore Times, New Nation, New
Zealand Auckland Herald, Sri Lanka Daily News, Stabroek News, Straits Times,
Sydney Morning Herald, The Telegraph (Calcutta), Times of India , The Tribune
Chandigarh, Trinidad Guardian, The West Australian.
Magazines/periodicals including
Australian Cricket, B & H West Indies Annual, The Cricketer
International, Cricketer Quarterly, Indian Cricket, Indian Cricket Field
Annual, Playfair Cricket Monthly, Shell Cricket Almanack of New Zealand,
Wisden Cricket Monthly, Wisden Book of Test Cricket, Wisden’s Cricketers’
Almanack.
Men In White, A History of
Australian Cricket (Harte), A History of Indian Cricket (Bose), A History of West Indies Cricket (Manley)
Biography and tour books (own collection and at the M.C.C.
Library at Lord’s Ground)ALL CONTENTS OF THE
TEST-CRICKET-TOURS.CO.UK WEBSITEARE
COPYRIGHT