The tourists have displayed traditional English values at Edgbaston, says the Analyst, but they must not resort to their old ways
Pakistan have turned the tables on England in this Test with traditional English-style cricket.
The bowling of Sohail Khan was typical of the kind of steady line and length you find up and down the country on a Saturday afternoons in league matches.
And the disciplined batting of Sami Aslam and Azhar Ali was reminiscent of that old English 1970s combination of John Edrich and Geoff Boycott.
England, meanwhile, have played a bit like Pakistan often do.
After Mohammed Hafeez gifted England his wicket in the first over, the second wicket pair gave the England bowlers nothing.
They played for their stumps and wouldn’t be drawn into pushing at anything they didn’t need to.
They defended stoutly, swayed out of the line of the shorter balls and left the ball superbly.
Their only scoring shots were the work off the legs and the gentle push for two down the ground.
The only time Ali strayed out of his controlled zone was to chase a wider ball from Jimmy Anderson, but the edge went directly between Alastair Cook and Joe Root, and was dropped.
The youthful Aslam was resolute, remaining in his own little bubble, even when the bowlers tried to distract him with the odd bouncer and a few shies at the stumps.
He played the ball so late he was able to dab it into the ground and pinch quick singles.
Stealing runs off a decent ball prevents the bowler from building up pressure and drives them mad.
Jimmy Anderson’s frustration seeped out in his irritated exchanges with the umpires.
Pakistan were helped by a relatively innocuous England attack – Steven Finn and Stuart Broad were ineffective – and a featherbed pitch that seemed to have gone to sleep after a lively showing on the first day.
And that is the key to the match. It is likely to stay easy paced and reliable for the next two days.
England must somehow try and winkle out Pakistan for 400 – always possible if they can get a couple of early scalps on the third morning.
And then they must make 370 themselves, setting Pakistan about 280 to win.
As we have seen in past Edgbaston test matches – notably the famous 2005 Ashes one – that is a tricky score to make in the fourth innings.
Pakistan is synonymous with unpredictability. They can be smart and they can be sloppy. You can never be quite sure which version is going to turn up.
From here on, this new sensible version will win the Test. But the old slapdash version may lose it.
It could be a cracking match.
