Bangladesh v England: Visitors could play fourth spinner in Dhaka
Tuesday 25 October 2016 08:16, UK
Michael Atherton believes England may consider playing a fourth spinner in the second Test against Bangladesh, if they are confronted by another dry and dusty wicket in Dhaka.
Alastair Cook's side battled to a 22-run victory in the first Test in Chittagong on a pitch that spun sharply from the outset although it was the seamers who eventually got the team over the line.
As such, and with a five-match Test series in India following the Dhaka Test, Atherton believes England may choose to bring Zafar Ansari in to win his first cap.
"With six Test matches to come now in the best part of eight weeks, it will be very, very tough if the seamers have to shoulder that burden and take the load from the spinners," he told Sky Sports.
"We'll wait and see what happens in Dhaka. If it's another pitch like this, they might think about playing a fourth spinner just to give Ansari a game and see how you go with him because what do you lose moving forward?
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"You want to know a bit more about him going into the India series. With six more Test matches in these conditions so it will be a bit of rest and rotation, you suspect."
With Ansari and seamers Jake Ball and Steven Finn in the squad, as well as James Anderson to return in India, England have plenty of options in the bowling department but are rather light on batsman.
Atherton expects Ben Duckett will retain his place at the of the order rather than move down to No 4, leaving Jos Buttler as the only candidate should England choose to replace the struggling Gary Ballance.
"I don't think they'll want to move Ben Duckett after giving him his first Test opening," he said. "It would be unusual if they decided to move him down after just one game and bring in [Haseeb] Hameed.
"England's reserve middle-order option is Jos Buttler, who is a terrific one-day player but unproved in Test matches really and has only played one first class game in the best part of a year since we were in the UAE.
"It means that his red ball batting has not had the chance to improve and it leaves England with limited options."
Atherton also praised a "fantastic Test pitch" in Chittagong for producing a superb game but feels that, ultimately, the match only confirmed what England already knew about their side.
"In a way, they have not learnt anything that they didn't know before," added the former England captain.
"They've got one or two holes in their batting line-up - they're unsure who to partner with Alastair Cook at the top of the order and at No 4 they're unsure about Gary Ballance going forward - and clearly there are uncertainties about the proficiency of the spin attack.
"Gareth Batty, Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid were outbowled by the Bangladeshi spinners here.
"Their strengths, they know, are the flexibility the all-rounders provide, the ability of seamers to reverse the ball, the strength down the order - they're a very difficult team to bowl out because they bat all the way down - and in Cook and [Joe] Root, two world class players. In a way this game hasn't taught them anything they didn't know."
Catch re-runs of the action on day five of the first Test between Bangladesh and England from 7am on the hour every hour on Sky Sports 2 until our live Verdict show kicks in at 3pm.
