‘There’s a lot of quality in Pakistan’: Team coach defends players despite horror in England

Pakistan’s Saud Shakeel leaves dejected (AP) Pakistan’s difficult tour of England exposed plenty of problems with the bat, but batting coach Michael Smith believes the team’s young players need time and exposure to a Test environment before they can be judged.Pakistan’s struggles continued on the second day of the ongoing Test in Birmingham, with the visitors reaching 52/2 in their second innings before persistent rain ended play prematurely. They remained 268 runs behind England.Pakistan’s batting has been terrible to say the least. They have managed scores of 171, 135, 110, 194 and 133 in their five innings so far. Not even once have they crossed the 200-run mark.With Pakistan having already suffered heavy defeats in the first two Tests at Headingley and Lord’s, the team underwent significant changes during the tour. Seven players, including wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan, opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq and T20 captain Salman Ali Agha, were sent home midway through the series.Only Babar Azam and Shan Masood of the current Pakistan sevens have toured England before.

Smith urges patience with Pakistan’s young batsmen

Smith admitted that Pakistan was going through a period of change but insisted that there was enough talent to eventually strengthen the side.“For me, there’s a lot of quality in Pakistan. We’ve seen it over the years and a lot of countries are going through a bit of change. We’ve got some younger players here with some experienced players, but it’s about learning and how quickly we can get them to learn and get comfortable in a Test environment to really help them in the long run,” Smith told reporters after the second day’s play.The batting coach admitted that one of Pakistan’s biggest failings was their inability to convert promising starts into long stays at the crease.The visitors showed flashes of resilience throughout the series, but those moments rarely lasted long enough to change the course of matches.“We showed some really good signs, but not for long enough, and I think that’s probably the biggest lesson, that we need some of our guys to play for hours and in certain game plans,” Smith said.Smith pointed to Saud Shakeel, Azan Awais and Shan Masood as players who have already shown they can handle the demands of Test batting, but stressed that Pakistan need them to maintain that level for much longer.“I think Saud Shakeel has shown us that at times, Azan Awais has shown us that and Shan too, but we need it for hours and not just half a session or so. Some players, it’s their first tour of England and they don’t have a lot of Test experience, so they learn some tough lessons along the way and they have to learn on the Test circuit, which is tough,” he added.The challenge has been particularly pronounced in England, where several members of the current batting line-up are experiencing English conditions for the first time.Despite Pakistan’s results, Smith said the mood in the camp remained positive and urged people not to make premature judgments about the younger members of the squad.He also admitted that Pakistan face a strong English bowling attack in familiar home conditions.“It was tough, it was challenging, but let’s not take away from the fact that we came up against a really good bowling unit in home conditions who were outstanding,” Smith said.The batting coach believes a more telling assessment of this group will come when Pakistan return to England in the future, assuming many of the same players remain part of the side.“I suppose we might not have the success we’d like to see now, but hopefully if a lot of those players come back for our next tour of the UK, we’ll really see an upward trend and I think it’s time to really assess them – especially some of the younger players who are getting their first taste of England-type conditions,” said Smith.