Yorkshire weather had planned what it thought was the perfect welcome for its first Test of the summer as it burst into rain episodes that had evaded the region for weeks before the series began.
After all, aren’t fast bowlers infatuated with such weather, and weren’t both teams—England and Pakistan—fully aware of this common knowledge, coming with lineups teeming with pacers? Pakistan, however, didn’t seem to like it much.
Weather the reason behind loss
As their bowling coach Umer Gul says, they hadn’t expected the weather to be this cold, hence the bowlers failing to show up the way they should have.
“When we came here from West Indies, the weather was hot,” Gul said at Lord’s on Tuesday.
“It was a hot summer. We weren’t expecting it to be this cold. Even the practice match at Croydon, the weather there was hot. When we reached Headingley, it was totally different. It rained and the weather was cold. Obviously, you need to spend some time in that cold weather. That’s why we couldn’t bowl that well, and we couldn’t execute due to the weather. But I hope they acclimatise with the weather and do well in the next game.”
Pakistan pacers only took five wickets during the Test. England pacers, contrastingly, were responsible for all 20 wickets throughout the game, though they bowled in both innings compared to Pakistan’s one innings bowling. That doesn’t, however, cover up how Pakistan bowlers bottled their chances. They got to bowl during what was perhaps the golden time for giving the ball some lateral movement.
Bowlers not acclimatised to Yorkshire weather
On day two, when play began late due to a rain delay, Pakistan pacers returned to bowl under a sky heavily laden with clouds, but all they could manage was to desperately watch Joe Root and Jordan Cox build a partnership that took the game away from them.
For all the help Pakistan could have extracted from the weather, Gul pointed out the shortcomings it imposed on the “stiff” pacers, who had a hard time dealing with a sudden change in temperatures.
“Because of the [change in temperature], I thought the bowlers were a little stiff. You have to get used to the weather. And I hope they’ll be fully ready for this next game.
“In the days leading up to the Test, we considered going in with four seamers. But on the day before the match, the pitch we saw had changed quite a bit, and playing a spinner turned out to be a good decision. But when you come here, you need time.”
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