"If you listen to some of their commentators you will understand why England are very bad players of spin bowling- Ian Chappell
Former Australian captain Ian Chappell has slammed the England batters for their dismal showing against spin in the recently concluded Test tour of Pakistan. After winning the series opener in Multan, the English batters fell apart on turning tracks in the second and third Tests to concede the three-match affair 1-2.
Ben Stokes' men registered no 300-plus totals in their final four innings as the Pakistan spin duo of Noman Ali and Sajid Khan combined to pick up 39 of the 40 wickets in the two games.
Speaking to the World Wide of Sports, Chappell felt England's batting methods were possibly the worst he had ever seen against spin bowling.
"Have I ever seen spin bowling played worse than what England did? Probably never. England were hopeless. Pakistan - their spin bowlers are all right. You are playing on a pitch that has been played on before but if you put that out of your mind you are playing spin bowling. If you listen to some of their commentators you will understand why England are very bad players of spin bowling," Chappell said.
"I would love to ask him who decided that the reverse sweep was safer than using your feet well. It's totally illogical... When I hear an England commentator saying, 'the sweep is the way out when the track is spinning', what I should do is go bang and hit the mute button to shut them up," he added.
The series loss was England's second consecutive on Asian conditions after the 1-4 defeat in India earlier this year, raising questions about their ability to deal with quality spinners on turning tracks.
"I don't know if Stokes has gotten a bit tired as a captain" - Ian Chappell on the England captain's issues
Ian Chappell also questioned Ben Stokes' captaincy during the Pakistan series and called on him to attack from ball one as he used to in his first year as skipper.
After helping England win 3-0 against New Zealand since taking over as Test captain in mid-2022, Stokes has endured two series losses in India and Pakistan this year.
"I don't know if Stokes has gotten a bit tired as a captain but he needs to get back to the old Ben Stokes who was a damn good captain and try and win them the game from ball number one. When you see a captain giving easy singles to batsmen, I mean, I watch that and it drives me absolutely crazy," Chappell said in the same discussion.
"Getting 20 wickets is the hardest thing you're ever going to do on a Test field... But you've got to try and win the game as a captain from ball number one, and that's what Stokes has been doing. For some reason, he has stopped doing that against Pakistan," he added.
Despite the recent setbacks, Stokes still holds a fairly impressive record as England's Test captain with 17 wins, 11 losses, and a draw in 29 outings.