Having drawn a "frustrating" second Test match against Pakistan at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton, the shortest five-day international in England since 1987 due to multiple rain stoppages and bad light conditions, England head coach Chris Silverwood believes there are a number of solutions that can be looked into ahead of the third Test starting Friday at the same venue.
"There's quite a lot of chat going on (regarding the bad light issue). There can be a change in the colour of the ball — whether pink or not I'm not sure, maybe a lighter shade of red. The earlier start time makes more sense to me. There would be no complaints from us, should it happen. We are all here anyway. It's not like any of us are travelling so it wouldn't be very hard to make it happen. Could we get to a stage where the floodlights deliver a set, minimum standard of light? That could be achieved. We all want to play as much cricket as possible," said the 45-year-old.
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England is yet to take a call on whether it would be fielding an all-seam attack in the next match. Silverwood said, "We need to at least keep all options on the table. We are playing a good side here and would want to field a side that we feel can beat them. If you are looking at a nice, all-round, balanced attack, maybe spin would feature in that. We will have a look at the wicket when it is uncovered and see where we go from there."
All-rounder Ben Stokes withdrew from the Pakistan Tests on August 9 due to family reasons and that, Silverwood says, has found the batting depth wanting. "Ben not being with us leaves a hole in that batting lineup. Obviously, he comes with a lot of experience. So, we have to consider that bit and think how much batting is enough. The team composition will be a topic of discussion over the next couple of days."
Pakistan Tour of England, 3rd Test, will be aired LIVE only on SONY SIX channels from 21st August 2020, 3.30 pm onwards
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