Andrew Strauss admitted that England's batsmen are no closer to solving the mysteries of playing spin in subcontinental conditions as another humiliating collapse against Pakistan left them in danger of losing their hard-earned ranking as the world's No1 Test team after only three matches.
Needing only 145 to win the second Test in Abu Dhabi and square the three-match series after their heavy defeat in Dubai last week, they were skittled for 72, their lowest ever total against Pakistan, whose spin trio shared all 10 wickets inside 22 overs of mayhem – led this time by Abdur Rehman, the left-armer who took six, with Saeed Ajmal playing a skilful second fiddle.
England are now 2-0 down with one to play and therefore condemned to their first series defeat in 10 since they lost in the West Indies in early 2009, when Strauss linked up with Andy Flower, the coach, for the first time. This total was their lowest since they were all out for 51 in the first Test of that series in Jamaica, and was also the first time they have lost consecutive Tests under Strauss and Flower.
It means that they need to win the third Test that starts back in Dubai on Friday to be sure of remaining at the top of the International Cricket Council's world test rankings on 1 April – when the highest-ranked team receive a prize of $175,000. If England lose the series 2-0 or 3-0, which would be their worst ever result against Pakistan, they would be in danger of being overtaken by South Africa if they win all three Tests of their series in New Zealand in March.
But money was not on Strauss's mind as he sifted through the wreckage of another collective batting flop, in which he top-scored with 32 without suggesting he is any closer to emerging from his own personal slump.
"I'd struggle to think of a loss that has hurt more than this," he said. "These are the games that hurt the most because you feel like you've done everything you can to win the game and then you aren't able to nail the final nail in the coffin.
"Sometimes those sort of totals are the hardest to chase because you think you are almost there. It is easy to get caught between two stools, whether to be patient and wait for scoring opportunities to appear or take the bull by the horns."
England did the former, with Strauss and Alastair Cook crawling to 21 in 15 overs before the collapse began. "We just didn't play well enough, individually or collectively," the captain added. "Individually we've not been clear enough in our gameplans against spin, we've not been clear enough in our methods of where our scoring areas are and we've allowed pressure to build. It is pretty apparent and clear, there are no excuses, we need to be better than that."
Asked whether he felt England had failed to prove their right to the No1 ranking, Strauss admitted: "As I said at the start of this tour, this is the final frontier. England teams haven't done very well out here [in Asia] in the past. We felt like we had a great chance to win this series but I think the fact that we got rolled over twice in Dubai meant that there was some baggage there going into this final innings. Test cricket is hard and it exposes any vulnerability or weaknesses you have."
In 19 Tests in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and now the Gulf since 2001, England have now lost nine, drawn nine, and won only one – and will now lose their sixth series out of seven.
For Strauss's opposite number, Misbah-ul-Haq, this was another personal triumph. Since he succeeded the disgraced Salman Butt in the aftermath of the spot-fixing scandal and a 3-1 series defeat in England late in 2010, Pakistan have now won eight, drawn five and lost only one of 14 Tests.
They may still be some way off England's official ranking, but it is they, rather than Strauss's team, who would challenge South Africa and Australia as the form teams of world cricket.
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