Former England batter Mark Butcher has called for Saqib Mahmood to take on England Test new-ball duties from Craig Overton, following an opening spell he described as the most friendly he had ever seen.
On the first day of the third Test, England scraped up to 204 following a lower-order rearguard led by Jack Leach and Mahmood, their Nos.10 and 11. Joe Root’s side endured another poor start on the second day, with West Indies putting on a half-century opening stand.
Craig Overton and Chris Woakes took the new ball, with Butcher, speaking on BT Sport, highly critical of their opening efforts, and calling for Mahmood to take on the responsibility.
“I’ve never seen a more friendly opening spell than the one that I saw from Woakes and Overton with that new ball,” he said. “It was like watching Under-17s cricket out there for a little while. But as soon as England got their teeth into the contest and started to bang the ball into the middle of the pitch and played West Indian-style cricket, things started to happen.”
England hit back before and after lunch, reducing West Indies to 128-7. Ben Stokes and Mahmood prised out the first two breakthroughs, with Overton and Woakes returning to make further inroads. The latter claimed three wickets, two with the short ball, but it was Overton, who also used a bouncer for his wicket, that Butcher felt was better served by being given a greater role with the older ball.
“Obviously England are trying to fact-find on this tour, no [James] Anderson, [Stuart] Broad, the whole shebang,” he said. “And one thing is for sure, it makes absolutely no sense to me that Craig Overton would take the new ball over Saqib Mahmood. Give the ball to the guy that’s got more skill when it comes to in-swing, out-swing, has a little bit more pace through the air, and allow Craig Overton to perform the role that he’s doing so well at the moment and did so well in the first Test match at Antigua, which is to use his height and his physical size and run in and whack the middle of the pitch hard. Allow Saqib to get the advantage of having that new ball.”
Mahmood was one of England’s standout performers in the second Test, claiming match figures of 4-79 on debut as the tourists came within four wickets of victory at Barbados. He recently spoke to Wisden Cricket Monthly about his desire to be seen as possessing more than just speed.
