A riveting battle continues

A riveting battle continues

A new potential great on our hands© PA Photos

Another day, another collapse. Time to panic about the England middle order and how they will fare in the forthcoming Ashes. Or perhaps not.

A few weeks ago, after Pakistan collapsed at Lord's in their ‘home’ Test against Australia, I offered the opinion that had their bowlers had the opportunity to bowl in similar conditions, they would have skittled Australia for under a hundred. Though I was pooh-poohed by several commenters, mostly presumably Australians, Ponting's men proved me triumphantly right at Headingley later that week. Twice now in similar circumstances, England have at least managed three figures, which clearly proves that they are a better batting side than Australia and are therefore hot favourites to retain the Ashes. QED. And if you believe that, you'll believe anything.

In fact, all the intelligence we have gained about the Ashes is that if the conditions are heavily overcast and damp and Mohammad Amir turns up to bowl with a shiny red Duke ball, whichever side has picked him is going to have a huge advantage. Since none of those circumstances will obtain, what we have learned about the series to come is precisely nothing.

What we have learned about the series in progress, though, is that I was wrong about Jimmy Anderson being the world’s No. 1 bowler whose primary weapon is moving the ball in the air. (Those who commented along the lines of “What about Dale Steyn?” can perhaps recognise that Steyn's primary weapon is pace and that if he moves the ball in the air, it's a bonus.) I can only plead that Amir is so new on the scene that I thought it premature to promote him to the top spot, but what I've seen this summer has wholly convinced me that we have a new potential great on our hands. ‘Potential’ because so much can happen to a player during a career - particularly a pace bowler, a breed permanently at risk of injury or burnout – but right now he is as splendid a bowler as you could wish for.

I like a bit of strokeplay here and there in a Test but as a contrast to the all-too-common tedious run-fests in which the bowler has no chance, this series has been wonderful cricket. Both teams have spent most of each Test battling their way back into the game: during the last Test, Cricinfo's end-of-day headline every evening was ‘X, Y put Pakistan on top’ but they were nowhere near as dominant as that might imply. Just before they collapsed on the third afternoon, England were set fair to put up a target of well over 200, which Pakistan's pursuit of just under 150 showed would have been hard indeed to chase down.

As I write, Jonathan Trott and Stuart Broad are bringing some semblance of respectability to England's first innings – and it is a pleasure to see Broad recovering his batting even if his antics in the field give little to approve of – so there is still all to play for. Travails with a dishwasher (you don't want to know) have prevented me getting to the ground today, but I'm eagerly looking forward to the weekend's play. And may the team which plays best win.