Credibility for Moores after England beat India to level
HEAD COACH Peter Moores believes the manner of England’s victory gives credibility to his methods after the hosts polished off India yesterday to win the third Test at Southampton in convincing style.
England secured the six wickets required to end their 10-match losing streak, routing the tourists by 266 runs and levelling the series as all-rounder Moeen Ali posted figures of 6-67.
Seamer James Anderson received a boost ahead of his disciplinary hearing today by striking early to remove Rohit Sharma and Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Should he be found guilty of pushing and verbally abusing Ravindra Jadeja during the first Test at Trent Bridge, Anderson will be banned for a minimum of two Tests.
England may yet have a bowling conundrum to solve for the remaining matches in the series although the Lancastrian has been included in an unchanged 13-man squad for the fourth Test, which starts on Thursday.
Victory at the Ageas Bowl was the first for Moores in the Test arena since re-taking the England reins in May and he admitted a positive result was paramount.
“We needed a win,” said Moores. “You’re trying to get some connections to people about how you do things and I think there was enough from this game and how we played to say that if we play this sort of cricket we’ve got a great chance of winning Test matches.
“If you don’t get over the line it’s not as easy for maybe a young player to understand that actually this is the way we’ve got to play our cricket if we’re to be successful.”
England captain Alastair Cook, meanwhile, paid tribute to the prominent role played by Moeen in the third Test win and in particular the desire to improve his off-spin.
Moeen started the summer as a part-time option with the ball but is currently the joint second-highest wicket-taker in the series with 15 scalps, just one behind Anderson.
“His bowling has come on leaps and bounds since the beginning of the summer,” said Cook.
“He’s worked really hard on it with the guys in the nets, telling him about the lines to bowl, which are a bit different in international cricket.”