For England, it was always going to be a tough series and you wouldn’t bet against them scoring 500 in the 3rd innings and making a game of it but there are already some key takeaways.
Batting - Crawley has been good without making a big one. Root must play like Root. I’d say the rest are playing for their places. Pope doesn’t convince me, Duckett can’t leave a good one, Bairstow looks like he’s coming to the end. Brook to return is good.
Spin - good cameos and experience for the young ones. The future looks bright here.
Pace - concerning. Anderson must be near the end now. Wood not far away from it. Archer seems a bit broken physically. And is Robinson really our number 3 ‘pace’ bowler? We need urgent answers in this department.
We play Sri Lanka in a test in August at Old Trafford, I'd take a guess thats where Anderson will bow out. He'll have his 700th wicket by then and to go out at his home ground seems fitting.
Agree with most of that. I've not been Crawleys biggest fan but he seems to have cemented his place down, Duckett is safe for a while too. Pope has flashes of brilliance and is vice captain so probably good for the summer at the very least. Bairstow should be done but we all know they'll drop Foakes to keep Bairstow in the team.
I've got a feeling we might not see Leach play for England again now, Hartley and Bashir in particular have impressed this tour.
Pace is the worry, I'd guess we're looking at Atkinson, Potts and Tongue coming in fairly soon. Maybe Jamie Overton as a big fast bowler too?