Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler both impress in England’s series win
George Dobell at the Ageas Bowl26-Aug-20209Zak Crawley A breakthrough series. Looked a player of huge potential in compiling a classy 267 in the final Test. Blessed with a wide range of strokes, a decent defence and a calm temperament, Crawley looks comfortable against pace and spin and has the hunger to bat all day. Made 53 in his only other innings. Here to stay.8Stuart Broad Nagging, relentless and as hungry as ever, Broad continued to prove his enduring worth to England. Generally bowling full, straight and gaining just enough lateral movement to threaten both edges, he finished as the leading wicket-taker in this series. His batting looks better than it has for some time, too.7.5Jos Buttler A series that might have saved his Test career. After combining with Woakes in a match-winning partnership in Manchester, where he made an inventive 75, he combined with Crawley in establishing a record fifth-wicket partnership in Southampton. There he played his longest, biggest and perhaps most mature Test innings in making 152. He took a couple of outstanding catches in the final Test, too, and was named England’s player of the series. That said, he did miss five chances, so those worries about his keeping – especially to the spinners – persist.Chris Woakes Produced his best Test innings in several years – an unbeaten 84 – to see England to a memorable victory in Manchester and followed it with 40 in Southampton. He claimed four important wickets in that Manchester Test, too, when he bowled beautifully and was named player of the match. He perhaps wasn’t at his absolute best with the ball in the final two games as the demands of five successive Tests started to show.James Anderson celebrates taking his 600th Test wicket•Getty Images7James Anderson By his high standards, Anderson looked slightly out of sorts in Manchester. And when you’re 38, people sometimes jump to conclusions after a bad game. But he looked better in the rain-ruined second Test and claimed seven wickets in the final match of the series – including the 29th five-wicket haul of his Test career – to prove there’s some life left in him yet. Had England’s catching been better, he’d have reached the 600 milestone much sooner, but he got there in the end and made a pretty persuasive case to suggest there were a few more to come in the process.6Joe Root The figures are underwhelming but Root was dismissed only three times in the series and, on a couple of occasions, was the recipient of excellent deliveries. Yes, England would like more runs from him – his top score in the series was 42 – but he was hardly the only top-order player to struggle. Victory in the first Test made it six in a row for him as captain, while he also retains his record of never having lost a home series as leader. Retains the complete support of his team with Buttler the latest to report how some well-timed words from Root gave him confidence when required.Ben Stokes Limited to a walk-on part by family illness. Received two balls which might be considered close to unplayable to account for his dismissals but still produced a telling contribution with the ball. Despite not being able to bowl in the first innings in Manchester due to a quad injury, he came up with a typically hostile spell to make a key breakthrough in the second.5Jofra Archer He took four wickets in the first Test, was rested from the second and finished wicketless in the last. It seems England still aren’t entirely sure how to use Archer. Relegated to the role of change bowler by the return of Anderson – in last year’s Ashes, Anderson’s absence allowed Archer to take the new ball – he was all too often used in the role of short-ball aggressor. He certainly delivered in terms of pace – in the final Test, he bowled at speeds not seen from him since the Ashes – but the thought persists that he is at his best aiming for the top of off stump and utilising that bouncer as a shock delivery.Dom Bess The figures aren’t especially pretty, but they would have been a fair bit better had Buttler been able to accept any of the three chances he was offered off Bess in Manchester. Bess probably wasn’t helped by the absence of left-handers in the Pakistan top order, either, or the slow pitches and damp conditions that reduced him to a watching role in the second Test. But the series was a reminder that he is very much a player in the development phase of his career.Sam Curran Appeared in just one game in the series as England rested Archer and looked to shore up their middle-order in the absence of Stokes. Bowled nicely enough, too, in a supporting role.Ollie Pope looks on in training•Gareth Copley/Getty ImagesOllie Pope A slightly disappointing series which ended with fears Pope had suffered a recurrence of the fractured shoulder which limited his opportunities in 2019. But he made what proved to be a crucial 62 in Manchester – nobody else in the top five made 15 – and was twice the recipient of balls which reared from a length to take his glove or the shoulder of the bat. He was also twice dismissed, in very similar style, by balls from Yasir Shah that hurried on to him. But when you pick a 22-year-old, it’s surely in expectation that they will be learning on the job.Dom Sibley Made it to 20 three times in four innings – which is no mean feat in the circumstances – but failed to capitalise. He looked admirably solid against the new ball, but twice fell attempting to push on against Yasir and was once caught down the leg side off Mohammad Abbas.2.5Rory Burns A desperately difficult series for top-order batsmen saw Burns receive a couple of brutishly good deliveries including one, in the second Test, that was probably unplayable. But an average of 5 can only be a disappointment and he did look fragile against the moving ball. Crawley’s development might have left him just a little vulnerable.