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England's weakness against left-arm pace could be exposed by Shaheen Shah Afridi

Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan bowls during a Pakistan Nets Session at Emirates Old Trafford on August 03, 2020 in Manchester, England. - GETTY IMAGES
Shaheen Afridi of Pakistan bowls during a Pakistan Nets Session at Emirates Old Trafford on August 03, 2020 in Manchester, England. - GETTY IMAGES

After withstanding West Indies’ formidable attack in the past two Tests, England’s batsmen face a more varied challenge.

In hot conditions that could be tailor-made for their varied bowling line-up, Pakistan will unleash an attack that combines Mohammad Abbas’s English-style seam, the raw pace of Naseem Shah and leg-spin from Yasir Shah – and ­perhaps even Shadab Khan, too.

Yet, for all these threats, perhaps the greatest challenge of all will come from Shaheen Afridi.

Eight Tests into his career, Shaheen already has the makings of a brilliant bowler: a 6ft 6in left-armer, combining pace that can approach 90 mph and new-ball swing. Shaheen also has the classic quick bowler’s tools when the shine has worn off: the combination of a ferocious bouncer, lethal yorker and reverse swing. He is extraordinarily versatile for a 20-year-old: in an age when the demands needed to thrive across all formats have never been greater, Shaheen is a menace across Test, one-day international and Twenty20 cricket alike. It adds up to a compelling package.

Especially handy for Pakistan in this series, Shaheen is also exactly the kind of bowler against whom England fare worst. Since the start of 2017, they average only 24.2 against left-arm pace bowlers in Tests. Of the nine teams in the World Test Championship, only Bangladesh fare worse in this time.

England v left-arm seam
England v left-arm seam

In both England’s series against New Zealand since 2018, a Kiwi ­left-armer – Trent Boult and then Neil Wagner – was the top wicket-taker and player of the series. ­Perhaps England were fortunate that Mitchell Starc was restricted to one Ashes Test last summer.

Some of England’s best players are vulnerable to this line of attack. Since 2018, Joe Root’s overall Test average of 40 falls to 34 against ­left-arm pace; Ben Stokes’s average of 42 in this time falls to 25.

Left-arm pace has also harassed England’s lower order: Chris Woakes averages 12 against left-arm quicks since 2018; Stuart Broad has been dismissed four times at an average of three.

England have also floundered against left-arm pace in one-day internationals, Ireland’s Josh Little being the latest to take advantage. Since the start of 2018, England’s average of 39 against right-arm pace in ODIs plummets to 28 against left-arm pace.

England’s relative weakness speaks to the challenge of facing left-armers. Bowlers such as Shaheen pose specific technical challenges. The angle of attack is different. Shaheen is adept at the classic left-armer’s mode of attack with the new ball: bowling from over the wicket to right-handers, and then swinging the ball back in.

Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi (L) delivers a ball as Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal looks on during the second day of the second Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi on December 20, 2019. - AFP
Pakistan's Shaheen Shah Afridi (L) delivers a ball as Sri Lanka's Dinesh Chandimal looks on during the second day of the second Test cricket match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka at the National Cricket Stadium in Karachi on December 20, 2019. - AFP

Some batsmen can struggle to get their front pad out of the way to such deliveries, leading them to open up their stance – so their front knee points towards mid-on, rather than straight down the ground.

To left-handed batsmen, left-armers also pose a different challenge. In many ways, the left-arm style is similar to that of right-armers bowling round the wicket and cramping batsmen for space – which has been startlingly effective in Tests in recent years.

Yet perhaps the biggest advantage left-armers have is unfamiliarity. Batsmen are accustomed to facing right-arm pace; they simply have far less scope to practise against left-arm pace.

The potency of left-armers reflects how, throughout professional sport, left-handers are over-represented. From boxing to baseball, cricket and beyond, sports scientists have documented the southpaw advantage: there is a disproportionate number of left-handers in these sports. While left-handers comprise only 10 per cent of the population worldwide, left-arm bowlers – including left-arm spinners – now bowl 22 per cent of balls in international cricket, the academic Florian Loffing has found.

The reason for this advantage across sport, essentially, is they benefit from an asymmetrical practice advantage: while left-handers are used to playing right-handers, right-handers play left-handers much more rarely.

Perhaps only Australia have such a rich history of left-arm pace as Pakistan, the land of Wasim Akram, Mohammad Amir, Wahab Riaz and now Shaheen. And if England display a scintilla of weakness against Shaheen, they may have to brace themselves for even more left-arm pace.

The depth and variety of their pace stocks are such that Pakistan have brought two other left-armers – Riaz and Usman Shinwari – to England.