It was as if their brains went out the window

If you can't bat, you can't win, and this was a pathetic, unexpected and shocking batting display by England. I never thought I would see a three-day Test match in the United Arab Emirates. These pitches are slow, flat and good for batting on for long periods. Watching England's two innings gave the impression of a team who had not prepared well and did not have a clue about how to play in the subcontinent. Yet we all know that this group of players, and their huge number of backroom staff, have been out here for just more than two weeks. They have had time to adjust. A par score on this pitch was more than 350. When England made 192 on the first day, they dug such a big hole for themselves that it was impossible to scramble out. Jack Nicklaus always said you can't win a golf tournament on the first day, but you can sure as hell lose it. England did exactly that with awful batting. This England team have not won in the subcontinent. They even played badly in the World Cup last year, which was held in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Until they start playing well in the subcontinent they can't call themselves the best team in the world and definitely can't be judged against some of the other great England sides. Our bowlers did a splendid job. Our seamers bowled disciplined lines, they made the ball shape a bit in the air and move occasionally off the seam. Bowling out Pakistan for just over 300 on this pitch was a good performance. The bowlers ran in with pace, commitment and no blame can be attached to them. ‘All bravado and talent' Forget the two spinners debate, England lost because of the way they batted. Simple. While trying to save the game on Thursday, Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen should not have been attempting the hook shot. Cook, of all people, is capable of batting for long periods. KP, we all know, just doesn't think. It is all bravado and talent. "I am going to play my way and nobody is going to stop me." It was as if their brains went out of the window as they were padding up in the dressing room. From two innings it is clear Ian Bell couldn't pick Saeed Ajmal. He has more chance of picking his nose than Ajmal's doosra. And if you can't pick a wrist spinner then you are struggling. Andrew Strauss was unlucky to get a bad decision. I wouldn't have given him out. Jonathan Trott played a faultless knock, a bit like Matt Prior in the first innings. His performance was about occupation of the crease, being watchful, careful, patient and simply waiting for an easy ball to hit. Then somehow his concentration lapsed and he succumbed to a cross-batted cut without moving his feet. ‘Overrated' Eoin Morgan is overrated as a Test match cricketer. I know he is a superb one-day batsman but under pressure in Test matches he doesn't cut it. In the first innings he attempted a premeditated sweep to a straight half-volley. In the second innings he played back to a half-volley that turned out of the bowlers' footmarks and all he could do was get a thin edge to the keeper. Making runs in Test cricket is no big deal. Morgan made a hundred at Edgbaston against India last summer, but everyone was at it then against a poor attack. It is making runs for the team when you are in trouble that is the mark of a quality player. Strauss was interviewed after winning the toss and said all the right things about how the team had realised in the two weeks since arriving here that they had to occupy the crease, show a great deal of patience and accept that runs arrive at a slower pace than on the bouncy pitches in Australia and South Africa. He was dead right. But only two of his players stayed on message: Prior and Trott. In the first innings, and at times during the second, England gave the impression that they had decided not to let Ajmal tie them down. Somehow they felt they had to get on top of him and score runs. In the first innings, Cook was out cutting Mohammad Hafeez but picked the wrong length and it was too close to his body to play that shot. Also this was only the sixth over of the match. Strauss then attempted to pull a good-length ball that was not short enough, before Pietersen missed a straight ball, lunging at least two feet in front of his pad. Ken Barrington knew how to bat in the subcontinent. He used to say you had to book in for bed and breakfast, which means when you get in, stay in and make the opposition bowl you out. The two guys who made runs for Pakistan, Hafeez and Misbah-ul-Haq, did exactly that. England should have taken note