Former cricketers criticise Pakistan over 'spineless' display in second Test loss against England

Pakistan's humiliating 330-run loss to England in the second Test at Old Trafford has irked former players who have come out and criticised their lifeless display. Legendary players such as Waqar Younis and Shoaib Akhtar were disappointed by Pakistan's display, calling it "spineless".

The hosts dominated from day one, putting on 589 runs in the first innings, thanks to knocks of 105 by skipper Alastair Cook and a personal best of 254 by Joe Root. In reply, Pakistan could only muster 198 in the first innings while getting shot out for 234, chasing 564 to win in the second innings. The lack of application shown by the batsman is what irked the former players.

"I am not saying we should have won this Test but this is not the way to go down. The spineless batting would have given the England bowlers a lot of confidence now", PTI quoted Waqar Younis as saying.

Former pacer Shoaib Akhtar was disappointed by both the batting and bowling; he felt the team should have been ready considering the Men In Green had come to England early in order to prepare for the series ahead.

"One saw no planning in the entire match from a Pakistani perspective and as expected our batting has been badly exposed by the England bowlers. You can say our batting has been unmasked and exposed on a pitch which had bounce and nothing more. Our batting always struggles on surfaces with bounce that is why we toil in England and Australia", Akhtar said.

"There was no game plan on how to bowl on the Old Trafford pitch and the line was not right and the intent was missing throughout the England innings", the pace bowler added.

The four-match Test series is currently tied 1-1, with both England and Pakistan winning one match each. The next Test is scheduled to take place on 3 August at Birmingham but before that the visitors will play Worcestershire in a warm-up/tour game on 29 July.