Jumping to the defence of captain Michael Vaughan, England coach
Peter Moores has rejected claims that slow over rate cost England a win
in the first cricket Test against India at the Lord's.
The home side was just a wicket away from victory when bad light and rain played
spoilsport and the match was called off. Later, Vaughan came under fire for
wasting too much time while setting fields during India's second innings.
"I don't think it was that (slow field setting) influential
to the outcome," Moores said.
"It sometimes takes time to set things up and get people
in the right places. I thought Michael was outstanding in trying to winkle out
batsmen," he added.
England bowlers bowled only 10 overs per hour on Sunday evening
and Monday.
Instead, Moores argued, it was logical for the skipper to try
getting wickets than to rush through the overs.
"If we're a couple of overs short in a session because the captain has
moved the field and it's gone towards getting a wicket then it's great.
"Could we have saved a minute here or 30 seconds there,
could we have run a bit harder to retrieve that ball? You could go on forever.
You need time to think. Sometimes mistakes are made and you don't want people
rushed so it's a fine balance," the England coach said.
Moores said his team tried to be precise in the field in the
pressure situation.
"There was pressure on everybody to try and get the result. We all knew
the weather was coming so there was no shock when it came and we were trying
to be measured and put a lot of balls in the right place to make the most of
it while we were out there," he said.
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