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Matthew Potts wants to show England he can be a threat in all conditions after a promising start to his touring career in Pakistan.
Potts made his Test debut two-and-a-half years ago, right at the start of the ‘Bazball’ era, but has had to wait until this week’s second Test for a first overseas cap.
The sultry heat and hard-baked pitch in Multan could hardly be more different to the seamer’s local stomping ground of Durham, but Potts showed he was up to the challenge as the tourists held Pakistan to 259 for five on the first day.
He lived up to his reputation as a work horse – getting through 17 overs, breaking the key stand between centurion Kamran Ghulam (118) and Saim Ayub (77) just before tea and only missing out on a second wicket when captain Ben Stokes failed to review a thin edge from Mohammad Rizwan.
With county colleague Brydon Carse impressing for the second game in a row, taking one for 14 in 11 miserly overs, it was another reminder that England are building impressive stocks of fast bowling options as they build towards next winter’s Ashes.
And Potts is clear he wants to be seen as an option wherever England’s travels take them.
“It’s my first overseas appearance and it’s nice to tick that off. I didn’t feel as though I was particularly out of place there,” he said.
“It’s hard work, as it always is when the heat is up like that, but I was just really excited to be part of the team again and to be part of the Durham attack leading it.
“Obviously, as a fast bowler, you’re trying to be useful everywhere you go and be kind of a mainstay of the attack in all conditions. That’s a massive thing. Hopefully this is one step towards that.”
It's my first overseas appearance and it's nice to tick that off. I didn't feel as though I was particularly out of place there— Matthew Potts
Potts had a trial run in sub-continental conditions at the start of the year when he excelled for England Lions on their tour of India.
Despite the hosts taking a 2-0 series win, Potts was the top wicket-taker with 20 scalps at an average of 16.95 and banked some valuable lessons on unfamiliar surfaces.
“I did have a good experience out there,” he said.
“Obviously I’m a stranger to that kind of heat, but once you learn to overcome that and go back to your disciplines you find a place where you’re happy with how you perform.
“Working in India with the Lions was a great chance to explore and try different things and find something that works.
“It’s about implanting those ideas here, having good conversations with people with a lot of experience – the likes of Chris Woakes and James Anderson. I’ve had great conversations with them about how to go about and settle on the method of dismissal we want.
“I think when you have a plan you need a 100 per cent buy in with that plan and we did that and created a lot of chances throughout the day.”
England may have to wait until deeper into the match to find out how useful their day one efforts were, with the re-used pitch offering sporadic examples of erratic bounce that could become more pronounced as the game progresses.
“You can’t tell until both sides have batted on it, but it appeared to be more flatter than we expected,” Potts added.
“It hasn’t had as many demons as perhaps we’d have thought.”
