Birmingham: England’s preference for flat tracks to assist their aggressive style of play has produced mixed results for them in the Test series against India thus far, putting additional focus on the strip for the Lord’s Test beginning on Thursday.
While India handed the hosts the series opener on a platter from a dominating position at Leeds, Shubman Gill and Co. learned from their mistakes to out-bat and out-bowl the opposition on a slower surface at Edgbaston on Sunday.
Win the toss and bowl has been the template for Ben Stokes but will that change going forward in the series? Will another batting beauty be dished out or the expected return of Jofra Archer at the ‘Home of Cricket’ push Stokes to alter his plans?
More bounce and carry helped the England seamers at Leeds while in the ‘sub-continental conditions’ of Edgbaston, Akash Deep and Mohammed Siraj got the new ball to move off the pitch significantly more than their counterparts.
England would need to watch out for the threat posed by Akash Deep at the Pavillion End at Lord’s with the ball skidding a tad more than usual due to the downhill slope.
His senior partner Siraj has fond memories of the hallowed ground, having played a major role in a famous win back in 2021.
Despite aggregating an astonishing 585 runs in four innings, Gill feels the flat surfaces laid out thus far kill the essence of the traditional format. The Indian Test captain is, therefore, not expecting England to prepare another high-scoring surface.
“We will see what kind of wicket they are giving at Lord’s. I don’t think they will give such a flat wicket. This is my feeling. But we will go there and take a decision and we will see what kind of wicket it is, what is the best possible combination,” Gill said after India’s first ever success at Edgbaston.
If the conditions are similar, trust India to stick to the two-spinner strategy to contain the flow of runs. As tempting as it may be for Shubman, Kuldeep might have to miss out again.
England, on the other hand, play with a sole spinner in Shoaib Bashir and that could backfire for the home team if it bats last again on a deteriorating pitch.
Flat tracks do align with England’s audacious batting style but the same can’t be said about their bowling, said former opener Mark Butcher.
“No, not particularly. And I think the England team would have wanted to see more pace at Edgbaston. The Leeds one I think was perfect for their needs,” Butcher told PTI.
“But you can’t always get what you want. If you’re asking for pitches to not deteriorate, then every now and again, you’re going to get ones that are too flat,” he reasoned.
“So then you might have to start thinking about changing your philosophy of always bowling first or batting last and trying to win games in other ways. It’s not easy on your young spinner to always be bowling first on a flat one with nothing to work with.
“And perhaps at Lord’s, if the conditions look similar, and the sun’s out and it’s roasting hot, they might think about having a bat next time,” said the former England international and Surrey great.
Besides the surface, the behaviour of the Dukes has also come under scanner with the softer ball hardly offering anything to the bowlers.
Considering the amount of runs India have posted over the course of the first two Tests, the visitors won’t mind another belter.
While Ben Stokes did not admit to erring at toss on day one of second Test, England head coach Brendon McCullum said bowling first was not the best decision in hindsight.
With a defeat like that, England need to come up with a Plan B.
“I think, as the game unfolded, we probably looked back on that toss and said did we miss an opportunity there and it’s probably fair,” said the England head coach.
