The first test begins tomorrow. I love these days before a new series, when the action is suspended, in a liminal space between the end of the meaningful build-up and the first ball to be bowled. The squad has been picked, the warm-ups have given us all the clues and red herrings we can expect, and all that’s left before it starts is a period of restless expectation for the players and tired conjecture for the hacks. But for the fans, now is the time to savour all our theories, expectations and prejudices, all the possibilities ranged before us, and trust that the reality won’t be more mundane. It hasn’t tended to be in recent years.
Home team India have fallen far since they lost the number one Test ranking in last year’s drubbing by England. They backed-up that four-nil loss with a humiliation of identical proportions against the resurgent Aussies in their very next series. The retirements of the galacticos had been on the cards for a while and Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman called it a day in the wake of these unhappy episodes. Sachin Tendulkar bats on, his defence against questions of when to call it day gradually weakening, in parallel with his fading power to protect his off stump. It’s still a thrill to see the little (old) master walk out to bat and I hope we witness something special from him this winter. Virender Sehwag hasn’t troubled the scorers to any great degree in Tests since his annus mirabilus of 2010. It’s more than two years since his last century, and he’s only reached 50 once in five tests this year. He’s a batsman that brings me mixed feelings every time he walks out to bat against us. I hope he’ll produce something special, but if he does, the wickets better be tumbling at the other end, otherwise the game could be out of reach very quickly. Even as I type that I don’t think it’s likely any more; perhaps he’ll prove me wrong.
But enough of the elders. There is a new generation of Indian players and from the top order it’s Virat Kohli that promises big things. Kohli is of a different breed to the galacticos. His youth, vigour and attitude (or rudeness) set him apart from his elegant and distinguished elders. An established and thrilling ODI player already, his form over his ten test appearances has been less consistent, but scores this year of 23, 9, 44, 75, 116, 22, 58, 103 and 51* aren’t to be taken lightly.
I can’t pretend to have seen much of India since their last tour to England, but the spin twins Ravichandran Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha, who took New Zealand apart with 18 and 13 wickets respectively in the recent two test series, should be great to watch against our famously (after last winter) susceptible batters.
It seemed for so long an unstoppable rise to test success for England. The team that couldn’t cope with the shock of being world class under Duncan Flower and that became an unhappy, factional failure under Peter Moores and Kevin Pietersen, had an amazing run based on the Andys' (Flower and Strauss) cunning strategy of taking the opposition by surprise with old fashioned test cricket: bat big in your own time, bowl ‘dry’ and give the bastards nothing. Teams who had spent too long trying to be and expecting to play Steve Waugh’s Australians wilted in the face of Cook and Trott’s patience, Bell’s new-found confidence, Matt Prior’s all-round magnificence and a bowling attack more obsessed with control than a paranoid tyrant and with the all-swinging, all-bouncing skills to back it up. Jimmy Anderson, the man who couldn’t bowl outside England, Tim Bresnan, the fat lad from’t north, Chris Tremlett, the big injury-prone friendly giant, Stuart Broad, the petulant rose-cheeked ingénue, Steven Finn, the new boy – they all came good and in some style. And then there was Swann, the big-chinned, laddish joker of the team, with a golden arm and cult dance for any occasion.
But it all unravelled last winter. After humiliating losses against Pakistan at ‘home’ in the UAE and a hard fought drawn series in Sri Lanka, the world’s number one test side returned with their tails between their legs. In fact it wasn’t the tail that was the problem – the top order had charred and crumbled in the crucible of dusty pitches, quality (and sometimes just decent) spinners and fielders round the bat.
It was thrilling car-crash viewing, and we wondered: was this aberration? Would we be able to turn it around and learn to play on slow, low turners before the (then distant) winter tour? Would our bowlers be able to keep up their unrewarded brilliance while the batters got their act together? I hate to spoil it for you, but it hasn’t gone well.
After a convincing 2-0 win at home against an improving but still inconsistent West Indies, the South Africans arrived. I’m not yet ready to relive the details of what came next, but the fall-out included the retirement of His Straussness, a personal hero and one of the most decent-seeming men in sport, and the summer-long idiocy of the Pietersen affair, a controversy so annoying and ridiculous barely hundreds of bloggers bothered to append the word ‘gate’ to it.
So here we are. Pietersen is back in the fold and boy is he needed. Nick Compton is the man pencilled in to open with the new captain-opener Alastair Cook. I wish Compton well for a number of reasons. First, he plays his county cricket for Somerset, surely every non-Somerset fan’s second team. Second, he’s been good for long enough and at 29 is reaching now-or-never territory. Third, the Guardian recently revealed that he’s spent the last couple of winters trying to perfect the world’s best forward and backward defensive technique. Not the ramp shot, not the switch-hit, not the helicopter swat and certainly not the flamingo flick – the world’s best forward and backward defensive. God love them, but with Trott at first drop, this top three is looking dry as the desert and just as gritty.
But it’s more flair than a 70s disco from there. KP will have a point to prove in his first series back in the fold and let’s hope it comes off. I was at Headingley for his last innings, a 149 of reckless brilliance against the best South Africa could throw at him. I know plenty of fans who would have been happy to see the back of him but I think it’s a rare privilege and joy to watch him in full-flow and will relish whatever time he has left with England.
Ian Bell hasn’t been at his best for a little while, but we’re always being told he’s England’s best player of spin, so here’s hoping. Samit Patel seems nailed on for the number six spot, given his fine form in the warm ups, and I hope his obvious talent will be backed by the necessary application and luck to get on in the series. Patel was shoddily treated by management and the media over his weight and fitness and I trust his all-round abilities will set the record straight and get him known for the right reasons from this series on. Six hasn’t quite been a poisoned chalice since Paul Collingwood’s departure, but Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, James Taylor and Jonny Bairstow have all tried their hands over the last couple of years and none has established himself in the side. Samit has as good a chance as any.
The bowling is less of a worry, even if Steven Finn isn’t fit for tomorrow. The bowlers had a trying time against the likes of Smith, Amla and Kallis this summer, but they have such strength in depth and history of excellent performances over recent years there’s no reason to lose faith.
And that’s where we’re up to. There’s nothing left now but an early night, 3.50am alarm, stumble into the lounge and the wait for the first ball.
No comments:
Post a Comment