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It’s been a phase of Test cricket you have rarely encountered in recent years. Four draws and two grinding victories—one of them coming in the last hour of the 15th day of cricket—flies in the face of the growing rhetoric that Test cricket should become four-day affairs. Just for context, with five draws till March, 2022 has already been the best year for draws since 2018. And there are still nine months to go.
Dead, flat pitches have played a big role in the draws but it would also be a huge disservice not to point out the batters’ unabridged will to play out time till one of the sides blinked and history was made. Series wins by West Indies and Australia have now shaped a World Test Championship table where England are rooted to the bottom and India are third despite having more points than leaders Australia because of a new ranking system that gives weightage to percentage of points instead.
There’s more.
Don’t write off West Indies
Not at least at their home, and certainly not when England are touring. This is West Indies’ report card against England at home since their 0-3 defeat in 2004: 1-0 in 2009, 1-1 in 2015, 2-1 in 2019 and now 1-0 again after the 10-wicket win in Grenada. The only other teams against whom West Indies have won more than they have lost at home in this period are Zimbabwe (2-0), Bangladesh (4-2) and New Zealand (3-2).
That’s not the entire point. The way West Indies rallied and the crowds got behind them at Grenada indicate this could be a real turning point for West Indies cricket. They are not making up the numbers any more in Test cricket. In Kraigg Brathwaite, West Indies now have a patient, understanding leader willing to plan and anchor resistances while his predecessor Jason Holder is the all-format veteran who can give this team the perspective needed to prepare for long hauls.
Even from a statistical point of view, this was a brilliant team effort, with four different centurions (Brathwaite got two additional fifties) and three bowlers taking more than 10 wickets apiece. It was topped up by individual brilliance like that of Kyle Mayers whose second innings haul of 5/18 could be pinpointed as the reason West Indies won the series.
London Bridge is falling down
In the 20 Tests England have played since 2021, they have won four, lost 11 and drawn five. Since 2019, England have been dismissed for 150 or less 15 times, next worst being West Indies (10 times). In the Grenada Test alone, England’s top-seven batters averaged 9.07, their lowest since the Christchurch Test in 1984 (where they averaged 8.84). England clearly have a batting problem but it doesn’t end there. Leaving out James Anderson and Stuart Broad for a series where they later lost Mark Wood to injury doesn’t reflect well on the selectors too.
While he may have the support right now, there is no doubt England captain Joe Root is on thin ice. This was Root’s 26th loss in 64 Tests. Only Stephen Fleming (27) and Graeme Smith (29) have overseen more defeats, but they also led for longer. Root is putting up a brave face though. “I don’t think it’s ever in your hands completely, but as I said, I feel like the group is very much behind me. We’re doing a lot of really good things. We just need to turn that into results,” Root has said.
The England support staff is already in damage control mode with batting coach Marcus Trescothick putting it down to having “one bad day” in the series and interim coach Paul Collingwood not willing to ignore the positives garnered over the last month or so. “Everyone’s seen the results on the park; of course, we didn’t get the win in Antigua or Barbados. But you could see the way the guys were playing; there was a real determination to win those games, whether it is the declarations or the way we were setting totals up, the guys are going out there and producing some very good cricket. If they continue playing like that they will turn the corner and win games of cricket very quickly,” said Collingwood.
But this defeat, extending England’s run of series losses to an unprecedented five, must rankle after the Ashes drubbing. There is growing clamour to go to the heart of the problem and prioritise first-class cricket over The Hundred, but it’s not an overnight process and England need results soon to at least soothe their nerves. An overhaul, though needed, could extend England’s misery.
Cummins gets into his stride
From “sticking up for his mates” over the resignation of former coach Justin Langer to slogging away in the dust and heat of Karachi, Pat Cummins has emerged as the captain Australia have always desired but didn’t pick till Tim Paine chose to go on a self-imposed hiatus. Cummins started well, winning the Ashes at home. But winning in Pakistan on their first tour in 24 years, and that too against made-up odds, was always going to require an extraordinary push.
Cummins provided that as bowler and in leadership, finishing the three-match series as joint-highest wicket-taker (12) with Nathan Lyon and setting up two Tests with declarations, though the win was achieved only in the third Test. That the series was decided in the last hour of play on the 15th day of Test cricket was partly because of the pitches but more because of the reverse swing conjured up by Cummins and Mitchell Starc on the third day of the Lahore match. Quick and accurate, they ran through Pakistan’s batting line-up as the hosts slid from 214/2 to 268 all out, handing Australia a critical 134-run lead with two days to go. Cummins also became only the fourth Australian fast bowler to take a five-wicket haul in Pakistan.
Learning on the go as a captain is more difficult when you are a fast bowler wary of wear and tear while seeking wickets on unforgiving surfaces. But Cummins has adapted well. That Australia looked to win throughout the final two matches despite the misery piled on them was purely down to Cummins’s leadership. It has rewarded Australia with a first series win in Asia since 2011 though a bigger test awaits them on the India tour next year.
Different ground reality
Can Test cricket afford substandard pitches? There have been quite a few of them recently—in India, Pakistan and West Indies. The ICC too has acted quickly, giving mediocre ratings and demerit points. But is it really enough? Consider the Bangalore pitch where the pink-ball Test between India and Sri Lanka finished in three days. After a below-average rating in the report submitted by ICC Match Referee Javagal Srinath, Bangalore received one demerit point. “The pitch offered a lot of turn on the first day itself and though it improved with every session, in my view, it was not an even contest between bat and ball,” the former India pace spearhead wrote in his report.
It’s a scathing indictment by someone who knows the pitch like the back of his hand but the structure of Test cricket is such that despite being an ICC-run world championship, it’s still very much a bilateral contest. Pitches hence will continue to be made according to the wishes and intent of host nations. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has been unabashed about this as well, risking a below-average rating for the Rawalpindi pitch in the first Test simply because Australia had to be blunted. Unlike Bangalore, this pitch “hardly changed over the course of five days and that there has been no deterioration apart from the bounce getting slightly lower,” according to the report filed by match referee Ranjan Madugalle.
PCB chief Ramiz Raja defended the Rawalpindi pitch, stressing it was necessary to nullify the Australian pace attack while protecting an under-strength Pakistan team hit by ailments. That Pakistan wanted to deny Australia in every way was evident from the road-like pitches they prepared in Karachi and Lahore as well. It wasn’t the smartest move in hindsight, considering how Australia won the series in Lahore, but the question is whether it will deter boards in future.
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