How did England bounce back from the only previous home defeat under Ben Stokes before the Edgbaston thriller with Australia?
By not necessarily listening to their coach. Brendon McCullum vowed his team would “go harder” in the second Test against South Africa at Old Trafford after losing the first at Lord’s in six sessions.
We have heard similar sentiments since Edgbaston. Stuart Broad, in his Mail on Sunday newspaper column, summed up what he believes England need to do better this week: “Attack even more”.
It stirs the fans and helps hype even further a series that has captured the public mood but do they really need to go harder than batting at five runs per over like they did in the first innings in Birmingham?
When McCullum said his team would go harder at Old Trafford it was met with a lot of bafflement outside but it was just a message aimed at his players to not change their ways or go into their shells because they had lost one game.
McCullum realised his team was learning how to adapt to his tactics and that one heavy defeat could unnerve young cricketers.
As the rivals keep the Ashes urn burning, away from the heat and dust of Lord’s the ICC sent the World Cup trophy into space using a bespoke stratospheric balloon only for the Cup to land at the Motera stadium in Ahmedabad. In a spectacular first, the ICC started the trophy tour by launching the coveted silverware into the stratosphere, 1,20,000 feet above the Earth before its landing, with some stunning shots captured of the Cup sitting on the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere from 4k cameras. Picture from ICC’s Twitter handle
He had to put on a face and publicly double down on his methods so as not to confuse the message. It is a clarity that has characterised his tenure.
In fact, what his team did at Old Trafford was to not go out blazing but move through the gears after knocking over South Africa for just 151.
England declared on 415/9, scoring at 3.8 an over which is their slowest first innings performance when they have batted more than 45 overs (in other words, not being blown away for fewer than 150).
Ben Stokes scored the only century of his captaincy at Old Trafford batting with “control” as he put it, weathering an early storm and building an innings. It took him 44 balls to reach 25, 101 to get to fifty but breezed to his century off another 57. The encouraging aspect for England is that Stokes started judiciously in the second innings at Edgbaston before getting out.
England just need to sit down and review the Old Trafford performance for pointers on how to bounce back. They were under pressure but soaked it up and Stokes and Ben Foakes fought back.
The essence of Bazball is to put pressure back on opponents by doing the unexpected. The declarations, field settings and even bringing on Harry Brook for an over to Steve Smith should not change. It is the gifting of wickets in the second innings when on top and Australia on the defensive that needs looking at.
The pitch at Lord’s could be similar to that surface at Old Trafford in the sense that runs may have to be worked for. MCC has tried to inject some pace, but it is likely to be slow and hard for players to hit through the line. No doubt there will be more seam movement than Edgbaston too given how the pitch looked on Sunday.
There is rain, cloud and a bit of muggy weather forecast for the first three days of the Test and it is always overhead conditions at Lord’s that dictate movement more than what is prepared by the ground staff.
England should be better for the match at Edgbaston. Ollie Robinson, James Anderson and Stokes struggled for rhythm on a tough pitch and running in on a soft outfield, in other words getting used to the physical strain of Test cricket again. They have overs behind them now.
England opted not to train at Lord’s on Sunday, most playing golf instead, as McCullum refused to change his approach just because of one narrow defeat.
The Daily Telegraph in London
Eden on shortlist for Cup semi-final
Calcutta: Eden Gardens, along with Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, has emerged as favourites to host the semi-finals of the World Cup.
The schedule will be announced in Mumbai on Tuesday. The semi-finals are slated for November 15 and 16.
Sources told The Telegraph that Eden Gardens has been preferred as a semi-final venue keeping in mind that Pakistan may make the grade. The BCCI also didn’t wish to award an important knockout match to Chennai since chances of rain is high in southern India during that period.
It was learnt that India will play their semi-final at the Wankhede, but if it’s an India-Pakistan clash, it will take place in Calcutta since Pakistan will have reservations about playing in Mumbai.
Eden Gardens is also likely to host at least two Pakistan matches and the India-South Africa encounter.
OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
