<p>England captain Alastair Cook said adapting to different conditions was all part of the game, amid suggestions that pitches for the Ashes series had been prepared to order.<br />Cook’s men are 2-0 up with three to play heading into the third Test against Australia at Manchester’s Old Trafford starting on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>At both Trent Bridge and Lord’s, where Ashes-holders England won the second Test by a colossal 347 runs, pitches were bare and dry, aiding reverse swing and spin — two areas where the hosts are considered to have an advantage over their arch-rivals.<br />Old Trafford has long had a reputation for taking turn and so should suit England off-spinner Graeme Swann, joint lead wicket-taker in the series thus far with 13 wickets.<br /><br />Indeed, England have added left-arm spinner Monty Panesar to their squad.<br />It was at Old Trafford where England off-spinner Jim Laker took a Test match record 19 wickets for 90 runs against Australia in 1956. However, the tourists were convinced the pitch had been doctored, with former Australia leg-spinner Bill O’Reilly, covering the series as a journalist, saying: “Good god, I’d get 12 wickets on that excuse for a wicket without bothering to remove my coat!”<br /><br />Two days out before this year’s Ashes Test at Old Trafford, brown patches were visible on the pitch.<br /><br />“Old Trafford is notorious for having a wicket that is not aesthetically pleasing if I could put it that way,” Cook told reporters. “But I don’t think it’s going to make any difference at all. I think it’s actually a better looking Old Trafford wicket than normally actually.”<br /><br />Australia, who have now lost six Tests in a row, came into this series on the back of a 4-0 loss in India where pitch conditions were similar to the ones they are experiencing now.<br /><br />Cook, however, said this was more a case of coincidence than conspiracy. “I think the hot summer has certainly made it difficult to prepare anything different.</p>
<p>England captain Alastair Cook said adapting to different conditions was all part of the game, amid suggestions that pitches for the Ashes series had been prepared to order.<br />Cook’s men are 2-0 up with three to play heading into the third Test against Australia at Manchester’s Old Trafford starting on Thursday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>At both Trent Bridge and Lord’s, where Ashes-holders England won the second Test by a colossal 347 runs, pitches were bare and dry, aiding reverse swing and spin — two areas where the hosts are considered to have an advantage over their arch-rivals.<br />Old Trafford has long had a reputation for taking turn and so should suit England off-spinner Graeme Swann, joint lead wicket-taker in the series thus far with 13 wickets.<br /><br />Indeed, England have added left-arm spinner Monty Panesar to their squad.<br />It was at Old Trafford where England off-spinner Jim Laker took a Test match record 19 wickets for 90 runs against Australia in 1956. However, the tourists were convinced the pitch had been doctored, with former Australia leg-spinner Bill O’Reilly, covering the series as a journalist, saying: “Good god, I’d get 12 wickets on that excuse for a wicket without bothering to remove my coat!”<br /><br />Two days out before this year’s Ashes Test at Old Trafford, brown patches were visible on the pitch.<br /><br />“Old Trafford is notorious for having a wicket that is not aesthetically pleasing if I could put it that way,” Cook told reporters. “But I don’t think it’s going to make any difference at all. I think it’s actually a better looking Old Trafford wicket than normally actually.”<br /><br />Australia, who have now lost six Tests in a row, came into this series on the back of a 4-0 loss in India where pitch conditions were similar to the ones they are experiencing now.<br /><br />Cook, however, said this was more a case of coincidence than conspiracy. “I think the hot summer has certainly made it difficult to prepare anything different.</p>