England batters have feasted on flat pitches in the Bazball era, but the approach may not stand the test of time.
REUTERS
The image of playing cricket in England that the current India team has grown up with is this: the ball would swing and seam a lot, and the pitches would be hard to bat, making it a stern test of technique and temperament. In fact, that was common wisdom. Well, welcome to the ‘Bazball’ era that has thrown convention out of the window.
Ever since the trend-setting Brendon McCullum took charge of a beleaguered England team as the head coach at the start of the 2022 summer, pitches in England have undergone a fundamental change that has become an intense topic of discussion. What was once a bowler’s paradise, wickets in England have now become a complete nightmare for bowlers and traditionalists alike. Tests have turned into T20‑like games in whites with batters literally having free passes on utterly placid tracks.
The logic behind McCullum wanting cricketers here to make completely batting-friendly pitches with barely any grass whatsoever is to employ his high-octane approach where the batters go at bowlers with speed from ball one. While it has worked wonders in terms of restricting the fortunes of the team with batters making merry and fans loving the run-fest, the bowlers have become the collateral.
Take the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy where English conditions have been skewed heavily in favour of the batters. In the opening Test at Leeds, there were a total of seven centuries across both India and England, the latter chasing down 371 runs with effortless ease on the final day. In the second Test at Edgbaston, India amassed 587 in the first innings, thanks to an epochal 269 from skipper Shubman Gill, while Harry Brook and Jamie Smith plundered centuries for England. Gill feasted on the flatbed in the second innings too with a superb 161 with only the brilliance of Indian fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep stalling England in the second innings.
The pattern in both the Tests has been similar, with fast bowlers gaining maximum purchase only with the new ball. But once Dukes ball got softer after 30 overs or so, the bowlers were just reduced to machines, with neither the ball doing anything nor the surface offering any help. They were also hit with another problem—the Dukes ball going out of shape on a hot day. What better of the pitches and constant batting flow than the batters contributing to the wicket and made outfields drier, something that’s not in control of the administrators.
“It is very difficult for the bowlers,” said India skipper Gill. “The ball was going out of shape very quickly. It gets soft very quickly also.”