A Series That Threatens To Be The Impotent Versus The Incapable

 

 

Cricket 2014

 

Two Flawed Sides Face Up

 

July 6^th 2014

 

The Test series kicks off on Wednesday between a side that has forgotten how to win – England, who have been in winning positions in three of their last eight Tests and won none of them, losing six – and one that does not know how to win – India have not won a series away from home since a scrambled victory in the Caribbean in 2011 and, before that, its 2-0 win against Bangladesh in January 2010.

For India, series in New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and England have all been lost in recent seasons and there have been no less than three, 4-0 whitewashes, which makes their current 4^th place in the ICC Test rankings all the more remarkable. At the same time, India have a good record in ODI and T20s: top in the T20 rankings, second only to Australia in ODIs.

England though have had the mortification of not winning any of their last eight Tests since Chester-le-Street, a match in which it seemed that Australia were on the point of bringing the Test series back to life with a win until Stuart Broad ripped through them, causing a scarcely credible collapse. At The Oval victory escaped due to bad light with England in control of the chase, admittedly in a  match that Australia had dominated until the last day declaration. The momentum had swung, something that was demonstrated as Australia won the ODIs and shared the T20 series, before blowing England away in all three formats in Australia. A 12-1 record in the internationals during the winter barely reflected the size of the gulf between the two teams.

Since then, England have been in a strong position in both Tests against Sri Lanka, yet won neither and lost the series. It is no wonder that India feel that, despite their awful overseas record, particularly against strong opposition, they can take a result home.

There is a feeling that the series could end 0-0: strong batting and an insipid attack for India, combined with two cautious captains who prefer to avoid defeat rather hunting for victory, suggests that neither side may be capable of forcing victory. Certainly, India’s inability to take wickets against the two weakest sides in English county cricket – no bowler has more than the two wickets attributed to “retired out” – suggests that they will not force a win unless they can step up their game considerably. Sri Lanka were, at least, able to attack batsmen whose confidence had been mined by Mitch Johnson with a bowler at close to 90mph.

Meanwhile, the only two Tests in the last eight in which England took 20 wickets, were both lost! Having gone five Tests since Chester-le-Street in which they have failed to take 20 wickets (the best effort was 17 in the Brisbane Test, lost by almost 400 runs), England have taken all twenty wickets in two of their next three matches and lost both. This is not a happy statistic for a side that prides itself on the strength of its bowling attack.