Trent Bridge's reputation as a haven for swing bowlers was enhanced as Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma merrily went about their business
Nottingham's reputation as a haven for swing bowlers was enhanced as Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma merrily went about their business. Actually they were not that merry all of the time.
Kumar was distinctly grumpy when the umpire Marais Erasmus declined an lbw appeal against Kevin Pietersen. He was very keen to engage Erasmus in conversation at the end of that over and Harbhajan Singh acted as a peacemaker. It would have been a long and fruitless conversation since Kumar does not speak English fluently. However, alongside Sreesanth and Sharma, wisely shorn of the majority of his hair, Kumar made the ball talk.
This is what we have come to expect here. The ball keeps swinging; the pitch is hard and has sufficient carry for the edges to reach a busy slip cordon. It makes for beguiling cricket, in which a plucky half-century, such as the one thrashed by Stuart Broad, can change the course of the match.
And whom should we thank for that? Well, Huw Evans, of course. Evans of Maber Architects in Nottingham has been the guiding light in the rebuilding of Trent Bridge, making it the most enchanting Test ground in this country outside of St John's Wood. According to the locals it is the construction of the new stands that has made Trent Bridge an even more fecund hunting ground for swing bowlers.
The erection of the Radcliffe Road Stand in 1998 opposite the old pavilion changed the properties of a ground that used to be the Test batsman's friend. Denis Compton scored five Test centuries here; rather more recently so did Mike Atherton, four of which were struck before the Radcliffe Road Stand was completed ? and the fifth was against Zimbabwe in 2000. None of the specialist batsmen could get anywhere near 50 this time.
Since the opening of the Radcliffe Road Stand batsmen have turned up at Trent Bridge with the same trepidation as county players in the 80s, when Clive Rice, Richard Hadlee and Eddie Hemmings were in their pomp, but then the pitches were usually emerald green in the middle and dusty-dry at the ends.
If anything the addition of the Fox Stand and the evocatively named New Stand has increased the likelihood of swing. Precisely why remains a mystery to this column. It may be that the stands act as a windbreak, which produces the still conditions that encourages swing.
A lush outfield helps as well since this allows the ball to keep its shine; so does the sort of cloudy sky that hung over Nottingham on Tursday. And it may be that Mr Evans is a cunning scientist ? and a frustrated swing bowler.
Zaheer Khan would have enjoyed these conditions, but a rejigged pace attack offered a reminder that it was not an aberration to find India ranked as No1. They possess rather more resilience than they have been accorded since the heavy defeat at Lord's.
Until Broad and Graeme Swann opted for the long handle after tea the India bowlers displayed discipline and patience, qualities that have seldom been associated with Sreesanth. The last time he played at Trent Bridge in 2007 he completed a dodgy treble during a feisty match. He beamed Kevin Pietersen, he ran through the crease and bounced Paul Collingwood and he shoulder-barged Michael Vaughan. As a consequence he ended up out of pocket.
But this time Sreesanth was much more restrained ? although he did appear to celebrate a caught and bowled "catch" by hurling the ball to the heavens even though it was evident to the 14 other men on the field that the ball had not carried.
Apart from two attempted bouncers at Pietersen, Sreesanth had the good sense to bowl full at off stump and there was enough away swing for all the England batsmen to be troubled. The man with a new sensible haircut bowled very sensibly.
Kumar continued to delight. He must be the slowest opening bowler in Test cricket. He pottered in and delivered the ball at around 76mph; if he bent his back he occasionally broke 80mph. Here was the sort of bowler that Duncan Fletcher, who has always believed speed to be critical at the highest level, was wont to disdain. Ryan Sidebottom, a good 5mph faster, was not quick enough for Fletcher.
Yet Kumar, the wiliest of 24-year-olds, was never mastered, as the ball swung both ways from his subtle wrists. Strauss, whose footwork is conditioned to blunt bowlers of much greater pace, was leaden-footed on the drive. Eoin Morgan appears to be haunted by him. As at Lord's he was dispatched for a duck by Kumar and yet again seemed none too sure how he had been dismissed.
Sharma barely swung a ball. That is not his forte. But now that he could see where he was going ? he has had a severe haircut that keeps his mane out of his eyes ? he barely wasted a ball, in stark contrast to the first innings at Lord's. Within 69 overs England were dismissed.
But there is no knowing yet whether that is a good score at Trent Bridge.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jul/29/praveen-kumar-swing-england-india
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