When it comes to picking England’s best overseas Test success of this century, the first gravitational pull goes towards an Australian outlier. Caught between two ugly whitewashes, the 3-1 away win 13 years ago is still astonishing, with each victory completed by a shootout. Even if the opposition were not at their best, there were names to be respected: Ricky Ponting, Mike Hussey, Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson. Apart from this tour, England’s record in Australia this century was 22 defeats, two draws and one win; Which makes those few weeks even more extraordinary.
But despite vast outfields that swallow you whole, all-time attacks and the presence of Steve Smith, Australia have not been unconquerable in recent years. England’s victory was followed by two series wins by South Africa and India had a few wins of their own.
Relating to: Shoaib Bashir returned to England and could not take part in the first Test due to India visa delay
Where visiting sides have barely come close in the last decade is India, powered largely by the axis of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. The home team have won 14 consecutive series in the last 11 years (excluding two one-off Tests which they also won). If you go back a bit, only three touring Test teams have been victorious in the 21st century: South Africa in 2000, Australia four years later and most recently a team led by Alastair Cook in late 2012. The England captain’s runs overshadow a great Ashes winter.
Things weren’t looking so good to start the year as a wave of defeats began in Asia. Saeed Ajmal and Abdur Rehman led Pakistan to a 3-0 win in the United Arab Emirates. In Sri Lanka, left-arm Rangana Herath took 19 wickets in two Tests and it took Kevin Pietersen’s brilliant hundred wickets to draw the series.
A summer soap followed. Pietersen was not happy, offended by a parody Twitter account he believed his team-mates were involved in, but was briefly relieved by the 149 against South Africa at Headingley. Then came “textgate”, his sidelining for Lord’s, the series defeat and the loss of the No.1 ranking earned last year. “It was one thing to lose,” Jonathan Trott wrote in his autobiography. “The real problem was that as the summer progressed the team spirit we had carefully cultivated dissipated.”
Pietersen was not sidelined for long but failed to offer much in the first Test in Ahmedabad in mid-November, being taken back twice by left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha. Others faltered as England fell behind for 191 against India’s 521 for eight. “England were groping against turning like blind men reaching for a bench that wasn’t there,” wrote George Dobell for Cricinfo.
An Indian side in transition was still at the top level. Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag, who had made 117 in the first innings, were nearing the end. Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara, who compiled an unbeaten double century, were coming into the picture. Playing only his ninth Test, Ashwin became the fastest Indian to reach 50 Test wickets.
“Rate us in three Tests,” England coach Andy Flower said after a nine-wicket defeat, buoyed by his side’s efforts in the ensuing second innings. Cook hit 176 in his first Test as full-time captain; In his first match, Nick Compton accompanied him for 45 overs and Matt Prior finished with 91 runs. Pietersen went to the net immediately after his dismissal in the second innings and adjusted his footwork to ensure that ‘bat’ was ‘bat’ in the second Test. “I felt like an extension of my body,” as he wrote in his autobiography.
The first act in Mumbai belonged to Monty Panesar; England had made a mistake in leaving him out in the opening over and he responded with 11 wickets and Graeme Swann with eight; This partnership was first seen working at Wankhede on Wantage Road. The cherry was the left-armer’s delivery to Tendulkar on the opening day. Spin and bounce were there, but Panesar’s strength was the speed he could add to the mix: a 59.3 mph spin to the leg side with enough spin to knock over the stump of the city’s favorite son.
England’s first innings combined Cook’s composure with Pietersen’s just-watch-me flamboyance; Their partnership was worth 206 and the latter’s 186 quickly marked an epic, a collection of dinky sweeps and high drives. Pietersen likened the standing ovation he received from the home crowd to “throwing flowers at you for singing opera at La Scala in Milan.” Not so for the guys from Pietermaritzburg.
The 10-wicket win was followed by a seven-wicket victory at the Eden Gardens, with Cook again delivering a massive 190 wickets. This time he was a front-seamer, taking six wickets, but it was Jimmy Anderson’s method that sent Mike Selvey into a frenzy: “When the ball is turned over, there is no one in the world who can rival him except Zaheer Khan (who may be the one to annoy England). ” More than a decade later, Anderson would be asked to dance the old ball again.
The fourth and final Test was a nod to the future; The 21-year-old debutant chewed 229 balls for 73, paving the way for a series-clinching draw. Pietersen said of Joe Root at the end of day one: “I always say don’t judge anyone after they’ve batted for England for a few hours, but he’s shown signs that he’s going to have a very good Test career.” India would introduce their own 24-year-old, who already has three first-class triple hundreds. In the coming years, Jadeja’s left-arm spin will be more valuable than his batting.
Start for Root and Jadeja; For the England side, their last win on the road before their blowout in the Ashes a year later led to a bitter departure. Time has only increased India’s success.
Hazlewood joins exclusive club
He joined fellow Josh Hazlewoods last week with his 250th Test wicket. Australia’s attack against the West Indies had four bowlers surpass this target: Nathan Lyon (512), Mitchell Starc (348), Pat Cummins (262) and Hazlewood (258). This led to reflections on how much they’ve been playing together as a seemingly united quartet for the past seven years. The rough estimate was around 50 Tests until Statsguru came up with the figure of 27; this was less than half the games Australia have played since Cummins returned as a regular in 2017.
It was a reminder that some groups considered iconic often stay in our minds much longer than they were on the field, due to injuries, rotation and hindering circumstances. Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Shane Warne and Brett Lee have played in 16 Tests together, 14 of them in 17 months. Strangely, Ashes’ 2005 opponents Steve Harmison, Simon Jones, Andrew Flintoff and Matthew Hoggard also played for 16; which was higher than expected due to Jones’ injury battle.
West Indies’ formidable quartet of Colin Croft, Michael Holding, Andy Roberts and Joel Garner are 11; Curtly Ambrose, Courtney Walsh and Malcolm Marshall combined for a much larger 28 from 1988 to 1991, but we’re cheating a bit by considering the trio. Ashwin, Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have played only three Tests together; This makes sense, but it also feels sinful. Spin would love to hear about other combinations you assume have played more/less/or even not at all.
quote of the week
“It has been my dream to play for India and I remind myself of that whenever I get tired. This is where the smile comes from” – Jasprit Bumrah explains why he is not like other moody quicks in this beautiful interview with Ali Martin.
memory lane
By February 2006, ahead of the first stop of England’s tour of India, he prepared the wicket as a fielder at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. It ended in a drawn Test series and a 5-1 ODI bombardment.
Still want more?
England need to balance risk and reward to succeed in India, writes Mark Ramprakash.
Ali Martin admits it is impossible for tourists to win in India.
And Geoff Lemon sees Australia’s crushing of the once-great West Indies as sad evidence that Test cricket mismatches must end.
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