England captain Joe Root has on Wednesday (September 8), said that the pitch for the recent fourth Test against England at The Oval was a “brilliant example” of a good Test track and he would like to see more such wickets during the home season and the county cricket.
The wicket at the Oval helped the pacers early in the fourth Test before batsmen dominant the game on the 3rd and 4th day, but the Indian bowlers still managed to get enough out of it for a famous of 157 runs on day five against England to take 2-1 lead in the ongoing five-match Test series.
Root said in an online press conference: “Home advantage is always going to be there. In this country at times with the weather, the amount of rain can disrupt how you prepare a pitch. But from my point of view, I encourage just really good Test wickets.”
The skipper further added, “If we're going to be the best team in the world we're going to have to play on good wickets which are flat in certain periods. We're also going to have to be able to learn to deal with the scoreboard pressure. We should also be able to deal with the pressure of the spinning wicket towards the back end of the Test match. Ultimately it comes down to playing on good wickets. That's part of the challenge. It doesn't really matter what time of year you play.
And you look at this last Test match, it is a brilliant example. You've got seam and swing in the first innings. It got very good for batting and throughout the middle phases again and then reverse swing came into it later on. I mean, it had been everything for everyone. That's the sort of thing that we should be mirroring in County Cricket so guys have to deal with all aspects of the game. You should be able to deliver when conditions are in your favor, but also when it gets flat.”
However, ahead of the fifth and final Test against India, starting on Friday, September 10, England hopes for the English conditions at Old Trafford.
Root said: “So, from our point of view, I just want English conditions. And hopefully, that's what we get this week.”
Meanwhile, the England team management is yet to decide on resting Ollie Robinson or James Anderson for the final Test against India and Root said: “It is a decision we will take over in the next couple of days. We'll make sure that we feel very confident about their fitness and will also ask them (how they feel) when it comes down to selecting.”
On being asked if India had handled the pressure better in the series, Root said: “Within this series, there have been half an hour periods of the game where we've not managed it as well as them and it's really cost us. Instead of 2-1 down, we could have potentially been 3-0 up.”
He signed off by saying, “Jasprit Bumrah bowled a brilliant spell. He is one of the best fast bowlers in the world. But we've also played him well in a game earlier. And I think it's really important that we remember that as a batting group, we've had good success against him.”
(With PTI Inputs)
