Once upon a time, as most fairytales begin, it was said that no batter’s education was completed unless they played in England, with its myriad challenges. Crazily swinging balls. Wickedly seaming deliveries, propelled by grass-laden surfaces. Rain one day, blazing sun the next, sometimes both the same day.
All that has changed in the last few years.

Soaring temperatures

British summers have truly become summers, at long last (the forecast at some stage during the third Test, beginning at Lord’s on Thursday, is for temperatures to hit 34 degrees). Throw in Duke’s balls that lose hardness, bite and edge after 35 overs, and flat surfaces that are so essential for the brand of batsmanship England have chosen to adopt in the last three years, and it is obvious that the scales are now heavily tipped in favour of the willow-wielders.

Sitanshu Kotak