England embark on their first Test at the picturesque Hagley Oval on Thursday and the last on their interminable winter tour. It is a long time since they pitched up optimistically for the first Test of the winter in Brisbane in November and a fair bit has changed since then on the international scene.
In fact, since the last match in Auckland a lot has changed – especially on the other side of the Tasman Sea. While England players piously express their disappointment in public that the game has been stained, there are silver linings. Among them is the fact the Australian ball-tampering saga has deflected attention from England’s horrendous performances overseas.
Their barren run without an away victory will stretch to 13 matches unless Joe Root’s team win here, and that would constitute an England record.
“We must have the motivation to come back after a poor week when the rain made our performance look better than it was,” Root said. “Here we have the opportunity of a new game, a new venue and different conditions and we must show that we can be far better than we have been.”
In these tempestuous times there could not be a more serene venue to contest a Test. The Hagley Oval resides in a 500-acre park in which the leaves on the trees are starting to turn. In that sense it is reminiscent of The Parks at Oxford even though it has a bright new pavilion, inevitably named after the Hadlees. The outfield is a level carpet of green and all around the oval there are grassy banks for the spectators, augmented by a couple of temporary stands. Meanwhile, its predecessor as a Test venue at Lancaster Park a couple of miles away, which was also the rugby ground, remains a deserted shell.
All around Christchurch there are reminders of the terrible earthquake of 2011: cranes and scaffolding signal that reconstruction work is under way but the great, grey cathedral in the centre has been untouched for seven years, a grim reminder, especially for those across the water, of what constitutes a real tragedy.
When Root appeared following a long meeting with his bowlers after practice at the Hagley Oval he insisted “the events in South Africa shouldn’t affect how we go about things”, though there is no doubt that Root and his England side have monitored the controversy closely. “Every series is different but we know we are always under scrutiny and we know how to conduct ourselves and keep going about it in the right way. Cricket has had a lot of air time, and lot of bad press.”
Root seems to recognise his wider responsibilities as captain more readily than Steve Smith ever did, understanding that he should be the final arbiter of what is acceptable behaviour from his team rather than the umpires or the match referee. His problem lies with the more mundane: the inability to win – or even draw – away matches. Before the final Test of the winter no one seems to know what constitutes his best team and if Root had that knowledge on a sunny Wednesday afternoon he was not going to tell us.
There is the expectation that Moeen Ali will be dropped, and that is a decision easy to justify. For all his charms, he has not scored many runs nor taken many wickets lately. This winter he averages just under 19 with the bat and his five Test wickets have come at 126 apiece. It becomes a bit of an insult to the others if they keep picking him.
Root spoke warmly of Moeen without necessarily intimating that he would remain in the side. “It has been a struggle for Mo. He’s a talented lad and he’s done some great things for us in the not too distant past. He had a fantastic summer last year. If he keeps believing and trusting his game he’ll be all right, hopefully sooner rather than later.”
This might mean a first Test for Jack Leach or Root might opt for an all-pace attack, most likely including Mark Wood instead of Craig Overton, augmented by Liam Livingstone, who bowls a bit of off-spin mixed with the odd leg-break, though a fortnight ago the young Lancastrian had the good grace – and sense – to point out that his spinners are far from reliable at this level. For the record Livingstone has 17 first-class wickets at 44 apiece.
Those reservations seem justified. In the four Tests at Hagley Oval, spinners have met with little success and the winning side has always batted second. But the forecast is excellent with plenty of sunshine so there is virtue in having a varied attack.
Inevitably so much depends on the fitness of Ben Stokes. He bowled in the nets on Wednesday but no one has any idea how he is going to pull up the next day. “There is a big summer coming up,” Root said. “So we have to err on the side of caution and make sure we don’t lose him.”
By contrast, the Kiwis have no selection problems but they do have an enforced change. Todd Astle, who grabbed three wickets on the last day at Auckland, has a strained side and has been replaced by fellow leg‑spinner Ish Sodhi.
