Trent Bridge, some green grass, a first autumnal chill in the air plus the sudden appearance of news reporters who seldom show so much interest in Test cricket.
Everyone knows what to expect. Ben Stokes’s every move, every grimace and smile will be minutely monitored; so, too, the reception he receives when he comes out to bat. The ball will swing around deviously so that England’s seamers, including Stokes, overwhelm the India batsmen and the series will be secured.
All of which may happen. But it is not guaranteed. Stokes has been this way before. His first “rehabilitation” Test was in Auckland in March this year and he was barely noticed. England were bowled out for 58, lost the match by an innings and 49 runs yet before the postmortems had started Steve Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft selflessly deflected attention from England’s ineptitude – as well as Stokes’s return – with the spectacular collision of a cricket ball and sandpaper in Cape Town. “Ben Who?” said the news editors.
This time it is closer to home in Nottingham, so often the haven of English cricket, where Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad combine effectively so that the home side prevail. But that cannot be guaranteed either.
Twelve months ago England arrived here in good heart to play South Africa and lost by 340 runs. England batted for 96.1 overs in that match as opposed to South Africa’s 200.2. Some of the question marks from that game remain; Alastair Cook and Keaton Jennings mustered 48 runs in four innings in that game; the bowling was overreliant on Anderson; Stokes contributed 18 runs and four wickets.
However, it is clear that England have arrived here the more confident side, wondering whom to leave out rather than whom to pick. Once Stokes was added to the squad, a decision that Joe Root acknowledged was taken by those above, he was always going to play, though they dutifully went through the procedure of logging his fitness and his state of mind.
Not since 13 August 1955 has a Test in England started on a Saturday, when Peter May captained a team featuring Brian Close, Denis Compton and Jim Laker against South Africa at the Oval (they would win by 92 runs). Fast-forward through 63 years of mostly Thursday starts – with a few Fridays, Wednesdays and, in 2014, a Sunday – and we are in the midst of a five-Test series being played over a breakneck 42 days.
India were keen on a break after the ODI series in July and another before the Asia Cup that begins in the United Arab Emirates on 15 September. This spacing was felt fairest, with three days scheduled between the first and second Tests and four between second and third (as it happened, the early finishes at Edgbaston and Lord’s added extra rest to the schedule anyway). If we go the full five days at Trent Bridge there will be an eight-day gap before the fourth Test in Southampton.
From a cricketing perspective the decision to reinstate Stokes straight away makes perfect sense. Just at the moment Stokes needs to relax, to be among his mates and to find a medium to express himself freely, and there is no better place for him to do that than in the middle of a cricket pitch. That is where he is most at ease.
This is an attribute shared by some of the great figures of the game. Ian Botham, Shane Warne and Kevin Pietersen have all been able to produce staggering performances on the field when their life beyond the boundary was in some sort of turmoil. Geoffrey Boycott was never more relaxed than when he was batting; the crease was his natural habitat. All of them welcomed being in the haven, where they could excel in their specialist subject.
This is what encourages the notion that Stokes will be in the right frame of mind to perform well at Trent Bridge, a far more alluring venue for him than the one he visited last week. Once the decision to reinstate Stokes was taken, then Sam Curran was always the likeliest man to give way.
It is tough on Curran, who was the man of the match at Edgbaston two Test matches ago. But it is a tough game; he is a tough cricketer and a bright one, who probably recognises that the aim of the captain and his advisers should be to pick the best team rather than the fairest one.
Moreover, as Root pointed out, the best time to get dropped is when you are playing well. Curran is blameless; his stock is high, sympathy abounds and he will be back in the side soon, as well as being pencilled into the squad for the winter.
If anyone deserves sympathy it is probably Jamie Porter of Essex, who awaits a Test debut after being selected in three squads. Even with a bit of rotation, which is often promised more frequently than it takes place, Porter may struggle to get a game this summer.
The mere talk of rotation sharpens the minds of the bowlers eager to add to their tally of Test wickets against an India team who have exceeded 200 in only one of their last nine innings in England.
Perhaps they should introduce this concept of rotation to the batsmen as well. Not that batting has been easy in this series and that may well be the case over the next few days. This concerns India more than England and the tourists may well shuffle the pack again in their desperation to provide more support to Virat Kohli.
The pitch does not resemble one of the bare, shiny surfaces that are rolled out for ODIs here, which are liable to produce 700 runs in a day. There is a little live grass visible to ensure that a captain has to think at least twice about opting to bat first.
Both Root and Kohli, who looked fit and phlegmatic on the eve of the match, will look at the skies as much as the grass before one of them makes his decision. If overcast, there will be the temptation for the captain winning the toss to throw the Dukes ball to his bowlers. This has been a series where there has been consistent deviation in the air and here a lush outfield will allow the ball to keep its shine. If there is movement off the pitch as well as in the air, the match may be over before Wednesday.
