It’s come down to judging a pattern vs a first-hand perception. The Old Trafford pitch is throwing up plenty of speculation in the day’s leading up to the important fourth Test of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy.
It might well decide selections, though with England announcing that Woakes, Carse and Archer will be in the Playing XI, and Shubman Gill saying there might be more bounce than any he’s seen on the tour, the other narrative might just not stick.
In a podcast, Stick To Cricket, Ravi Shastri echoed, “This pitch will have more bounce than others from what one’s heard. If weather is not that hot…” before proceeding to ask former English international and pundit David Bumble Lloyd.
Bumble would flip the axis and declare, “Very, very flat. No pace, no grass.”
Michael Vaughan chipped in saying, “The pace has gone since Old Trafford… (changed the axis).”
All the intrigue stems from when the ground was restructured and its axis rotated, though it could simply be the higher summer temperatures in England. But county games have witnessed flat decks with a side of spin on the table.
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Bumble noted, “I’m not saying they’re worried (in these parts, about the loss of sting in the pitch), but they understand that pace has gone out of the pitch…. it could spin…The footmarks are there.”
He proceeded to say that county matches are resembling batting beauties and also lasting long. “The county matches, you could play day after day after day. It becomes an absolute slab. Rock hard.”
He was not striking off chances of some early aid to pacers, but believed that the pattern had been of a pace-sapped track. “There might be a bit of moisture in the beginning with all the rain. We’ve had some real thunderstorms recently. But the drainage seems to have sapped all the energy off the pitch. There wont be any pace. Not from what I’ve seen. I’ve been to every game at Old Trafford.”
He would quip while coining a new term, “It becomes a corporate pitch. It will go five days.”
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Former England batsman and batting coach Mark Ramprakash also wrote in his Guardian column about how the dry pitch should make India play Kuldeep Yadav. “India may also have a fresh left-arm spinning option if, as rumoured, Kuldeep Yadav comes into the side in Manchester. Traditionally, the Old Trafford surface tends to be dry and abrasive, and to turn as the game goes on. If ever there was a pitch where it would make sense for Kuldeep to come in, this would be it.”
India fielded Ravi Jadeja, Washington Sundar in the last Test, and Gill said he wanted to keep the suspense till morning of the match. But with Liam Dawson the only spinner (though they have Root, Brook), the pace assessment with rains looming and pelting might just hold.
