England must bring on fast show to win pitch battle against West Indies

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/apr/29/england-pitch-battle-west-indies-third-test

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Of all the redevelopments of West Indies cricket grounds Kensington Oval is the only one which, triumphantly, has not lost the soul of the Caribbean game. Two days out from the third and final Test and it was a hive of activity, from the decorators painting up the front gates to the mower buzzing its way back and forth across a lush outfield.

Stand in the middle of the arena and the legends of the past are there: the tall, new Three Ws Stand; that to one side, where King Dyal once held court, now named for Greenidge and Haynes, as synonymous and formidable a pair of openers as the game has seen; and the Sir Garry Sobers players’ pavilion, a gem of nouveau art-deco (if that is the right phrase) which from the field resembles the stern of one of the berthed cruise liners a stone’s throw away.

To one side there are the temporary seats, including the party stand, but the steady north-east trade wind, the one that England harnessed so well when they enjoyed their World T20 title on the ground, still sends paper skittering across. One end, the Three Ws, is for Joel Garner; the other, where stands the media centre, belongs to Malcolm Marshall. And in the middle is the 22-yard strip of earth that will define the match. If that for the first Test in Antigua looked sandy and slow and that in Grenada puddingy and stodgy, this is grassless, already hard as iron, with shrink-cracks on it as the heat of the sun sucks out any residual moisture that the groundsman may have left in there during his preparations.

Ottis Gibson, England’s bowling coach, who knows the ground better than most, sees only a typical Barbados surface, which is to say one from which the pace bowler, if he bends his back, can extract good carry, but woe betide anyone who falls short of that.

Six years ago, when England were desperately trying to claw their way back into the series after the humiliation of an innings defeat in the first Test, they were faced with a similar-looking pitch. By the end of the match, which finished mercifully early as the two captains, Andrew Strauss and Chris Gayle, shook hands on a draw. Strauss, Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook had all made hundreds for England. Cook followed up his first-innings 94 with his first century for 14 months in a total of 279 for two; and for West Indies, Ramnaresh Sarwan, with a monumental 291, and Denesh Ramdin, with 166, had helped their side to 749 for nine in response to England’s first innings of 600 for six.

Eight bowlers conceded in excess of 100 runs, with Fidel Edwards taking three for 151. The pitch was slated as killing the game and the Kookaburra ball in use then similarly criticised for going soft far too quickly.

Yet here is the thing. In the second England innings, when there was, despite their first-innings total, a slim chance of a second Jamaica-type upset, Edwards tore in and bowled as fast as any England player could recall. It was thrilling to watch for here was someone showing what was possible, and indeed what it would have been like to turn the clock back 20 years or so.

The pitch would not have looked so flat then. It is, however, food for thought when Cook together with the England coach, Peter Moores, and the national selector, James Whitaker, put their heads together and come up with the best type of attack for the surface. This is something certainly recognised by Moores’ deputy Paul Farbrace, who spoke about it after the England practice. “It looks a good pitch,” he said. “Ottis says there will be more bounce than the first two pitches, which is encouraging. In Grenada we certainly did discuss two spinners, and that could be viable.”

During the second Test there appeared to be something of a clamour for England to include Adil Rashid’s leg-spin, although this in itself would cause disruption within the team because the likeliest scenario for that to happen is that one of Ben Stokes or Chris Jordan would make way.

Yet England regard the continuing development of both as fundamental in building the future. “You would think they would be the most vulnerable,” said Farbrace, “but we want to keep pushing forward. There is absolutely no question, for example, that Stokes needs to keep playing. He certainly is someone that the more he plays the better he’ll be.

“Last summer there were times when he could quite easily have missed out but Peter Moores was really keen to keep him playing even though he wasn’t scoring runs. He ended up batting down the order but we all know he isn’t a bowler who bats, he’s a high-quality batsman who bowls and we want him to develop into a high-quality all-rounder.

“By playing him he’ll make the progression he needs and he needs to play. The more he plays the more he’ll understand international cricket and it’s the same with Jordan and Moeen Ali for that matter. Historically, though, spin has not played a big part in Barbados.” It would be a big surprise if Rashid plays.