By Nick Hoult
England will break with tradition
next year by playing the first Test at
the Oval, which is also expected to
host the final of the Hundred.
Normally the Oval hosts the last
Test of the summer in early Sep-
tember but it will instead be the
venue for the first of three Tests
against West Indies, starting on
June 4. Surrey offered to host one of
the early Tests because the England
and Wales Cricket Board was wor-
ried about ticket sales at northern
grounds at that time of the year.
West Indies will also play Tests at
Edgbaston and Lord’s. England
usually play Test cricket in May and
the later start could open the door
for the players to be available for an
entire Indian Premier League sea-
son. However Ashley Giles, the
team director, has said the empha-
sis will now shift back from one-day
to Test cricket, so he could insist
they play county matches to pre-
pare for the West Indies series.
England will then play three
T20s and three one-day interna-
tionals against Australia, a series of
games that were postponed a year
because of the World Cup.
Pakistan then arrive for three
Tests and three T20s, with the
shortest format taking precedence
over the 50-over game as the World
T20 is in October next year. The in-
ternational summer will end with a
three-match ODI series against Ire-
land, their first in this country.
The ECB will also launch the
Hundred on July 17, which will fea-
ture England players for around the
first 10 days.
The county one-day final will be
at Trent Bridge, rather than its
usual Lord’s venue. Edgbaston will
again host the T20 Blast finals day.Long hot summer
The 2020 schedule
West Indies Test series
June 4-8: The Oval 11am
June 12-16: Edgbaston 11am
June 25-29: Lord’s 11amAustralia T20 series
July 3: Riverside 6.30pm
July 5: Old Trafford 5pm
July 7: Headingley 6.30pmAustralia ODI series
July 11: Lord’s 1pm
July 14: Ageas Bowl 1pm
July 16: Bristol 1pmPakistan Test series
July 30-Aug 3: Lord’s 11am
Aug 7-11: Old Trafford 11am
Aug 20-24: Trent Bridge 11amPakistan T20 series
Aug 29: Headingley 5pm
Aug 31: Sophia Gardens 2.30pm
Sept 2: Ageas Bowl 6.30pmIreland ODI series
Sept 10: Trent Bridge 12.30pm
Sept 12: Edgbaston 12.30pm
Sept 15: The Oval 12.30pmOval to host
first Test of
2020 rather
than the last
two pairs of inner gloves
nestle in quite right then it can
hurt. That does not depend on
speed. If you catch it properly at
90 mph you will be fine. Sometimes
the ones that sting the most are at
80 mph when it has moved in the
air and you snatch at it.
The catching area in your glove
is small. Right in the middle of the
two palms is ideal. I wear white
gloves so I can tell from the red
indentations if I have taken the ball
correctly. Styles differ from team to
team when it comes to taking the
ball. In Australia they take
everything on their inside hip.
Their head will be further away
from the ball. But in England with
Dukes ball it wobbles more so we
have to keep our heads over the
ball to be in control.
Jofra was getting a lot of height.
A couple were going over my head
and swinging at high pace. There isnothing you can do about that.
Your only chance is to get
something on the ball to try and
take the pace out of it and prevent
four byes. You need a goalkeeper’s
leap, which is where years of doing
a lot of squats come in handy.
Batsmen struggle to pick up his
bouncer. It is easier for a keeper.
You have more time to pick up the
line. The key thing is judging your
depth for where you stand. You are
constantly reviewing it throughout
the game, reacting to the hardnessof the ball and the pitch, and as
keeper it is your responsibility to
set the depth because the slips take
their lead from you.
There were a couple that did not
carry and a couple that flew over
my head so getting the distances
right was very difficult.
If someone is swinging it in
consistently then your alignment
changes slightly so you are
tinkering a lot of the time. I was
pleased with my keeping at Lord’s.
It was my first time keeping to
Jofra because we have been
playing white-ball cricket so
far together.
Keeping at Headingley will be
similar. I doubt if it will wobble as
much but that depends on
overhead and ground conditions.
There might be a little bit of
reverse because of how dry the
square is at the moment. That willbe another challenge. I felt good
with the bat at Lord’s. I did a lot of
work with the bat in the indoor
school. Just a general MOT
working on the ball coming in and
going away from me. The fifty was
hard work but that was what I
needed. I felt I was lining it up
nicely again.
The mood feels good. Having a
bowler who can send down 96 mph
rockets changes things. We all
remember England teams facing
Mitchell Johnson, or Mitchell Starc
bowling more than 90 mph. We
have it now. It means we can offer
something different. Nobody likes
facing express pace no matter how
good they are and Jofra is so
smooth with his action. He gets his
pace from a flick of the wrist. We
don’t want to build him up too
much because it was only his debut
but he is a great asset to have.(^3) The surface will help if you pitch the ball up
One reason to bowl fuller is that the pitch at Headingley will always help the bowler.
CricViz have assessed the Headingley pitch to be the hardest to bat on in England
since the start of 2015, offering more bounce, deviation and wicket pace.
The greater bounce generated off the pitch will be particularly worrying
to Australia's batsmen as they recover from Jofra Archer's display
at Lord's. CricViz research shows that Stuart Broad – who, unlike
Archer, has bowled at all these grounds – generates far more bounce
from the same delivery on a good length at Headingley than any
other ground in the country. So pitch it up and the pitch will help
you, bowl short and batsmen will enjoy themselves.
This graphic shows how high the same Stuart Broad delivery
on a good length would bounce at each of the Test grounds in
England. Headingley is easily the ground with the most bounce.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9
8
Stuart Broad
SOURCE: CRICVIZ
Headingley 0.801 metres
Trent Bridge 0.771
Old Trafford 0.77
Edgbaston 0.755
The Oval 0.749
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Sophia Gardens 0.748
Lord's 0.742
The Rose Bowl 0.742
Chester-le-Street 0.726
lp the bowler.
in England
ace.
g
e same Stuart Broad delivery
at each of the Test grounds in
he ground with the most bounce.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9
8
Stuart Broad
SOURCE: CRICVIZ
Bounce height
England lost by an innings. Yet
perhaps the biggest evidence of
how England have sometimes
mislaid their equilibrium at
Headingley is in the lengths that
England’s seamers have bowled.
Quick bowlers bowling too short
has been a common thread in many
of England’s defeats here.
The allure of bowling short at
Headingley is easy to understand.
The ball bounces markedly more
than at any other English Test
venue since 2015, according to
CricViz’s ball-tracking data. A good
length delivery from Stuart Broad
bounces over six centremetres
more here than at Lord’s. But
England have learned that bowling
short at Headingley can be fool’s
gold. For all the inviting bounce
that the ground generates, the
combination of the fast outfield
and the short boundaries behind
the wicket – to third man and fine
leg – means that short balls can
lead to rapid scoring.
Against New Zealand in 2015, a
Test England eventually lost by 199
runs, they pounded the pitch
relentlessly, especially against the
tail. The result was that New
Zealand were able to score at an
extraordinary 4.9 runs an over
throughout their two innings, and
twice recover from losing two early
wickets. Across 33.1 overs in the
game, Broad yielded 6.3 an over,
his most expensive figures in a
Test. That even a bowler with his
experience has been wayward here
speaks of the challenges that the
ground presents. Over England’s
past four Tests here, England have
bowled shorter than all their
opponents bar Sri Lanka, who,
incidentally, lost that Test by an
innings in 2016. Both New Zealand,
in 2015, and West Indies two years
later enjoyed success with the
short ball, but it was deployed as a
tool of shock rather than stock, a
balance that England have often
struggled to get right here.
Mastering the lengths required
at Headingley is a microcosm of
England’s broader challenge in the
days ahead: of playing the ground
as it is, and not the myths built up
by its storied history.
The
short
ball is a
tool of
shock
rather
than
stock
One off: Darren
Pattinson was
a shock pick
for England in
2008
The key thing is
judging how far
back you stand. You
need to constantly
review it
The Daily Telegraph Thursday 22 August 2019 *** 5
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