Reinventing the Test wheel after 145 years

Stokes and McCullum 'relook' at Tests.

There is so much to excite about the 'new' England Test team after their 3-0 series win against New Zealand, the World Test champions, in June. They played some outrageous cricket with bat and ball and became the first team ever to chase three consecutive fourth innings totals in excess of 250 in a series. It was inspirational stuff.

Captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum have spoken of their desire to redefine the way Test cricket is played with a focus on daring and entertainment. McCullum said he would rather the team was “too aggressive” in its reincarnation and learn how to “pull it back” rather than be too timid and learn how to attack.

Both Stokes and McCullum have said they are not afraid of losing and would prefer to do so in pursuit of victory rather than attempting to avoid defeat. And they have made a sensational start to the new era. They acknowledged they might fall flat in their faces at some point, and they might be about to do so after two days of the one-off, fifth and final Test against India.

This is not the first time a team has attempted to reinvent Test cricket. There have been many, most famously the ‘Bodyline’ Ashes series of 1932-33 when England captain Douglas Jardine employed the ‘leg-theory’ attack of bouncers at the batsmen’s bodies.

Australia opted to increase the standard scoring rate of three runs per over to four during the early 2000s when they boasted one of the strongest batting line-ups of all time while various subcontinental teams have prepared viciously turning pitches before and after the dominant years of the West Indies’ four-man pace attack.

In most instances the various law-making bodies of the time introduced legislation to counter the innovations. There wasn’t much to be done, however, about increased scoring rates, thankfully. Only the bowlers could counter that. As India’s pace trio did on the second day at Edgbaston with Jonny Bairstow’s bristling aggression curtailed to a simmering 12* from 47 balls having scored at a strike rate of over 120 in the three Tests against New Zealand.

Stokes set some fantastical fields during the morning session. Wild and whacky, they didn’t work - because of all the things we know about Test cricket after 145 years, there is a reason teams revert to the ‘norm’. There is a sufficient body of evidence to prove, irrefutably, that nine fielders is insufficient to cover the catching and run-saving positions a captain requires and that the ‘traditonal’ positions are their best option.

It’s fantastic that Stokes is utilising the science of his analytics team and rethinking almost a century and half of history. There’s nothing worse than a business which sticks to convention on a point of historial principle. But Test cricket has a habit of reminding entrepeneurs and innovators that there is only so much adaptation she will tolerate, and at what pace.

Six slips for Jimmy Anderson when the new ball is swinging and Bairstow playing T20 cricket against a tired bowling attack with a soft ball on flat pitches may have created a false impression of how good this England team is. They are much better than one victory in 17 Tests might suggest, but not as good a ‘clean-sweep’ against the Black Caps might suggest.

It’s a wonderful thing that the new England are prepared to roll the dice and take a helter-skelter ride to the end of Test matches. The New Zealand series was sensational. Stuart Broad’s ‘all-or nothing’ over against Jasprit Bumrah which yielded a world record 35 runs tells anothet story. It might have been match-costing had England not already conceded too many runs. But when you attack at all costs, sometimes you pay them.

It will be fascinating in August and September to see how England’s batting approach fares against Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen. And Indeed, against Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer, depending on the combination selected. The bowling attack strategy will equally absorbing and may hold hold the key to the Test series. Dean Elgar will relish the fullest assault, but how many will be able to stand with him?