Manchester to Port of Spain: Nonstop & Direct

By Rahul Patil

The nursery rhyme “Rain rain go away, rain rain go to spain” is now based on a true story. After playing spoilsport in the Manchester test the rain did go to Spain i.e. Port of Spain in Trinidad to ruin another test match between the West Indies and India.

According to Hindu mythology two gods look after the rain portfolio. Indra & Varun. Considering the number of cricket matches that get affected by rain I am sure one of them is definitely not a cricket fan.

Rain affected cricket matches and me go back a long way. I grew up in the town of Margao in the state of Goa in India. We have a multipurpose stadium there called the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium popularly known as the Fatorda Stadium. There have been nine ODI’s played at that stadium till now. Three of those nine have been washed out due to unseasonal rains. Last year at the T20 world cup in Australia, a number of games that I attended were affected by the rain.

When it fills our water reservoirs, we love the rain. When it provides us much needed relief from the heat, we love the rain. When it provides inspiration to talented lyricists to write romantic songs, we love the rain. On a rainy day there’s nothing better than a steaming hot cup of chai (Indian tea) and a plate of spicy and crunchy kanda bhaji (chopped onion with a chickpea flour batter deep fried in oil). But cricket fans world over will tell you that there is nothing more frustrating than rain interrupting a match.

I feel for Stokes and McCullum. In the first test at Birmingham many including me criticized them for declaring when they should have batted on. Now that the fourth test at Manchester has ended in draw due to rain some of the pundits are blaming them for batting too long in their first innings on day three. Damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. The truth is that it’s difficult to win a test match when you lose 181 overs to a combination of weather and poor overrates.

It wasn’t supposed to end this way. England’s performance in the third test at Leeds and for majority of this fourth test meant that 2-2 was definitely a good chance. A mouthwatering contest at the oval as a series decider for Ashes 2023 was what everyone wanted. Expectation though is the mother of all disappointment. This is why I hate love stories as most of them have sad endings.

Coming back from a 2-0 deficit in a five match series is never easy as you need everything to go your way for the remaining three tests. Getting out of the blocks early therefore is extremely important in any sport. The great Usain Bolt was normally one of the slowest out of the blocks in the first 25 meters, but between 25 to 75 meters he possessed such a burst of speed that he could even afford to slow down in the last 25 meters to win easily. The difference is that his races lasted for about 10 secs and not over five days.

An Englishman holds the record for the most number of tennis matches won after being 0-2 down. Andy Murray with 11. Form and injuries meant that Murray was always fourth amongst the fab four of tennis but his mental strength and self-belief is tremendous.

Zack Crawley repaid all the faith shown in him by the captain and coach with a career defining 189. Espncricinfo had Zack’s control percentage in the innings at 71%. Often criticized for being technically incorrect Zack does have a good eye and when he does come off he is a treat to watch. This innings will buy him much needed time in international cricket hopefully to find the right balance between defense and attack.

Jonny Bairstow hasn’t had a memorable ashes series. His run a ball 78 in the first test was quickly forgotten after a string of low scores that followed. He caught protestors and dropped catches. He missed stumping’s and was himself stumped of a fast bowler with the keeper standing back. Yet England persisted with him and like Crawley he too paid rich dividends with a swashbuckling 99. Jonny deserved a ton and I am sure he will never have to pay for drinks at the pub as long as Anderson is with him.

Woakes & Wood once again produced the goods with the ball picking up 10 of the 15 Australian wickets to fall. It’s a deadly combination. One gets it to swing and seam while the other gets batters jumping and hopping with his pace and bounce. Anderson bowled well without luck. Champions normally like to finish on a winning note. Now that Australia has retained the ashes it will be interesting to see if Jimmy decides to hang his boots or carry on until the next test series. England have announced an unchanged squad for the last test and apart from Josh Tongue replacing Anderson I don’t expect any changes in their playing XI.

One man stood tall for Australia amongst a pretty forgettable performance. Marnus Labuschagne with 51 in the first innings and a match saving 111 in the second. By his own high standards Marnus himself will agree that until now he hadn’t really got going in the series. Spending time in the middle in the first innings clearly helped him to find his touch. The second innings century was much more fluent and with a control percentage of 90%.

With the urn now secured I feel Australia might change things up a bit at the oval. Beginning with the WTC final captain Cummins has now played in all 5 tests and looks like he might need a break. Michael Neser is waiting in the wings and will add a new dimension to the attack. Todd Murphy should be back as the lead spinner at the expense of either Marsh or Green. I wonder if they might give Warner a break as well and play Harris.

Even though the result of the last game will not have any effect on the outcome of the series there is a lot at stake for sure. WTC points for one and pride for another. Australia will want to win the urn and not just retain it. England on the other hand will want to square the series and keep talking about how lucky Australia is. Even after the disappointing weather at Manchester it’s been an Ashes to remember for sure. We just need another close finish at the oval to be the icing on the cake.

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