Cricket News

‘Why they didn’t spend three weeks in India’ – Former England player unimpressed with team’s preparation for Test series

 

England is yet to win a Test series in India after the 2012-13 series. The then-Alistair Cook-led side lost the first Test, only to win the next two. In the last Test, they managed to draw the game and win the series 2-1. Since then, they have managed to win only one Test combining the 2016 and 2021 series. In the 2016 series, the Three Lions lost by 4-0, and three years back, they lost the series 1-3.

Later this month, the European side will be in the Indian shores for a five-match Test series, which will start on January 25. Ahead of the series, former England player Mark Butcher isn’t impressed with the team, preparation, or the lack of it.

Frankly, I would be terrified if I were playing: Mark Butcher

The left-hander begins by saying that even if England is losing this Test series, they should have been in India to prepare for the series. He feels that if there is no preparation and get battered, they will be criticized.

“Everybody believes going to India that you’re unlikely to win a five-Test match series in India right? But what people will be less likely to be gentle about is if you go there without having done the requisite getting ready for it and then get battered. That’s kind of inexcusable. Particularly given the huge gap that there has been for the Test team between July and now whereby there’s no real reason why they couldn’t have spent three weeks in India leading up to the series,” Butcher said on Wisden Cricket Podcast

“Frankly I’d be a little bit terrified if I was playing. Most of the guys haven’t played any long-form cricket since July. Very few of the squad were involved a great deal in the rundown of the County Championship which finished at the back end of September. We’re now three months down the road with nobody having had any sort of middle practice at all.”

ENGLAND SQUAD FOR INDIA TESTS 2024

Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Rehan Ahmed, Gus Atkinson*, Jonny Bairstow, Shoib Bashir*, Harry Brook, Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Ben Foakes (wk), Tom Hartley*, Jack Leach, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Mark Wood. (* indicates uncapped players).