England’s Bazballers are fighting fit for India

Much has been made of England’s preparation for cricket’s sternest examination, a five-Test tour of India.

They are currently in Abu Dhabi, touching down in Hyderabad on Sunday, four days before the first Test begins. They are not playing any tour matches, let alone first-class ones, preferring instead to manage their own training away from prying eyes, rather than relying on their hosts to provide warm-up opposition and pitches that may or may not replicate what they will see when the Tests begin. It is the modern way – reducing pressure, keeping players comfortable – and only results can judge its efficacy. For England, it worked for 2022’s tour of Pakistan.

As important as any time in the middle is being fighting fit. They face some long days plodding around heavy outfields in searing heat and humidity, with the challenges different in each venue given India’s vastness.

As little as we know about their form or what their training in Abu Dhabi actually entails, there are examples across the squad of players showing greater dedication to their fitness than perhaps they did in the first couple of years of the Bazball project. With Ollie Robinson admitting in an interview with ESPNcricinfo that “I didn’t leave it all out there” and Jonny Bairstow still working his way back from a horrendous leg-break, England did not look the fitter side in the Ashes. Now, that might just change.

Since his operation in November, captain Ben Stokes has been avoiding alcohol and working like a maniac to make sure his knee is in the best condition possible on Thursday. He will not be ready to bowl after the clearout, but his value as batsman and captain means he makes the team either way, if fit.

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Before Christmas, Stokes was documenting his recovery on social media. In Abu Dhabi, he has effectively had three training sessions each day: cricket training, fitness training, and knee rehab. That has meant that Stokes has not been playing golf, one of the binding forces of the Bazball project, in the afternoon. While most are playing, a few other players have followed him in sitting out.

And then there is Jack Leach, about whom Graeme Swann, with whom he worked on the Lions camp in November, uttered the extraordinary line “He’s a machine. He’s like Ken from the Barbie movie”.

Leach has not played for more than six months after suffering a stress fracture of the back, and has used the opportunity to get stronger to prevent it happening again.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Swann told the Mail. ““He’s as fit as any spinner who has ever played cricket for England. ‘I couldn’t believe it. He took his shirt off and I thought he was posing for a calendar or something.

“It made me feel a little bit sick in my mouth, if I’m honest, because I always avoided that sort of regimented training.”

Bairstow has kept his head down since a disappointing World Cup. He was left out of the tour of the Caribbean and told to get fit. Or, in Rob Key’s words: “get himself into a position where he can go and take on an Indian Test”. Photos posted on social media suggest we will see a trimmer Bairstow next week.

Robinson, who looks physically trimmer than he did in the summer, has the evidence to back it up. In the course of his longest ever break from the game, he has dyed his hair blond but, more importantly, knocked 20 seconds off his 2km time trial, the go-to modern fitness measurement. “I really wanted to get fitter,” he said. “I’ve never been someone who has excelled at distance running, but that was a bit of a milestone to tick off.” He has worked with strength and conditioning coach Peter Sim to get down to a time of 7 minutes 37.

Jimmy Anderson has been running too, on the track at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium, which was partly a technical matter for his run-up, but partly fitness too. At 41, he still puts in as many hours as any player.

England may arrive short on practice – four players have not played since at least July – but they should at least be physically fit.