Tom Hartley’s nine-wicket debut vindicates his rogue selection

There have been many worse first balls in Test cricket than Tom Hartley’s. Decent line, decent length: the sort of ball that is patted back to the bowler 99 per cent of the time.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Indian batting’s latest sensation, had other ideas, slog-sweeping a statement six. Hartley had become just the third man to have his first ball in Test cricket hit for six. Later in the over, Jaiswal did it again. Hartley bowled nine wicketless overs for 63, including a couple of no-balls.

It was a bruising first bowl in an environment many thought him unready for. His first-class record (40 wickets in 20 matches) had hardly demanded selection, but England’s policy of only picking spinners tall enough to stand next to Ben Duckett during the national anthems got him the gig. As Hartley bowled, folk called for Liam Dawson’s selection quicker than you could say “high release point” – a Hartley asset that drew comparisons to India’s Axar Patel, who tormented England on the 2021 tour.

On that first evening, as England debriefed the day’s play, none of that was mentioned. What was mentioned was another slog-sweep, the one Hartley landed off Ashwin, one of the greatest off-spinners in the game’s history, in his fine innings of 23, a classic piece of blue-sky thinking from this England management. Jack Leach, the senior spinner and taker of that day’s only wicket, took Hartley under his wing, sitting with him at dinner and chewing the fat.

“We spoke about the six he hit,” said Jeetan Patel, the assistant coach. “It didn’t take him long to hit his first Test cricket. Jack was the one that got round him, and rightly so. He’s his bowling partner.”

Late on day four, into the final over of the extra half-hour, last man Mohammed Siraj came down the wicket for an almighty heave at Hartley, missed, and was stumped by the ever-secure Ben Foakes. He had completed a famous win, and a seven-wicket haul, the first taken by an England spinner on debut since the great Jim Laker in 1948.

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Hartley’s remarkable turnaround was vindication for the England management’s decision to select him in the first place, but also their careful handling of him this week, and spinners in general. As Kevin Pietersen observed on commentary: “Bazball is nothing to do with batting or bowling, it’s everything to do with the mind.”

On day one, said Patel, he had seen “a nervous Tom Hartley”. He added: “but rightly so. He’s bowling in his first Test match against Jaiswal, who wants to take him down, and Rohit Sharma”. What stood out, though, was Hartley’s response. “After 10 minutes of ‘that was hard’, he’s back on the second morning and was fantastic. He was straight in, saying ‘let’s go.’”

While he was gifted a couple of wickets on day two, by the fourth day Hartley was bowling beautifully – having batted even better still, something he admitted gave him confidence. He might have found belief in the fact that, by then, the pitch was very similar to those on which England prepared for this series in Abu Dhabi, turning sharply but not consistently. England’s batsmen say he was a handful to face in the nets; India found the same in the middle. He was well worth his haul, bowling long, tidy spells, troubling both right- and left-handers.

Ben Stokes, the England captain, has very specific tactics for his spinners. He hates providing protection on the fence, and rarely takes them off after a poor over, desperately trying to buy them a wicket. On the first day, he had been prepared to pay an almost absurd price to get Hartley one, burning reviews and keeping him in the attack even when it looked like he might melt.

Both Hartley and Stokes learned lessons from the experience. Hartley slowed right down, operating in the low 50s mph. He found bounce, and sharp spin. In turn, Stokes offered him more protection in the deep, which cowed Jaiswal into trying something different. There was a strange attempt at a switch-hit, then a meek poke to short-leg. Stokes also waited three overs before bringing Hartley into the attack, rather than asking him to bowl with the rock-hard ball, which he had never done in his short first-class career before this match.

Hartley hailed a “fantastic dressing room” for welcoming the new kid in. He is the latest player to shine on debut, with spinners proving especially successful. In Pakistan in 2022, two other spin-bowling debutants, Will Jacks and Rehan Ahmed, took debut five-fers, too. Stokes’ method can be confronting, but it works.

As Hartley struggled in the first innings, there were some unkind comparisons to Simon Kerrigan, another Lancastrian who had a tough Test baptism but was never seen again. By the time Hartley celebrated victory clutching a stump, a more apt comparison was with Sohag Gazi, the Bangladeshi whose first ball in Test cricket was hit for six, but who finished the match with nine wickets. Hartley had learned a lot, and fast.