It is very much a modern start to a tour, England’s men facing arguably the toughest challenge in world cricket – five Test matches in India – but shouldering arms to warm-up fixtures in local conditions in favour of an 11-day training camp in Abu Dhabi.
Though not a first – they did the same before last winter’s historic 3-0 win in Pakistan, while Australia and India have similarly dropped overseas warm-ups in recent times – it has raised eyebrows given the size of the task ahead. Steve Harmison, a strident pundit for TalkSport, has even said England deserve to lose 5-0 because of it.
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But inside the group there is a different view, articulated by Jeetan Patel, assistant coach to Brendon McCullum, before Thursday’s departure. Other than time on their feet, he says, players simply do not see warm-ups as beneficial (perhaps understandably so when pitches and opposition are set by the hosts).
Instead, by hiring the Sheikh Zayed Stadium and hunkering down on their own, England feel they have greater control over preparation before switching to the nets in Hyderabad three days out from the first Test that starts on 25 January. Players, Patel says, simply want to face or bowl as many balls as possible before the main event.
“Guys want volume, be it batting or bowling; time to work and explore their options,” he says. “But it’s going to be a fine line in terms of training for this one. I can’t see India not producing bunsens [spinning pitches], especially after the recent comments from Rohit [Sharma, their captain]. And rightly so, that’s the whole point of home advantage. So we have requested a blend of pitches in Abu Dhabi.
Jack Leach – left-arm orthodox
Missing the Ashes with that stress fracture broke his heart – in fact all our hearts. Leachy is the glue that binds us together, with his one-liners and his messaging in team meetings. He’s worked so hard on his fitness and physically, he’s now next level Jack Leach. He knows it’s a long road back but he’s tracking well. As a bowler, he now owns his game; in the past he was a bit more robotic, doing what others told him.
Rehan Ahmed – right-arm wrist-spinner
Rehan has learned a lot of white-ball skills over the past 12 months, which will be handy because a lot of it is bowling heavy into a length. It’s now a case of making sure technically he gets his shape back – in white-ball cricket you can tend to go low. He just loves cricket. If I rang him right now he’d probably be playing with his brothers outside, even though it’s dark and freezing cold. He’s just got the X factor.
Tom Hartley – left-arm orthodox
Tom is tall, bowls heavy into a length and he can get the ball to either skid on or bounce by changing his release from low to high. We almost have to coach him out of trying to be beautiful; to get him more aggressive and effective on the pitches we’re expecting. Why try to do a batsman through the air if it’s ragging? Just hit an area and let the surface do the rest. Then it’s a case of how often you can do it.
Shoaib Bashir – right-arm off-break
Bash is a great kid and he’s big, tall, with long fingers and young confidence about him. He gets great revolutions and good shape through the air. I don’t like likening players to others but there’s a bit of Nathan Lyon, bowling into the right-hander. He also has a great ability to get over the ball and with side spin.Because of his height, he doesn’t need to toss it up, it starts above their eye line.
Joe Root – right-arm off-break
Rooty knows he’s going to bowl a lot more previous tours and he’s like a kid again – the cheeky Rooty is back. I know he wants to add to his five-fers. He reads the game from a batter’s point of view. We know he’s not going to be perfect but going at four or five an over is not the point, he’ll ask different questions. From a coaching perspective, it’s getting him to think less technically and using that tactical nous.
“We want to challenge the guys but also ensure they arrive in India with enough confidence to be free enough to play how they want to play; to take the game on like they have over the last two years. It’s also a long tour. We want to energy and excitement levels to be high when they hit that first Test, rather than being a fortnight into their time in the country and not as mentally fresh as they could be.”
As with much of England’s resurgence under Ben Stokes and McCullum, it comes down to psychology. While Patel says players will be worked hard, Abu Dhabi (and its golf courses) is also about enjoyment; rekindling the camaraderie of a group that has been apart for six months and now faces 17 Tests in 2024 after just eight last year.
“They train well individually but when together, it goes through the roof,” he says. “They’re best mates but they push each other on and get grumpy if they’ve not got enough out of a session. Encouraging those bonds means they see each day as an opportunity; they hit the last session of a match with the same enthusiasm as the first.
“We don’t want Test cricket to be a grind. We don’t want them to sit in the pub in 20 years’ time thinking: ‘I didn’t really enjoy that.’ We want them to tell the next guy that comes in that they’re about to embark on the greatest journey ever with their mates.”
Those next guys have now arrived, not least in a hugely inexperienced spin department that falls under Patel’s watch. Beyond Jack Leach, returning after a lower back stress fracture, there is the uncapped Shoaib Bashir (20) and Tom Hartley (24), plus Rehan Ahmed, still just 19. Joe Root is now officially part of this group in terms of planning meetings, elevated to all-rounder status with Stokes unlikely to bowl.
Ahmed is back a year on from that remarkable seven-wicket Test against Pakistan in Karachi; a debut that not just hinted at the wrist-spinner’s promise but also showed that for all the “golf lads” energy of the setup, it is not a monoculture. This is a source of pride for Patel, who expects Bashir, from a similar background to Ahmed, will thrive.
“There’s obviously talk about the wider game but I know that having Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid in the England setup for years really rounded out our senior players,” says Patel. “Guys learned about a different culture and are able to respect it by not being naive or too afraid to ask questions – that’s ultimately what sidelines people.
“Some guys might not want a beer or play golf on days off, but that’s actually great. Mark Wood is a guy who doesn’t do either of those things. We don’t want the squad to all be the same. We’re all from different backgrounds with different stories to tell.”
These things are why I love my job; it’s brilliant to be involved in Test cricket
Given how raw the spin attack is, do the coaching staff need to demystify the prospect of bowling to Rohit and Virat Kohli? “I don’t know if we do,” replies the former New Zealand off-spinner. “You can say things but it’s hard not to see those guys at the top of your mark. Our job as coaches is to take pressure off them, to tell them it doesn’t matter, as long as you put in and are willing to bowl the next ball.
“So Stokesy and the coaches will simplify it for them; we’ll take on the tactics. With young guys, you want them thinking of just one thing. And if, say, Rehan shins Virat [lbw] or nicks off Rohit and takes away that memory, aren’t we setting him up for life?
“These things are why I love my job; it’s brilliant to be involved in Test cricket. I’d possibly like to do some more work in white-ball cricket – I did a stint in the Hundred last year – and take our attacking mentality into it. I think teams can’t look to defend in the field in T20 any more. But I also wouldn’t change my job for the world.”
It sums up the upbeat optimism that has underpinned England’s time under Stokes and McCullum; the kind that will be required in abundance in the coming weeks once they swap their very modern preparations in the desert for the hot house of India.
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