PITCH BATTLE
Root & Silverwood consider protest to ICC over poor surface in Ahmedabad
JOE ROOT and Chris Silverwood are considering a formal complaint to the ICC over the state of the pitch for the Third Test in Ahmedabad.
The England coach and captain accept they were beaten by the better side, but believe the condition of the pitch had an undue influence on the match.
And a two-day contest in which Root’s part-time off-spin was genuinely deemed to be the greatest wicket-taking threat on the second day also speaks volumes about the quality of the surface. “Joe got 5-8,” said
Silverwood. “It probably pushed us to the extremes of what most of our players, if any, have experienced.
“Joe and I have to have a sit down, have a conversation and see where we go with it.
“I’m not saying we’ve just got to accept things, but it’s a conversation between myself and Joe at the moment.
“We do have to get better on these pitches and we do have to accept there’s places where we could have improved.
“But at the same time, we are disappointed that we are sat here when there should be three days of cricket left.”
Silverwood is not the sort to mope and whinge when there is a chance to roll up the sleeves and get to work on improvements and that may be where his chat with Root ends up.
There are four or possibly five more matches to come away from home this year and they are all against India or Australia.
And while England had been on a six-game away winning streak before their defeat in Chennai, their record against those two plus New Zealand makes for tough reading, with just one win in 25 including 17 defeats. This is a trend that needs reversing but with the Ashes on the horizon the question is whether they have time for significant improvements. “We completely accept we’re not the finished article,” said Silverwood (left). “We have to learn from what is in front us and if we do that we’ll buck the trend and start winning.
“India are a fine side and what we have learned from them winning in Australia is that it can be done. We’ll see what we can fit into our game plans that they did and how we can use that.
“As tough as it is and as painful as it is at this moment, hopefully we can also take some good lessons from here.
“The next time they come onto a surface or experience a situation like this, it won’t be as much of a shock to them and they can use their skills to combat what’s in front of them.”
Meanwhile, cricket chiefs are keen for domestic and international matches to be a part of any trial programme to welcome fans back into grounds.
Bosses are waiting to hear which events might be considered to be part of the trial but have offered games in the T20 Blast as well as the early-season Test matches against New Zealand as possible contenders.
The ECB said: “We are speaking with government about how best cricket can support a pilot programme which will pave the way for full crowds to return.”