Root has been left in a spin
EMBUREY SAYS ENGLAND MUST COPY ASHWIN STYLE
INdIa have Joe Root’s side in a tail-spin following their Third Test humiliation in ahmedabad.
But John Emburey (above) believes England only have themselves to blame – because he reckons that beating the hosts on home soil in 2012/13 changed the course of Indian cricket history.
Since that win, when Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar outbowled the home side’s spinners, no other team has come home victorious from India.
After dominating the opening Test of the series in Chennai, it looked as though England could repeat that feat.
But Ravichandran Ashwin and
Axar Patel have crushed those dreams in the two Tests since.
And after being blown away in less than two days last week – the shortest Test since 1935 – a drawn series is now the best Root’s side can hope for.
The fear will be that there is even worse to come.
Middlesex and England great Emburey said: “From the day Swann and Panesar toured there and we won, the pitches in India have turned.
“England cleaned up because of those two – they completely outbowled the Indian spinners because they were better bowlers at the time.
“It was as simple as that. Now Ashwin is a much more experienced bowler, a much more complete bowler. He doesn’t do so well outside India but you get him on a turning pitch and he becomes very, very dangerous.
“He has the ability to make the ball skid on as opposed to turn. Most spinners want to turn every ball but he doesn’t, he varies it a heck of a lot.”
Ashwin (right) and Patel now have
42 wickets between them in this series, an astonishing haul given the latter missed the First Test.
Between them, they have ripped the heart out of England’s batting line-up, with only skipper Root and Zak Crawley looking to have a plan of how to score runs.
With the final Test also taking place at the Motera Stadium, England can expect a similar tricky surface. They can also anticipate more of the same from Patel and Ashwin.
Emburey added: “The most important thing from these Indian spinners is their pace.
“We tend to give it more flight but they bowl that little bit flatter. Axar’s not someone who flights the ball, he has a lowish arm and pushes the ball through.
“The majority of his balls don’t turn. He has taken almost all of his wickets with straight balls.
“The England batsmen have to got to think of a method of how they’re going to play him.
“Pace is key and our bowlers bowl that little bit too slow.
“That’s not a criticism because (Jack) Leach and (Dom) Bess have never been to India before.
“But pace is crucial. When you get on a pitch like that, all you’ve got to do is bowl maidens.
“Bowl maidens and the pitch will do the rest for you.”
That’s what Root and Leach did so successfully in India’s first innings. Now they need a little bit of help from the batsmen.
ANY last-minute doubts about swapping the Potteries for the sunshine of Miami were surely ended for Ryan Shawcross during his Stoke farewell.
The club wanted to mark their captain’s departure to join David Beckham’s Florida adventure with an on-field presentation before last weekend’s 3-0 win against Luton – even though fans could not be present to say their own goodbyes.
Cue a gale-force wind and a downpour, which saw the club photographer having to recover the defender’s leaving gift which was blowing away towards the Boothen End.
Shawcross, 33, is linking up with Beckham’s Inter Miami in the MLS after 14 years with Stoke – including 11 seasons as skipper.
And the star, who won just one England cap in a 2012 friendly with Sweden, said: “To be honest it might be too hot and I’ll be yearning for the cold days of Stoke.
“It’s going to be a bit of a shock weather-wise as well as a complete culture shock.
“But Inter Miami ticked all the boxes especially with Phil Neville going there as coach – and I was excited about trying something different.
“I knew I wasn’t going to be offered a new contract at Stoke and so this came down to me wanting to play for a couple more years.
“I’ve spoken to Phil a few times on the phone. He comes across as a really enthusiastic guy. He has done so well with the England women’s team. I know him a bit from Manchester United and his brother, Gary, was an England coach when I was in the squad.
“It will be a new voice with different ideas. I’m looking forward to the different ideas,
the different formats, different methods of the American way compared to the English way.
“I’m open to everything and it’s going to be very interesting seeing how things work over there.”
Once Inter Miami made their interest known, Shawcross (below) spoke to Potters boss Michael O’Neill about cutting short his contract which was due to run until the summer.
Shawcross added: “The manager was great and we had an honest conversation.
“I haven’t played much, with the emergence of
Harry Souttar.
“He has done brilliantly well,
I have just had to hold my hands up.
“The manager isn’t an idiot, he has to play him.”
As for the outpouring of farewells from
Stoke supporters, Shawcross said:
“It feels like I’ve died and everyone is doing eulogies about me.
“It’s a strange feeling. There’s a lot of sadness, but excitement too about looking forward to the future.”
‘I wasn’t getting a new Stoke deal... but wanted to play a few more years’
BRENDAN RODGERS is convinced Kieran Tierney has every quality to be a future Arsenal captain.
The Leicester boss gave a teenage Tierney his big break at Celtic, and watched proudly as he tied up a £25million move to London.
The left-back, now 23, has emerged as one of the bright sparks in Mikel Arteta’s stuttering campaign.
He even went toe-to-toe with David Luiz during a training ground spat – a clip that went viral on social media.
And Rodgers believes that Tierney will, in time, take over the armband after showing his battling qualities with the Bhoys in Glasgow.
Rodgers said: “Kieran is frightened of no one, he knows no fear. That’s how he plays and it’s what he is on the field. “There were plenty of spats in Glasgow, don’t worry about that. He wouldn’t
have been the only one involved. The thing I loved about the Scottish players is their competitive nature – Kieran’s right out of that mould.
“He plays with leadership attributes. At Celtic, he had a great mentor in Scott Brown, an incredible captain – and Kieran was very close to him.
“Kieran watched him and he saw how he performed every day. I have no doubt that once he’s down here for a time, Arsenal fans will see that in him. Kieran will be a great ambassador on and off the pitch.
“At Celtic, he had close friends, family and his parents around him.
“To move away from that takes a lot of time to adapt and, of course, he was injured as well. But every day he’ll be at the training ground at London Colney for two and a half hours being the best he can.
“He doesn’t waste time doing stupid things. He’ll be back home afterwards, resting, living a quiet life to be the best footballer he can be.
“That was the attitude and energy I first saw in him. I had been aware of him, but when I arrived at Celtic I saw this tenacious youngster who played like a supporter. He would give his life for it.
“Even when I first went to Celtic, there was talk that Arsenal wanted Kieran.
“In my first week, I went to the club’s chief executive Peter Lawwell and said, ‘If we could tie this boy up, it would be amazing’ – because he was such a talent.
“He never had it all his own way, he wasn’t picked for Scotland’s youth teams.
“But it only showed his character and persistence to keep going.”