Last week’s County Championship action was headlined by a mouth-watering clash between Alastair Cook, England’s leading Test run-scorer, and James Anderson, England’s leading Test wicket-taker.
The close friends faced off in Lancashire’s rain-affected draw against Essex in Chelmsford, with the latter getting the better of his former captain. Anderson, who celebrates his 41st birthday this year, trapped Cook on the pads from around the wicket in both innings, with the left-hander returning to the sheds for 16 and 0.
Cook was, perhaps, a touch unlucky, with replays suggesting the first dismissal may have struck him outside the line of off stump, while the second appeared to be sliding down leg.
Regardless, Anderson’s twin scalps could spell trouble for David Warner and Australia’s plethora of left-handed batters ahead of the highly-anticipated Ashes series, which gets underway in June.
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Four years ago, Warner endured a horror Ashes campaign in England, registering 95 runs in ten knocks at a pitiful average of 9.50. Veteran seamer Stuart Broad terrorised the Australian opener from around the wicket, dismissing him seven times while conceding just 35 runs across the series.
England quick Jofra Archer removed Warner on the other three occasions — each time from around the wicket.
The strategy was simple — Warner loved attacking through point and the covers, so England’s seamers cramped him for room and targeted his stumps from around the wicket. Rather than relying on the Dukes ball to swing, Broad employed a wobble seam and allowed the variable bounce of England’s spicy decks to work its magic.
“When (Warner) sits back in the crease, he’s always cut or square-driven me a lot and hit me to the boundary,” Broad explained in 2020.
“I did quite a lot of research going into that Ashes series of how I could get him out … I just decided I was going to try and hit the stumps every ball, that was my mindset. I’m not going to try and swing it away from him, because I think that gave him a bit of width. I’m just going to try and scramble the seam.”
Needless to say, it worked wonders — Warner was offered no width outside off stump, and his forward defence looked tentative throughout the series. He was indecisive with his leaves, twice edging behind to the wicketkeeper after belatedly trying to get his bat out of the way.
The New South Welshman was beaten on both edges of the bat, either trapped on the pads when the ball seamed back into him or nicking behind when it veered the other way.
“It was one of those tours where I didn’t back my game plan and I went too defensive, and I didn’t attack,” Warner said in 2021.
“That was my fault, and (Broad) bowled really well.”
Broad has dismissed Warner 14 times at Test level — in 2019, former Australian coach Justin Langer confessed the English quick had gotten into Warner’s head.
Travis Head found himself in a similar predicament four years ago, falling victim to pace from around the wicket five times in seven knocks, with Broad the bowler on three occasions. The South Australian was dropped for the fifth Test at The Oval with selectors recalling Mitchell Marsh — a right-handed batter.
It was the same story for Marcus Harris, dismissed by right-handed pace bowlers five times in six knocks during the 2019 Ashes, with Broad sending him back to the sheds thrice. The Victorian had to wait 18 months for his next opportunity in Australian whites.
“In England, the length that they can go is a bit different to in Australia,” Harris, who earned a Test recall this week, explained in 2021.
“They can probably go a little bit shorter, and still hit the top of the stumps in England, which brings in LBW and bowled into play.
“That’s what the challenge was over there, and the Dukes ball that summer was moving around a lot.”
AUSTRALIAN LEFT-HANDED BATTERS IN ENGLAND
David Warner — 651 runs at 26.04 (zero centuries)
Usman Khawaja — 236 runs at 19.66 (zero centuries)
Travis Head — 191 runs at 27.28 (zero centuries)
Marcus Harris — 58 runs at 9.66 (zero centuries)
A generation ago, bowling from around the wicket was considered relatively taboo in professional cricket, deemed a last resort for pace bowlers when all else failed.
But as revealed by Sky Sports statistician Benedict Bermange, English seamers are increasingly changing their delivery angle when left-handed batters are at the crease.
In 2012, 17 per cent of deliveries from right-arm seamers to left-handed batters in the County Championship were from around the wicket. Last year, that figure ballooned to 51 per cent, and so far in 2023, it stands at 59.3 per cent.
Banning saliva on the ball has partially contributed to this change — it’s now more difficult for traditional swing bowlers to hoop the Dukes ball back into left-handed batters from over the wicket, resulting in fewer LBW dismissals.
Cook, the most prolific left-handed batter in Test history, is one of many who have fallen victim to the shifting trend. In first-class cricket since 2020, the former England captain has averaged 44.60 to right-arm seamers from over the wicket and 29.76 when they come around.
Australia unveiled a 17-player squad for the opening two Ashes fixtures this week, with four opening batters on the list — each of them are left-handed, and none of them have a Test century on English soil in 43 knocks collectively.
If you include Head, who opened the batting during the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy in India, that becomes 51 Test knocks in England without a ton.
Anderson and Broad will be licking their lips in anticipation.
How can Warner and his left-handed comrades counter the strategy?
According to the 36-year-old, attack’s his best form of defence, while Head has confessed to drawing inspiration from England’s recent ‘Bazball’ revolution.
“When I’m at my best, I’m taking the bowlers on,” Warner told reporters in December.
“I can probably be a bit more aggressive and go back to the older me, take them on a little bit more.
“It’s about just having that comfort of backing yourself, and I always do that, but I felt a sense of responsibility to actually adapt to the wicket and conditions that were in front of me, but now it’s just going back to looking to score and then my defence will take care of itself.”
Meanwhile, the pitches in England could be considerably different to the bowler-friendly decks of 2019 — last week, Test captain Ben Stokes revealed he had requested “fast, flat pitches” for the upcoming Ashes campaign.
Australia won’t necessarily attempt to imitate the aggressive approach England’s batters have implemented over the past 12 months, but pending conditions and the match situation, they could fight fire with fire.
The first Ashes Test between England and Australia gets underway at Edgbaston on June 16.
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