England's love-hate relationship continues at Lord's
On 16th August 2021, with the Lord’s Cricket Ground almost filled to the rafters, England found themselves within touching distance of a famous victory. The hosts had gotten the better of Rishabh Pant early on Day 5 and had accounted for Ishant Sharma minutes later, meaning that India, who had been commanding the game on Day 1, were now on the verge of being defeated.
At that very moment, though, something broke inside the England camp. Instead of looking to take wickets and putting the game beyond India’s reach, they prioritized revenge – revenge they felt was warranted, especially after what Jasprit Bumrah did to James Anderson on Day 3.
For the uninitiated, the former bowled a 10-ball over (including four no balls) at Anderson, with most of them giving the Englishman an opportunity to sniff the leather. Remember that talk of there existing a “fast bowlers union” which rarely bowled bouncers at each other? Well, that was nowhere to be found.
So England, over the course of the next few overs, embarked on an almighty short-ball barrage. Mark Wood came steaming in from one end, got the ball to whistle past the bat, offered some pearls of wisdom to Bumrah and then repeated the process with unerring accuracy.
While the tactic can often be useful, at least against tailenders, England made the mistake of not having enough fielders to take advantage of false strokes. Joe Root stationed fielders at deep backward square leg, deep mid-wicket, deep point and even had a long on at one point, for goodness’ sake. Hardly any men were placed in the slip cordon, meaning that the number of blows Bumrah and Mohammed Shami took to their body and pride didn’t translate into tangible returns.
Bumrah and Shami went on to stitch together an unbeaten 89-run stand – one that all but consigned England to a fate that they’ve become too accustomed to lately. Prima facie, it might seem that England just missed a beat (albeit a massive beat) and wilted away to a defeat at Lord’s.
Yet, on further introspection, there is plenty to suggest that England have, in fact, a love-hate relationship at the Home of Cricket. As ludicrous as that might sound, it perhaps rings true after their latest bit of indiscretion at NW8.
Over the years, the Lord’s Cricket Ground has been treated as hallowed turf by the cricketing community and rightly so. To place things into context, England ended their World Cup hoodoo at Lord’s in 2019, when they scraped past New Zealand by the barest of margins.
Apart from that, there have been numerous monumental performances at the ground and each has its own chapter in cricketing chronicles – something, which coupled with Lord’s rich history, makes cricketers take in a deep breath and realize how lucky he/she is to actually be playing cricket at the venue. On that count, the novel Honours Board is also an incentive that can’t be rivaled.
As far as England are concerned, though, it maybe adds another layer of pressure, meaning that they have, at times, produced extraordinary capitulations at the Home of Cricket.
In 2012, when South Africa came calling, England were largely recognized as one of the better outfits in Test cricket. The Three Lions, though, entered the final game of the series facing a 1-0 arrears – one that they weren’t able to erase.
Hashim Amla put England to the sword with the bat and Vernon Philander followed suit with both the bat and the ball as England succumbed to a 95-run defeat. Apart from losing the fixture, the reverse also signified the proverbial passing of the guard, for South Africa were then widely regarded as the premier red-ball side on the planet. An accolade they had snatched away from England.
Three years later against Australia, England were handed another mauling at Lord’s. As had become the norm by then, Steve Smith plundered runs for fun across both innings. The bowlers then did their bit and ensured that England were humbled by 405 runs. In that encounter, England also folded for 103 in the fourth innings, lest one forget.
Over the next few years, Pakistan came calling twice and somehow became one of the few sides to register consecutive victories at the Home of Cricket. In 2016, they were powered by Misbah-ul-Haq and his famous push-ups, whereas in 2018, Mohammad Abbas and Mohammad Amir, who was embarking on his personal path to redemption, wreaked havoc.
Additionally, even in those two matches, there were brief England collapses – collapses that pale in comparison to what England have produced recently but bad enough to hand top-quality oppositions victory.
England produced an incredibly reckless batting display against India in 2014
In between those contests, though, there was one Test against India in 2014, which partly mirrors the kind of hara-kiri England committed in 2021. Though the latter was primarily down to their efforts with the willow, the common theme, rather ironically, was an incessant load of short-pitched bowling.
In 2014, India, much like they were in 2021, seemed on the ropes heading into the final day of action. They had only given England a 319-run target on a pitch that had somehow become arid and dry, despite starting off as a grazing venture for the cows. But even on that surface, 319 wasn’t daunting, especially not after they cruised their way to 173-4 on the stroke of Lunch.
As the final roll of the dice, just an over before Lunch, MS Dhoni decided to try the short-ball ploy against Moeen Ali. Ishant Sharma bowled that over and immediately reaped the rewards, bouncing Ali out on the final ball of his over.
Post Lunch, India continued with their strategy and instantly trumped Matt Prior, who couldn’t resist the temptation and thrashed his pull straight to the fielder at deep mid-wicket. In the 82nd over, Ben Stokes, who had been in wretched form, top-edged his pull shot and skied the ball towards mid-on, who made plenty of ground and accepted the offering gleefully.
Root – a batter who had been unperturbed by everything that had happened around him, also hoicked and perished to deep square leg, hinting that the compulsive nature of England’s shot was worryingly becoming contagious. Stuart Broad followed suit moments later and in a jiffy, Ishant had seven wickets and India were a scalp away from victory.
The entire drama unfolded either side of Lunch, with the duration lasting just under a couple of hours. And that was perhaps the most impatient, restless and unbelievable bit of batting the Lord’s crown had ever seen. Period.
So there is enough to suggest that England often save their worst displays for their matches at the Home of Cricket, especially when talking about the past 10 years, having played 18 Tests and lost 6 of them.
Alarmingly, there have been such herculean capitulations that'll probably be etched longer in England’s cricket memories than what would’ve been ideal. Considering that Lord’s has seen English cricket achieve some of its highest peaks, this smacks of irony.
From that perspective, the defeat to India in 2021 only emphasizes the love-hate relationship England have at Lord’s. And because it was at Lord’s, it will perhaps keep haunting them for quite a while.
There’s an old adage suggesting that great responsibility accompanies great power - or in this case, great culture, history and stature. And England have probably found that out in the worst possible manner.
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