What would Leeds bring to both teams in the first test with the forecast for the Test is for it to get hotter, closer to 30 degrees.
Ahead of the much-anticipated opening test of the newly-christened Anderson-Tendulkar series, what would Leeds bring to both teams?
Headingley rarely receives the opening Test of the series in England. Later in the summer, Headingley often hosts the third Test of the series. In addition, Leeds has seen very little rain since February. Yorkshire’s grounds manager, Richard Robinson, has thus had to prepare for the Test in a “different kind” of way.
The pitch fades out after three days, so don’t be startled by the green appearance; it’s actually no different from the square. It will be nicely trimmed and rolled. However, Robinson and his crew, which includes Jasmine Nicholls, the first woman to make an international pitch and a former England race walker, are working to maintain adequate moisture throughout the preparation process.
By the morning of the test, the grass will be 8 mm, which is about average for a test at Headingley. Robinson believes that only that morning should a final evaluation of the pitch be done. Because of the anticipated heat, he anticipates that it will “do a little bit” on the first day and flatten out rather quickly.
Even while Ben Stokes and England practiced on the practice pitches on Tuesday afternoon, the surface was kept covered to prevent it from drying out too much. Stokes bowled at a single stump to close the session. With the sun shining and the temperature hovering about 22 degrees Celsius, it appeared to be the ideal day for cricket.
The temperature is expected to rise during the test, approaching 30 degrees, but it is unlikely to cause surface disruption. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to bowl first and take advantage of the conditions on day one if the pitch will flatten out rapidly and not break up deep into the Test. During McCullum’s tenure as coach, England has undoubtedly followed this pattern: teams have choose to field in 16 of 22 Test matches, winning nine of them and losing six.
During this time, England has won both of the Headingley Tests, overcoming Australia by 251 and New Zealand by 296. Robinson also made his debut as Headingley’s head groundskeeper at that Ashes Test.
However, in recent years, India hasn’t played much at Headingley. They had last played there in 2002, winning by an innings and forty-six runs, before their innings loss in 2021.