James Anderson mentioned that their pretty mediocre performances might have been influenced by the Dukes ball’s condition as well as the pitches. He acknowledged that he found it frustrating to watch the third Test from the stands as players on both teams kept criticising the ball’s shape.
“It was like, ‘get on with the game’! But that’s the real frustration, they go out of shape so quickly, they go so soft, they don’t really swing,” he said. “There’s obviously something fundamentally wrong, something about the ball and it’s annoying to keep on changing it. I’m sure the umpires will be annoyed as well.”
England destroyed New Zealand 3-0 on flat fields with the ball losing shape and appearing to be in good form. However, it doesn’t work particularly well for the fifth Test against India, which gives them a chance to tie the series that was put on hold since 2021. Even though India has many injury issues to deal with, easier batting conditions might be helpful.
“You have to just keep trusting yourself and tell yourself to bowl your best ball and hope they make a mistake, hope that one of the balls that goes in the air goes to hand, or they nick one or something,”