Leeds, August 10: Former captain Nasser Hussain has warned England not to doctor the pitch for the fifth and final Test at The Oval in its quest to regain the Ashes.
Hussain said England may play straight into Australia’s hands regardless of what sort of pitch is on offer in the final Test.
Oval curator Bill Gordon is likely to come under pressure from England to prepare a result pitch as a high-scoring surface would wreck the home side’s Ashes campaign.
Hussain suggested that a juicy, green-tinged pitch would favour Australia’s pacers while a dusty turner would not assist England. England’s spinners Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar produced a combined 1-246 on the Cardiff pitch for the first Test which was the venue expected to favour spin the most. ”Australia would be quite happy to turn up and see the pitch green at The Oval,” Hussain said. ”I suppose England would want an absolute dustbowl that turns from day one, if they want a result. ”But spinners don’t really work for England either,” said the former England skipper.
Another former England captain, Mike Atherton, pointed that England must not worry about the state of The Oval pitch and would be sidetracked if it does so.
”It shows what a quandary you are in when you are talking about these problems,” Atherton said. With England going down by an innings and 80 runs in the fourth Ashes Test here at Headingly, a lot of hopes would also rest on Andrew Flintoff’s availability for the final Test.
Medical staff have given no guarantees that the retiring all-rounder will be able to play a farewell Test and he cannot have any more painkillers in his surgically repaired right knee. Hussain also insisted that England must make a quick decision on Flintoff’s fitness to avoid the issue being a major distraction heading into the fifth Test. It was only on the night before the Headingly Test that Flintoff was ruled out of the match.
”They have to make that decision a little bit earlier this time,” Hussain said adding, ”Either rule him in or rule him out early.” Kevin Pietersen’s injury, which has already ruled him out of the Ashes, hasn’t helped the home team’s cause either and Flintoff remains a major worry as well.
Both Pietersen and Flintoff worsened their existing injuries in the Indian Premier League (IPL) in April, and Flintoff had to return home early from the tournament in South Africa to undergo a knee surgery.
—–Agencies