Former captain Michael Vaughan said he was “staggered” by England’s decision to field first after India piled on 359-3 on day one of the first Test at Headingley.
Despite hot temperatures and a pitch offering no obvious assistance to the bowlers, England captain Ben Stokes chose to bowl on winning the toss.
Stokes’ choice gave the opportunity for opposite number Shubman Gill to stroke an unbeaten 127, while opener Yashasvi Jaiswal cracked 101. In Stokes’ defence, Gill also admitted he would have bowled first.
But Vaughan, who played all of his domestic cricket for Yorkshire, told Test Match Special: “I am an old school traditionalist. Here at Leeds, when the sun is shining, with dry weather, you bat.”
England have made a habit of fielding first since Stokes became captain in 2022.
In nine previous home Tests in which England have won the toss in that period, they have batted first only once. From those nine matches, they have won six and probably would have had a seventh had it not been for rain in Manchester during the fourth Ashes Test of 2023.
Recent history also favours fielding first at Headingley. The previous six Tests on this ground were won by the team that fielded first.
There can be justification for fielding first in good batting conditions. In order to win a Test, a team needs to bowl the opposition out twice, and therefore gives themselves the maximum amount of time to do that by fielding first.
Some pitches also get better for batting as a Test progresses, making a run chase in the fourth innings the best time to score runs.
Vaughan, who famously captained England to victory in the 2005 Ashes, believes Stokes should have given more credence to conditions on Friday morning when he made his decision.
“You always have to pick your decisions on that moment, and not things that you did here years ago or at other times. It can’t affect what the decision is today,” he said.
“You look at the England side and their strength is in the batting. And there is inexperience in the bowling at the moment. Ben clearly had a gut feeling, and sometimes it has worked.”
England’s fast bowling consultant Tim Southee explained the decision was partly affected by the green colour of the pitch on Thursday.
“With the colour of the wicket yesterday, and a little bit of moisture left in it if there was a little bit of help in it, it was probably going to be this morning,” said the New Zealander. “That was the thinking behind the decision.
“You look at the surface and make the decision on what you think will give you the best chance. Not all the time do you get it right.”
There are infamous examples of England captains choosing to field first, only for the decision to backfire.
Nasser Hussain did so in the first Ashes Test against Australia in Brisbane in 2002 and England never recovered. David Gower inserted the Australians on this ground in 1989, only for the tourists to rack up 601-7 declared.
In contrast, Stokes himself asked New Zealand to bat first at Trent Bridge in 2022. The Black Caps piled on 553, but England completed a fourth-innings run chase courtesy of Jonny Bairstow, the first example of ‘Bazball’.
Therefore, the wisdom of Stokes’ decision in this Test will be revealed over the following four days and will be heavily influenced by how England plays India’s pace-bowling maestro Jasprit Bumrah.
“It was a good pitch, so it’s not easy to restrict runs,” said Vaughan. “Ben Stokes is still positive and he will come back tomorrow saying let’s get seven wickets.
“We won’t know that for sure until we see Jasprit Bumrah bowl on it. He can bowl you out with anything. Until I see that, I will hold my judgement on how flat this pitch is.”(BBC Sport)
