An England Test match will start on a Saturday for the first time since 1955 this weekend, and the hosts can be confident of wrapping up the series against India at one of their happier hunting grounds.
The preamble has been dominated by one man in particular, but England will be focused on establishing an unassailable 3-0 lead against the world’s No 1 ranked side by extending their fine recent record in Nottingham.
Ben Stokes will be afforded a hero’s welcome if he makes a sensational return, but Joe Root will hope his presence serves only to spur his team-mates on to create more memories at one of England’s favourite venues.
England vs India
August 18, 2018, 10:00am
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From the unforgettable 2005 finale as the Ashes were regained for the first time in 16 years, to Eoin Morgan’s Test best 130 and James Anderson’s 11-71 in the 354-run thrashing of Pakistan in 2010, Trent Bridge has seen plenty of magic moments.
While England’s overall record stands at 37 victories to 30 losses, the hosts have significantly improved on those figures in recent times, losing just four Tests at the ground since the turn of the century.
Most notably, it was here that England secured the Ashes in 2015, and their potent pace attack thrive under such swing conducive conditions.
At 36, Anderson remains England’s evergreen record-breaker who will relish another outing at one of his favourite grounds. His nine wickets at Lord’s indicates another superlative bowling performance awaits the Nottingham crowd.
It was at Trent Bridge in 2014 when he and Root amassed the best last-wicket stand in Test history against India, surpassing the previous highest of 163 by Australia’s debutant No 11 Ashton Agar and the late Phil Hughes, curiously at the same ground 12 months earlier.
That was Anderson’s first senior half-century, but it is with ball in hand that he has starred most often. Sixty of his 553 Test wickets have come at the venue – where his average is just 18.95 – and the Lancashire seamer has enjoyed seven five-wicket hauls, more than he has achieved at any other ground.
The tourists will be aware they are one of just four teams to emerge victorious in the past 18 years, so they will have no fear as Virat Kohli fights to keep the series alive following his biggest Test defeat as captain.
But Nottingham has become a fortress since India’s seven-wicket victory in July 2007, with England losing just once in eight Tests – last summer’s 340-run loss to South Africa.
Prior to that defeat, England had only lost twice in 10 Test matches, winning seven with one draw.
England’s recent Trent Bridge record
| June 2008 | New Zealand | England won by an innings and nine runs |
| July-August 2010 | Pakistan | England won by 354 runs |
| July-August 2011 | India | England won by 319 runs |
| May 2012 | West Indies | England won by nine wickets |
| July 2013 | Australia | England won by 14 runs |
| July 2014 | India | Match drawn |
| August 2015 | Australia | England won by an innings and 78 runs |
| July 2017 | South Africa | England lost by 340 runs |
There has been just one draw since August 2002 – India’s last visit to the ground in July 2014 – and the erection of buildings tall enough to cut off any breeze has led to a noticeable increase in swing.
Few can forget the Ashes Test in 2015, when Australia were skittled out for 60 on day one. A memorable spell from hometown hero Stuart Broad left the tourists in tatters as England sealed the series thanks to his figures of 8-15 in the first innings.
Root’s career-defining century in response helped England to 391, while Stokes was the architect of the Baggy Green’s downfall in the second innings, his figures of 6-36 helping the hosts to victory by an innings and 78 runs.
India will hope for a turn in fortunes with rookie Kuldeep Yadav returning to the scene of his best performance on the tour so far, having picked up a six-wicket haul in the first ODI.
But the Queen of the Midlands has seen plenty of joy for England even beyond the red-ball format, with their last 17 matches here on the ODI circuit yielding 10 victories, one draw and just six defeats.
While India will take confidence from their eight-wicket triumph at the ground earlier in the summer, only rain is likely to thwart a result. They will have their work cut out to leave Trent Bridge with the series still in the balance.
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