It could still be a worthy climax to a classic contest but an air of uncertainty, gloom and confusion hung over Old Trafford on Thursday as England were left waiting to discover whether they would even get the chance on Friday to try to square the series.
The news that India were confined to their Manchester hotel and had cancelled training after a fourth member of their backroom staff tested positive for Covid was a potential hammer blow both for the capacity crowds expected here and the game.
That left England, described by one member of the coaching staff as ‘wilting’ after a brutal schedule of four Tests in the last month, going through the motions ahead of today’s final Test and awaiting the results of another set of India PCR tests.
England are relieved after India’s players returned negative PCR tests following Covid chaos
A fourth member of India’s backroom staff tested positive for Covid, and the players were then confined to their hotel
Thankfully the nightmare scenario was avoided on Thursday night when it emerged all the players PCR tests had come back negative.
But it is a narrow escape for the game and clearly India coaches and players were irresponsible to attend a book launch at a London hotel outside their bubble, as revealed by Sportsmail, two days before the fourth Test at the Oval.
That decision annoyed ECB when it emerged India coach Ravi Shastri and two of his staff had tested positive and, with the latest positive to physio Yogesh Parmar, it is one that would have had dire financial consequences had the outbreak spread to their playing group. Incredibly, considering four members of the backroom staff have been affected, it has not.
It did not improve the governing body’s mood either to hear the suggestion swirling around Old Trafford on Thursday that India were reluctant to play in this final Test, preferring instead to prioritise keeping their players healthy for the resumption of the IPL.
The decision to attend a book launch annoyed the ECB when it emerged India coach Ravi Shastri was positive
All England could do was train as well as they could for a crucial game, with the returning vice-captain Jos Buttler saying on Thursday: ‘At the moment we’re expecting the game to go ahead and we’re preparing that way. So fingers crossed.’
Buttler’s optimism was just about justified but England have plenty of problems on top of trying to avenge their heavy defeat at the Oval because it seemed on Thursday as if they were close to breaking point.
Top of their list of issues is having to nurse what’s left of their over-worked and depleted attack, notably Jimmy Anderson and Ollie Robinson, through one more game in mid-September in a schedule that is not fit for purpose.
Anderson, who has played little part in practice over the last two days to protect his 39-year-old body, was seen in a long conversation with captain Joe Root and coach Chris Silverwood at nets before undergoing some light jogging around the outfield.
England have their own problems with all-rounder Craig Overton struggling with a side issue
The odds are on him playing on Friday, not least because there is no Test at Old Trafford next year and it could be his last chance to run in from the end that bears his name for England. Robinson, too, is expected to play but whether both are at their best remains to be seen.
There seems less chance of Craig Overton, who is struggling with a side problem, being fit, but he might have been left out anyway. Mark Wood stands by to replace him on a messy looking, cracked and dry Old Trafford pitch with very little signs of grass. Not exactly what England would have wanted for a must-win Test.
England on Thursday had not ruled out playing a second spinner in Jack Leach or even using him as their sole slow bowler at the expense of Moeen Ali despite Root’s insistence on Wednesday that Moeen is now the No1.
But it is more likely Leach misses out and the only other change to the England line-up beaten at the Oval will see Buttler returning after his brief paternity leave and the unfortunate Jonny Bairstow left out again.
England had not ruled out playing Jack Leach (left) at the expense of Moeen Ali (right)
It still seems harsh on Bairstow to go from keeper-batsman at the Oval to the sidelines at Old Trafford even though he has not exactly grabbed his latest opportunity in the Test team with both hands. He averages 26 in this series to Buttler’s 14.
But there was little sympathy from the man who has grabbed the gloves back when he was asked if he could understand Bairstow’s frustration. ‘Yes I guess I can,’ said Buttler. ‘But I’m not a selector, I’m not the captain and I don’t pick the team so maybe those questions should be aimed elsewhere.’
Buttler’s frostiness epitomised the mood in an England camp with two considerable clouds hanging over them on top of the uncertainty of this final Test.
Frustration over the lack of information on conditions that await them in Australia this winter is growing, as reported by Sportsmail on Thursday, and the players are anxiously awaiting an update from ECB.
Cricket Australia are desperate for the Ashes show to go on but there remains a very real possibility of a number of England players refusing to go unless both they and their families will not face long spells in quarantine and bio-secure bubble life.
Jos Buttler will return after his brief paternity leave which saw him miss the Oval defeat
And the worst scenario for both Cricket Australia, who desperately need the money an Ashes series brings, and the ECB is the whole England playing camp making a collective decision to pull out. Unlikely but not totally out of the question.
‘I don’t think there’s much information to base any decisions on at the moment so I can’t really answer any questions about it,’ said Buttler. ‘As a group we don’t know exactly what it looks like yet. Everyone is just waiting for more clarity and we need information as soon as possible because it’s going to sneak up on us quite fast now.’
Perhaps the biggest cloud of all remains the unavailability of Ben Stokes who was on Thursday officially ruled out of the Twenty20 World Cup.
Clearly, England do not expect him to be back for the Ashes either with Silverwood and even his team-mates having had very little contact with him as they give him space to deal with his mental health.
No-one has any idea when England’s talisman will be back and that is a sobering thought on what has been, despite the good news of India’s negative tests, a sobering day for English cricket.
It seems harsh on Jonny Bairstow to go from keeper at the Oval to the Manchester sidelines