England's white ball bowlers are revelling in their time to shine on pitches that are tilting the slogfests back in their favour.
First the Oval and then at Lord’s the batsmen have found life a little trickier than they’ve been used to over the last five years and it has shown in the scores. India’s Jasprit Bumrah picked up six wickets down south as England crumbled to 110 all out and Reece Topley hit back with six of his own on the northern ramparts of London to skittle the visitors for 146.
It means the series is tied up at 1-1 with a final clash at Old Trafford to come on Sunday, and for players who can often be seen as little more than bowling machines on flat pitches designed to encourage baseball style shootouts, the chance to star is more than welcome.
“A lot of the time in England we play on very good pitches,” said left armer David Willey who grabbed 1-27 from nine overs at Lord’s. "The scores are usually 300 plus and it’s hard being a bowler, but it’s important if there is a little bit of assistance we stand up and deliver for the team.
“We need to put the ball in the right area and get the most out of the pitch, which we did at Lord’s. We felt as a bowling unit that if we put the ball in the right area there’d be assistance so we looked for our best ball for as long as we could, and took our chances when they came along.
“It is about doing the simple things well, bowling in partnerships, keeping it tight, let them go nowhere and hopefully get the rewards. Toppers had a great day out. He’s a tall lad who gets extra bounce and bowls at a decent pace and he bowled beautifully.”
There was a time when Willey and Topley might have been competing for one spot as the left arm variety bowler, but with Sam Curran and David Payne also vying for selection, England are happy to keep them coming if they are good enough.
Willey was the man to miss out on the 2019 World Cup when Jofra Archer qualified for England just in time and admits he wasn’t bowling well enough to merit his place.
The aim for him and others now must be to show they are worthy of hanging on to their place when the likes of Archer, Chris Woakes and Mark Wood all return from injury to bolster the bowling stocks.
“I had a bit of a patch when I didn’t bowl as well around the time of the World Cup,” added the 32-year-old.
“I fell out of love with the game, and I’ve found my enjoyment and love again. When you have that, it makes you hungry to keep improving, expanding your game, and developing as a player.
“I am getting old. I come out and enjoy my cricket, and try to do the best job I can. In ODIs I am more experienced but trying to do the same job as when I first came in.”
