Tensions escalated between India and England in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Lord’s last week. The confrontational atmosphere kicked off after a heated exchange between India skipper Shubman Gill and England opener Zak Crawley in the final moments of the third day, and stayed in the air throughout the final two days of England’s thrilling 22-run victory, which allowed them to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.
Ahead of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, England batter Harry Brook said that the several different flashpoints and the combative mood within the camp allowed the team to put the opposition under more pressure and added an element of ‘good fun’ to the hosts’ fielding efforts.
“We had a little chat and we thought, we’re a team so we may as well get together and give it back at them,” Brook said at a press conference in Manchester on Monday. “It put them under a little bit more pressure.”
“I’ve had a lot of compliments. Everybody said it was awesome to watch. It looked like it was 11 versus two out there while we were fielding. It was good fun… it was tiring but it made fielding a lot more enjoyable,” Brook added.
Brook would add that both teams fighting hard is what has made the series entertaining thus far. “India are such a good side, they can bounce back at any stage… every game we’ve played so far has gone into the last hour of the game, which you don’t see very often,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of people come up to me and say, this is a great series… and everybody said that the Lord’s game was one of the best that they have ever watched.”
The tensions went up a notch after Gill was sarcastically clapping at Crawley over what he felt were intentional delays at the end of the third day. Brook, as well as fast bowler Brydon Carse, would claim that was the moment when England decided to “give it back” to the hosts.
“We had a conversation on the evening of day three, when the Indian side was getting stuck into our two batters,” Carse told ESPNCricinfo. “That shifted the mentality and the mood of our whole group, that we were going to be right up for this and get stuck in.”
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And there were other moments where things came to a head too, from Mohammed Siraj’s angry reaction after taking Ben Duckett’s wicket on Day 4 to Carse himself colliding with Ravindra Jadeja – who was mounting a late comeback – while running between the wickets late on the fifth day.
Carse believes England needed the added fire to come out on top. “When you (are) playing Test cricket, with the crowd and the pressure and the emotion, and how much everyone wanted to win that game, I think it’s great,” he said. “There’s always obviously a line, and you don’t want to cross that line. But when you’re out on that field, and there’s 10 other blokes all fighting your corner, it’s pretty cool. And it’s what the game needed at that time.”
Carse was particularly proud of his late burst on day four, when he picked up the wickets of both Karun Nair and Gill to put India under pressure which eventually proved vital. “The atmosphere was incredible, the adrenaline was flowing. It was an incredibly crucial stage of the game that I was desperate to make an impact in, and I felt in good rhythm bowling that evening,” he said.
