Manchester Pitch Report: England Great Shares Detailed Insights Into 4th Test Surface
Historically, Manchester has been home to scorching pace and threatening bounce. However, with the passage of time, Old Trafford has lost its mojo and has become a venue for slow-paced play over the past two years.
With the rain threat looming over the fourth Test of the five-match series, Harmison hopes that the weather gods unleash a drizzle at the venue to breathe life into the surface, which would offer much more for the pacers.
"Old Trafford, if it is going to rain anywhere and it hasn't rained in England for about three months, if it is going to rain anywhere, it will be Manchester as it always does. We could do with some rain because we could do with some lively surface," Harmsion said on ESPNcricinfo Match Day.
"The first-class pitches in Manchester in the last 18 months or two years haven't been like they were 10 or 15 years ago. They were bouncy pitches. They were hard and aggressive with a reverse swing. They are all very similar now. They are very slow, very flat," he added.
The 46-year-old pondered the best possible combination for both sides. He feels that, with the pitch likely to bear resemblance to the one at Edgbaston (second Test), the pitch is unlikely to bestow pace or bounce. In Birmingham, it was a run-scoring fest as India piled a monstrous 587 in the first innings and then declared at 427/6 in the second. On the final day, India enjoyed much more seam movement and eventually sealed a thumping 336-run victory.
"If there is a chance of playing with two spinners, you might play two spinners in Manchester. England won't because they have Liam Dawson. I think it will be a very similar wicket to what we have had at Edgbaston," he said.
"At Lord's, where the wicket will break up as the game goes on, and it will probably turn. But I don't see a lot of pace in it, I don't see a lot of bounce on it. I think it possibly could be a low-scoring affair," he added.
India's squad for fourth Test: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (VC & WK), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj.
England squad for the 4th Test against India: Ben Stokes (Captain), Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook, Brydon Carse, Zak Crawley, Liam Dawson, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jamie Smith, Josh Tongue, Chris Woakes.
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