(Image source: X.com)
[Saba Sports News] In a bold call, England have given a unique touch to their preparations ahead of the five-match Test series against India as they have planned their arrival in the host country just three days before the first fixture.
Instead, the Ben Stokes-led side will travel to Abu Dhabi on Thursday for a nine-day training camp.
As reported by Daily Mail, The Three Lions will be gearing up for the India challenge in the world-class facilities of Abu Dhabi, where the pitches similar to the ones likely to be offered in India will be simulated.
“The facilities are ridiculously good,” former England spinner Graeme Swann said as quoted to Daily Mail.
“In that part of the world, they can give you what you want on request. If I said to the groundsman, ‘I’d like a day-nine Test pitch in India’, he was more than happy for me to go out there with my spikes on and create what England may well face.
“It’s brilliant. The way you’re able to prepare there is second to none and I wish we had it back in my day. We could never do the sort of training they do now. I wouldn’t accept at all that England will be under-done when they get to Hyderabad. They will arrive there ready to play in the first Test far more than if they had a tin-pot warm-up game in India,” he stated.
Moreover, as per the report, there are as many as 65 pitches and 22 outdoor turf nets spread across four grounds in Abu Dhabi, which can make the England players well-equipped to the Indian tracks.
“We don’t have specifics in terms of clay but all the wickets do have different behavioural results and then it’s up to England to decide what they best require. We’ve got a team of 20 ground staff who have been with us for the last six to seven years and good international expertise among our management,” informed Matthew Boucher, the CEO of Abu Dhabi Cricket.
“We talk to England and all our clients regularly to see how best we can provide the optimal surfaces and multi-sport offerings for their strength and conditioning teams. We hope to build on this. We have a good relationship with Afghanistan, for one, and we’re talking to other boards about camps and age-group cricket and that’s a big part of our future. Importantly, it’s a community facility now as well, as much as anything,” he mentioned.
The series will kick off on January 25 in Hyderabad.