It was 25 years ago that Mark Butcher scored a monumental 173 not out in England’s successful chase against Australia in the Headingley Test. He scored seven other Test hundreds, some of them against the most fearsome attacks. He is now a popular commentator and sharp analyst of the game. Excerpts from Butcher’s exclusive interview with The Hindu at Lord’s:

Your comparison of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi with Garry Sobers earlier this year got a lot of attention. It was fascinating, how you proved, through the help of visuals, the similarities in the bat swing, hand speed…

I watched him make that 175 [off 80 balls] in the Under-19 World Cup final [against England at Harare]. I was struck by that incredible, long, high backlift, the huge follow-through, the complete circle almost where the bat finishes around, tapping him on the spine. You know, Sobers used to hit a lot of shots with his feet together. He would play full balls almost off the back foot. And Sooryavanshi can hit them like that too.

Even if his career ends up not reaching the expectations that other people have, which I think is very unlikely, he has still in the IPL done something that all of the greatest players up until now have never, ever done: none of them have managed to score at a strike-rate of 230, hit that many sixes, be that consistent in the entirety of the IPL. It is still one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen.

Today’s youngsters are exposed to T20 from the beginning, whereas when I was very young, it was Test matches. They grow up thinking about batting very much in a hyper aggressive mode. These younger guys can do things at their age that we wouldn’t have dreamt of at ours.

ALSO READ | Garry Sobers: cricket’s greatest — a legacy beyond numbers

Yes, even Sachin Tendulkar didn’t hit as many sixes, for all his genius. Sooryavanshi is a product of the T20 era of cricket.

Correct. So he will have to learn the game the other way around. He will have to learn how to bat time, to defend. In our generation, it was the opposite. We would have to spend a lot of time learning how to hit the ball.

How do you recall your masterpiece — 173 not out in 2001?

My main memory is about that summer, really. I wasn’t expecting to play Test cricket again. I got an opportunity and I played 42 Tests in a row. I had completely changed my game.

Your father helped, didn’t he?

That is right. The biggest thing I remember is the relationship I had with my dad in the winter of 2001. I called him and said, ‘Dad, I am hating playing cricket.’ Something that I had always loved. Now I was hating it. And I said to him — ‘Treat me as though I have never played the game before.’ So we went right back to the beginning. He really taught me how to hold the bat, how to stand, the whole thing. We changed my grip. We changed my stance. We changed my backlift. Everything. We went back to zero. Like I was five years old. And we worked like that for about three months. And then I luckily got back into the team. I had made a few runs playing for Surrey. A few injuries in the England camp before the Ashes started, and I got in.

How much does that knock, which came against Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Jason Gillespie, mean to you?

Ah, it was huge. You wouldn’t be talking to me if it hadn’t been for that. And I wouldn’t be working in TV either. So that innings changed everything. It was the greatest day.

And how was the coach’s reaction?

I know my dad was in tears when [BBC] Test Match Special called him up.

The players you like to watch these days?

I actually love watching K.L. Rahul. I think he is a sensational player. Really classy. Harry Brook is fabulous to watch when he is in. Joe Root, too. And Travis Head — you can’t take your eyes off the screen when he is batting.

You have played against some of the greatest bowlers in history. Who were the most challenging among them?

Blimey! Curtly Ambrose. Him and Courtney Walsh. And then you had, obviously, Shane Warne. Glenn McGrath. Murali [Muttiah Muralitharan].

Among the Indians?

Harbhajan [Singh] and [Anil] Kumble, on those tracks.

And the batters you admired?

[Brian] Lara was sort of the king around about those times. Fellow left-hander, so I greatly admired him. Then the guys like [Ricky] Ponting, Sachin [Tendulkar], obviously. I remember applauding Ricky from second slip at the WACA, much to the annoyance of Nasser Hussain, who was standing next to me at slip. He glared at me. I was just standing there going, ‘Oh man, that’s good’. There were a lot of great players around, like the South Africans, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith.

Is there cause for concern about the future of Test cricket?

Yeah, of course, there is. What you would like is to have eight to ten teams who are competing on a level playing field. If only England, Australia and India are playing each other, the game is starting to eat itself, you know.

Eventually, one of the great things about all of the series that go around is that you are anticipating and you are excited about the idea about playing this team at this venue. But if it is the same three teams the whole time, it is not that exciting.

What has happened in the modern era is that the gap between the countries that have plenty of finances and the rest has got wider. The competition has perhaps thinned out a little bit in recent times. And that is a huge shame, that finances have meant that a lot of countries, the West Indies, being the most obvious example simply because of their dominance [in the past], have suffered.

South Africa are kind of hanging in there. They are still producing a lot of players and they still manage just about to keep enough of their most talented players to play Tests. But in places like Sri Lanka and the West Indies, they find it very difficult to keep their best players who disappear off to earn more money playing T20. And that is a problem for the world game.

The First Class game and the structures that produce Test Match cricketers are strong in some places and not very strong at all in others.

Your thoughts on Bazball?

I have been critical of it at times. In the game of cricket, the Test match is the game. And they tried to do something that was going to take the game to a different place. But Test match cricket kind of fought against it a little bit. Because when it came down to it, in the big games against the likes of India and Australia, it didn’t work. And so, Test match cricket is kind of greater than any idea that people might have around how you play it.

And Test cricket is the greatest form of sport.

It is. The sport itself dictates to you what is necessary. And if you push too hard, the game will bite you back. And that is what happened. There is as much pleasure to be taken from a really hard-fought draw sometimes as there is from smashing it all over the park.

ALSO READ | Cricket World Cup – Will expansion lead to elevation?

The women got to play a Test at Lord’s, finally.

This has come about because the world has decided, well, you know, this is a great game of cricket, right? Why would we want to stop 50% of the world’s population from enjoying and playing the sport that we think is a great sport? And so that opportunity is now there and what you are seeing is a product of that.

Players in the women’s game that you enjoy watching?

I like Smriti Mandhana’s batting. She is just an incredibly graceful player. So easy on the eye. Very, very lovely to watch. She plays pace and spin equally well. She reminds me of David Gower, in fact. Harmanpreet Kaur is very good to watch, too. And Jemimah Rodrigues is a fine technician.

Besides cricket, music is your other passion. And you had the opportunity of performing with Sarah Brightman, one of the greatest voices of our time.

It was good fun, singing some of Sarah’s favourite songs on live television. It was kind of nerve-racking, but it was good.

That day is still fresh in memory. Because that innings is fresh in memory.

The winter was setting in at Raipur. The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh Stadium, some 20 kms away from the city, looked more imposing than usual as it was virtually empty. There were hardly any spectators for the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy back in 2022.

It was a pity that Yastika Bhatia’s unbeaten 99 for India-D against India-C was watched only by a few. It was a masterclass in T20 batting. She was technically correct, played proper cricketing shots, chose the right balls to hit, and struck at a rate of 162.

The only thing she got wrong was counting the balls: otherwise, she would have completed her century. She may have missed the hundred by just one run, but those who watched that innings may not have forgotten it in a hurry. It remains one of the very best in the domestic game over the last few years. Yastika, it was obvious, would go far.

She may have taken her time, but she has gone far. All the way to the Lord’s honours board, in fact. The 25-year-old became the first woman to reach there by scoring a Test century.

The hundred consisted of all those elements which the Raipur innings had: technique, lovely shots, and ability to choose the right balls to hit. Of course, the occasion was bigger. It was a Test match, that too a historic one — the first-ever women’s Test at cricket’s more revered venue. The bowling was much stronger: the Laurens — Bell and Filer — with their seam speciality, another quick in Issy Wong and spinners in Sophie Ecclestone and Mady Villiers.

Crucial performance

Yastika’s 113 helped India declare its second innings with the bowlers assured of four sessions in their bid to bundle England out. They needed only two and Indian women’s cricket recorded one of its greatest triumphs of all time — a Test win at Lord’s by 270 runs.

It was the greatest moment in Yastika’s professional life. “The best is yet to come,” she would say. But, this one will remain special for several reasons, and we are not just talking about the Lord’s honours board. This was her first-ever century for India. It came after a terrible ACL injury and the long, difficult rehabilitation process.

Shortly after the Test, in which she also kept wickets, Yastika looked back at that tough period. She was honest and spoke at length. Her face and eyes told what she had gone through. “I started from scratch after the injury,” said the southpaw. “For the first two months after the surgery, I took total rest. From there, I had to come back. All the muscles in my left leg had been lost in those two months. So after that, I had to start afresh.”

The rehabilitation stage began afterwards. “Each muscle you have to train for… the muscles around the knee,” she said. “And then slowly there would be progress. Not in one or two days, surely. It was very frustrating to miss out on big tournaments (including the ODI World Cup that India went on to win at home).”

Yastika, however, remained confident. “I had the belief in myself that I could come back from this injury,” she said. “The people around me also helped me keep a very positive frame of mind. I was able to do rehab one day at a time.”

What did she first do when she finally got to the ground at last? “I was keeping wickets. I just did catching practice, there was no batting; I was very happy. That day, I was like a little kid smiling the whole day. I was glad that I could keep after four months. Those moments are priceless; I felt the love of the game again. Whatever setbacks you have, how deep that setback is… the love for the game, the belief in yourself — those are very, very crucial,” she said. “That will help you to come out from rock bottom and rise once again.”

Support system

The top-order batter is grateful to those who stood by her during those difficult days. “A lot of people have helped me behind the scenes,” she said.

“My family — my mother, father and sister — they have been the biggest support. My coaches and trainers back home and also the support staff and teammates here in England… they have all backed me. And those at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE), where I underwent the rehab… the surgeons, doctors who took care of my surgery. All of them played a crucial role. My comeback wouldn’t have been possible without them.”

Then there is a familiar name — Smriti Mandhana, the fellow stylish left-hander with whom Yastika shared a crucial second-wicket partnership in the second innings at Lord’s. Smriti, who had also gone through the trauma of an ACL injury, had some advice for her teammate.

“I had a conversation with Smriti. She just looked at me and said: ‘This is going to be a turning point in your career,’” Yastika recalled. “She said that because she had faced similar injuries or setbacks. She had learned so much about everything… little, little things in rehab and in cricket. It completely changed her. She said that my entire mindset, too, would change.

“She said: ‘Your game will go to a different level.’ She could sense that. We had a few chats during my rehab; the other players were at a camp. I was a little nervous about how things would go. But she said: ‘Keep doing your hard work. You are a sincere kid. You are a good human. Just keep working hard and your time will come one day.’”

That day did come. Smriti was there at Lord’s to watch it from the sidelines and had been with Yastika out in the middle for a large part of her innings.

It was lovely to watch both of them bat together. Smriti is among the most stylish batters in women’s cricket. Yastika, too, is elegant and can play gorgeous strokes.

And Yastika loves batting with Smriti. “You learn so much from her,” she said. “Her mindset is very good: she always thinks positively and takes on the bowlers, but in a subtle way. I always look up to her. We have good camaraderie and I enjoy batting with her.”

A moment to remember

Looking back at her historic century, Yastika said: “It is unbelievable because I was in a very different place six months ago. If you had told me that I would have my name on the honours board at Lord’s, I wouldn’t have believed it. But I was taking small steps to that place and I have worked really hard. My family’s support has been there since the beginning.”

More than her hundred, she wanted to ensure India had enough runs on the board. “We had to make a big score at a good rate so that we would have enough time to take England’s 10 wickets,” said Yastika. “That was on my mind. I always play my best when I play for the team. I never think about my own score. Playing for the country is a matter of pride. You must have seen my celebration; I kissed the flag on my helmet. I am proud that I could do it for my country.”

She could serve the country with both gloves — the batting as well as keeping ones — for years to come. Her class has to be acknowledged, and she deserves a long run.

Interestingly, Yastika is not part of the squad for the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, starting September 19. She is the only player to be dropped from the team that played at the T20 World Cup in England, where India was knocked out in the group stage.

India’s Yastika Bhatia celebrates as she runs between the wickets after reaching her hundred during day three of the first Women’s Test match at Lord’s cricket ground in London, on July 12, 2026.
| Photo Credit: AP

In the first week of June, a men’s Test between England and New Zealand lasted just 166 overs, prompting unpleasant comments about the variable bounce of the Lord’s surface. While no curator intentionally sets up bad wickets, what does go wrong when a pitch goes wrong?

What is a pitch made of?

A cricket pitch is clay, water, and grass. The clay supplies the hardness, the grass provides the strength, and the water determines its pace.

Clay is a type of heavy soil composed mainly of aluminosilicate minerals. Clay particles are very small and flat, allowing them to slide past each other when they’re wet or harden and bond when they’re dry.

Curators generally choose between two main types of clay: black and red. Black soil mainly has smectite and montmorillonite minerals. It is common in Australia and parts of India. It is stickier and harder when dry, creating the wide cracks seen on day-5 pitches. But because the particles bind so tightly, the pitches can offer pace and bounce.

Red soil, more common in Chennai and some Caribbean islands, consists of kaolinite and illite. It doesn’t crack as dramatically but tends to break into smaller, finer particles more quickly, leading to rough surfaces that help the ball grip for spin and facilitate reverse swing sooner in a match.

How is a pitch laid?

Curators begin by selecting and laying the soil to contain clay. In the U.K., pitch loams are typically 25-35% clay; this together with higher silt levels encourage the seaming conditions famous in England. In Australia, the soil can exceed 60% clay, creating the bounce of Perth and Brisbane. According to former pitch curator P.R. Viswanathan, the clay content in India is usually 50-60%.

Curators also use heavy rollers, weighing a few hundred kilograms to over a tonne, to apply a large amount of pressure when the soil has just the right amount of moisture, forcing the clay particles into their most packed arrangement.

Since a heavily rolled pitch will be smooth, a ball striking the surface will suffer less friction and retain more kinetic energy. This is part of why Curtly Ambrose was able to pick up seven wickets for just one run in a spell against Australia in Perth in 1993.

Finally, below the 100-150 mm of the wicketing layer lies the base. It usually consists of a layer of silt or sandy loam, then a layer of gravel or crushed stone. The base can’t be too soft or it will absorb the ball’s energy. If it is too hard, the pitch can heave or become uneven. Consistent bounce also requires the clay layer to be bonded to the base underneath.

In many modern multipurpose stadiums, curators develop pitches in large steel trays away from the stadium and drop them in before a season begins. Since they lack a natural soil profile, they sometimes develop more predictable bounce.

What effect does water have?

To wet a pitch, according to the U.K. Grounds Management Association, curators use a process called deep saturation several days before a match to ensure moisture penetrates about 75-100 mm down, allowing the clay to settle and pack. This could take a day or more. Then the water is allowed to evaporate, so that capillary action pulls moisture up from deeper and dries the pitch uniformly.

The bounce comes from the soil’s elasticity. A hard, bone-dry surface like Perth is highly elastic because it returns nearly all the energy to the ball, allowing it to climb. But on a damp pitch, moisture reduces friction and the ball skids through — but the water also softens the clay, reducing its elasticity and forcing the ball to stay low.

Recently, the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) pioneered a technique called soil-steaming to remove pests attacking the grass’s roots at Lord’s. A contractor injected superheated steam into the soil square, killing harmful microbes and weeds to several centimetres without any chemical residue. Once the roots were healthy again, the thinking went, the clay would bind better to render a more bouncy surface.

However, ESPNCricinfo reported the steaming efforts appeared “to have had minimal positive effect on the evidence of the first two days” of the England-New Zealand contest.

What role does grass play?

Aside from sinking roots into the pitch that reinforce the soil, blades of grass above the surface — which curators typically cut to be 3-5 mm high, according to pitch consultant Andy Atkinson — provide friction against the ball. In particular, the blades interact with the ball’s seam: if the pitch is lush, the seam can ‘grip’ the blades and deviate sideways.

But if curators have shaved the grass off, the seam would catch almost nothing. However, as the game wears on and one side of the ball becomes scuffed, the pitch will also increase friction on the leather and allow the ball to reverse-swing.

Grass also helps control the pitch’s wetness as its roots draw water from deeper soil layers and release it through the leaves. This can help ensure the pitch isn’t like a moist cake with a hard crust.

The Sabina Park Test match in 1998 was abandoned after only 10.1 overs because, from the same spot on the pitch, balls bowled by the West Indies quicks either reared sharply at the England batters or skidded fast and low. The inquiries that followed concluded that the pitch hadn’t fully settled before the match and may have been like the aforementioned cake.

Why does a pitch deteriorate?

For all the control curators exercise, a cricket pitch is a living, changing thing — an aspect most pronounced during a Test. After curators lay a pitch for the opening day, they anticipate the sun, the humidity, and the winds will shape its devolution over the next 450 overs.

The manner of decay depends on the clay, according to the 2023 book Cricket Pitches: The Science Behind the Art of Pitch-Making. On a black-soil pitch, the clay will pull apart into islands: if a ball hits the edge of one of these cracks, it can behave dangerously. A red-soil pitch deteriorates more uniformly: the top layer turns to powder, scuffing the ball’s leather and allowing spinners to find more purchase even sans large cracks.

A good example of ‘controlled deterioration’ was the Australia v. South Africa women’s Test at Perth in 2024: curator Isaac McDonald ensured the pitch dried slowly, allowing the clay to settle into dense blocks rather than crack. Second, his team maintained a slim carpet of live grass on the pitch, preventing the top surface from breaking up into dust.

On the other hand, the bounce troubles at Lord’s often stem from the U.K. soils’ clay shortfall; the clay particles also don’t bind very durably. If the weather is also inconsistent, the pitch can develop soft spots under a hard crust, resulting in variable bounce.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has announced that the iconic Lord’s stadium in London will host a women’s Test for the first time ever in 2026 when England face India. Since the inception of Women’s game in 1936, Lord’s has never hosted a Test match. ECB made the announcement in their recently released 2025 men’s and women’s international home schedule. “It has also been confirmed that India Women will return in 2026 for a one-off Test match at Lord’s – the first-ever Women’s Test to be staged at the Home of Cricket. England Women have played white-ball matches at Lord’s for the past three years to record crowds of up to 21,610, with another scheduled next year, but it will be the first time the ground has hosted a Women’s Test match,” the ECB said in a statement.

“I played 15 Tests for England during my career but none of those were at Lord’s,” said England women’s great Claire Taylor, the chair of MCC’s cricket committee.

“So I’m delighted at this news and most importantly for the players who’ll make history playing in this fixture in 2026. 

“Young girls playing up and down the country can now aspire to play Test match cricket at the Home of Cricket. It is a clear demonstration that cricket is a game for all.”

But the 2025 season will see the England women’s side go without a home Test for the second successive year.

Both West Indies’ men’s and women’s sides will visit for white-ball series between May and June, with three Twenty20 internationals and three one-day internationals for each series.

England men’s white-ball sides will host South Africa in September, before travelling to Ireland at the end of the month.

Also, after a gap of more than two decades, England will play a men’s Test match against Zimbabwe next year.

The one-off match, England’s first against Zimbabwe since 2003, will take place at Trent Bridge in Nottingham starting on May 22.

“To be welcoming Zimbabwe back for a men’s Test Match will be a historic moment, more than 20 years since their last visit,” said ECB chief executive Richard Gould after the international fixtures for England’s 2025 home season were published.

“Test cricket is so beloved in this country, and we know that we have an important role to play in supporting developing Test cricketing nations so that this format of the game thrives long into the future.”

The Zimbabwe match will be followed by five Tests against India starting at Headingley, Leeds, on June 20.

The fifth Test against India, scheduled to end on August 4, is the last Test England will play before they bid to regain the Ashes in a 2025/26 series in Australia.

(With AFP Inputs)