Why home advantage has lost its sting in Test series.

“The tour is only a matter of hours old, but the wry thought occurs to me that reputations will almost certainly be destroyed in the next few months.”

- HARRY LATHAM-COYLE

The pessimistic, pithy aside of Geoffrey Boycott in his chronicles of England’s 1981 tour of the West Indies, Life in the Fast Lane, serves as a useful guide to the challenges of an overseas Test series.

Virtually since Test cricket began, it has been easy for touring players to take a defeatist view – making their way by sea or, latterly, air to far-flung lands, many a cynical travelling international cricketer has known they are on little more than a hiding to nothing.

For historically, the odds were stacked vastly in favour of the hosting teams. Be it friendly umpires, knowledge of conditions or merely the comforts of home, only twice in Test history have visiting sides won more than 40 per cent of their matches across a calendar year.

If the first of these, 2021, can partly be explained by the peculiarities of a pandemic, the fact that 2024 is the other requires deeper examination. For something strange is happening. In this World Test Championship cycle, Australia have swept a series in New Zealand. New Zealand have done likewise in India. India won in South Africa. South Africa won in Bangladesh. Bangladesh won in Pakistan. Pakistan won in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka upset England at The Oval; the West Indies stunned Australia in Brisbane.

These would not seem to be bugs in the system but a sizeable shift in the patterns of an age-old game. While great teams of the past (Lloyd’s West Indies, Waugh and Ponting’s Australia) have been exceptions that prove the rule. These are teams in varying states and varied conditions nonetheless disproving the adage of sustained success away from home being close to impossible.