THERE have been two innings played around the world in the past week that say a lot about the high-octane nature of modern Test cricket and even more about England’s also-ran status. Both were played by opening batsmen in the final sessions of the fourth days as their teams pursued daunting fourth-innings targets.

Virender Sehwag’s blitz in Chennai, which contained the fastest 50 by an opener in Tests, provided the platform for what will go down as one of the finest run-chases in history. Graeme Smith’s century in Perth against Australia yesterday did not come at quite such a pace but was still a tremendous counter-attacking innings. Smith brought a South Africa victory into the equation and at stumps the game remained very much in the balance.

In the past, no batsman would have dreamed of playing like Sehwag or Smith in such situations; all thought would have been about preserving wickets. But this is the way the game is now played by the best teams.

Look at the career strike-rates of three opening batsmen from India, South Africa and Australia: Sehwag scores his runs at 78.1 runs per 100 balls, Smith at 61.1 and Australia’s Matthew Hayden at 60.2. Compare these with some not-so-distant predecessors: Sunil Gavaskar’s tempo for India would have been in the low forties (precise figures for him are not available), Gary Kirsten’s strike-rate for South Africa was 43.4 and Australian Mark Taylor’s was 40.5.

It is no coincidence that the three best teams in the world today each possess such audacious openers. It is what makes them capable of turning matches around. It is also no coincidence that this is the type of player England lack — and have done since Marcus Trescothick retired.

This year, no leading Test team has scored slower, this despite six of their 12 matches being against one of the weaker sides, New Zealand. A list of the year’s fastest scorers is dominated by Indians, Australians and South Africans and contains only one Englishman, Kevin Pietersen.

England appeared to be making a statement when they picked Pietersen as captain, but it does not seem that they intend to play in his image. Others may be hammering along in the fast lane but England are firmly stuck in the slow one.

One of the major factors behind England’s defeat in the first Test was their failure to seize the initiative in the third innings. They scored 72 runs in the morning session and a paltry 57 in the afternoon. India bowled well with the old ball, but there was a lack of urgency to England’s play.

England must throw caution to the wind to realise their ambition of becoming world-beaters. If they seriously aspired to win the second Test in Mohali, they needed to respond to India’s 453 positively. No doubt if the situation had been reversed, India would have looked to quickly build a big first-innings score to put England under pressure.

This is Sehwag’s influence. Before he developed into the world’s most dangerous opener, India’s batsmen had a reputation for failing to grasp the bigger picture. With competition for places stiff, their own positions first needed to be secured and the pursuit of victories came second. But now they are approaching difficult tasks like the run-chase in Chennai with the confidence of Australia.

Aakash Chopra, who has known Sehwag as an opponent in schools cricket and a teammate for Delhi and India, says that when the two of them were learning the game, most boys were taught to respect the game’s conventions — all except Sehwag.

“We were taught that the only way to succeed was to score big runs and we believed that to do that we had to bat six, seven, eight hours with patience and a good technique, and play each ball on its merits,” he says. “When you hit the ball through the covers, it must go along the ground. But Viru was different. He had the talent, co-ordination and strength to hit the ball out of the park.”