Are England really so much better than SA?
NATURALLY the inclination after a 211-run defeat is to wallow in the doldrums of fatalism.
Social media and even some ex-players were whispering after the Lord’s match that South Africa would now lose this series against England 4-0. In truth South Africa are not that bad, and in fact neither are England that good.
As former England captain Michael Vaughan mentioned, had South Africa taken all their chances on day one, England wouldn’t have gotten near their first innings total of 458. Coming into the series there were plenty of flaws apparent with South Africa’s batting, and what was perhaps most alarming was the manner with which they capitulated in the second innings. There was a real lack of fight and any kind of game plan to combat the England spinners.
There were so many flaws in that performance that it makes it hard to measure how good England are. In Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Ben Stokes they have a trio of world-class players. Moeen Ali has certainly improved as an all-rounder, although so tentative were the SA batsmen against his off-spin on Sunday, it’s worthwhile delaying elevating him into the echelons of the top tweakers in the modern game.
Stuart Broad and James Anderson remain two disciplined new-ball bowlers and Anderson is among the most skilful. However, despite those individual talents, to call this a great England side would be stretching it.
They do have a very good team structure. Those all-rounders, including keeper-batsman Jonny Bairstow, provide a lot of depth and versatility. “The combination we had (in the first Test) could play on a lot of wickets,” said England’s coach Trevor Bayliss. “We’re lucky that we have Stokes, Bairstow and Ali who can bat five, six and seven. That allows us to have three other pace bowlers and another spinner. Somewhere along the line, we could throw someone else in one of those positions, whether it is another batter, another pace bowler if we need one. It just gives us plenty of options.”
It’s a strengths, but it does not make England impossible to beat. In Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance, Liam Dawson and Mark Wood there are areas South Africa need to exploit better, thereby increasing the pressure on England’s star players.
Too much went wrong at Lord’s and the stupid mistakes there have to be eliminated. The return of Faf du Plessis will lift the spirits but there’s also been plenty of upheaval – for most of this tour actually – and the tragedy which has befallen Russell Domingo’s family will be felt by the players too.
Some elements of that dire performance at Lord’s are, as Du Plessis said, easily fixable and they really don’t have to look back too far to recall good times in the Test format. Before Lord’s the Proteas had won seven out of 11 Tests, suffering a single defeat in the day/ night Test in Adelaide.
There are significant challenges, and the retention of Aiden Markram – on a match-by-match basis – suggests he may be in line for a start at some stage. South Africa desperately needs stability at the top of the order, and they may be reluctant to throw a 22-year-old into the firing line. Heino Kuhn has earned his chance through good form back home over the last few seasons and then in this country for the SA A team, and should probably be retained for the second Test.
With Kagiso Rabada suspended, Du Plessis hinted at employing four seamers – thus adding Chris Morris and Duanne Olivier to the starting team – at a venue that has always been good for the fast bowlers. Shane Warne is the only spinner among the top 10 leading wicket-takers at Trent Bridge.
Playing four quicks will either require dropping a batsman – likely to to be Theunis de Bruyn – or spinner Keshav Maharaj, but Du Plessis enjoys the control that the left-arm spinner provides.
Angelo Mathews has stepped down as Sri Lanka captain in all three formats, following his side’s 3-2 ODI series loss to Zimbabwe.
Ravi Shastri, the former India allrounder and team director, has been appointed head coach of the national side until the 2019 World Cup. Zaheer Khan has been named bowling consultant, while Rahul Dravid will be India’s batting consultant for overseas Test series.