FAF NEEDS TO WEIGH UP HIS OPTIONS CAREFULLY
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 will now lose this series with England 4-0. In truth South Africa are not that bad, and in fact neither is England that good.
As the 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 about the Lord’s match was the manner with which they capitulated in the second innings. It only lasted 36.4 overs and 151 minutes and there was a real lack of fight and any kind of game plan with which to combat the England spinners.
There were so many flaws in that South African 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 genuine world class players. Moeen Ali has certainly improved as an all-rounder, although so tentative were the South African 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 skillful. However, despite those individual talents, to call this a great England side would be stretching it – as is saying they’ll win the series 4-0.
What they have is a very good team structure. Those all-rounders, including wicket-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 Ben Stokes, Jonny 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 in 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.”
And that is one of England’s main strengths, but it does not make them a side that’s impossible to beat. And the South Africans need to understand that ahead of the second Test.
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 made there have to be eliminated. They will be emphasising that ad nauseam in the training sessions over the next few days.
While the return of Faf du Plessis will lift the spirits there’s also been plenty of upheaval in the camp – for most of this tour actually – and the tragedy which has befallen coach 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 the good times they’ve had in the Test format. Before Lord’s the Proteas had won seven out of 11 Tests, suffering a single defeat in the day/night dead rubber in Adelaide.
There are significant challenges that need to be addressed and the retention of Aiden Markram – onewhat’s being called a match-bymatch basis – suggests he may be in line for a start at some stage. South Africa desperately needs some stability at the top of the order, and there may be a reluctance to throw a 22-year-old kid into the firing line – somewhat unexpectedly for him. Heino Kuhn has earned his chance through some 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.
There are a number of options that need considering with the make up of the attack in the absence of the suspended Kagiso Rabada. 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 ten leading wicket-takers at Trent Bridge.
Playing four quicks will either require dropping a batsmen – likely to be Theunis de Bruyn – or spinner Keshav Maharaj, but that latter option is unlikely because Du Plessis enjoys that control that the left-arm spinner provides.