Rookie risk gives new England a fragile look
England could blood as many as three debutants against South africa as The Oval celebrates its 100th Test. But they should be under no illusions: over the next few days, south london will be no place for sentimentality.
Tom Westley of Essex will bat at no 3, while Middlesex’s Toby Roland- Jones replaces injured bowler Mark Wood. and if England decide the pitch won’t offer much to the spinners, dawid Malan — also of Middlesex — will elbow out liam dawson.
South africa, though, feel as if they are on a roll after their punishing 340-run win at Trent Bridge, and captain Faf du Plessis is not about to welcome the newcomers with a kiss and a cuddle.
So far this summer his team have had a look at all three. Westley made a century for England lions against a South african line-up missing only Vernon Philander from the side that will play at The Oval, but that innings elicited a back-handed compliment from du Plessis.
‘Well done to him for getting a hundred,’ he said. ‘ But I can promise you the intensity of a warm- up game versus a Test match... he will play against a different attack here.’
as for Roland- Jones’s solitary 50- over cap, against the South africans at lord’s in late May, du Plessis opted for qualified praise. ‘He bowled pretty well that game,’ he said, before adding: ‘It was a very seamer-friendly game.’ Quite so: after five overs, England found themselves 20 for six.
Malan, too, has won a single international cap, thrashing a memorable 78 off 44 balls to set up a win in the deciding Twenty20 game against South africa at Cardiff last month.
But in each case, a high-stakes Test — with the series all square at 1-1 with two to play — will be another world altogether.
and the possibility of a third successive series defeat at home by South africa ought to leave England contemplating the wisdom of fielding three debutants in the same game for the first time since Sam Robson, Moeen ali and Chris Jordan played against Sri lanka at lord’s in 2014.
Of that trio, only Moeen has carved out a Test career, but that ratio did not faze Joe Root. ‘The guys around them are experienced,’ he said. ‘and it is a great opportunity for those guys coming in to show what they can do and stamp their mark.’
For Westley, in particular, the chance exists to nail down the no 3 spot in the absence of the injured gary Ballance, who managed just 85 runs at lord’s and Trent Bridge.
When Root was asked whether Westley would have replaced Ballance even if he hadn’t had his left index finger broken by Morne Morkel in nottingham, the answer was as equivocal: ‘difficult to say’.
Either way, Westley must now shoulder the burden of trying to stop England’s top-order collapses. an average of 53 during Essex’s charge to the top of the County Championship augurs well, as does the calm he has radiated — according to Root — during his first few days in the Test set-up.
But the idea that being a righthander will help thwart Morkel and Philander may be wide of the mark. as statistics from CricViz show, Morkel averages only slightly less against left- handers ( 26) throughout his Test career than he does against right-handers (28), while Philander’s bias is the other way round — 23 against left-handers, 20 against right-handers.
Then there’s the fact that Kagiso Rabada, back from suspension, has the best average against righthanders (18) of any major Test bowler since the start of 2006.
For Roland- Jones — at 29, a year older than Westley — selection comes at a time when his county form is not quite at its peak. His 23 wickets this summer have cost 35 apiece. But his county colleagues cannot speak highly enough of him, and the hat- trick he took against Yorkshire to seal Middlesex’s title on the final day of last season suggested the kind of big-game temperament England could do with now.
and, a handy lower- order batsman, he could come in as low
as No 9 if England pick Malan ahead of Dawson. Malan, another 29-yearold, came close to making the squad for the first Test at Lord’s, with coach Trevor Bayliss a strong advocate. But Root’s preference for Ballance held sway. Now, he could slot in at No 5, pushing Jonny Bairstow down to No 7, leaving England with a rawlooking top five that also includes the struggling Keaton Jennings. When Du Plessis suggested his side would ‘certainly try and make use of pressure wherever we can’, he might even have had a glint in his eye.