Michael Vaughan on how to tackle South Africa’s key weapons
Left-handers step up
How England’s left-handers play Morne Morkel will be key to the result of the series. England have five left-handers in the top seven. He will come around the wicket and angle the ball in and nip it away. At Lord’s he could bowl from the Pavilion End and use the slope so his natural ball will go away from the left-handers. But
I think him bowling from the Nursery End he will be more of a threat. His natural wrist position is to get the ball across the left-handers, so they will not know what to leave or play at.
Count on the old boys
The biggest danger for South Africa is England’s core senior pros have had seven months away from the team so arrive feeling like debutants again.
They are all in good form and desperate to prove to Joe Root they want to be around for a couple more years at least so he finds himself in a good position in his first Test as captain. By contrast, AB de Villiers is back home and did not want to play in this series.
Target Amla’s weak point
His record in England is fantastic but if you can get the ball on or around fourth stump nipping back, you can force Hashim Amla (left) to play across the line and that is when he is vulnerable. He is like any good player – bowl that consistent full length on fourth stump and you have a chance but also keep
him honest with the bouncer. Make sure the bouncer is on his left ear because he likes to give himself space to play on the off side. If you bowl anything straight he will punish you.
Defuse the firecracker
Quinton de Kock can take the game away from you. England need to bowl around the wicket at him, angling into off stump to deny him width. Like all flamboyant players he likes to hit boundaries so bowl dots and try to force the error. Spin could be his weakness so Moeen Ali might be the bowler. De Kock hits the ball in the air so will give you chances if you bowl well. Taking those will be vital. has been the best fast bowler in the world. With the new ball, he bowls an aggressive length that tempts players to drive but then gets a bit of movement. He is a very smart bowler who knows when to bowl the bouncer. His reverse swing in Australia was very impressive. In Perth, he got the ball reversing bowling around the wicket to the lefthanders. He will fancy bowling with the Duke ball as well but England have an advantage in this series in that Stuart Broad and James Anderson have done so much bowling for their counties. I look at the South Africa attack and they have not had enough four-day bowling.