Familiar collapse heightens team’s need for battling spirit

Like ice cream on an afternoon of gorgeous heat, England’s batting melted away by 3pm. They were bowled out in fewer than 50 overs as South Africa won the second Test on day four even more resoundingly than England had won the first.

Although these are the earliest days of Joe Root’s captaincy, the tendency for England to collapse in a session and a half would appear to have been inherited from the previous regime. Sir Neville Cardus wrote that Trent Bridge was the ground where the score always stood at 360 for two wickets, because the pitch was so good, but wherever England play they always seem to be 60 for three.

And England presently do not have a middle order that can rebuild on a regular basis, although Root did so at Lord’s with Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali. In the years since 2012, when England were top of the Test rankings, they seem to have evolved – if that is the word – into a side without a core, or at least not one that can withstand much heat. So, when they make a sound start to their innings, they are very, very good; and when they do not, they are horrid.

Who are the battlers in the County Championship who can stiffen England’s batting line-up and make it less inconsistent? Worcestershire’s Joe Clarke is a candidate, but he is only 21 and has made his red-ball runs in the Second Division. The same can be said of Kent’s Sam Northeast.

Somerset’s James Hildreth is 32, and averages 44, and if he is charged with making his runs at Taunton, then many Test pitches resemble Taunton. It may be more relevant that, having led England Lions, he declined to lead Somerset this season, which suggests Hildreth prefers a quiet life.

There is one proven battler upon whom England could call, one who averages 37 in Tests and who cannot be accused of throwing his wicket away. He is not the sort to run down the pitch and lift a left-arm spinner to mid-on as Jonny Bairstow did, or sweep precisely at head-height to square-leg like Moeen. But Gary Ballance, if he is to be given the chance to become England’s ballast, cannot bat at three where his technique is exposed by the new ball. He has to drop down to five, followed by Stokes and Bairstow at seven.

The principal objection there is that Moeen becomes No8. But even if that is too low for his abilities, Moeen made a crucial fist of the job in the 2015 Ashes. What is more, Chris Woakes was not around then but should be back this winter in Australia to be a highly sensible No8, so Moeen would be less likely to be left without a partner.

For the third Test at the Oval on Thursday week, England surely have to bandage up their batting and aim for a high-scoring draw if not a win, with Mark Stoneman opening – on what has become his home ground – and Keaton Jennings at three. Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, new-ball experts against left-handers, may once again make mincemeat of England’s top three, but at least there would be more stability with Ballance at five.

Philander’s wicket-to-wicket waspishness – he allows a lefthander to leave almost nothing – found a gap in Jennings’s defence

and pinned Ballance on his crease yet again. Having been instructed by Faf du Plessis to bowl as fast as he could, Chris Morris struck some sparks: his bouncer was probably the most ferocious Alastair Cook has received since Mitchell Johnson had him caught at fine-leg in the 2013-14 Ashes, while Root got an unplayable outswinging yorker.

England donated three wickets to Keshav Maharaj as they lost their last six in 16.2 overs after lunch. If there was any doubt about whether he or Hashim Amla would be man of the match, Philander sealed it with his nonchalant caught-and-bowled of Stokes. Philander’s fielding was South Africa’s only flaw but he compensated with his batting – he averages 40 against England, more than any other country – and his five wickets.

It added up to the most emphatic affirmative by South Africa: they do still have the appetite for Test cricket. They might even be especially suited to Test cricket of this type, on a seamer’s wicket, when discipline is a prime virtue. It was the patience of the tourists’ batting that stood out, as they soaked up the pressure, then put it back on England, for whom only Cook could last as long as 50 balls in their second innings.

The tourists’ one-off captain at Lord’s, Dean Elgar, had spoken about how South Africa’s teamwork seems better on tour when the players live together. To that was added the wish to do something for their absent coach, Russell Domingo, after his family bereavement, and the clarity of vision which Du Plessis brought on his return.

So, this Test series is now following the traditional pattern of England versus South Africa: virtual deadlock, because there is so little between the teams, which will make for a fascinating few weeks.