The Atherton, Kirsten, Gibbs and leather jacket tests
Khanyiso Tshwaku looks at five South Africa versus England tests that thrilled and spilled for different reasons
1995-96 — 2nd test — South Africa: 332 and 346/9 declared; England: 200 and 351/5 (Michael Atherton 185*) — Match drawn
Clive Eksteen has less than fond memories of Michael Atherton’s test in which the England captain eked out an epic 645-minute knock.
The left-arm spinner took 3/12 in the first dig but returned blood in stone second innings figures of 0/76 in 52 overs.
“If you bowl for 52 overs and not get a wicket, that's not something you’d like to remember but Atherton’s knock was special. We did well in the first innings but the pitch flattened out. I remember Daryll Cullinan saying that someone could score 200 on that pitch if he wanted to. Athers came pretty close,” Eksteen said.
“He only offered one chance on 99 and Gary Kirsten dropped him on 99. He played superbly and his powers of concentration that day were amazing. We tried a lot of different things but it just did not work out for us.” 1999-00 — 3rd test: England: 366/9; South Africa: 156 (Shaun Pollock 64, Andrew Caddick 7/46) and 572/7 (Kirsten 275) – Match drawn
In a year when South Africa’s then highest test score changed hands twice, Kirsten’s knock was more poignant as Graeme Pollock made 274 at Kingsmead in 1970.
The situation was made for South Africa’s salvage man whose career was on the line after a string of failures.
Kirsten’s record may not have happened if it wasn’t for Pollock’s 89-ball knock.
“Gary Kirsten was under immense pressure and he didn’t know whether he’d keep his place in the team. If you ask him about it, he’ll tell you he didn’t know where to buy a run from. He wanted to be dropped and he was in such poor form. For him to turn it around and break the South African record and make sure the game was saved was massive,” Pollock said.
“My innings gave the wicket a bit of time to die down and made the English bowlers a bit more tired. It kept them out there for a few more overs and it gave us some self-belief. It didn’t feel like an important contribution.” 5th test — England: 0/0 declared and 251/8; beat South Africa: 248/8 declared and 0/0 declared by two wickets
Leather jackets, R50 000 and a suspicious county cricket-style declaration made this rain-affected test more important than it actually was.
The series was won and England were playing for pride. It was the beginning of the end for Hansie Cronje but Pollock was not aware of that then.
“Such things often happened in county cricket when there was a dead game . We just saw it as a good opportunity to make a match of it and that’s how the idea was sold to us. It made sense because we hadn’t done much for three days. England wanted a certain target but they lost interest because of early demons but when we batted, it was OK and they were interested,” Pollock said.
“A lot came out and a lot has been said about it but it was a case of making the game competitive with the series already decided. It gave us energy to want to win 3-0.” 2004-05 — 4th test — England 411/7 declared and 332/9 declared (Marcus Trescothick 180) beat South Africa 419 (Herschelle Gibbs 161, Matthew Hoggard 5/144) and 247 (Gibbs 98, Hoggard 7/61) by 77 runs
In this test, Gibbs scored what would be his last test hundred but the indefatigable Hoggard carried the visitors to an eventual 2-1 series win. Gibbs’s valiant second innings knock could have saved them if it was not for a questionable leg-before dismissal but Trescothick’s explosive second-innings ton was the game changer.
“The conditions in the game made Hoggard very effective and we targeted a young James Anderson.
“Hoggard just got ball in the right areas and he swung it. It was a fantastic spell of bowling. Tresco on the other hand often nailed us and it was his day in that knock,” Gibbs said.
“In the second innings I had to keep on scoring because wickets were falling. I just played my natural game. I was a bit upset with the leg-before decision but that's the game for you.” 2009-10 — 3rd test — South Africa 291 and 447/9 declared; England: 273 and 296/9 (Ian Bell 78) — Match drawn
England had no business going into this test with a 1-0 lead but Graeme Onions twice thwarted the Proteas. He blocked out the final over twice in the first test at Centurion but this one held more significance: England could not lose the series. Ian Bell’s 278-ball stay kept Ashwell Prince and company in the field on a hot day.
Onions’s resilience struck a chord with Prince.
“He was selected as an opening bowler but his doggedness got to us. He batted like an accomplished batsman.
“His resilience was a microcosm of how hard-fought are series between England and South Africa. We were the better side in both those drawn games but you could see England were developing into a good team,” Prince said.
❛ A lot came out and a lot has been said about it but it was a case of making the game competitive