‘England’s bowlers took lessons from Kiwi tour’
England’s bowlers will have learnt a lot from their series defeat to New Zealand, particularly in terms of how to battle through adversity on flat wickets, which will stand them in good stead for the tour of SA, captain Joe Root said.
The England attack was heavily criticised in the media back home for their lack of penetration and inability to adapt to two relatively benign pitches at Bay Oval and Seddon Park, which led to a 1-0 series loss on Tuesday.
“We’ve now seen what it can be like if the surfaces do get like this with the Kookaburra ball,” Root said.
“We have to learn very quickly and take that forward into those four games.
“You’ve got to learn from the opposition as well.
“You look at someone like Neil Wagner — he’s got a big heart, a big engine, and keeps running.
“And that’s what you want, you want guys who, time and time again, want to be putting themselves in that position, to keep wanting to create chances and keep trying to change the game.”
New Zealand left-arm seamer Wagner was named man of the series after he finished with 13 wickets, which included successive five-wicket hauls.
Root said the series would have been a shock to the system for England fast bowler Jofra Archer, who made an explosive entrance to Test cricket during the Ashes series at home against Australia earlier in 2019.
The 24-year-old took 22 wickets at 20.27 in four matches during the Ashes series.
In New Zealand, he took only two wickets at 104.50 in his first experience of Test cricket outside England.
“I think he’s found that Test cricket is hard, and you’ve got to keep backing up those performances over and over again,” Root said.
“You can sometimes bowl extremely well and get no reward.
“He’s right at the start of his career, and he’s still got a lot of learning to do.
“But he has to keep wanting to learn, and to stay nice and resilient mentally and physically as well, because these conditions can wear you down.
“I expect him to bounce back quite strongly from something like this, because he’ sa fast learner.”
Root’s attack for the series in SA is likely to be bolstered by the return of spearhead James Anderson and Mark Wood, who are both training in Potchefstroom.
Jonny Bairstow should also be back after batsman Ollie Pope deputised for the injured Jos Buttler in the second Test in Hamilton.