STAKES SO HIGH FOR JEKYLL AND HYDE ENGLAND

Tourists must build on thrilling Cape Town victory to show they can become serious force under Root

So, which England will turn up this time? Will it be the vibrant, youthful bunch who were so thrillingly hauled over the winning line by Ben Stokes in Cape Town to fire up this series? or are we in for another huge disappointment, with England being maddeningly frustrating again, just as they were in that Ashes-losing Test at old Trafford last summer immediately after the miracle of Headingley?

You do not know what you are going to get with this England side and that’s what makes today’s third Test here such a fascinating prospect and such an important game for the fledgling captain-coach partnership of Joe Root and Chris Silverwood.

England, remember, have won consecutive Tests only once in the last 14 months and the search for red-ball consistency was identified by new coach Silverwood as his priority when he took over last summer.

This is England’s first ‘live’ away series poised at 1-1 since Root made his debut in India in 2012. So there would be no better time for the tourists to prove they can build on the momentum of Newlands and take an unassailable lead at St George’s Park.

Root, for one, believes that the mistakes of Manchester last summer will not be repeated. ‘The way we won at Headingley was phenomenal,’ said the England captain yesterday. ‘Ben pretty much won that game on his own. But if you look at Cape Town, that was a really good team performance and it stands us in a better position to back that up this time round.

‘We’ve also had a bit of time to get away, understand what we did last week and make sure we’re not fatigued mentally or physically. We’re ready to hit the ground running now.’

one player, sadly, who is not ready to hit the ground running is Jofra Archer, who struggled with his elbow injury in the St George’s Park nets yesterday and misses out today.

This winter is proving to be a lesson in the harsh reality of international cricket for the new star. England have spent all week challenging Archer to prove his fitness and throwing down the gauntlet to him, somehow querying whether he really does have a recurring elbow problem. The reality is that he does and is just not fit.

That means, on a pitch made for reverse swing, that Mark Wood will probably step up ahead of Chris Woakes for his first Test since his player- ofthe- match performance against West Indies in St Lucia early last year. Wood (below) will only miss out if a sore rib worsens overnight.

‘Mark got through a lot of cricket last summer injuryfree, which is testament to how hard he’s worked on his rehab and making sure his body can cope,’ said Root of a fast bowler who last played for England in the World Cup final.

‘He has had a sustained spell getting ready for a chance in this series, whether it is here or next week in Johannesburg, and the only reason we have been cautious with him is we know that history he has with injuries. I know Woody’s value to the team and sometimes you can’t worry about whether he’s going to get through a five-day Test. ‘If a bowler has proven himself fit, if they’ve jumped through every hoop to get back out there, you have to give them that opportunity.’ And what an opportunity this is for England, not just in the case of Root, newlycrowned world player of the year Stokes and Stuart Broad, but also Dom Sibley, Joe Denly, ollie Pope and Dom Bess. They will all be unlikely heroes if England go on to repeat their series success against South Africa of four years ago.

‘It’s very exciting, especially with a young group of players as well,’ said Root, looking ahead to a pivotal Test at this atmospheric venue.

‘For those guys to experience the last game and for us to get across the line in that fashion is a really big move forward.

‘We speak a lot about the environment we’re trying to create and the culture of our three teams. I thought we lived that brilliantly across the five days in Cape Town and now we’ve got to repeat it.

‘I’m very confident we can do that but it’s a challenge for us.’

New coach Silverwood likens this tour to Duncan Fletcher’s first as England coach, also to South Africa, 20 years ago. Then England under Fletcher and

Nasser Hussain tried out a group of inexperienced players, quickly deciding which were suited to the international cauldron and which could be discarded.

For every Michael Vaughan, who Fletcher immediately identified as a special talent, there was a Chris Adams, but that was the start of a journey which ended with the 2005 Ashes triumph and it is the next series against Australia that England are building towards now.

What a stepping stone it would be if England could win here to ensure, with only the final Test at the Wanderers to come, that they will earn at least a share of this series.

But if they revert to their bad old ways and lose, so much of the good work will be undone. The stakes are high.