CURSED TOUR TO TOUR DE FORCE!

England’s significant series win the finest moment for captain

It was highly apt that Mark wood, such a potent and popular force in the last two tests, should take the wicket that sealed both a significant series victory for England and a hugely important stepping stone towards the next ashes.

what a difference wood has made after emerging from six months of hard, often isolated rehabilitation with a serious side injury to burst into this series with 12 wickets and even eight sixes in Port Elizabeth and here.

and how crucial his continuing fitness will be as England build towards that next date with australian destiny in two winters’ time when his ability to take wickets on overseas pitches could prove all the difference.

It was Ollie Pope, confirming his class in this series, who lofted wood into the air in delight after he had taken his ninth wicket of the game, with the help of a review, to dismiss anrich Nortje and clinch a 3-1 victory.

But this was far from easy for England. what became the last day of this final test was actually the perfect dress rehearsal for the biggest series of them all because south africa turned out to be far from the beaten, broken side everybody expected to lie down and die yesterday.

Instead, at 181 for two, there was familiar English twitching as questions began to be asked about south africa’s ability to pull off the impossible and reach a recordbreaking 466 to win at the wanderers and share the series. surely they couldn’t, could they?

It was then that a crucial passage of play turned this compelling, hard-fought day of test cricket England’s way. simply, they got angry and channelled their frustration at a ball that stubbornly refused to do anything for them against south africa.

England had become increasingly agitated at south africa captain Faf du Plessis’s habit of picking the ball up with a sweaty glove that, a cynical observer might suggest, damaged Joe Root’s attempt to keep one side dry and gain reverse swing.

It was then that sam Curran hurled the ball in the general direction of Du Plessis and struck him on the pads before stuart Broad engaged in a verbal exchange that led to the south africa captain making physical contact with Jos Buttler to get to him.

Du Plessis did not exactly barge Buttler but contact is still taboo in cricket and a ban from the ICC should follow in what might be the south african’s final test. what the incident certainly did do was change the momentum of the day in England’s favour.

who else but Ben stokes to take the wicket? He had made an important breakthrough on the stroke of lunch to dismiss Dean Elgar and was soon rushing in to bowl Du Plessis with one that kept low. then Rassie van der Dussen, his partner in 31 overs of defiance, quickly fell to wood.

Van der Dussen had been given out before he had scored to Chris woakes, but umpire Joel wison had made another howler and the decision was overturned by DRs. the batsman was then within two runs of his maiden century when he was brilliantly caught by Broad soon after wood had struck him on the chest.

Only four wickets had fallen at tea but everything had changed g and England finally got a ball that had done so little for them changed soon after the break. within 12 overs the match was finished.

Broad had been wicketless at the wanderers, the scene of one of his great spells four years ago, but his row with Du Plessis and his diving catch at extra cover got the old warrior going and he produced a beauty to send back temba Bavuma before snaring Dwaine Pretorius.

Vernon Philander is not England’s favourite south african and there was no guard of f honour as he walked out for his final test innings with no o apparent sign of the ‘grade two’ ’ hamstring strain that ruled him m out of the attack on day three.

He did not last long before e wood had him caught by his nemesis Buttler, and after Beuran Hendricks had been the victim of a mix-up and run out it was left to player of the match wood to have the final say.

Neither andrew strauss nor alastair Cook won three overseas tests in a row but now Joe Root has done it twice. Last winter’s 3-0 victory over sri Lanka, with

England’s ‘total cricket’ policy, proved a false dawn but there just feels something much more permanent and encouraging about this come-from-behind victory.

England have had so much trouble taking 20 wickets in an overseas test but they took 80 in this series — and that with Jimmy anderson forced home after two tests and Jofra archer not featuring

Bad-tempered end: Du Plessis makes contact with Buttler while confronting Broad GETTY IMAGES in any of the three wins. they have to find a way of keeping p prize assets such as wood and archer fit for the biggest battles, as australia managed to do with their injury-prone express bowlers e last summer, but there is so much cricket ahead it will not be easy.

at least it is encouraging wood has had no more trouble from a chronic left ankle that has required three operations since he lengthened his run-up at the suggestion of Michael Holding at the end of 2018. If this is the start of a golden autumn to the 30-year-old wood’s test career then it will be the biggest plus from a series suddenly full of them. above all, the ‘Cursed tour’ of so much illness, injury and ill-fortune has been gloriously transformed since the nadir of Rory Burns’ football calamity the day before Cape town into the highlight of Root’s captaincy with a young, vibrant side.

It has been a significant triumph, too, for the coaching of Chris silverwood who started with a series defeat in New Zealand and an awful first-test reverse here that, hindsight tells you, was more down to debilitating illness than English incompetence.

Now Root and silverwood’s philosophy, based around the simple premise of big first-innings runs, has been spectacularly employed and England should move forward in test cricket now with much more optimism.