England v South Africa: 1st Test, 1st Day - Not bad for a first day at the office

 

Not Bad For a First Day at the Office

July 6^th 2017

The phony war of ODIs and T20s is over. Some players have even played some games for their counties – although the round of day-night pink-ball cricket inserted just before the 1^st Test has been declared a failure by just about everyone and was not great preparation, even for those who scored some runs, or took some wickets. The latest start to a Test summer in over 30 years, has begun.

For the record, England won the ODIs and the T20 series, although not without showing how infuriatingly inconsistent they can be, had one bad day in the Champions Trophy, which was saved for the Semi-Final and South Africa have had something close to the tour from hell. South Africa were so bad in the Champions Trophy that their eventual exit must have come as a relief. Their A side struggled on its parallel tour and, although South Africa won the 3^rd ODI and 2^nd T20 (both due to massive England implosions), they were generally completely outplayed overall.

The 1^st Test though has turned into more “Tales of the Unexpected” than “Great Expectations”, although the South Africans may have feared, not without reason that, rather than “Gods and Kings” their role would turn more into “Bleak House”.

Over the last few tours the visit of the South Africans has tended to produce more earthquakes in English cricket than the San Andres fault has produced in California. Their visit finished Nasser Hussain’s captaincy in 2003, Michael Vaughan’s in 2008 and Andrew Strauss’ in 2012 and went a long way to ending Kevin Pietersen’s spell in England colours. On this occasion, England have tried to buck the trend by appointing a new captain before the South Africa series rather than during or after it, although it was never the plan to elevate Joe Root so early and there must be some trepidation about making your best bat and key man in all three formats, captain of the Test side as well. There was always the fear that the load might be too much and that, with a tour of Australia approaching, that it could end in tears.

As it turns out, both Australia and South Africa have their issues. Not everyone is happy about the loads placed on them and South Africa’s most-feared batsman, ABdV, is already an absentee and expected to retire prematurely from Test cricket. Faf du Pleissis, his replacement, has family issues that have sent him home. Several bowlers, such as Dale Steyn are missing and, all in all South Africa look as vulnerable as they have looked for many years (NB: in 2003, they came with what many felt was a B-Team, under an inexperienced young captain, who then proceeded to finish several England careers with two double-centuries and a fifty in the first two Tests of the series). Australia have a players’ strike, have just cancelled the “A” tour and the tour to Bangladesh looks, right now, very uncertain to happen, with some even talking about the Ashes series itself being in danger: things in the Test world are looking very shaken-up right now.

Whatever issues South Africa have, England have their own. A raft of fast bowlers are either injured (Woakes, Ball, …) or just coming back from injury (Jimmy Anderson, Stuart Broad, Ben Stokes, …) The captain is wearing L-plates. And the brave idea to have a batting order consisting of Cook, Hameed, Jennings, Root, Bairstow, Stokes, Buttler, Ali… has floundered due to the dismal form of Haseeb Hameed since getting injury in the 3^rd Test in India and the fact that for all that he looks imperious in white-ball cricket, Jos Buttler is, more often than not, found out by the red (or pink) ball: his two innings, promoted up the order in the pink ball round to allow him to build an innings, were almost the briefest possible. Some writers have suggested that Hameed has been found out by English bowlers after a good first season but, in truth, his form through the winter was consistently dreadful over different tours and series and his medical issues not just limited to the broken hand. You feel for him, but something went horribly wrong and a Test series is no place to try to scratch around for some form.

England’s multiple issues led to some debatable, bordering on downright controversial, picks.

Despite the fact that, after an imperious start to the season, Keaton Jennings’ form has dipped alarmingly. He was the man in possession for the last two Tests in the winter, making a debut century and a fifty in the final Test and managed timely scores of 57 & 71 v South Africa A, followed by 39 against South Africa. However, there are many who think that Stoneman was unlucky, having moved from Durham to Surrey in the hope of a Test debut and various others have been suggested based on excellent county form this season.

Gary Ballance has had his second coming and is now onto a third and surely final opportunity. His form this season, in a stuttering Yorkshire side, has been nothing short of brilliant. However, after one of the great Test starts, he has not passed 20 in his last 7 Test innings and, having averaged 49.0 in his first 11 Tests, averages 18.7 in his last 11, with just 2x50 in his last 13 Tests. Yet it is Gary Ballance who has had to take on the hoodoo #3 slot earmarked for Keaton Jennings. Number 3 for England seems to have been a problem as long as I can remember. Back in Mike Brearley’s day, comedian John Cleese (yes, the Python) suggested numbering the position “2A” on the scorecard, but even then it was an old issue, going back at least to the Caribbean tour of 1974.

Further down the order, the expected return of Liam Plunkett has not happened, despite his excellent white-ball form. Adil Rashid has been consigned to the outer darkness again, once more despite some solid and occasionally destructive, performances with the white ball and the winner has been Liam Dawson.

The Dawson selection reminds you of when the wrong name was read out at the Oscars. Or when the Australians allegedly picked Peter Taylor thinking that they had picked Mark Taylor. Dawson is not even the first spinner for Hampshire – their go-to man is Mason Crane – and was sent to India late in the tour presumably to gain some experience before the inadequacies of others led to him receiving a quite unexpected call-up for the final Test. With Dawson announced as being in the XI ahead of the day, the media could trumpet England playing two specialist spinners in the Lord’s Test for the first time in decades. Others, more sceptical, suggested that Moeen Ali and Liam Dawson can in no way be described as a specialist spin attack. Although Liam Dawson did not let anyone down with a good 70 and some containing bowling, his is hardly an attacking selection. However, after the selection of Gareth Batty was shown to be a bizarre error – he hardly took a wicket during the second half of the season – and Zafar Ansari suddenly retired from cricket – having also shown himself to be far from the required level (although, at least with the valid excuse of the harm done by serious injuries in the previous two years) and Jack Leach at Somerset still coming to terms with a re-modelled action, maybe it was the best of a bad set of options.

Something odd happened to England’s spinners last winter. It may not be coincidence that Adil Rashid’s form slumped at the same time that Moeen Ali’s did.

After 4 Tests of the winter tour, Moeen Ali had 18 wickets at 27.3: healthy figures to say the least against spin specialists. In the last 3 Tests of the series he took just 3 wickets at 136.7.

After 5 Tests of the winter tour, Adil Rashid had 25 wickets at 29.0: again, a very healthy performance. In the last 2 Tests though he managed just 5 wickets at 69, with match figures of an eye-watering 4-192 and 1-153.

Whatever the cause of that slump, Adil Rashid has paid the price and after 10 Tests over 3 series, 49 ODIs and 23 T20s since 2009, is still to play a Test at home.

So, England fans had plenty of reasons to view the first day and the series with some trepidation. More so when, in less than an hour, it was 49-3. Jennings was unlucky, not to mention sold down the river by the non-striker (Gary Ballance). “Don’t bother to review it, Jet. You’re plumb dead!”. What Jennings did not know was that the ball had pitched outside leg AND was missing the stumps for good measure. With a start like that, Gary Balance owed England a few runs: he did manage to get into double figures for the first time in eight innings before a dismissal that brought dejá vu all round, as his went onto the back foot in front of the stumps, forgot that he had brought a bat with him and reviewed hesitantly after giving the umpire trigger-finger practice: his main hope may have been that the ball was burrowing under the stumps…

Fortunately England are made of sterner stuff now, and just as well. Two or three years ago 49-3 might have become 130ao. Despite Bairstow going cheaply too, 76-4 became 357-5 at the Close, with South Africa a dreadful three overs short despite an extra half hour.

The lesson for South Africa is that when you have your foot on the throat you don’t miss the opposition’s gun batsman badly twice. It might also be as well to remind the bowlers that there is no point bowling your best delivery when you have overstepped: two bad drops, two clean-bowled from no balls. Thanks very much!

After three lives, two of them before reaching double figures, Joe Root looks set for a double century. Stokes and Moeen have added 50s. England have scored at 4.1 an over despite being in strife all morning and Philander finishing with 16-2-46-3 (just 19 scoring strokes off him) and South Africa’s efforts in the field have looked slovenly, lacked energy and their heads have dropped.

If early breakthroughs with the still new ball can be avoided, 450 should be passed, 500 beckons and, with it, South Africa playing for a draw at best. From an England point of view, one hopes that the South African feeling that this is the “tour from hell” will continue for a while longer. England will, quite reasonably, hope to bat until Tea, at which point they may well be out of sight.