South Africa
v England, 3rd Test, Day 5: Moeen Makes His Point
July 31st 2017
At the start
of play the England target was to remove one or both overnight batsmen in the
first hour. For South Africa, it was to see out the first hour and then build
for Lunch.
For much of
the time the atmosphere was one of inevitability such that the chat in the TMS
box seemed almost peripheral to the cricket. This got to the point that Jon
Agnew was able to pass a good fraction of one sleepy passage of play with an
elaborate wind-up of Geoff Boycott. Boycott, bless him, fell for it completely.
So clever and plausible was the story concocted and so complete the
collaboration from the rest of the team, that hundreds of thousands of fans
must genuinely have believed that Boycott’s famous hundredth hundred at
Headingley on August 11th 1977 was going to be struck from the record
books. Sir Geoffrey’s reactions were tightly controlled (just as well), but
witnesses could see that an explosion was building. Just as Sir Geoffrey
launched into a brief denunciation of the plan on the lines of “that’s
rooooobish that is!” (still, amazingly, without expletives), Jon Agnew
responded calmly and matter-of-factly with “it’s also a complete wind-up”, before
explaining how the team had collaborated to concoct a false press release from
the ICC. Boycott’s reaction was a heartfelt “You MUPPET!!!” which left
everyone helpless with laughter (including, one suspects, many listeners).
Why could
the TMS team completely ignore the cricket in the middle? More than an act of God,
it was an act of Roland-Jones. As the stand between Elgar and Bavuma prospered and passed a
hundred, as the overs ticked by and nothing much seemed to be happening, the
pitch not doing much, Joe Root must have started to wonder if he was going to
suffer a new humiliation as captain, with South Africa wriggling out of what
looked like a lost position. Showers were threatened later in the day. Surely
Elgar and Bavuma couldn’t, could they?
The early
thrust of Stokes and Broad was seen off and, as the advert goes, Joe Root decided
to “make it Toblerone”. Two overs passed with little incident. Two overs of
Moeen at the other end too passed with little of note. Not a lot going on.
Pitch friendly. Ball soft. Weather kind. And then the unexpected.
The first
ball of Tobias Skelton Roland-Jones’s third over was straight. Bavuma defended.
Big shout. Turned down by Alem Dar.
And then
something happened that, at Trent Bridge, would have needed divine intervention to come to pass: a
sensible referral by England. Three reds. Marginally hit pad before bat. OUT!
In comes Vernon
Philander. First ball nips back nicely. Philander pads up. Oh dear! It was a
repeat of Faf du Plessis’s “Mike Gatting moment”. 150-4 and cruising becomes
150-6 and in deep trouble. It could so easily have been even worse as the
hat-trick ball was edged and only just failed to carry to Ben Stokes.
Even then,
Elgar and Morris seemed to be carrying South Africa to Lunch. Once again, a
partnership started to build. Once again, South Africa could not make it count.
What is more, it was the last ball before Lunch when Morris played a loose shot
that he almost got away with because it rebounded off Bairstow’s leg, just
within range of the diving Stokes.
It was a
recurring theme as South Africa tried to save the match. It is why it all
seemed so low-key and inevitable. Partnerships of 21, 27, 108, 45 & 47 all
got going, but were cut off before they could become too worrying. Three
batsmen made 20s or 30s, but could not push on to the 50s that Elgar needed to
come at the other end if he were to save the match. Whenever there was a ray of
hope for South Africa, you knew that they would be unable to make it stick.
Even then
there was a final twist. After Lunch Elgar and Maharaj started one of those
annoying partnerships that delays the inevitable. After two quiet overs, runs
started to come in a flood: 12 off one Roland-Jones over, 12 off his next, 6
from Moeen who seemed rather innocuous. Ben
Stokes relieved Roland-Jones, presumably to provide three tight overs from one
end before the new ball. There were ten dot balls broken by a single and,
suddenly, Moeen produced one of those magic balls that he seems capable of when
he relaxes.
Tossed-up.
Into the footmarks. Grips. Elgar goes at it hard. Outside edge. Straight to
Stokes.
Next ball.
The only difference is that Elgar’s drive is replaced by Rabada’s push. The
delivery, the edge and the catch are identical.
Would Stokes
be a gentleman with Moeen hanging on a hat-trick, but six balls from Stokes to
come? Maharaj is suddenly shotless, but keeps out the six. No great drama.
Morkel’s
first ball is delivered in the middle of a fielders’ convention. Morkel misses.
The ball slams into pad. Umpire Wilson waits and waits and finally shakes his
head. And, with that shake, eleven fielders are jerked into making the T-sign
simultaneously as if the umpire were pulling their strings.
“Going down
leg”, say the commentators.
Then: “this
might be close”.
Then: “I
think that he might be out”.
Then: “it *IS* going to be out!”
It is not a
No Ball. No edge. Pitching in line. Impact in line. Hitting full on leg stump.
The review process ratchets-up the drama as the TV umpire Kumar Dhamasena goes
through the checks one by one, like a Prosecuting Attorney presenting Exhibit
A, Exhibit B, … and requesting a conviction. Three reds.
“You can
give that out. You are on camera now.”
Cue screams
of delight and wild celebrations.
Moeen has
the first hat-trick in an Oval Test. It was the first by an England spinner since
1938 and only the third time that victory in a Test was sealed with a hat-trick
(the last was in 1902).
Having been discarded
by many fans as not worth his place in the side after the Tests in India, Moeen
Ali has 18 wickets at 14.7 in three Tests in 2017 at a strike rate of 26.7. Of
all bowlers who have taken at least 10 wickets this year, the next best is
Jimmy Anderson, with a strike rate of 43.5. Moeen cannot possibly keep up this
rate of success but, since the end of the 2016 season, he has 39 wickets at
29.9 in 10 Tests, despite a dry spell in India where he took just 3 wickets in
the last 3 Tests of the series.
Why do
people keep questioning his place in the side?
So, since
the end of the 2016 season, Moeen Ali’s contribution has been:
10 Tests
·
39 wickets at 29.9
·
636 runs at 33.5, with 2x100 & 3x50.
That is
quite a contribution for a player regarded by many as a journeyman who is not
good enough. Moeen has made his point. Quietly, but he has made it.
Now, we move
on to Old Trafford and the 4th Test. The hint is that the pitch will
have a little more life. Trevor Bayliss has hinted that England will not need
the extra batsman and suddenly, it seems, England have all manner of healthy
problems.
1. Who misses out?
Of the three
debutants, Toby Roland-Jones took 8 wickets and made the vital breakthroughs in
both innings. Tom Westley made 25 and 59 and looked calm and unfussed. It would
be hard to drop either. Dawid Malan is the most vulnerable, with 1 & 10,
getting two very good balls, although it has not passed unnoticed that both
were in-swinging Yorkers that he failed to get bat on: there is a vulnerability
there. However, Malan has earned his chance and showed in his T20 debut that he
has the ability and the steel to make a success of an international career.
If Gary Ballance
were fit, the most obvious player to make way would be Malan, with Ballance replacing
him at #5, even if you feel that Malan would get another chance as soon as
humanly possible. As it is, Ballance is not yet ready but, he has been assured
that he is the man in possession when he is ready to come back.
2. What about the balance of the
side?
The pundits,
without exception, liked the balance of the side, with 5 specialist bats,
followed by 3 genuine all-rounders. With Bairstow at #7 and Moeen at #8 and
Roland-Jones at #9, there was a formidable sting in the England tail. 183-5
became 316-8 in the first innings and 202-5 became 313-8 in the second innings.
However,
Trevor Bayliss is hinting that he wants to play Liam Dawson at Old Trafford. If
he does, Malan looks like being the player to make way, although you could
suggest playing Dawson instead of a seamer. A much less plausible option,
suggested by some pundits is to drop Jennings (who has been promised the four
Tests) and ask Westley to open: this is the sort of fudge that has been
universally condemned in the past.
Again, the
balance of the side could depend on the weather forecast. The threat of rain
and seam bowling conditions sealed Dawson’s fate at The Oval; a hot, dry spell
may seal his place at Old Trafford.
3. What about Woakes and Ball?
Chris Woakes
will surely go to Australia. He will also be ready to play again come the 1st
Test v West Indies on August 17th: who is rested to give him a game?
If Jake Ball is going to go to Australia, does he get a Test, or will be played
only in the ODIs and T20 that follow the West Indies series? With injured
players coming back and looking for games, competition for places is going to
be increasingly fierce.
4. Can Alex Hales be
re-commissioned?
Alex Hales
is producing the sort of incredibly destructive form that got David Warner his
first cap before he had even played a First Class match. Although Hales opens
in limited overs and T20, he now bats in the middle order in First Class
cricket. There are people who think that his form is now so exceptional that
England cannot pass-up on his talent. Can he be fitted into the England middle-order
at #5? With Tom Westley looking a good fit at #3 you can make a case for a
middle order of Westley, Root, Hales, Stokes, Bairstow & Moeen that would
give more than one side pause for thought.
However,
right now England’s first problem is to close out the series. Recently, far too many Test victories have
been followed by a defeat in the next game. There has also been a pattern:
England have won 14 of their last 17 home Tests batting first, but only 4 of 14
when batting second. The facile suggestion is to win the Toss and bat at Old
Trafford, but a far more convincing demonstration would be to lose the Toss and
win the match.
The keys to
the England win at The Oval were:
·
Winning the Toss
·
Philander’s incomprehensible selection
·
Taking advantage and posting a solid first innings score
·
South Africa returning to the timid and fragile batting of the 1st
Test
And, almost
more than anything else
·
Much better use of DRS.
Now, England
have to show that it was the 2nd Test horror show that was the anomaly
in this series and South Africa have just 4 days to re-group. Which England and
which South Africa will turn up in Manchester? England cannot rely on South
Africa easing their way by making another dreadful selection mistake.
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