A Battle Of Two Vulnerable Sides

 

South Africa v England: a battle of flawed sides

 

December 25^th 2015

 

 

Tomorrow a new Test series starts. It was hard to work up much enthusiasm for Pakistan v England and, despite some really superb cricket from both sides, the series was not a vintage one. On a dramatic final afternoon of the 1^st Test, Adil Rashid almost bowled England to victory, but the final wicket fell perhaps ten minutes too late for England to have realistic hopes of winning. With that near miss England’s chances in the series were gone. In the 2^nd Test Adil Rashid the batsman took England to just 39 balls from saving a match that should have finished in the hour after Lunch. And in the 3^rd Test England could not make a 72 run first innings lead count. In each Test, England had their moments, but fell just short: rather than a 2-0 win, which was in their reach had they taken their chances, England lost 2-0 and it was hard to argue that it was not a deserved result for a resilient Pakistan, who showed more magic in the critical moments of the series.

For South Africa, the personnel change again. The experiment of promoting Moeen Ali might have worked, but did not. Of the four opening combinations that England tried in 2015, Cook and Ali were the most productive, averaging 36.6 for the 1^st wicket, well ahead of the 30.9 of Cook and Lyth. The fact that Cook and Moeen are by far the best of the four combinations of the year just shows how bad the others have been. The fact that it is also better than all but one of the five second wicket combinations of the year (Cook and Bell averaged 44.6 for the 2^nd wicket) is also a statement of the problems that England have had at #3 in 2015.

Consequence: Ian Bell pays they price and yet another a new opener is being tried.

The choice of Alex Hales to open and Nick Compton at #3 does obey a logic, although many people would open with Compton and put Hales at 3. Nick Compton managed 2x100 and 1x50 in his spell as an opener and his opening partnerships with Alistair Cook have been by far the best that England have had since the retirement of Andrew Strauss. Many think that he was hard done by and that his fighting qualities that have seen him pile on the runs again in 2015 will come in more than useful. Nick Compton will also be playing in the country of his birth, giving him the advantage of familiarity with the conditions, although he is from an English emigre family that has a great pedigree for Middlesex and England.

Alex Hales has been the prince in waiting now for two years since his remarkable century in the 2013 World T20. After a prodigious start to the 2015 county season, where he was in with a real chance of 1000 runs by the end of May, he went through a barren patch mid-season, before ending it with a flood of runs and winning his place on the winter tours on the back of a stack of runs and some destructive ODI innings. In theory, Alex Hales has the profile to play the Marcus Trescothick role that England have been lacking for ten years. We tend to forget that Marcus Trescothick’s First Class record was remarkably modest until his spectacular Test debut on a Duncan Fletcher hunch. If Alex Hales can play his natural game, Test attacks around may have to learn to fear England’s openers in the next few years.

However, it is the fears that Alex Hales is not ready – is he capable of playing quality, high pace? How will he manage against any but the most mediocre spin? – that make the selection of an obdurate #3 essential. Ian Bell has struggled for two years to match his heroics of 2013. Rather than a good-looking 30 in an hour, England look to someone who is capable of blocking up an end for two sessions, even a whole day, even if runs are scored at a crawl: blunt and tire bowlers so that the power-hitters in the middle order can make hay later. If one or both openers fall, England want someone willing to bat 4 hours for a 50, if necessary and say “here and no further” to the opposition attack. Nick Compton has that Boycott-like ability.

With no Jimmy Anderson, Chris Woakes comes back. The reasoning is that a bowler is needed to bottle up an end while Stuart Broad and Steve Finn attack from the other end. Steve Finn has been gloriously re-born and looks in great form. Stuart Broad is bowling better and better. And the wild card of the side – sometimes all too literally for his own good – Ben Stokes – has both wickets and runs in the warm-ups. Even more pleasing, England’s win against a strong South Africa A side, was set up by centuries for Cook and Root and fifties for Hales and Stokes, but finished by a devastating spell of bowling by Moeen, who showed that South Africa’s second string are also helpless against decent spin. Moeen’s figures of 6-77 are far less impressive than the reality was, as some late hitting took his figures from 11-4-32-4 to 14.5-4-77-6 (4-32 from his first 66 balls, 2-45 from his last 23), albeit with the consolation of taking the last two wickets.

Moeen is still viewed condescendingly by many fans as a moderate batsman who can bowl a bit, but his record deserves far more respect. he averages 2.8 wickets per Test, for heaven's sake! That is a really respectable figure - compare it with Phil Edmonds, 2.5; John Emburey, 2.3, Ashley Giles, 2.6; even Monty Panesar, with 3.3, is not far ahead. And Moeen’s wickets have come at a remarkable strike rate. Moeen Ali has the best Strike Rate of any post-war England spinner (58.6), ahead of Swann (60.1) and Laker (62.3) – extraordinary company after 33 Test innings, for someone not viewed as a specialist spinner.  

On paper, #1 v #6 in the ICC Test Championship should be a very one-sided contest. In practice, recent series have been very close, both home and away, with only the somewhat flattering 2-0 win in 2012 standing out. A drawn series should be no surprise. An England win against a side that most people agree is in decline, would be seen as being as inevitable in retrospect as a South African win in the series will be if that is the result. Can England hit the South African fault lines and fracture them? Will South Africa’s new ball attack punish England’s vulnerable top order? Having won just 1 of their last 4 series, England desperately need a win here. A look at the recent record of both sides is revealing: between them, their combined record is W1, D3, L6 in their last 10 Tests. While South Africa have made great play of the strength in depth of their attack, the fact that a very good A side, containing several recent members of the Test side, was beaten in well under three days by an innings and plenty tells its own story.