The Pluck of Wingate

I do not propose to say many words today.

It is not the blog to do so. I just wanted to express a few words about how unwise I feel it is for England to rest Andrew Strauss for our upcoming tour of Bangladesh, and to gauge opinion on resting players in any Test Match, regardless of the opposition..

As it is nigh on ten years since Bangladesh gained Test status, and just 40 years since the nation gained independence, it is fair to say that they have not yet made any significant mark on the game. There have been instances of shock ODI scalps (notably Australia) but these have been few and far between, and this has not been reflected in the Tests.

I will however, state that I fear for England’s dignity in Bangladesh. We saw what happened the last time Captain Strauss (Radley) wasn’t at the bow of Mothership England. Shambles, anarchy, and collapse. Cook (Bedford) has always been touted as a leader but lacks experience in this regard and has not consistently performed in his own game.

The only good player of spin in the England side is Ian Bell. Gone are the days when Marcus Trescothick and the magnificent Graham Thorpe oversaw away victories over Pakistan. In fact, Cook is notoriously poor against anyone with a remote grasp of guile. Trott has never played upon the subcontinent. Pietersen is in horrendous form, while Prior is another who prefers a bit of pace and bounce (he is a much better player than he showed on the southern tip). Michael Carberry is an unknown to me other than (outstanding recent) figures, so again England look set to rely on Paul Collingwood (who was excellent in Pakistan on his first Test tour). Quite why Owais Shah does not get a call up on these tours is beyond me. Even if he is deemed too fragile against swing and pace, playing spin is natural to him.

I’m not overly sure how England plan to bowl the Bangladeshi’s out, either. Without Anderson, England lack a spearhead. If Swann doesn’t fire, then England lack guile. Perhaps we’re assuming that they’re just not good enough to bat for long periods. It is probably true, to be fair. England are a professional outfit these days. For example, one would assume England’s fielding will be more polished than the home side’s even without the likes of Collingwood, Bell and Carberry (who is renowned for it on the county scene, even if I’ve not seen it first hand). I also hope Cook does not use the captaincy to promote himself away from short leg. He is good there, poor elsewhere.

I would not hope to overate the Bangladeshi’s, I would just rather England took a proven leader over there. I still expect a win over there. Strauss’ Test record as captain deserves the statistics gained from such tours. Perhaps I give too much status to a Test series in Bangladesh, but I’d much rather he’d have been rested for the one-day series in South Africa, or the pointless ODI series against Australia next summer.

Wingate

England played like they thought the job was done. Obviously we’d all have taken a drawn series before it began, and so this tour can only really be described as a success, but there was a turgid lack of fight in the final game which will leave a bitter taste. SA deserved to draw the series. From their point of view it might seem like a last minute equaliser against opponents who’d clearly slackened off, but they were competitive throughout. They will rue a lack of cutting edge in the previous three games as much as England will be disappointed with their final bow.

I mused in one of my first blogs regarding where Test cricket is going in terms of who is to dominate following Australia’s demise, and how both of these sides will fancy their chances of stepping up to be the new superpower. Well, this series does not provide much evidence either way. It is clear that both are some distance from the Australian powerhouse of the noughties.

The decision following the toss was wrongly called in all four matches. It is nice that both captains are left handed opening batsmen as it makes comparisons easier. Strauss had a poor series with the bat, whilst Smith failed to capitalise on great winning positions in the field 2 times out of 3, and lacks composure in his general demeanour.

The bowling units of both sides let them down. England only managed to take 20 SA wickets once, and the same is true the other way around. Although Morkel and Anderson can be happy with their series, the back up from Broad, Onions, Steyn, Ntini, perhaps Swann and certainly Harris just did not materialise consistently enough apart from during the winning causes. These pitches all had a bit in them for the bowlers, there wasn’t a road among them. Prince and Duminy had shockers with the bat. So did Pietersen, Strauss, Trott and Prior. Not really good enough, given that even the Johannesburg pitch wasn’t the minefield England’s line up made it our to be. Paul the Wall (stolen but apt) Collingwood was my man of the series, whilst Jacques Kallis is a fantastically stout specimen.

I’m looking forward to the next England – South Africa series. By then we’ll have a better idea of how Test cricket is to shape up. I can see England beating Bangladesh and Pakistan over the coming months, and I would definitely put South Africa as underdogs in India – I think everyone is at the moment.

Wingate

It is not often I’ll blog this frequently, and I usually try to provide debate rather than a descriptive commentary, but what a tasty little spell at the end there. Even as an Englishman I was (nearly) disappointed to see the light meters out, halting a great contest. Assuming there is no more play today, I am eagerly anticipating the action tomorrow. I only hope Strauss and KP can provide enough pluck to stop Morkel* and Steyn from swinging the lead tomorrow.

Wingate

*Morkel has been impeccable, my bowler of the series.

It appears that England now have nothing to offer this game but blood, toil, tears and sweat. Even though large tracts of this game have fallen into the grip of South Africa and all the odious apparatus of Smith rule, we shall not flag or fail…

England probably underscored by 100 or so in the first innings. It was a juicy enough track on the first day, but also a limp effort from a side who looked like they’d done their work. South Africa, aided by an obvious bit of luck, have rattled past England’s score and look set for a big lead. I’m unconvinced by the dropping of Onions, if it is not broken…Sidebottom has done ok but does not make a batsman play enough. The bowling unit was doing well, on the whole.

I’m not a fan of the referral system. Anyone who’s ever watched cricket knows Smith got a nick. Abraham de Villiers got away with an obvious inside edge just now because England had used their referrals up. The system was put in place to reduce these errors, yet all it does is create more controversy. Perhaps it shall all be ironed out and things will go smoothly in the future, but the principles it requires still lack consistency. I would not go as far to say it changes the course of a game, as I always believe the better side wins the game regardless of umpire decisions, but it does irk the feathers somewhat.

Smith does not appear to back his bowlers, and without the nip of a first day pitch it will be interested to see what plans he’ll have in place for Morkel and Steyn with the prospect of bowling to Collingwood, Trott et al looming large over the next couple of days. It speaks volumes about this current England side that I fully expect someone to stand up and if not save the game, then make SA work jolly well hard for it.

Of course, England could knock over the rest of the SA line up for 30 odd runs and then go on to post their own huge total. With Boucher already at the crease, England are not far from the tail and thus it appears likely that SA will at least have to bat again if they are to close out the game. In all probability it will be a small total to knock off on the final afternoon session, though I am rather excited by the prospect of a final day chase of 200 or so for the SA side, if England can force the position. It would be a fitting end to a competitive series.

I’d prefer a spot of rain, though.

Wingate

Lets face it, England were not expected even by the most rose-tinted of shiremen to achieve all that much on the tour to South Africa. The Proteas were recently ranked number 1 in the world, and although Strauss’ (Radley) men showed some resolve and no little ability in overcoming the Auld Enemy in The Ashes, it was widely expected that a tour to the former stomping ground of the Dutch East India Company would prove a step too far. 

However, with just 1 Test remaining, they have drawn the T20 oik series, won the slightly less tedious One-Day international series, and lie 1-0 up in the proper stuff, the cream of cricket, the Tests. When we have lost, it has been a good old fashioned thrashing (even in the warm-ups!), when we have won it has been a confident conquering, but what is most pleasing is that when we have drawn it has been as a result of true grit (what we in snowy Blighty would do for a bit of grit now!), obstinance and determination. This Test series could easily lie as a 2-1 reverse if SA had equal reserves of pluck.

One man who has proved himself as an excellently organised cricketer is the vastly underated Paul Collingwood. He lacks one thing to make him truly world class, raw ability, but everything else he has in spades. Another two, Alistair Cook and Ian Bell, have overcome a lack of confidence and form to produce fantastically formulated innings’ which could turn any Test Series on their head. I’d compare these two to perhaps Ashwell Prince and John Paul Duminy in terms of their status within the side, and boy have they stood up when things are going against the grain.

I think that the difference between the sides so far has been Cook’s patience, Bell’s resolve, and Collingwood’s majestic grit. Adding in the excellently groomed Andrew Strauss and the patient Jonathan Trott (who appears to be a rather strange man who does things his own way) to the mixture gives the England batting line-up a real ‘Dogs of War’ look to it. The exception, Kevin Pietersen, proves the rule. KP is undoubtably a risk worth taking.

Barring the magnificent Jacques Kallis, I do not see the same guts amongst the South Africans. Smith has a stubborn nature but that is bourne out of belligerence, anger and his cantankerous nature, aiming solely to beat his own enemy rather than a desire to succeed for his own gain. Abraham De Villiers lacks phlegm. Duminy and Prince do not stand up in the trenches. I like Boucher and Amla but they have obvious weaknesses against a swinging/turning ball. Meanwhile, you could balance a herd of wildebeest straight from the high veldt upon Collingwood’s resolutely protruding upper lip. 

One test to go, and let’s hope it is another corking contest. I mentioned in a previous blog that The Ashes are the pinnacle of cricket. History dictates that they are and always will be, but this series has been of a better quality than the summer’s recapture of the urn. Either way, Strauss’ Expeditionary Force will head home happy.

Wingate.

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears,

England head to Newlands with nothing much to do other than to hope to maintain the status quo. Alastair Cook and Ian Bell both found marvellous form, whilst Collingwood’s place is only down to a matter of fitness (he certainly does stiffen the sinews!), a straight swap with Luke Wright is on the cards if necessary. When Cook and Bell are in form the batting line-up looks almost juggernaut-esque, whilst the bowling unit seems to consistently pick up wickets without ever being particularly threatening. Overall, the team looks settled, ship-shape and Bristol fashion.

Strauss (Radley)

Cook

Trott

Pietersen

Collingwood/Bell

Bell/Wright

Prior (wk)

Broad (Oakham)

Swann

Anderson

Onions

So it is time to look at South Africa, who showed a complete lack of mettle and spunk in their capitulation in the previous game. I’m not a fan of a rapid change or overhaul of philosophy when it comes to team sports. I’d tend to retain a belief in a core of players as far as possible. However, there are certainly some issues to be decided. I’ll start with the batting order.

Smith is sound enough at swishing sabre, but lacks a “Gary Kirsten” to open with him. Comparisons are odious, but Prince is a lower middle-order batsman in reality, a good number 5. In the absence of such a Kirsten-esque player however, Prince might well have to do up top. I like Hashim Amla, a man of grit, whilst Jacques Kallis and Abraham Benjamin De Villiers speak for themselves in international cricket – many are called but few are chosen. Jean-Paul Duminy I’d query as a batsman, but all in all, I think the SA batting line-up needs to be left alone and trusted to achieve the runs required; faith will move mountains. Mark Boucher is the only keeper of international standard they have and has a plucky record with the willow too, he would be my second man on the team-sheet after Kallis.

The bowling unit. Those simply mocking Ntini’s effort at Centurion might be well advised to widen their perspectives and look at the unit as a whole. Steyn took his meagre two wickets when England already had 530 runs on the board, whilst Harris’ 1-146 looks horrible next to Swann’s effort (and Swann is far from brilliant, rest assured). Morkel was the only bowler to look remotely threatening, whilst Duminy proved he can fill a few overs if required. One would hope (or in my case, assume) that Steyn shall regain form, rhythm and fitness over time, but Ntini and Harris? I’m not entirely sure that they are up for international cricket. Ntini due to age, Harris due to ability.

With this in mind, I’d go against my natural instinct and look for a couple of changes:

Smith

Prince

Amla

Kallis

De Villiers

Duminy

Boucher (wk)

McLaren

Morkel

Steyn

De Wet

Plenty of bowling options with Duminy’s spin backing up Kallis and McLaren, who’d back up the three strike bowlers. Good depth in batting, a sound keeper. The only question left is down to the fallacy of Smith as a captain, which I’ve rightly managed to steer a wide berth in this piece.

Wingate.

PS I am excited to see more of Pakistan in test cricket next summer. They shall be quite a warm proposition after their series Down Under. I can only hope they have weedled out their natural instinct to cheat.