7:26 Highlights from day three of the first Test between South Africa and England at Centurion
As it was the morning session was a disaster.
As has been the case throughout the Test, there is the sizeable caveat that England are fighting a battle on two fronts: against South Africa on the pitch and a nasty sickness bug off it.
Jos Buttler was confirmed as the latest casualty before play began, fortunately they had a capable deputy to keep wicket in Jonny Bairstow, while Joe Root was also suffering and left the field early. He returned to the action twice but on each occasion looked decidedly unwell.
Captain and wicketkeeper struck down by illness and the bowlers would also point out that the pitch, lively throughout the first couple of days, appeared to have settled down somewhat.
Again, not ideal but that still does not explain England’s tactics. Stokes had spoken before play started about following the example of Vernon Philander the day before and when they opened up with James Anderson and Sam Curran that seemed to be what they were trying to do.
However, with the ball not doing as much off the pitch, England grew frustrated as Rassie van der Dussen and nightwatchman Anrich Nortje held out with relative ease but rather than just settle in around off stump as Philander did so effectively on day two, they tore up the initial plan and started banging the ball in halfway down.
Runs started to flow but the plan remained the same even when, after Jofra Archer had removed Van der Dussen and Nortje, the latter admittedly with a short ball, Quinton de Kock came in and smashed a flurry of boundaries.
By lunch, South Africa had added 125 runs to lead by 300 and still had three wickets in hand. England had been tetchy in the field with Stokes and Stuart Broad having a bit of a spat in the huddle after a wicket and during the interval, Nasser Hussain did not hold back.
“You have to look at the way South Africa bowled, where did they get their wickets?” he said. “All caught behind in the slip cordon. England when they bowled well in the first innings, wickets all caught in the slip cordon.
“So suddenly they think ‘we’ve got a cunning plan, we’ll do it completely different and just bowl bouncer after bouncer after bouncer.’ If you do that there is one mode of dismissal, fending off to short leg. There is no bowled, no nick off, no lbw so you’d better get that spot on. It was bizarre.
“Look at how Vernon Philander bowled. On an up-and-down pitch, target the stumps and get the batsmen coming forward. England’s planning is just not switched on at all, there is no feel for the game.”
1:50 Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain assess how the England and South Africa dressing rooms might be feeling as the tourists look to chase 376 to win the first Test
Root’s captaincy has been questioned over the past few months with the team continuing to struggle away from home as well as his diminishing returns with the bat. His double hundred in Hamilton was enough to quieten a few critics but certainly not silence them and after the team’s showing this morning, they will be as loud as ever.
The blame does not lie solely with the skipper though, especially given he was not on the field for long periods and clearly in far from peak condition when he was. Of course, Root must shoulder his share but the bowlers also need to look at themselves.
Broad and Anderson have over 1,000 Test match wickets between them. They will clearly have a big part to play in deciding the bowling plans. Even if they thought the short-pitched approach was worth trying, it was soon clear it wasn’t working. Could they not have stepped in?
Archer and Curran are still finding their way in Test cricket and the former at least had some success with the short stuff. He took his first Test five-for overseas but when at six-an-over. In a game where runs have been, certainly on the first two days, hard to come by, suggests something is amiss.
Social media was quick to criticise Archer and while the bowler himself was not at his best, he was clearly bowling to a plan, you only had to look at the field setting to see that. England’s management of Archer and the role he plays in the team is something that surely has to be addressed and given his obvious talent, getting it sorted is to the benefit of all parties.
Reverting to the more patient approach after lunch was an admission by England that they had got it badly wrong in the morning but by then the damage had been done.
They will know that a victory target of 376 is at least 50 or 60 more than it should have been – and that is being generous. Had they been chasing 300, there might be rather more optimism going into day four.
As it is, the likelihood remains that South Africa will take the nine wickets they need to win this Test but even if England do manage the unthinkable, they cannot ignore the issues that have plagued them in Pretoria.
There is plenty for them to discuss and unpick before the next game at Cape Town. The morning of day three at Centurion might be a good place to start.
Watch day four of the first Test between South Africa and England from 7.30am on Sky Sports Cricket.
Sourse: skysports.com
