Johannesburg — Even with Duanne Olivier no longer available the Proteas have more than enough resources at their disposal with the ball, to hinder England’s new footloose and fancy free approach.
Rather than wanting to confront “Bazball” with bravado, the South Africans, are intrigued at how their very powerful and varied line-up of bowlers, will fare against Ben Stokes’ outfit.
“We believe we’ve been playing a nice brand of cricket,” Proteas coach Mark Boucher said on Monday. “We are in a good space (with regards to) bowlers and we do believe that we can pick up 20 wickets in a Test match. We’ve shown in the past against other teams that we can and this should be no different.”
Four consecutive fourth innings run chases above 270, including making 378/3 against India the last time England played a Test, is certainly intimidating. Stokes was mentioning how he would like to have chased 500 at Edgbaston in that match, just to see if his team could do it.
Conditions have played a part as the South Africans have mentioned, as has the quality of ball being produced by Dukes, which Stuart Broad earlier in the season mentioned was like rolled-up plasticine. Then there is the form of the players; Joe Root, has been in good touch since 2014, while Jonny Bairstow, has bought into the new liberated mindset created by coach Brendon McCullum and captain Stokes, and revitalised a Test career that at one stage looked like it would implode into a mess of confused dismissals because of a flaky technique along with his desire to carry on as the first-choice wicketkeeper.
To combat all that, SA’s selectors have a delicate task in balancing match-ups and assessing conditions. What they won’t be worried about is resources. There are spinners, fast bowlers, accurate seamers and a lanky left-arm quick.
In terms of conditions it’s been a hot summer in the UK, but this week, as an example of just how deep the climate crisis really is, the weather is expected to turn, with some severe thunderstorms being forecast.
Wednesday’s play may well be interrupted by rain, which is going to play a part in how SA’s attack is constructed.
There’s the “4 and 1” option — four seamers and one spinner — and the “3 and 2” option — two spinners, and three seamers — which the selectors have no doubt already been discussing. Whichever way SA go, the make up of the attack will be strong.
Marco Jansen, Lungi Ngidi, Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje are a brutal quartet, regardless of conditions. In SA especially, that would be a devastating attack. And perhaps if SA didn’t have the kind of spin bowlers at their disposal that exist in the squad, it would be an easy choice to go with that combination.
But in Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, the latter newly-crowned as Cricket SA’s Player of the Year, the Proteas possess a pair of high-class spinners who as they showed against Bangladesh, can tear a batting line-up apart.
Harmer has been hugely successful for Essex in the last few years, and the confidence he gained there was certainly beneficial to the Proteas, once Brexit provided the option for him to return and resume his international career. Maharaj, as Sunday’s reward reminded, has been a vital component of the Proteas side — not just in the Test format either.
Maharaj was carted around Canterbury in the tour match against the England Lions last week, conceding 169 runs in 22 overs and taking just one wicket, which very much reflected the broader England approach in how they — especially the middle order trio of Root, Bairstow and Stokes — will play spin.
Seamers have traditionally been successful at Lord’s with James Anderson (116) and Stuart Broad (99) the top wicket-takers there. However in the 2017 Test between the two countries, Moeen Ali took a “ten-for” and Maharaj picked up four in the second innings, something that may — along with the weather — factor into selection talks this week.
On paper England look the stronger of the two batting line-ups mainly because of their middle order. The respective bowling attacks however, is slightly different, with the Proteas’ depth better than England’s, although the presence of Anderson and Broad means the home team have enormous experience.
But if SA are to deflate “Bazball” it will be the bowlers who have to provide the pin. There remain concerns about Rabada, although Boucher sounded optimistic on Monday that he would be able to start the first Test as he has been steadily increasing his work loads in the last 10 days. But even if he were to miss Lord’s there is enough in that attack to ensure 20 wickets are taken.
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