With substantial rather than decisive contributions from the old guard – Alastair Cook, Joe Root and Ben Stokes (yes, he can just about be included in this category now) – England tiptoed towards a serviceable total in the final Test of the series, but no more than that. This trio scored 46, 52 and 58 respectively as England finished an absorbing day on 260 for six.
Yet South Africa were able to leave the field with a smile. They were boosted by the late dismissal of Stokes just before the close and the knowledge that they had hung in there with a depleted attack. Several times England were on the verge of domination, whereupon another wicket fell.
The simple fact is that this England team is far from formidable at present since three of their top five are searching – with varying degrees of success – for ways to leap over the initial barriers that Test cricket presents. The obstacles have several threads: better bowlers, greater scrutiny, which leads to a far more pressurised environment than is experienced in domestic cricket. The newcomers all made a start, supposedly the hard bit, but they could muster only 64 runs between them.
Dawid Malan demonstrated his frustration most obviously by banging his bat into the turf just after he edged Morne Morkel’s last ball before tea to second slip. Tom Westley, the most impressive of the new boys, remained self-composed after nicking a fine delivery from Kagiso Rabada. Likewise Keaton Jennings departed decorously when dismissed by Duanne Olivier just before noon but he must have been crestfallen. One day the cameraman who pokes his implement at the departing batsman’s nose while invading his personal space will get an almighty thump – and not much sympathy. Of this trio Jennings must be the most desperate for runs in the second innings to keep his place in the team.
Seldom has there been such a gulf within a Test batting lineup between the newcomers and the established; in fact, it is unusual to have so many novices feeling their way simultaneously. Cook and Root, albeit with their contrasting virtues, are among the best players of their generation. Stokes may well have the capacity to join that elite. But Jennings, Westley and Malan are just dipping their toes in the water.
Early on it was tricky whether the batsman had 144 matches under his belt like Cook or six like Jennings. The dark brown hue of the pitch suggested moisture, though not enough to deter Root from choosing to bat, and there was movement for South Africa’s pace bowlers. Unfortunately for Faf du Plessis these did not include Vernon Philander, infuriatingly suffering from back spasms, a condition which also afflicted Chris Morris.
Nonetheless Morkel and Rabada are not a bad pairing and in his first over alone Morkel beat Cook’s bat three times. There was sufficient lateral movement to make batting a trial. On four, Jennings pushed forward and a bat/pad catch looped enticingly in the air. A forward short leg could have strolled to his right to take the catch but there was no one there. Instead Rabada bounded forward and dived but the ball bobbled out of his hands.
Jennings hit two crisp off-side boundaries but could not make much of this escape. On 17 a straightforward edge from a stiff defensive stroke ended up in Quinton de Kock’s gloves. Now the Essex boys battled away; the bowlers maintained a full length so they were seldom on the pull. Westley left the ball expertly and in the last half an hour before lunch Du Plessis, as if sensing a long day ahead, employed both Keshav Maharaj, his fast-improving spinner, and Theunis de Bruyn, the dibbly-dobbliest of seamers. For England it was a bonus to lose just one wicket in the session.
South Africa contrived three wickets in the afternoon. Maharaj, who would occupy the Brian Statham End all afternoon and most of the evening, had Cook caught behind for 46. After all that graft in taxing conditions this must have been an exasperating dismissal. In the next over Westley edged and De Kock, diving to his right, held a brilliant one-handed catch.
Next into the unforgiving examination chamber came Malan. While Root proceeded watchfully by his standards but seldom missed out on a scoring opportunity, progress was painfully slow for Malan as he sought to assert himself at this level. There was a leg glance and a neat cover drive to the boundary but no stepping up from the foothills of Test cricket.
After tea Root reached a landmark even though he scored only 52: he became the fifth fastest Englishman to 5,000 Test runs. This modest statistic is a sound indicator of Root’s quality as a Test batsman since the other four (with the fastest to 5,000 first) are as follows: Jack Hobbs, Wally Hammond, Ken Barrington and Len Hutton. It is also a sign of a damned good player when there is frustration that he seems to get out too frequently between 50 and 100.
However, Root’s was a poor dismissal; he was lbw to Olivier, a bowler who declines to tuck his shirt in (how many of the great ones have done that?). The ball was full and straight and Root tried to whip it to the leg side. But he missed it. In his disgust he opted for an ill-conceived, futile review.
Jonny Bairstow almost followed soon after. On four he edged a ball on to his pad off Maharaj and it ended up in Dean Elgar’s hands at slip (after an initial appeal for lbw). It was one of those that looked out to the naked eye but once it was referred to the third umpire the doubts surfaced as to whether it was a clean catch.
Then Bairstow added 65 alongside Stokes, who may have been contemplating some mayhem in the morning when his stumps were splattered by a brilliant Rabada yorker in the penultimate over. Curiously Toby Roland-Jones came in as a nightwatchman so Moeen will be batting nine, one of the few batting positions he has yet to experience.
