The pace bowlers of England and South Africa will be licking their lips. At last there is the prospect of green grass, all rather different to Nagpur or Abu Dhabi – even if England’s pacemen adapted rather well to those sluggish surfaces of the UAE. Even better, there will be some callow batsmen about.
The balance of the teams is similar. Both possess two established Test batsmen with mighty records (Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers for South Africa, Alastair Cook and Joe Root for England) and two experienced pacemen (Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel share 629 Test wickets; Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad have 741 between them).
Alongside these two established quartets there are question marks. If England omit Gary Ballance from their final XI there will be only two batsmen (Cook and Root) in their top seven who average above 32 in Test cricket. South Africa’s batting may seem flaky as well after their trials in India, though their first seven are likely to have just one player who averages under 32 in Test cricket, Temba Bavuma.
That feeling of flakiness was enhanced when it was announced by the convener of the South Africa selectors, Linda Zondi, that AB de Villiers was going to keep wicket. His recent predecessors, Quinton de Kock and Dane Vilas, have not scored enough runs. One conclusion was inevitable: South Africa, tormented on those turning tracks, are fretting about their batting. Another was tempting: that De Villiers, the batsman, arguably the best batsman on the planet, just may be diminished by the added responsibility of keeping wicket. Round one to England?
Do not bank on it. A scurry to the records reveals De Villiers has been South Africa’s designated wicketkeeper in 23 of his 102 Test matches. In that time he has averaged 58, which is considerably higher than his overall average of 51. De Villiers did most of his keeping for South Africa after the cruel injury to Mark Boucher at the start of the tour to England in 2012. A bail struck Boucher in the eye, forcing him to end his career. In this emergency De Villiers took the gloves and kept them for almost two years. Now one consequence of him being the keeper in the series is that he is likely to go back down the order to No5 or 6, which is where he has been most successful for South Africa in Test cricket.
De Villiers has been an indestructible cricketer. Occasionally there have been concerns about his back but he had played 98 consecutive Tests, the first of which was against England in December 2004, before missing one. Even then his absence – for the tour to Bangladesh last July – was not through injury but paternity leave. Here is the complete sportsman, always brilliant in his youth whether the game was rugby, tennis, hockey, golf or cricket, and he is a new man as well. No wonder he provokes Bradmanesque attention from opponents – though he hooks and pulls so well the avenue of a bodyline attack is probably not appropriate.
It is a sobering thought that Hashim Amla has an even better record against England, though this is bolstered by his unbeaten triple century at The Oval in 2012. At least at No3 he may be more accessible to England’s new-ball bowlers, who may sense that “if we can get Amla and De Villiers cheaply the rest will follow”.
The names of the rest have already been established. Zondi has announced South Africa’s 13-man squad for the first two Tests and he (yes, it is a he) has explained the thinking: “One of the issues that concerned us during the tour of India was the lack of depth, particularly in the lower order and the change in AB’s role means that we can now have a specialist batsman at No7”.
Before we scoff at South African conservatism, the likelihood is that Jonny Bairstow will be England’s seven – unless there is change of heart among the selectors about Jos Buttler.
The expectation is Stiaan van Zyl will partner Dean Elgar at the top of South Africa’s order, with Bavuma, Faf du Plessis and JP Duminy alongside the two superstars. Then, providing Steyn is fit, South Africa must decide which bowler to omit out of Kyle Abbott, Kagiso Rabada and the specialist spinner, Dane Piedt, who bowls off-breaks.
Van Zyl, Bavuma, Rabada and Piedt – these are unfamiliar cricketers for England, who for some reason do not seem to come across South Africa, the No1 Test team in the world, as frequently as they encounter the other two members of the great triumvirate.
The analysts will be earning their corn finding footage and uncovering frailties of these newcomers, though they would be even more useful if they could find a way of getting rid of Amla and De Villiers cheaply.
