Day one report
From Vic …
The last word, for now, goes to Geoff Wignall. “I take your points about Stokes [16:24],” he says, striking a welcome note of conciliation, “but if he didn’t want the four-run freebie or to take advantage of an umpiring error he could have chosen to leave/block the next ball. And I’m sure there are and have been plenty of sportsfolk every bit as competitive without the loutishness.”
Time for bed, said Zebedee.
“Come on,” says Chris Bull. “Let’s at least wait until we have the full facts before we decide to spout forth on this incident. Firstly, what on earth did this ‘fan’ say to Stokes, if anything. Was it abusive? If it was, then one could have sympathy. I don’t personally agree with the idea that professional sportsman are fair game to be personally abused by ‘paying spectators’.
“People talking about lengthy bans really need to get a grip. And Geoff Wignall [16:24] clearly has some metaphorical myopia when it comes to Stokes. He did absolutely nothing unsporting in the WC final, how on earth could anyone think that is fair comment.”
The Stokes story is being covered from the Wanderers by my colleague Chris Stocks.
Play, by the way, has been called off. The day ends with honours just about even, but South Africa, I suspect, the happier of the two camps, and eyeing a win that would save face as well as the series.
Ollie Pope is in such good form that he could take it away from them tomorrow, as he did at the same stage of the last Test, and a fellow called Root could get a few too. But England are always breakable, as they’ve shown yet again this evening, and the pitch is offering bounce and movement to bowlers who can summon some intensity. Ben Stokes will probably take a five-for. Thanks for your company, your trenchant views and your fine turn of phrase.
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Time for some light relief. “Just to clarify,” says Rory Dollard on Twitter, “some of Ben Stokes’ best friends wear glasses. Ask Jack Leach.”
A tough line on Stokes from one of our regulars. “I appreciate this is probably a minority view,” says Geoff Wignall, “but I’m hoping fervently that Stokes is in line for a lengthy ban. As a fully fledged member of the Ben Stokes Not a Fan Club, I don’t much care how talented he is or how hard he works at his game. Street brawls and an absence of sportsmanship (as per the WC final) are bad enough but for me he should never have been near the England team after his social media abuse of a vulnerable, disabled teenager. His essential loutishness had been too well demonstrated over an extended period.”
Loutish, at times, yes. And no excuse for abuse of anyone. But was he unsporting in the World Cup final? I thought he tried not to take that four-run freebie. And I’m not sure it’s fair to discount his talent or his drive. They’re part of the package and with Stokes, even more than the average sportsman, you see a blur between his strengths and his weaknesses. The fire in the belly is apt to flare up into a blaze of fury.
Ben Stokes is trending on Twitter. “Stokes should know that language like that is bad,” says Cosmos. “These days you simply cannot mock the myopic.”
Bad light stops play! (England 192-4)
Ah, shame. They’re off for the light, which doesn’t seem all that bad, but then it’s hard to tell on the telly. That may well be that for the day. If so, it’s been a day of two sessions, and two halves: the afternoon belonged to England, the evening to South Africa. For the first time in a decade (thanks for the stat, Michael Anderson), England started their first innings with a hundred partnership; for the umpteenth time in any period you choose to mention, they collapsed. And Ben Stokes, so often the hero in the past year, may have become the villain after using some seriously bad language to a spectator.
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54th over: England 192-4 (Root 25, Pope 22) Pope cracks Philander square, and only gets a single for it. He’s been so positive, riding the wave of his good form.
Here’s more on that moment with Stokes, from the eagle-eared Mike Lyle, who heard Stokes “arguing with a fan” as he left the field. “He had barely stepped over the boundary rope when he said, ‘Come and say that that to me outside the ground, you fucking four-eyed cunt!’” Wow. If that is confirmed, it’s bad.
“That guy really has some serious anger issues, no doubt he will get away with it without punishment but if that happened at my local club he would be facing an immediate ban.”
53rd over: England 191-4 (Root 25, Pope 21) Root plays a cover push for a single which wouldn’t be worth describing if it were not the 500,000th run for England in Tests, a first for any country. It’s only taken them 143 years. Things get more interesting later in the over as Hendricks bowls a gem of a bouncer to Pope, jagging in and following him as he tries to sway out of the way. He ends up on his back, but smiling.
52nd over: England 185-4 (Root 24, Pope 16) A single to each batsman off Philander, which may sound comfortable enough – except that Root’s comes off an inside edge into his groin. It’s been a bad day for the most sensitive part of a man’s anatomy.
51st over: England 183-4 (Root 23, Pope 15) A few more singles. The commentators are chuntering because there are inviting gaps in the infield – the South African strategy feels like neither one thing nor the other, neither attacking nor defending. Still, it’s worked a treat since tea.
“Re: Hubert O’Hearn’s query (over 47),” says Jon Taylor, “all Test sides are prone to batting collapses, the difference is the terminology. When England collapse, we refer to it as ‘an embarrassing capitulation’. When our opponents collapse, we call it ‘an unplayable spell from Stuart Broad’.” Ha.
50th over: England 180-4 (Root 22, Pope 13) Philander returns, to be treated with due respect by Pope, who picks up a single with a cut.
“I just switched onto the Sky coverage,” says Thomas Atkins. “Did I just see them accidentally playing and rewinding Stokes going up the tunnel and someone saying a very, very bad word indeed?” I suspect you did. I was a bit busy cursing myself as we’ve been having some technical troubles too.
49th over: England 179-4 (Root 22, Pope 12) Root picks up a one and a two off Paterson. There are still, in theory, 16 overs to go tonight, which means we may well be going through to 6.30pm, or 4.30 in the UK.
“Oh Kim!” says Brian Withington (38th and 44th overs). “... Make that a howl of impending existential despair!”
48th over: England 175-4 (Root 19, Pope 11) Pope shows his class with a dreamy straight drive for four off Nortje, followed by a merely commanding cover drive for two. If you didn’t know, you might think it was Pope, not Root, who had just reached 7500 runs in Tests.
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47th over: England 167-4 (Root 18, Pope 5) Root plays a front-foot pull, which might alarm Silverwood, but shows confidence in himself and the pitch, and gets him four.
“Only been following cricket about a year,” says Hubert O’Hearn on Twitter, “so this is honest, not trolling. Are England collapses, um, normal among Test sides? It’s like some strange vibration goes through them and cool, pro athletes all spasm. Like football’s Phil Jones.” Ha, yes. And like the man who was once the next Duncan Edwards, they do quite a lot of things very well in between.
46th over: England 161-4 (Root 13, Pope 4) Ollie Pope, England’s new star, begins with some nice crisp leaves and then cashes in with a tuck through midwicket. That at least makes sure that not every batsman has made fewer than the one before, but the stark fact remains that, from Sibley to Stokes, England lost four wickets for 50 in 12.3 overs.
Wicket!!! Stokes c van der Dussen b Nortje 2 (England 157-4)
Stokes slashes at a full fast ball from Nortje, angled across him, and van der Dussen takes another cool calm catch. Ladies and gentlemen, out of nowhere, we have a good old England collapse.
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45th over: England 157-3 (Root 13, Stokes 2) Stokes, also watchful, blocks a few from Paterson before taking a single, which is his 1000th run against South Africa – a quarter of them in one innings.
44th over: England 156-3 (Root 13, Stokes 1) Root, who’s been watchful, tries to get out of the way of a snorter from Nortje and ends up edging it for four. That was the opposite of playing-and-missing: leaving-and-hitting.
“I see Kim Thonger’s faux pessimism,” says Brian Withington, “and raise him a nervous chuckle.”
43rd over: England 152-3 (Root 9, Stokes 1) I wonder if Denly, seeing Crawley and Sibley do so well, decided that the blocker he’s been for the past year was suddenly no longer needed. He ended up playing the sort of top-three innings Trevor Bayliss believed in and Chris Silverwood doesn’t.
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Wicket! Denly c van der Dussen b Paterson 27 (England 150-3)
Gone! Third time unlucky for Denly as he fences at a good ball from Paterson and gives a straightforward catch to first slip. He finishes with a very typical Denly score, made in a very untypical way.
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42nd over: England 149-2 (Denly 27, Root 7) Another stroke of luck for Denly, who goes back to Nortje when he should be forward and gets away with a squirt through the vacant third slip. He then pulls, expansively, and is dropped again – this time at midwicket, a hard chance that leaves Dwaine Pretorius nursing a sore finger.
41st over: England 142-2 (Denly 21, Root 6) Denly clearly has a plane to catch. He cover-drives Paterson for four, glides for two, then inside-edges for four more. His strike rate today is 72 per hundred balls, as against 39 in the rest of his Test career.
40th over: England 131-2 (Denly 10, Root 6) Undeterred, Denly cracks Philander for four off the back foot, then takes a single to slip into double figures, as he has done every time he’s batted in this series. Michael Holding has some advice for the bowlers: “Get him coming forward – he’s a lot more uncertain.”
39th over: England 125-2 (Denly 5, Root 5) That said, it’s good to see Denly going for his shots. He’s going to keep getting out for 30 if he just comes to the party as a stone wall.
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Dropped! Denly on 4
Denly, facing Paterson, goes for another ambitious square drive, off the front foot this time, and Malan at point makes a great attempt to cling on, diving to his right.
38th over: England 122-2 (Denly 4, Root 3) Better from Denly, who waits for the top of the bounce, off Philander, and plays a handsome back-foot drive for three.
“Would you regard me as overconfident,” asks Kim Thonger, “if I say I think that England have a decent chance of getting to 200 before they are all out?” The experts at Sporting Index have England down for something in the 380s. They could do with a Thonger.
37th over: England 118-2 (Denly 1, Root 2) Denly, who always looks such a natural strokeplayer, has somehow found a way of becoming a barnacle. He blocks and blocks as Hendricks probes, and would be gone if du Plessis had posted a short leg.
Meanwhile Jon Sen has spotted something.“Just noticed from the link you shared [30th over] that in the FoW, Cricinfo refer to ‘Sir Alistair Cook’, which is somehow comforting and totally appropriate for the man, as is the stand we’ve just witnessed.” So, which are you expecting first – Sir Zak or Sir Dom?
36th over: England 117-2 (Denly 1, Root 1) So the young openers finally show their inexperience by getting out, to ordinary deliveries, in quick succession. One more wicket and South Africa will be right back in this. Not that Faf seems to realise it: he greets Joe Root with a cover sweeper, when he should surely have a second gully.
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Wicket!! Crawley c van der Dussen b Philander 66 (England 116-2)
Just when he was looking so good, Crawley goes and blows it with a pointless waft at the first ball of a new spell by Philander, and gives a simple catch to first slip. That cluster of wickets may be under way.
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35th over: England 116-1 (Crawley 66, Denly 1) Hendricks decides that the short ball which did for Sibley is worth another go, and Crawley pulls it, off the front foot, for four. Coming after all those mistimed pulls, that may well be the shot of the day.
34th over: England 110-1 (Crawley 61, Denly 1) Denly gets off the mark with a nudge to leg off Paterson, while Crawley keeps cruising along with a couple of singles. And Philander, shying at the stumps, manages to hit Paterson in the small of the back, which rather sums up South Africa’s day so far. To my untrained eye, this pitch is like a quicker version of Headingley – there’s plenty in it for everyone, and you could well see wickets falling in clusters.
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33rd over: England 107-1 (Crawley 59, Denly 0) Joe Denly starts as he means to go on, with a couple of leaves. Can he see his Kent team-mate to a first Test hundred?
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Wicket! Sibley c de Kock b Hendricks 44 (England 107-1)
The breakthrough! Hendricks digs it in, from round the wicket, and Sibley, fencing, can only nick it down the legside. That’s Hendricks’ first test wicket, and a rather bathetic end to a fine opening stand.
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32nd over: England 106-0 (Crawley 58, Sibley 44) Faf du Plessis goes back to Dane Paterson, who was the best of the bowlers this morning, not that it’s saying much. He starts tidily before handing Sibley a gimme, too short and wide of off. “When you’ve got Sibley scoring behind square,” says Shaun Pollock, “you know you’ve missed your areas.”
31st over: England 102-0 (Crawley 58, Sibley 40) Beuran Hendricks reopens the proceedings and immediately beats Crawley, who flashes at a back-of-a-length ball outside off. Faced with a similar delivery later in the over, he pulls for a single, showing again that he’s not the type to be once beaten, twice shy.
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A good question from Eddy Richards, to go with a cup of tea. “Have England gone from zero openers to three in the space of a couple of months? In the interests of irony, no doubt we’ll suddenly lose all our all-rounders!”
A hundred partnership!
30th over: England 100-0 (Crawley 57, Sibley 39) Crawley takes a single off Nortje, and Sibley clips for four through square leg to bring up the hundred partnership. That’s lunch – a suitable way to round off a dream of a session for England, and their first opening stand of a hundred in 70 Test innings, since Cook and Jennings found a decent response to India scoring 750 just over three long years ago. It’s been a case of Sibley, Crawley, quickly but surely. See you shortly.
29th over: England 95-0 (Crawley 56, Sibley 35) As if a blow to the groin wasn’t bad enough, Sibley is in some discomfort against Hendricks. The left-arm-over angle has him falling over to the off side, which leads to an LBW shout (not out, pitching outside leg) and then a near-yorking as Sibley trips himself up. With feet like that, he could get a game for Manchester United.
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28th over: England 89-0 (Crawley 56, Sibley 29) After several minutes, Crawley takes a new helmet from Jonny Bairstow and re-enters the fray. I do hope he’s all right. Nortje greets him with another bouncer, in the great tradition of the nasty fasty, but it’s so high that it’s called a wide.
Meanwhile Ian Forth has a thought about England’s sudden surplus of top-order batsmen. “Though Denly has been admirable in the last year, I wonder if he is the most likely to give way, given age and limitations, leaving a Sibley, Burns, Crawley top 3 for the next few years. Of course, it could easily be Jennings, Hameed, Duckett in a year’s time - what do I know?”
Mid-28th over: England 88-0 (Crawley 56, Sibley 29) At last, a well-aimed bouncer from SA, bowled by the pacey Nortje. It’s rather too well-aimed for Crawley, who plays a hook, misses, and takes a blow flush on the helmet, above his eyes. He’s still standing, and seems OK, but there’s a delay for the usual concussion tests.
“You seem to be forgetting,” says Paul Haynes, “that most of us have no access to viewing the cricket, which is why we follow it via your live reporting. Exciting cricket is terrible, as we non-viewers are missing out on the action, but if it’s a bit boring, then the investment of refreshing or checking every 10 minutes gets a fair return. A boring century is thus better for the OBO enthusiast who doesn’t need to watch it. Personally, apart from the 2019 World Cup final, I haven’t seen a game of cricket since 2005!” That is quite a record.
27th over: England 88-0 (Crawley 56, Sibley 29) Beuran Hendricks returns after making a decent start to his Test career with the new ball. But he too comes bearing gifts – a half-volley which Crawley punches back past him with great confidence, and a short one which Crawley can’t quite time or place. If he had played the pull as crisply as the drive, he’d be on 80 by now.
26th over: England 83-0 (Crawley 51, Sibley 29) A couple of singles off Nortje, whose over ends with Sibley taking a nip-backer in the groin. He winces, and the whole world winces with him.
25th over: England 81-0 (Crawley 50, Sibley 28) Sibley celebrates his mate’s landmark with an on-drive for four as Pretorius gets too floaty again. One of the hopeful signs for this new-look England is the pleasure they take in each other’s achievements. Sibley and Crawley will soon be competing for one slot as Burns’s opening partner, but they’re not letting that get in the way of the team’s interests.
Fifty! To Crawley
Zak Crawley goes to his first Test fifty with a single to backward point off Pretorius. It was a leading edge, so perhaps his worst shot of the day. More importantly, he has nine fours and “has got his tempo spot-on,” as Nasser says. And he won’t be 22 till next week.
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24th over: England 75-0 (Crawley 49, Sibley 23) Nortje goes wide on the crease and beats Sibley, poking uncertainly at a lifter. When you see Sibley play outside off stump, you wonder how on earth he managed to score a Test century.
23rd over: England 74-0 (Crawley 49, Sibley 23) And... ACTION! Pretorius, who has at least been frugal so far, suddenly hands out some freebies. Crawley thumps one half-volley through the covers, another past midwicket, and a third back past the bowler. The second one took Crawley to 45, his highest Test score. He just keeps going up, so no wonder he likes it at altitude.
“Over 18, Dane and Dwaine bowling together...” says Dan Silk. “Please say they’re bowling dibbly-dobblies? At the very least we need Dwaine’s Dibbly.”
22nd over: England 62-0 (Crawley 37, Sibley 23) Back comes Anrich Nortje, after a bad start and a stint on the Nortje step. He does better, stringing a few dots together and then squeezing a semi-false stroke out of Sibley, who fends awkwardly close to gully and gets a streaky four.
“I’m sure,” says Alan Shillitoe, “there’s a Red Dwarf joke to be had from Dwaine-Sibley somewhere, but I can’t quite find it!”
21st over: England 57-0 (Crawley 36, Sibley 19) An edge! As Paterson bowls Crawley something resembling a leg-cutter, and it doesn’t carry to slip. Both the ball, and the stroke, could have been flown in from Port Elizabeth. Crawley then takes another single with a pull, to round off the most exciting over I’ve covered today.
20th over: England 56-0 (Crawley 35, Sibley 19) Another single for Crawley. That’s 19 off the last ten overs, following 37 off the first 10. We may have a new world record time for a Test match going to sleep.
And here’s Kim Thonger. “I see Brian Withington’s sentimental moment earlier about life-affirming cover drives [10th over] and raise him John Arlott’s description of Clive Lloyd’s ‘murderous hitting’, which John likened to ‘a man knocking a thistle top with a walking stick.’ Anyone who has been on a country walk in England in the summer and not daydreamed about Clive Lloyd’s strokeplay, while gaily clubbing innocent thistles to death, has not lived.”
19th over: England 55-0 (Crawley 34, Sibley 19) Paterson gets away with a half-tracker to Crawley, who can only help it round the corner for a single. SA have managed to dry up the scoring, but what they really need is a wicket.
18th over: England 54-0 (Crawley 33, Sibley 19) A change at the other end as Pretorius replaces Philander. It’s a maiden, to Sibley, but more interestingly we have a Dane and a Dwaine bowling together. And neither has a middle name.
17th over: England 54-0 (Crawley 33, Sibley 19) Faf sticks with Dane Paterson, who has been doing Philander’s job for him, landing the ball on a length. But now he drops short and Zak Crawley cashes in with a cut for four. Paterson responds well, with a jaffa that goes just past the outside edge. England could easily be 44 for three.
Thanks Rob, afternoon everyone. Well, this is a funny one – two rookie openers finding it easy against the great Vernon Philander on his favourite surface. Perhaps he’s got something in his eye.
That’s it from me. Tim de Lisle will be with you for the rest of the day – you can email him on tim.delisle.casual@theguardian.com or tweet @TimdeLisle. Thanks for your company, bye!
16th over: England 50-0 (Crawley 29, Sibley 19) Sibley plays the shot of the day so far, driving Philander emphatically to the left of mid-on for four. The next delivery hits the seam and snaps past the outside edge. A good comeback from Philander, but the first hour and a bit belonged to England. That’s drinks.
15th over: England 44-0 (Crawley 29, Sibley 13) A rare loose stroke from Crawley, who fishes outside off at Paterson and is beaten. He knew it was a nothing shot before he had finished playing it. A maiden.
14th over: England 44-0 (Crawley 29, Sibley 13) England’s openers have been able to leave a lot of deliveries with confidence, which is unusual against Philander in particular.
13th over: England 42-0 (Crawley 28, Sibley 12) Dane Paterson replaces Anrich Nortje, whose two overs were slapped for 16 by Zak Crawley. He finds a bit of movement away from Crawley, who is content to let everything pass outside off stump. He’s played seriously well so far.
“Greetings Rob,” says Sam. “Wondering what your thoughts are on Burns’ return once fit? Crawley looks okay to me (cue mockers) and should he have a decent tour in Sri Lanka he could cause a few headaches around the selection table. Full disclosure, I’m a big fan of Burns. I’d actually have him as skipper and allow Root his head. Whaddyareckon?”
I’d just let it play out and review everything when Burns is available. They also have the option of putting Zak Crawley at No3 if they want. My hunch is that one of Crawley, Sibley and Denly will have a bit of a beast in Sri Lanka, which will make it easier to decide who to leave out when Burns is available.
12th over: England 42-0 (Crawley 28, Sibley 12) Vernon Philander returns for his second spell, this time at the other end - and Sibley is caught off a no-ball. Oh, Vern. It was the correct decision, bravely called on the field by Joel Wilson.
11th over: England 41-0 (Crawley 28, Sibley 12) Crawley plays another superb stroke, clipping Nortje between midwicket and mid-on for four. Even after 11 overs, South Africa urgently need a wicket.
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10th over: England 37-0 (Crawley 24, Sibley 12) Hendricks moves round the wicket in an attempt to make Sibley play at more deliveries. He achieves that but not much else. South Africa are struggling here. The pitch is doing much less than expected.
“Rob,” says Brian Withington, “Call me a sentimental old git, but isn’t there something life-affirmingly wonderful about watching (and hearing) genuine cover drives by the likes of young Crawley and Pope?”
Damn straight. I’m welling up over here.
9th over: England 37-0 (Crawley 24, Sibley 12) Anrich Nortje replaces Vernon Philander, who bowled a surprisingly tame opening spell of 4-0-12-0. The impressive Crawley crumps his first delivery through midwicket for four - and then drives the fourth ball emphatically to the cover boundary. As England opening batsmen go, he’s very watchable. This has been an almost perfect start for England.
8th over: England 25-0 (Crawley 13, Sibley 11) “I could watch Curtly bowl all day,” says Chris Drew. “Watch as in from a long way away.”
Sibley is not out!
South Africa thought he had given a catch behind when he flicked at a delivery outside leg stump from Hendricks. The umpire Joel Wilson agreed, but Sibley reviewed straight away and replays showed he didn’t touch it.
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ENGLAND REVIEW! Sibley has been given out caught behind off Hendricks.
7th over: England 21-0 (Crawley 12, Sibley 8) Crawley has punched some handsome drives off Philander, which is either brave or foolhardy. I’ll let you know in a couple of hours’ time. Thus far he has batted with eyecatching authority, and he gets his second boundary with a dismissive extra-cover drive.
6th over: England 15-0 (Crawley 6, Sibley 8) Sibley gurns as Hendricks runs in to bowl: short, slightly wide and forced through backward point for four. Good shot. South Africa have bowled far too short this morning, Hendricks in particular, and that has helped England get off to an encouraging start. These six overs have surely confirmed that it’s a case of when, not if, England usurp India as the world’s No1 Test team.
“Looking forward to seeing how Root does against the debutant bowler,” begins Matt Dony, sniggering at a punchline he hasn’t even delivered yet. “Hopefully there’ll be a bit of chat on the pitch. I think we all want to hear ‘Hey, Joe’ from Hendricks. I’m here all week. Try the Koeksister.”
5th over: England 11-0 (Crawley 6, Sibley 4) By Philander’s immaculate standards, this has been a slightly loose opening spell. He pitches one up to Crawley, who laces a sweet drive through mid-off for four. Crawley has started beautifully, both in defence and attack.
Great to hear Darren Gough refer to Philander as “Big Vern”. pic.twitter.com/tRRRtXwuj0
— Daniel Harris (@DanielHarris) January 24, 2020
4th over: England 7-0 (Crawley 2, Sibley 4) That’s better from Hendricks, a fuller delivery that beats Sibley outside off stump. There’s decent carry in this pitch, which can sometimes seduce people into bowling too short. Better to bowl what Sir Curtly Ambrose called the Perth-fect length.
Here’s more on the news that Jofra Archer failed a fitness test this morning
3rd over: England 7-0 (Crawley 2, Sibley 4) Crawley leaves a ball from Philander that snaps off the seam to hit him on the pad. It was a safe enough leave on length, though the seam movement may unnerve the England openers. A better over from Philander, who is getting closer to off stump. Crawley’s defensive strokes were also very positive.
This is another great spot from an ersthwhile OBOer.
Beuran Hendricks is South Africa's fifth debutant of the series and, at 29, the youngest of the five
— Will Macpherson (@willis_macp) January 24, 2020
2nd over: England 6-0 (Crawley 2, Sibley 4) The left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks, making his Test debut, will share the new ball on his home ground. He’s a little short, for the most part, and Sibley gets going with a flick off the hip for four.
Meanwhile, this is a good point from Chris Parker: both Dom Bess and Keshav Maharaj have been dropped despite taking five-fors in the last Test. I wonder when that last happened.
1st over: England 1-0 (Crawley 1, Sibley 0) Crawley drags an inside-edge through square leg to get England off the mark. Sibley then survives a big shout for LBW after pushing outside the line of a nice nipbacker. It was far too high, and Faf du Plessis had no interest in a review.
“I can’t help but feel England are asking for a little bit of trouble with their selection today,” says James Matthews. “Yes, it’s a fast track (by all accounts), but with Wood not having played back to back tests for 18 months and Stokes’ workload already being mountainous, they could find themselves ruing the lack of Dom Bess to hold down an end for 35 overs and give the seamers a breather. Yes, Root’s bowling is improved, but he’s nonetheless far from being a frontline spin option.”
Agreed. I can understand the decision, as slow bowler tend to do very little at Jo’burg, but it’s always a risk to leave out the spinner. I never did get over Headingley 89.
Here we go. Vernon Philander to Zak Crawley.
I think England have made the right decision at the toss, but batting will not be easy this afternoon. There should be enough nip and carry for Vernon Philander to be a handful.
“Joe Root has confirmed that Joe Root will be unavailable?” sniffs Robert Darby.
Sorry, I had Joe Root on the brain. I’ve changed it now to the correct name, Martin McCague.
Team news
Both teams have gone in with five seamers and no full-time spinner. Joe Root confirms that Jofra Archer is unavailable because of his elbow problem, so England make only one change: Chris Woakes for Dom Bess.
South Africa bring in the left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks for his Test debut, one of three changes from the team that lost at Port Elizabeth. Temba Bavuma and Dwaine Pretorius return, with Zubayr Hamza, Keshav Maharaj and the suspended Kagiso Rabada missing out.
South Africa Elgar, Malan, van der Dussen, du Plessis (c), Bavuma, de Kock (wk), Philander, Maharaj, Nortje, Paterson, Hendricks.
England Crawley, Sibley, Denly, Root (c), Stokes, Pope, Buttler (wk), Woakes, Curran, Wood, Broad.
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England have won the toss and will bat first
Joe Root cites the cracks in this pitch, and his unsuccessful decision to bowl first at Centurion, as the main reasons for batting first. “I banked on losing the toss,” says Faf du Plessis, who has now lost seven in a row. He says he would probably have bowled first.
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I really would be tempted to just give up on all this. My opinion is he's been very badly handled, both physically and in the way England people talk about him, as though he's some alien outsider
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) January 24, 2020
Play will start at 1.20pm local time (11.20am GMT), with the toss at 1pm.
While we’re down the YouTube rabbit hole...
The pitch Nasser Hussain reckons this is “just a bat-first pitch, but I wouldn’t mind losing the toss”.
Now this is great
Jofra Archer is close to tears at the Wanderers. You don’t need a GCSE in body language to know he has either been left out or, more likely, his elbow injury has flared up.
All the signs are that Jofra Archer is out. He was bowling seriously quick in the run-up to this Test but something seems to have happened this morning
— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) January 24, 2020
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FFS department
Is Jofra Archer in trouble here? Had a lengthy chat with team doctor Anita Biswas just now...
— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) January 24, 2020
Jofra Archer is now bowling on the outfield along with Mark Wood. It seems England are going to play five seamers, which would reduce the risk of playing both Archer and Wood. I hope they pick both; the opportunity might never arise again.
Weather permitting, play should start around 1.20pm (11.20am GMT). And Mark Wood might be in the England team after all.
The only England cricketer warming up on the outfield at the moment is Mark Wood. Chris Silverwood is watching closely
— Simon Wilde (@swildecricket) January 24, 2020
There will be another inspection at 12.45pm local time, 10.45am in the UK.
There will be a pitch inspection at midday in Johannesburg, 10am UK time.
The internet
You and us both! https://t.co/9cLedvmaIp
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) January 24, 2020
Meanwhile, in the BBL, Alex Hales is on one.
Great news from the Bullring! The rain has stopped & ground staff are working hard to give us a match as soon as possible. #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/1Icm9HBn24
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) January 24, 2020
The outfield is still pretty wet. But if there’s no more rain - and that’s an iffy if - I suspect we’ll get play within a couple of hours.
“Hello Rob,” says Geoff Wignall. “Much as I enjoy your OBOs, getting paid to sit in London to watch it rain in Johannesburg, while engaging in online chat largely focused on fantasy, reminiscence and hope doesn’t add great weight to all the ‘please give the Guardian some money’ popups. (I know - it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta ...) Not that I’m in any way jealous.”
Even an OBO writer needs to eat, and bread ‘n’ spread doesn’t come cheap these days. Maybe I should start my own blog for OBOs and 20,000-word pieces on B&H Cup games from the 1990s. Never mind the brand, just give me £10 a year.
If there is play today, it’ll be fascinating to see what happens at the toss. I’m sure South Africa will bowl, as it gives them the best chance of winning the game. England only need a draw, however, so they’ll be tempted to take the less risky option of batting first.
“Knee deep in Derrida at the moment so writing bigly on the transcendental signified,” says Pete Salmon. “Feel like that’s what Hameed is for England now - that thing outside the system that allows the system to function. In this case an imagined future world-beating English team, which always features him. Was it Baudelaire who wrote ‘God is the only being who, in order to rule, does not even need to exist’? I think it was.”
Well I never department
The covers are coming off at the Wanderers...
— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) January 24, 2020
It was different in those days, part 313214235234982349238
This’s week Spin, written by Simon Burnton, is a cracking read on England’s first Test tour - the trip to Australia in 1876-77.
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“Remember when West Brom had that run of managers - Johnny, Ronnie, John, Ron, Ronnie, Ron, Johnny, Nobby, Ron, Ron?” asks Ian Forth. “First Test Australia 2021: Denly, Roy, Vince, Root, Bairstow, Buttler, Archer, Anderson, Leach, Ball, Ormond. Or, if you prefer: Joe, Jason, James, Joe, Jonny, Jos, Jofra, Jimmy, Jack, Jake, Jimmy. I mean, Jimmy Ormond might need to get into some light training next week, but I’ve seen worse teams take the field in Brisbane.”
“If you’re very bored during the rain break,” says Steve Pye, “I wondered if this might interest you. It’s an old blog of mine on the Silk Cut Challenge for all rounders that took place between 1984-87. An interesting concept, it might not have answered the debate regarding who was the best all rounder in the game during the 80s, but it certainly made World of Sport a bit more exciting.”
You had me at ‘old blog’. Who says you can’t give an old blog new hits?
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“I like the look of your fantasy England team,” says Andrew Cosgrove. “I was surprised to see that Michael Holding qualifies for England now. I would have thought he was getting on a bit, but that presumably accounts for him bowling spin now.”
“Morning Rob,” says David Horn. “I love that you still hold on to the notion of the wonderfully poised, elegant, wise-beyond-his-years Hameed opening the batting too. I share similar dreams. I’m hoping that his new county turn him into some kind of Kloppian mentality monster and he bangs out the centuries all through April. Any word on where/how he is wintering? Part of my fantasy is that he’s racking up runs in Sydney grade cricket and then putting out bush fires after close of play.”
None at all, I’m afraid, but I can exclusively revel that he turned 23 last week, so he has plenty of time. At that age, I hadn’t even made my Test debut.
No news is bad news Nothing to report. There will be no play before lunch, and possibly none at all today.
In other news, this looks good.
As Australian Cricket faced its greatest test, the world was watching.
— The Test (@thetest_amazon) January 24, 2020
You know where this story goes. Find out what it took to get there.#TheTestAmazon streaming March 12 on #AmazonPrimeVideo. pic.twitter.com/KPBuf4t14B
Conditions in Johannesburg are very 1999. If there is any play today, both captains will be tempted to bowl first.
Rory Burns is in the Sky studio, his moon boot hidden under the table. He’s such a personable bloke; I reckon he’ll be a good pundit.
While it's chucking it down in Johannesburg here's something with Stuart Broad for @guardian_sport on his future and potentially playing another Ashes series https://t.co/fYGPi6XHSj
— Chris Stocks (@StocksC_cricket) January 24, 2020
“Morning Rob, morning all,” says Matt Turland. “This England team provides that one thing that fills me with dread: hope. We have the makings of a solid top 3 (+ a bonus spare player) in Burns, Sibley, Crawley and Denly. Our middle order (the supposed best aspect of this team for a few years now) is actually ‘delivering’ with Root, Stokes and only-just-started-so-don’t-put-too-much-pressure-on-him Pope. And the bowlers have variety in both style and experience. Thankfully, spinner and wicketkeeper still cause a few issues so I can’t completely give in to the seductive bestest team ever vibe just yet.”
They are still a long way from having a team that can win a Test in India or Australia, never mind a series, but I agree that these are hopeful times. What’s not to love about watching young players have the time of their lives?
“Good morning, Rob,” says Eva Maaten. “well, if the England team hasn’t yet left the hotel, we don’t need to leave our house, 10 minutes away from the Wanderers Stadium, either... Still raining here, it doesn’t look as if it will clear up within the next few minutes. We have our cool bag with provisions ready and are poised to rush out at the first glimpse of the sun. Once the weather gets its act together, it should be a great match - always a wonderful atmosphere at the Bullring.”
And usually a cracking pitch.
The word on the street is that both teams will leave out their spinner. And it sounds like England will bring in Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer for Dom Bess and Mark Wood, who has been stiff and sore since his exertions in the third Test. When the match does finally begin around teatime tomorrow, it could be a thrilling dogfight.
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This is a brilliant piece on the retiring Vernon Philander
The art of subtle. My tribute to @VDP_24 ahead of his last Test. #SAvENG https://t.co/bt3Vey7KJn
— Firdose Moonda (@FirdoseM) January 24, 2020
Weatherwatch The match was scheduled to start at 8am our time, 10am in Jo’burg, but that isn’t going to happen. The England team haven’t left the hotel yet.
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Preamble
Good morning and welcome to live coverage of the fourth and final Test between South Africa and England at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. Since England won the third Test on Monday, my subconscious has been shoving one particular TV scene to the front my mind. It’s from The Thick of It special Spinners and Losers, in which the prime minister unexpectedly resigns and everyone starts spinning.
Jamie, the other maniacal Scotsman, picks the absurd Cliff Lawton as his stalking horse. When word gets out and he is ridiculed, Jamie, with recourse to a popular four-letter word, tells Cliff that he’s not going to be prime minister – or, for that matter, anything else.
“This is your thing isn’t it?” says a bruised Cliff. “Everything has to be in absolutes, everything has to be in black and white. You know: ‘I love you! Fuck off!’ There are lots of shades of grey, you know?”
NB: clip contains adult language. Obviously, as I’ve just quoted said language from it.
The point my subconscious mind is trying to make, I think, is that we have similar extreme attitudes to the England Test team. Three weeks ago they were the biggest shambles since lists began; now they are on an intrepid journey to No1 in the world. Kipling would not be impressed.
Thing is, there are reasons for enthusiasm and cautious optimism. There is nothing in sport as life-affirming as the emergence of a young side. Nor are they many things as exciting as fast bowling. Not just fast bowling, fast bowling. On a Jo’burg pitch that is usually the quickest in South Africa, Mark Wood and Jofra Archer could play in the Test team together for the first time. Most excitingly of all, England have a functioning top six. I know.
The problem is that English cricket has been having false dawns since approximately 15 March 1877, and ultimately they have only won two Tests against a fragile South Africa. While it’s been lovely to see the return of Joe Root’s boyish smile, he really needs to stop saying publicly that England are targeting No1 in the world. This whole how-ya-like-us-now vibe is asking for trouble - particularly in 2021, when they will play two five-Test series against India and another in Australia.
It’s fun, if almost entirely pointless given the unforseeables ahead, to get a little carried away and start picking our XIs or XVIs to win the Ashes in Australia in 2021-22. We’ve been playing that kind of fantasy cricket since geeks began. It’s always the same process - include a big chunk of the present, a tantalising soupçon of the distant future, and at least one leftfield selection that subliminally informs the world you are a deceptively adventurous lover.
Mine, since you asked: Burns, Hameed (I know, I know…), Denly, Root, Stokes, Pope, Bairstow (I know, I know…), Holding Spinner, Archer, Wood, Anderson. But if you ask me again in an hour’s time, I’ll probably have Foakes/Sibley/Cobley in the team.
For now, lest we forget, England have a series to win. Most people think that is already in the bag, but the history of this fixture tells us that heists and late twists can occur. South Africa were the better side for most of their Test series in England in 1994, 1998 and 2003; they drew two and lost the other. For all the limitations of the current side, compounded by the absence of the banned Kagiso Rabada, I’ll be surprised if South Africa go quietly. Not at the Wanderers; not in Vernon Philander’s final Test, on a ground where he has 39 wickets at 15.69.
If England win this series and then the next three – which is not beyond the realms - we have permission to get a little giddy ahead of a mouthwatering 2021. For now, let’s just enjoy the fact that, for the first time since the last tour of South Africa four years ago, the England Test team seem to be making progress. There’s no need to announce our undying love for them just yet, although I reserve the right to tell them to eff off if they are 50 for six at lunch.
That’s if we get any play before lunch.
Raining in Johannesburg at the moment with a rather mixed forecast for the first few days I’m afraid. #bbccricket #SAvENG pic.twitter.com/rzd3DSU1SM
— Test Match Special (@bbctms) January 24, 2020
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