South Africa v England: 2nd Test preview

The momentum is all with South Africa heading into the Boxing Day Test, and Miles Reucroft looks ahead to all the action.

England were forced to cling glumly and desperately to a draw at Centurion in what turned out to be a humiliating final session for the visitors on the fifth day. Selection dilemmas abound for both parties, although for entirely different reasons. England’s out of form Ian Bell and Alistair Cook will wait to learn their fate, whilst Friedel de Wet has almost knocked down the door to certain inclusion in the South African side.

For Enlgand, there are no obvious replacements. Especially for Cook. Joe Denly can’t be far away from a Test debut whilst the Essex opener flounders atop the order. He has been worked out in the extreme and is clearly vulnerable against anything that is pushed across him outside of his off-stump. Ian Bell could and should be replaced by either Ryan Sidebottom or Liam Plunkett. The Warwickshire man is a talented batsman but his mental fragility is as exposed as Cook’s technique outside off-stump. His first innings dismissal at Centurion – leaving a straight delivery from Paul Harris – smacked of a man who is desperate to preserve his place, rather than to score runs.

Plunkett is the best option if England are looking to maintain a strong lower-order batting line-up. Sidebottom would the best candidate if England are looking to take advantage of the added swing afforded by the humid coastal conditions here at Kingsmead.

South Africa will be buoyed by the return to bowling duty of Jacques Kallis. Whilst he was impressive with the bat at Centurion, he was only able to bowl three overs due to his now healed rib injury. The host’s batting line-up is well set and the only selection issues have arisen in the pace department. de Wet’s impressive debut at Centurion – where he nearly won the game for South Africa on the fifth afternoon – has put him in strong contention to retain his place in the side. Dale Steyn still harbours reservations about his hamstring, the same injury that kept him out of the first Test, but if he returns the axe could fall on Makhaya Ntini.

For all of England’s concerns, however, the return to form of Kevin Pietersen and the continued form of Jonathan Trott are reasons to be cheerful. If they can sort out their running between the wickets, all should be fine. Graeme Swann, too, was highly impressive at Centurion with both bat and ball and deserved the man-of-the-match accolade that he received.

The bad news for all cricket fans though, is the weather. The fifth ODI was a wash-out here and the second Test looks as if it will follow suit. Days one, two and three are forecast for heavy showers, and day four for scattered showers. If the forecasters are wrong, it will be intriguing Test.

Kingsmead is a venue at which England have only been beaten once. It was the venue of the March 1939 ‘Timeless Test’ between these two sides – a game that ended in stalemate after 10 days of play as the England team had to scamper off to catch their boat back to Blighty. Their only defeat here came 13 months prior to that fixture. In their last Test here, South Africa were soundly beaten by Australia, losing by 175 runs in March.

It’s pretty easy to predict a draw for this fixture. The weather looks as though it will ruin any chance of a game and the light fades away quickly towards the end of each day as a result of Durban being so far east, yet retaining the same time-zone as the rest of the country. It would appear as if we will be all square in the series heading into the third Test in Cape Town in the New Year. Unless there is a Hansie Cronje/Nasser Hussain style fix on the fifth day to guarantee us a result, it may well be worth sticking your Christmas bonus down on the draw.

By Miles Reucroft

Miles is a freelance writer for The Cricket Blog – click here to get in touch to commission him for work

December 24, 2009