England v South Africa: Faf du Plessis returns to an omnishambles, says Mike Selvey
Thursday 13 July 2017 13:20, UK
Returning captain Faf du Plessis has his work cut out turning South Africa around, says Mike Selvey, as England target another Trent Bridge triumph...
After an overwhelming victory in the first Test, everything in the England camp looks, as David Bowie said in 1971, Hunky Dory. Joe Root and his team were collectively very good, the captain and, second spinner or not, Moeen Ali outstanding beyond that although Root will have more challenging times as captain.
No need, anyway, for the ch-ch-Changes that the opening track of that album demands, so the same twelve practice with the prospect, unless there is a dramatic shift in the weather or the groundsman has raised the mower blades, of the same eleven taking the Trent Bridge field.
There is more to do for Keaton Jennings, Gary Ballance and Liam Dawson if they are to establish their places beyond the trial stage but we might reasonably expect another England win, although Stuart Broad might have to work a bit harder for his wickets than he did in his last Nottingham Test bonanza.
South Africa, though, what of them? Things have got no better with the red ball since they were outplayed in both white ball series, and dumped unceremoniously from the Champions Trophy. Omnishambles, a word from the political satire The Thick Of It, might have been coined specifically for them after this latest dismal showing that belied the reputation for resilience, competitiveness and composure.
South Africa were a depleted side at the start, and more so by the finish, but even so they had opportunities to place England under real pressure in that first innings when they had them groggy at 76-4. A good team at the top of their game would have nailed England then and negated the loss of the toss. Instead, incompetence, bad judgement and, frankly, a lack of professionalism, cost them any advantage.
The circumstances were that they might well have lost the game to what was a better team in any case, but it would have been a good deal closer. If England played well, then the opposition gave them a generous helping hand.
All teams drop catches, but the one that looped over the head of the substitute fielder at long leg yet still fell inside the rope, as Root mis-hooked Kagiso Rabada, was poor: that by Vernon Philander, which reprieved Jonny Bairstow in the second innings, merely a tangible representation of the level to which the team had sunk, any semblance of spirit, personified by the efforts, say, of Morne Morkel, draining away in that collective head-in-the-hands moment. The hard-handed leaden-footed batting debacle that followed was no surprise.
The no-balls by Morkel and Keshav Maharaj, that reprieved Ben Stokes and Root respectively are another matter. No-balls are avoidable, the perpetrators letting the team down every bit as much as a top batsman who has an agricultural mow when he should be defending. The decision not to refer an lbw decision given in Broad's favour despite the justifiable vehemence of the bowler Philander, with his innings in its infancy, was a massive misjudgement on the part of captain and wicketkeeper who seem to be the oracle on these matters.
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Finally, we have Rabada. His swearing at the departing Stokes, having dismissed him, is not the issue: rather it was the fact that he gave him a 'send off'. Of course it was heat of the moment from a perspiring, adrenaline-fuelled fast bowler who had not been at his best in the match, and a personal view is that it was sufficiently harmless and non-confrontational not to have been detected by anyone save those privy to a stump mic or offensive to the recipient who, being on the receiving end for once, will only see the irony of the outcome.
Rules though, are rules. Rabada should have been aware he was on a final warning regarding an accumulation of demerit points and trodden carefully, so in spite of what is thought of the code of conduct system (necessary but needs some refinement is the view in this neck of the woods), he too let his team down.
Now South Africa must play this next Test without him and, should his severely bruised thumb not recover sufficiently, Philander as well, who, word has it, might not have been one hundred per cent at the start of the Lord's match in any case. Against that, there is the return of the redoubtable captain Faf Du Plessis, who must have watched the team's Lord's demise with a measure of frustration and anger. He is a proud man who will drive his team hard now in preparation. Surely there have to be strategic changes though.
Du Plessis bolsters the batting which means that JP Duminy, a fish out of water at four, can either shift or sit on the sidelines. And although down the order Quinton de Kock is a latter day Adam Gilchrist who can take the game from the opposition in a session of mayhem, there is not the same quality of batting above him to warrant batting at seven (or eight as it transpired in the first innings). In order to balance the side now, there is a chance that he could open the batting, as he does in white ball cricket.
The loss of Rabada is a blow not just to the player and team, but the series and spectators at Trent Bridge who will miss the chance to see one of the most exciting talents in the world game. With Morkel and Philander, he is part of a formidable trio.
Now, unless Philander is fit, Morkel will be the lone musketeer of the three. The replacement for Rabada could be Chris Morris, who at least in the one-day series showed that he can summon up the blood. There are two further options in Duanne Olivier and Andile Phehlukwayo, with the outside possibility, should De Kock open, that four of the five seamers could be employed along with the left arm spin of Maharaj. In Hashim Amla, De Kock, Du Plessis, Morkel and Philander, there is enough individual brilliance in the team to provide a threat to any opponent.
But the collective is everything and this is essentially a make-do-and-mend side. Du Plessis will surely rouse them in a way that the stand-in captain Dean Elgar was unable, but even he will have trouble turning the base-metal of Lord's into Trent Bridge gold. Fine leader he may be but he is no alchemist.
Watch England take on South Africa in the second Test, live on Sky Sports 2 this Friday from 10am.
