S. Africa v. England Tests

[K]

"News that Dom Sibley, the opening batsman, is the latest to succumb to the illness means that 17 members* of the touring party - including backroom staff - have been ill at some stage."


[Don't England have proper hygiene protocols to stop them infecting each other??]

[K]

"They're really not very good at it. The sooner that is realised, the sooner change will be embraced. A lowly finish in the World Test Championship might provide just such a wake-up call.

And what will that change look like? It will see Championship cricket - two- or three-division Championship cricket involving promotion and relegation - played throughout the season. It will see the white-ball window closed and red-ball cricket played in conditions where fast bowlers and spinners are necessary.

It will see wickets prepared which better reflect the Test game - hybrid wickets prepared by centrally contracted groundsmen, if necessary - and it will see, in general terms, the domestic first-class competition nurtured and valued and protected. If the Championship is strong, with intense, high-quality, consequence-laden cricket, the strength of the Test team will follow.
...

England's batting is probably even more of a concern. In the first innings they suffered a collapse in which they lost seven wickets for 39 runs; in the second a collapse of six for 46 runs. On nine occasions in 23 innings this year they have failed to make 200, and in three they have failed to make 90. Only once have they made 400 and only four times have they managed to score 300 in their first innings."

(cricinfo)

[K]

A. Gardner, cricinfo:

"England's wicketkeeper in possession is currently Jos Buttler, though he admits he has not been up to standard recently, and that is before being asked to retake the gloves. With one hundred and an average of 33.00 from 38 Tests, it is clear Buttler is still working out his method - his average while keeping is even more modest at just 29.51, though having returned to the side last year as a specialist batsman, clearly he should be given time to adjust. This series could be pivotal. Jonny Bairstow (and presumably Ben Foakes) will be looking on with interest."


[Bairstow's batting average is 34.74. As wicketkeeper, it is 37.85.

Paine's average is 31.58.

Wade's average is 31.51. As wicketkeeper, it is 28.58.

Watling's average is 39.73. As wicketkeeper, it is 41.87]

[K]

England won the toss and batted.

With the second new ball nigh, England have lost 7 wickets.

England 7/231 (79).


Crawley opened, with Burns out of the series after injuring himself playing football at training. Bess is playing in the place of Archer, who is also injured. (Otherwise, media thought, one of Anderson and Broad would have made way.)

[K]

The new ball strikes immediately. Philander gets Bess caught behind for a golden duck.

England 8/231 (80.1).

[K]

Rabada bowls Broad.

England 9/234 (82).

England have lost 3/3 in 19 balls and 4/13 in 43 balls.

[K]

[Pies4shaw]

Stumps 9/262.

[K]

England 269 all out. England's last-wicket partnership yielded 35 runs.

S. Africa 8/215 (84.4). Stumps, day 2.

[K]

cricinfo on England's batting:

"... this was a day which showed up the technical flaws of a side who have reached 400 just twice in the first innings since the end of 2017. That is a period of 26-and-a-half Tests. It is a record of consistent mediocrity.

Take the dismissal of Buttler. He had, as so often, looked pretty good. But when he received a decent ball that left him, he edged it, in part, because he was coming down the wicket with a view to manufacture a scoring opportunity. Would a man with confidence in his defensive technique have done that?

Much the same might be said about Joe Denly's dismissal. He had battled hard to reach 38 - at one stage he went 48 balls without a run - but was eventually undone by what appeared to be an arm ball from Keshav Maharaj which crept through the gap between bat and pad. That weakness, a propensity to leave a gate and allow himself to be dismissed by the ball coming in, is exactly what held him back during his first spell in international cricket a decade ago. It is frustrating that it doesn't appear to have been recognised or corrected.

And then there's the opening pair. Both Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley can reflect that they received fine deliveries...

But such is the lot of an opening batsman in Test cricket. That is why they must have techniques to withstand such bowling. And as Sibley and Crawley, both of whom move a long way across their stumps, played at deliveries they could have left, you were left wondering where the old-fashioned opening batsmen, the sort who could leave well and see the shine off the ball, had gone. Later Joe Root, prone to fall to the off side, was bounced out - not the first time he has been inconvenienced by the short ball in recent times - Sam Curran left a straight one and Dom Bess was punished for defending one that would have missed another set of stumps.
...

We also need to question if players really buy into the need to improve technically. Whether there is a culture, in English cricket, of technical excellence. Or whether, over recent years, there has been a tendency to trust natural instincts in the belief that talk of technique clutters the mind."

[Donny]

Anderson took 5/40 in SA's first innings.

[K]

England 269 & 4/218 (79).
S. Africa 264.

Sibley 85*.

Stumps, day 3.

England were 2/217 (77.3), but S. Africa got Root and nightwatchmen Bess to end the day.

------------------------------

The umpires are Dharmasena and Reiffel.

They are reported to have missed dozens of no balls. Ponting said one of the missed no balls was a foot over. He called it "embarrassing".

[K]

"Rory Burns is expected to miss England's tour of Sri Lanka...

He is set to see a specialist in the next week, who will determine whether he requires surgery."

(cricinfo)

[Donny]

[K]

He has the type of temperament that you'd think would make a good umpire.