Proteas have arrived in England for a three-match Test series to be played for the Basil D'Oliveira Trophy.
England have South Africa standing infront of their quest to achieve a perfect Test match summer, with the Proteas set to lock horns against a resurgent three lions side that dominated New Zealand and overcame India earlier in the season.
Played for the Basil D’Oliveira Trophy, the three-match Test series gives the South Africans an opportunity to end the whole ‘Bazball’ bandwagon, having expressed disapproval of England’s newfound method of constant attack with the bat in Test cricket.
Coined after the nickname of England’s new Test head coach Brendon McCullum, the approach was upheld with great success by the Englishmen during their 3-0 whitewash over the Kiwis and was exercised with great influence to counter the Indian bowlers in the run-chase in Edgbaston.
Lord’s is where South Africa’s battle against the ‘Bazball’ begins from Wednesday (August 17), as they enter the final leg of their two-month tour of UK. The Proteas last played Test cricket in England back in 2017, losing what was then a four-match Test series by a margin of 3-1.
South Africans have been on a resurrection trail with their Test match game, winning five of their previous seven Tests, including a highly impressive 2-1 series victory over India in home conditions earlier this year.
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England have retained their team from the Test wins over New Zealand and India under skipper Ben Stokes, with the comeback of pacer Ollie Robinson being the only major change in the playing squad for the first two Tests. Robinson had been ruled out of the scene due to a back injury after the tour of West Indies but recovered to take the field in the County Championship at the end of July.
The Proteas have been dealt a big blow, with one of their premier fast-bowlers Duanne Olivier ruled out injured from the three-match Test series. Olivier picked up a grade 2 right hip flexor muscle tear while playing the tour match against England Lions in Canterbury.
England – Alex Lees, Zak Crawley, Ollie Pope, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes (c), Ben Foakes (wk), Matty Potts, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Jack Leach
South Africa – Dean Elgar (c), Aiden Markram, Keegan Petersen, Rassie van der Dussen, Temba Bavuma, Kyle Verreyne (wk), Marco Jansen, Kagiso Rabada, Keshav Maharaj, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje
Lord’s has been notably bowler-friendly since the last time South Africa visited the shores back in 2017. From the beginning of 2018 until now, there have been seven Tests played at the ‘Home of Cricket’, with only one team – Pakistan in a standalone Test in 2018 – managing to average over 30 with the bat. England have scored at 28.20 per wicket at the iconic venue, where the moisture borne out of overcast conditions spice up the green-tinge deck on offer and make life difficult for the batters, apart from the red Dukes offering prodigious swing.
The most recent Test at the ground was a rain-barred fixture between the hosts and New Zealand, where both teams were out before reaching the 150-mark in their respective first-innings and it required England a herculean batting effort to chase down 271 in the final essay. Root smashed another excellent ton.
If the weather forecast is to go by, batters may find some respite on the first three days, when sun is expected to shine bright over the Lord’s during the playing hours of the Test match. The forecast is for heavy cloud cover and rains on a penultimate afternoon, but the fifth day shall enjoy a return to normalcy.
If the rain stays away, we are in for a treat of a Test match encounter between two flawed but highly talented sides.
The Test series carries great weightage for the South Africans, who are currently holding the numero uno spot in the points table for the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. After their recent comeback to winning ways, the Proteas find themselves at the top with 60 points after five wins and only two losses to their name.
They’ve played three series in the cycle so far: 2-1 win over India, 1-1 draw in New Zealand and 2-0 whitewash at home against Bangladesh. The clash with England will be South Africa’s fourth series of the WTC cycle running 2021-23 and is extremely critical to their chances of reaching the next year’s marquee final.
For England, there is very little to play as far as the WTC cycle is concerned. Going down heavily in Australia and losing to West Indies in the Caribbean, they are basically eliminated from the tournament race despite their recent domination against New Zealand and win over the Indians.
The Ben Stokes led side stand at seventh in the nine-team table, with five wins and seven losses. For them, the South Africa series should be about fine-tuning their game and preparing earnestly for the next cycle of WTC.
