England’s eagerly-awaited Test series against South Africa gets underway on Boxing Day – just days after Kane Williamson leapfrogged his former Yorkshire teammate Root to the summit of the Reliance ICC Player Rankings. Defeat in the first Test would bring all the doubts from India flooding back.
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The absence of leading bowler James Anderson because of a calf strain is a major blow to England at a ground where swing bowlers often prosper, while the return to action after injury of Dale Steyn is a boost for South Africa.
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England’s 1-0 defeat in 1995-96 was the tour in which Michael Atherton batted for almost 11 hours to earn a draw in Johannesburg, while South Africa’s 2-1 win four years later included the ‘leather jacket Test’, when disgraced former Proteas captain Hansie Cronje was paid to corruptly ensure that the fifth Test did not end in a draw.
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Broad claims the opposition, despite such stellar names as AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla in their ranks, are not being dwelled upon too much as was the case during the Ashes last summer.
“We are playing at home and although things didn’t go according to plan in India it’s time for us to front up, we need to lead from the front”. “The public were very disappointed with performances in India recently”.
England’s travelling cricket fans over the decades have built up a reputation for their good-natured, if somewhat monotonous chanting, usually gaining in volume later in the day as enthusiastic consumption of beer begins to take effect. “We are faced with our own challenges and it’s something that everybody in the team is looking forward to”.
Hales, 26, will be the eighth opener to partner Alastair Cook since 2012. Alex Hales, who will win his first cap on Saturday, is the latest to try to win a long-term place.
Contrarily, he has been out leaving the ball twice in three innings on tour, and Cook encouraged him not to fall into the trap of remodelling his methods too drastically between formats.
“As a team when you have not won for a while you are feeling around a bit”.
Liam Plunkett is a notable absentee after impressing in the recent T20s against Pakistan and, having also been axed from the Test squad in South Africa, he must wonder about his future prospects.
That is a brisk turnaround for any player, not least a veteran seamer under an injury cloud, and a decision may already have been made that the possibility of 10 days cricket out of 12 is an unrealistic one for Anderson. Dale Steyn who is declared fit could make a comeback into the team, his tally against England is an impressive 45 wickets.
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Cook, celebrating his 31st birthday on Christmas Day and seemingly relaxed before the four-Test series whirs into life at Kingsmead, is mindful that talk remains cheap.
