Centurion Park has been their most successful home venue since it hosted its first Test 20 years ago.
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Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock will return for South Africa in the last test against England after recovering from a knee strain suffered while walking his dogs, Cricket South Africa said on Wednesday.
Cook acknowledged there was some validity in De Villiers’ comments about the England batting.
The truth is there will always be room for the likes of Compton as long as Test matches are played over five days and as long as the Joe Roots and Stokes’ of the world put their foot on the accelerator.
Just how true that is will become clear on Friday when the two teams emerge in front of what one suspects will be a small crowd. It followed Stuart Broad’s series-clinching return of eight for 15 at Trent Bridge. The second Test between the two sides ended in a draw.
“It would nice to sit here and whack it like Warner or De Villiers”, said Compton.
England’s attacking attitude has brought it two big wins in this series. Again, De Villiers, as the leader, stands by his men, while acknowledging it’s not all plain sailing. I think that’s been quite clear in terms of the messages we’ve tried to convey and the way we’re thinking as a team. “This is an opportunity to change that. I’m looking forward to this week to see how we respond to that”. “England have done what we should have done and wanted to do in the way they have won the series”. There are a few options to replace him with such as Chris Woakes who played in the first test when Anderson was injured, Mark Footitt is another option to play, but he is so far uncapped by England, and Chris Jordan is another option to play.
South Africa will definitely add a 17th player to their tally, with Stephen Cook nailed on for an global debut at the age of 33.
“He rises to the occasion whenever England need him to”.
Questions abound about the squad, selection and the future of certain players in the squad. Their task has been to plug holes in a sinking boat that seems to spring more leaks at every turn.
I understand India being favourites at 7-2, but both Australia (11-2) and South Africa (13-2) have proved hopeless against spin recently and their batsmen will not be able to adopt their one-dimensional tactic of hitting through the line of the delivery as hard as they can. But there would certainly be some value in ending a nine-game run without a win, and Centurion is as likely a venue for them to do that as any.
“You obviously aren’t there to get them off the face of the bat and if that happens there is a bit of luck involved; but it is also fun at the same time”.
Match starts at 10:30 am local time (8:30 am GMT).
“I chose to give myself the best chance, especially on those bouncy wickets, by going a little bit deeper after chatting with the bowling unit”. Especially for a young batting unit like ours, even though we’re playing in South Africa, it would be good to have someone who can fine-tune your batting, who can help from the sidelines.
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That leaves a decision of whether Kyle Abbott or Chris Morris should play as the third seamer alongside Kagiso Rabada and Morne Morkel. Dean Elgar top scored with 46 runs while Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers scored some runs as well.
