The forthcoming Test series between these two nations has been earmarked by many England watchers as a true indicator of where England are in world cricket with a view, whisper it, to the Ashes next year.
Over the last 8 months or so England fans have had something of a Kiwi overdose, playing them away then at home. Whose great idea was that? Playing the same team back to back to back to back to… If that doesn’t make the cricketing public of both England and New Zealand stop watching the game I don’t know what will. Perhaps that’s what makes the forthcoming series against the South Africans so appetising. Finally! Some different opposition! Those suits at the ECB are real masterminds…
As such there’s been a fair bit of build up in the media, plenty of talk of the pacy firebrand Dale Steyn and the resumption of KP’s duel against his homeland. On a lesser scale the duels between the two captains Michael Vaughan and Graeme Smith is being talked up. Simon Wilde in The Sunday Times points to a real chance of England suffering a home Test series defeat for the first time since the turn of the century, which is pretty uncharitable to India having won albeit with some luck. But hey, England had their fair share of it in winning the 2005 Ashes series. So what of England going into this series?
The team has good batsmen, but for my money lack something in terms of aggression especially up the order. Strauss and Cook aren’t going to take the opposition bowling to task and set the agenda. Which is why Trescothick and Strauss were such an excellent partnership at the top of the order. One clearly had the task of pushing the run rate along while the other accumulated. Guessed which one was which? When Strauss and Cook are together, neither one looks truly comfortable dictating the pace.
The places of the captain and Kevin Pietersen are the most secure in the batting line-up, so it falls to the other two specialist batsmen to prove themselves. Ian Bell absolutely oozes the textbook talent, but there is a suspicion that he only makes the big runs in easy game situations. A glance at when he makes his Test match hundreds shows that another member of the team has made a hundred previously in the innings. He needs to prove his worth in tough situations. Paul Collingwood on the other hand is stereotyped as a scrapper, but again he has something to prove following a poor home Test match series against the Kiwis. Ambrose is a good ‘keeper, but has something to prove after a poor recent ODI series with the willow.
Looking at the bowling, Monty Panesar should have a key role in the series being the only spin bowler of any note on either side (Paul Harris? Didn’t think so). Of the pacemen Sidebottom, Anderson and Broad don’t look as good a unit on paper as Ntini, Steyn and Morkel and will have to work hard to stay afloat.
Sidebottom is the most consistent of the 3 and has for my money supplanted Hoggard as the reliable element of the England attack. I think Anderson is greatly underrated; look at his performances in recent Test matches, albeit against the New Zealanders. His struggles against left handers have been highlighted and how he deals with Graeme Smith at the top of the order will be a key battle. Stuart Broad gets better with every match but has yet to be put in a situation where he can get England out of a tight spot or into an unassailable position.
Hence, my key battles for the series:
- Graeme Smith vs James Anderson
- Monty Panesar vs South African batsmen
- Dale Steyn vs England batsmen
- Kevin Pietersen vs South African bowlers
