England tour South Africa with a lot to prove – England are coming off a famous Ashes win but they must show the same fight and desire away from home against all opponents if they want to be recognised as world beaters.
England’s triumphant summer of Test cricket, firstly with the demolition of the West Indies and then the Ashes victory has lifted the England team and the expectations. There was a lull with the one day and Twenty20 performances with a slight recovery in the Champions Trophy. This may play a part in the success they have in South Africa.
The tour began with two 50-over warm-ups and one 20-over warm up. It is difficult to read too much into these matches as they are just warm-ups but the spread of wickets around all the bowlers and the great form of Strauss are very encouraging. The tour really gets going with the two Twenty20 matches against South Africa, but again these games fail to hold much significance in my mind. South Africa ought to win both games, they have many players who have recently been playing the game in the Champion’s League and they have some real fire power there. The fact is that England could still win these games because of the tiny margins involved, and it really is a win-win situation for them as long as they don’t get embarrassed.
The 5 one-days follow with three day-nighters in the mix, so the toss will be important. England will need to be competitive in these games even if they don’t win them because they could get themselves into a rut with this format and it being a lengthy tour, morale will be very important. It will help that many of the players have family and friends in the country and that the country is preparing for the Football World Cup so the running of the tour ought to go smoothly.
The one-day games will be fun and entertaining and there ought to be some fireworks when KP enters the stadium, but it is all a prelude to the test matches where England will want to and be expected to compete with the number one test team. There will be four test matches and with decent rest in between. Can England get that same fire going against someone other than the Australians?
England did of course win the series in South Africa last time out, thanks to some heroics from Andrew Strauss and some solid bowling from Flintoff, Hoggard and Jones (all three now out of the test team). This was countered by South Africa’s win in England in 2008. It is interesting to note that since England’s Ashes win in 2005, they have won just 3 out of 24 away tests. This includes 2 test wins against New Zealand in their only away series win. They have lost 12 of these games with 9 draws. This amounts to 7 away series, one win, one draw, and 5 defeats.
England have been underachieving on the test scene ever since 2005. A mixture of injuries to our most talented players, complacency and politics has impeded the team.
With Trott and KP in the team, the middle order has spine, something not seen in English cricket for a long time.