Stuart Broad, when he first saw the first Test
pitch on Christmas Eve, smacked his lips as if something juicier than
turkey was in prospect. Then he added: “And I’ve got choice of ends.”
• South Africa vs England, day two: as it happened
The patches on a length for the bowler from the pavilion end, especially a tall one like Broad, have compensated for the absence of James Anderson all right. England have runs on the board, the pitch is becoming more mischievous as it dries, and South Africa’s captain is not the only member of his side in strife: it all adds up to a big chance for England to win the opening Test of an away series – other than in Bangladesh – for the first time in 11 years.
The patches on a length for the bowler from the pavilion end, especially a tall one like Broad, have compensated for the absence of James Anderson all right. England have runs on the board, the pitch is becoming more mischievous as it dries, and South Africa’s captain is not the only member of his side in strife: it all adds up to a big chance for England to win the opening Test of an away series – other than in Bangladesh – for the first time in 11 years.
Broad was salivating at a bare patch outside a
righthander’s offstump which is long enough to be of service to a
bowler of any pace. On day one South Africa’s offspinner Dane Piedt hit
it with his first ball, which uprooted Joe Root, but the patch was
otherwise quiescent - until Broad went to work on the second afternoon.
Initially, however, England needed more runs than their overnight 179 for four. It was a day for batting, if not a pitch for one, because the sun shone throughout. And England, thanks primarily to Nick Compton, did bank a total of 300, for which Alastair Cook would doubtless have settled when England were sent in on the dank first morning.
Unfortunately for England, not only had the pitch quickened up. So had Morne Morkel, a combination of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, and not inferior when roused, as now. But Morkel preferred to bowl from the opposite end to the one Broad fancied, without a patch in which to pitch, so while Morkel took four wickets he could not quite finish England off – leaving their last-wicket pair to add 36 runs of much psychological value.
However compartmentalised Compton’s thoughts, he must have allowed himself a little envisualisation overnight - of raising his bat, after converting his 63 into three figures, in his native city. A century means so much, not least that the maker is in the short term undroppable.
Compton saw off one ball, and began to see off the second, while aiming for his third Test hundred. The statistic that he scored one run out of his partnership of 22 with Ben Stokes illustrated his readiness to be the platform for England’s middle order, and to don the hair shirt, only indulging in his cover-drive when the ball landed almost under his nose.
Against the second new ball, more conducive to strokeplay, Compton accelerated to the point where he was scoring at one run per over. Did he fast-forward and think of taking off the hair shirt and going to his century in a smart suit? He had gone after previous bouncers, as his second favourite shot after the coverdrive… but Morkel’s bouncer not only bounced, as the ball was new, it was outside offstump – not controllable.
On this ground in 1999-2000 Nasser Hussain had scored 146 at a strike-rate of 31 per 100 balls, so Compton’s rate of 36 was not so very slow. It was also faster than the rate of 34 which had applied in his first incarnation of nine Tests. He is up and trotting now, if not running, in Test cricket.
Morkel, reverse-swinging from round the wicket, dismissed Ben Stokes when his pull was too ambitious. He hit Bairstow on the left shoulder and Broad on the left arm. Moeen perished to his fourth ball – not a loose shot - and Woakes to his first.
How is it that sports sciencists analyse all the one per-centers, and 0.1 per-centers, yet administrators do not give the players the most obvious advantage: match-practice? Neither Moeen nor Woakes had batted in the second of the two warm-up games, and both had to make do with a quick hit in the first. But Broad slapped 32 off 33 balls, including ten off one over by Piedt.
The morning was extended to almost three hours to accommodate the end of England’s innings. Then the clock was turned back and spectators were permitted to stroll on the outfield. Apart from the prevalence of teeshirts, it could have been Lord’s a generation ago, or Durban’s former Test ground, also called Lord’s.
Initially, however, England needed more runs than their overnight 179 for four. It was a day for batting, if not a pitch for one, because the sun shone throughout. And England, thanks primarily to Nick Compton, did bank a total of 300, for which Alastair Cook would doubtless have settled when England were sent in on the dank first morning.
Unfortunately for England, not only had the pitch quickened up. So had Morne Morkel, a combination of Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, and not inferior when roused, as now. But Morkel preferred to bowl from the opposite end to the one Broad fancied, without a patch in which to pitch, so while Morkel took four wickets he could not quite finish England off – leaving their last-wicket pair to add 36 runs of much psychological value.
However compartmentalised Compton’s thoughts, he must have allowed himself a little envisualisation overnight - of raising his bat, after converting his 63 into three figures, in his native city. A century means so much, not least that the maker is in the short term undroppable.
Compton saw off one ball, and began to see off the second, while aiming for his third Test hundred. The statistic that he scored one run out of his partnership of 22 with Ben Stokes illustrated his readiness to be the platform for England’s middle order, and to don the hair shirt, only indulging in his cover-drive when the ball landed almost under his nose.
Against the second new ball, more conducive to strokeplay, Compton accelerated to the point where he was scoring at one run per over. Did he fast-forward and think of taking off the hair shirt and going to his century in a smart suit? He had gone after previous bouncers, as his second favourite shot after the coverdrive… but Morkel’s bouncer not only bounced, as the ball was new, it was outside offstump – not controllable.
On this ground in 1999-2000 Nasser Hussain had scored 146 at a strike-rate of 31 per 100 balls, so Compton’s rate of 36 was not so very slow. It was also faster than the rate of 34 which had applied in his first incarnation of nine Tests. He is up and trotting now, if not running, in Test cricket.
Morkel, reverse-swinging from round the wicket, dismissed Ben Stokes when his pull was too ambitious. He hit Bairstow on the left shoulder and Broad on the left arm. Moeen perished to his fourth ball – not a loose shot - and Woakes to his first.
How is it that sports sciencists analyse all the one per-centers, and 0.1 per-centers, yet administrators do not give the players the most obvious advantage: match-practice? Neither Moeen nor Woakes had batted in the second of the two warm-up games, and both had to make do with a quick hit in the first. But Broad slapped 32 off 33 balls, including ten off one over by Piedt.
The morning was extended to almost three hours to accommodate the end of England’s innings. Then the clock was turned back and spectators were permitted to stroll on the outfield. Apart from the prevalence of teeshirts, it could have been Lord’s a generation ago, or Durban’s former Test ground, also called Lord’s.
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