England have secured a 3-1 victory over South Africa at home. Great result, right? Well, sort of.
While England will be delighted with their first series win over the Proteas on home soil since Darren Gough famously bowled them to victory at Headingley in 1998, questions still remain, especially in their top five.
Keaton Jennings’ international career must be put on hold. Even his most ardent supporters cannot expect him to be included in England’s squad for their next Test match, the day-nighter against the West Indies at Edgbaston in ten days’ time.
Jennings scored 127 runs at 15.87 in the series, a battling 48 at the Oval his only score of note, and even then he was dropped on six and nearly played on twice early in his innings.
England had much hope for Jennings. His record over the past few years batting at Chester-le-Street, one of the most difficult tracks on the county circuit, has been excellent. He’s also scored consistently for the Lions, who he also captained successfully on a few occasions, while also skippering Durham’s one-day side for the past couple of years, as well as the North against the South in the one-day series in the UAE in March.
There was clearly some hope that Jennings’ leadership qualities are such that he could have been groomed for the England captaincy.
Four Tests later, and England are back into their familiar routine of having to search for a new partner for Alastair Cook.
[latest_videos_strip category=”cricket” name=”Cricket”]
Cook has now had 11 opening partners since the retirement of Andrew Strauss (12 including a one-off when Jos Buttler was thrown in to score quickly), and none of them have been able to make an impact past their first half-a-dozen matches wearing the three lions.
England must now decide on whether they go back to a past failure, such as Alex Hales or Sam Robson, in the hope they have learnt more about their game while back at their respective counties, or go for yet another new face in Mark Stoneman.
Stoneman is as deserving of a Test spot as anyone, currently averaging nearly 60 in his 13 innings thus far in county cricket. He would be the obvious choice, a like-for-like left-hander to come in for the out-of-nick Jennings.
However, with three home Tests against a vastly under-par West Indies coming up, just how much will England be able to find out about his Test credentials before they set off for Australia in November? If he were to fail in that series, he’s certainly not up to facing the Aussie quicks, but if he scores big against the Windies, it would be difficult to call him a Test match player simply because of the standard of opposition.
He can’t win. Therefore, either way, England will travel to the Ashes with no confidence in Cook’s opening partner. Again.
Tom Westley, aside from a solid 59 on debut during the Oval’s 100th Test match last weekend, has failed to impress since. He will keep his place in the side for the West Indies series, and rightly so, however the sheer fact that he will not be tested at the level the Proteas seamers operate at until the Ashes means that there is no guarantee he will be a long-term success either.
His technique needs to evolve. Whether he has the ability to keep leaving balls outside the off stump all day will surely be tested fully by the Australian pacemen. There is nothing wrong with being a leg-side batsman, however stepping up to the top level requires significant patience to survive. Bowlers will continue to bowl outside his off stump in an attempt to coax him into a false shot, and no doubt the Aussie fielders will do their best to tempt him as well.
It won’t be easy, but with the right application Westley could be a mainstay at number three. Frankly, it appears England have no other options from county cricket to come in at first drop, so they’ll be desperate for Westley to succeed or else the calls for Joe Root to step up will surface yet again – something the captain clearly wants to avoid.
AFP PHOTO / CARL COURT
The final spot still up for the grabs is Dawid Malan’s. While he is likely to be given another shot at making the number five position his own against the West Indies, scores of 1, 10, 18 and 6 in his first two Tests means there is much to do before the critics will be silenced.
Most worrying is that, with three West Indies Test matches coming up before those three suspect players have to face the Aussie seam attack on a flat Brisbane track with a hostile crowd, do England actually have time to find out what they need to know about their players to be confident of picking their best team for that crucial first Ashes Test?
Whatever happens later in August, as it stands England’s batting order looks increasingly fallible. If Root, Cook, Ben Stokes and Jonny Bairstow score heavily, it is still a possibility England will be a match for their hosts.
But if they have to rely on their less-established players, it could well be a repeat of four years ago.
DavSA
Guest
A lot depends George on what kind of pitches Australia opts for . The " traditional" wickets of the past for eg . The Gabba seem to be a thing of the past . lets see.
George
Guest
Let's see if he can play ONE Test at home first, before claiming what he's going to do. Renshaw looks great, albeit a bit shaky in India, but it's early days - to date, he has posted as many Test tons as Robson, Lyth and Jennings (100 in India, on debut); several less than the likes of Compton and Ballance. Likewise, Handscomb. I can easily see him making the grade long-term but who knows?
George
Guest
Yep, all potential flaws. Just that these don't get stated as fact as when dismissing opposition sides' weaknesses. Cook was "rubbish", then scored 500-600 runs in an away series. No-one can guarantee a player (on either side) can't perform similarly well.
George
Guest
Against SA, Ali benefited from the seamers keeping it tight and applying pressure - maybe those bowlers will take the wickets in Aus (as they did last time England toured (only for Haddin to have one of his rare good series with the bat, supported ably by the tail)
George
Guest
That's all reasonable. Although 'not buying runs' can't be completely disassociated from the opposition's efforts. I think the fact that Australia is at home will be the deciding factor in any potential bowling superiority.
George
Guest
Carberry shouldn't have been dropped - but he spoke out of turn about the mood on that tour and was ostracised.
The Fatman
Guest
There are very few players who can actually bat on a seaming or turning wicket. T20 cricket has meant the art of batsmanship has been lost. Except for top end talent like Cook etc. Most batsmen bring T20 or "flat" wicket skills to test cricket and get found out immediately.
The Fatman
Guest
Yes, Trumps supporter group still follow him in the USA. So he would still win an election today. Even though the Liberal lovies dislike him.
Homer Gain
Guest
Now that Haseeb Hameed seems to have abandoned his foolish attempt to gain an IPL place by trying to reinvent himself of an attacking dynamo, he'll be back in harness for the Windies games and hopefully the Ashes. That said I have a slight concern that the selectors (ie T Bayliss) might want to punish him for going off-script by leaving him out for the winter. That would be a real pity as I think he can be a future star.
13th Man
Guest
Dont think Cummins will have any problem dishing out the short stuff that Johnno sent down last time. Our top order is far more settled than theirs. England would kill for a Matt Renshaw right now and funnily enough he was raised in Yorkshire. Khawaja and Warner may struggle away from home but they love batting on the flat tracks of Australia. Call Australia flat track bullies as much as you like it doesn't change the fact that this series is being played on flat tracks where our batsmen excel. Sure if this series was being played in England then you would back England in every time. It's the way test cricket seems to be going, everyone is strong at home but weak away.
13th Man
Guest
If England bring Ballance in, Australia will be overjoyed.
13th Man
Guest
Ali is not world class, lower order slogger that picks up a few cheap wickets. If he's there lone spinner then England will be relying very heavily on Broad. Rashid has done well in Australia and would be a good pick, they could then use Stokes as there 3rd seamer and play Ali as primarily a batsman.
13th Man
Guest
Also in Australia Moeen Ali will be completely unaffective. Considering good spinners like Ashwin, Herath and Swann all struggled here I can't see Ali doing very well.
Rats
Guest
It was disappointing to see SA lose the final Test as well. There was no fight from them. Very unlike SA.. South African cricket board can act ignorant as much as they want, but it is getting clearer as everyday passes that only reason Steyn and ABD are not playing Test cricket is because of T20s. Franchise T20s to be precise . England is one place where SA usually plays competitive cricket. If at all there is a time to bring back T20-spoiling-test-cricket debate, this is the right time. Steyn could have easily been SA's Anderson this series.
Todd Shand
Guest
There's nothing bizarre about supporting Trump. Millions of Americans did at the last election
DavSA
Guest
Nope George , only grapes that matter in my life are those used for making good wine. I said at the start of this series that the SA side is in transition . Not only that but established stars the likes of Du Plessis , Amla and de Kock cant buy runs at the moment . Duminy is so poor that his even his protector coach Domingo was forced to drop him . Their fielding was the poorest I have ever seen from an SA side in living memory . I take nothing away from England who are a very good cricket team and deserved the series . They can only play whats in front of them . I just think that they were not really challenged at all and should given the problems SA are experiencing have been more dominant at home. This goes to Joe's article that they may have problems in their batting line up that SA never fully exposed but I feel Australia will.
Mike Dugg
Guest
Yes we have those fast bowlers. But how often do we actually have them fit and ready to go at the same time? Hazlewood is the only reliable one in that regard and even he has missed some matches. Can't rave about these guys if they can't actually get on the field regularly. Pattinson is ruled out all the time, Starc has had a bad 18 months with missed matches and Cummins surprisingly looks to be the only ready one of the three ATM. But who knows, he could drop at any time as well. Smith's form is great but it won't last forever. Ponting, Hussey, Clarke and Gilchrist all averaged high 50s at times in their career but they didn't finish close to that. At some stage, he will have a big drought. Warner has been poor for the last 2 years. Khawaja has hardly played a match in ages and is constantly in and out of the side. His confidence must not be that great. Who knows if Handscomb and Renshaw can back up their rookie seasons. Etc etc
George
Guest
Pattinson plays hows often? Cummins is still pretty green. Starc's accuracy is not a strong suit.
matth
Guest
No we only have Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and James Pattinson this time around. I invite you to check out their records. Three of the four bowl at 145+ and the other one is the best of them. Australia does have some serious problems. We are not sure yet whether Renshaw is a long term prospect. And we are not sure whether to pick the number 6 who scored a century in India or whether to take a batting all rounder. But our biggest problem is a bog average wicket keeper. Apart from that we have Warner, Khawaja and Smith who average a gazillion in Australia. Handscomb who averages over 54 even after the India tour, a very reliable spinner and the aforementioned Four Pacemen of the Apocalypse.
matth
Guest
If only they'd stuck with Watto ...