Saffers - England, 1st test, Durban - match thread

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Jimmy Anderson officially out, Woakes and Finn expected to be named with Jordan, footitt and ballance missing out.

Joe Root missing training today due to an upset stomach, but should be ok for day one

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

All of you not aboard the Woakes wagon...this is your last call.

Anybody jumping on from here on in will be looked at with disdain

[LondonTiger]

Woakes decent batter, decent 4th seamer - not good enough for tests.

Guess I am not jumping on the wagon

[msp83]

Anderson a massive loss for England. Woakes is a decent stand in option, and he would certainly add more to the England batting lineup. They bat to 10 now, Finn's the only who is a specialist bowler in that lineup. Broad rediscovered how to hold a bat last summer!

[LivinginItaly]

Think the loss of anderson might actually give finn the space to step up and establish himself in the team.

[KP_fan]

losing Anderson is taking a third of the strength off the English side.
SA start favorites but only marginally so.....Eng have the gift of deep batting via their bowling allrounders

[king_carlos]

Woakes isn't the most penetrative bowler at test level but he is significantly quicker than last time he played. He also has better control of his swing these days.

More importantly he would offer some control in the attack if he replaces Anderson. Broad has been very containing lately but all of Finn, Stokes and Moeen are liable to leak runs.

Whilst Footit would add variety and an exciting wicket taker to the attack he wouldn't help the balance. If we didn't take new ball wickets with an attack off Broad, Finn, Footit, Stokes and Moeen then the burden of reining things in would fall solely on Broad.

[alfie]

Late start , SA win toss & bowl , both teams as expected.

Steyn starts with a maiden ; Hales off the mark first ball...

Good morning to anyone up ; hope you all had a good Christmas ?

[alfie]

Steyn strikes a big blow as Cook nibbles and is caught at slip ...

Not the start England wanted.

[CaledonianCraig]

With a new look batting line-up losing Cook so early is a sledgehammer blow. It heightens the pressure on Hales, Compton, Taylor and Bairstow (all not established in the side) to contribute.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I'd have picked Ballance/Buttler over Compton/Bairstow, but no real complaints with the side.

Cook going early is a match turning blow - Hales has looked ok so far, but you can't rely on him and the other youngsters to really give us a big score

[alfie]

Blimey ...."lightning break" now ?

Steyn certainly looking dangerous. Not going to be easy batting this morning...though whether the toss will prove decisive rather depends on how the pitch behaves over succeeding days.
Fancy that England might be glad of the long batting list.

Rain now so we might be waiting a bit.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Also pretty disgraceful that Sky aren't even doing their own comms in South Africa

You feel BT are lurking...

[CaledonianCraig]

I would say even if England can reach 250 that will be competitive. This is a new look South African side and they far from sparkled in India. Hashim Amla is experienced but struggling for form so it should be a very interesting test.

[alfie]

Losing Cook early is a blow , true. But England cannot expect Cook and Root to score all the runs anyway so this would be a good time for some of the young players to come to the party.
Have to say Hales has looked quite good so far ; probably a pity from his viewpoint that this interruption has come so early - and it may be a lengthy break looking at that rain belting down.

[Mad for Chelsea]

Nass making a couple of good points. Firstly that while Cook's wicket ended up on a similar line to several deliveries he left alone, it started much straighter, pitching on the stumps and moving away off the seam a fair bit. Understandable that he played at it IMO. Secondly that De Villiers should probably have gone for that edge from Compton which didn't carry to slip. Slip moved quite a long way to his left to get there, and feel AB would have got there had he gone for it...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Losing Cook early is a blow , true.  But England cannot expect Cook and Root to score all the runs anyway so this would be a good time for some of the young players to come to the party.
Have to say Hales has looked quite good so far ; probably a pity from his viewpoint that this interruption has come so early - and it may be a lengthy break looking at that rain belting down.

We've completely jinxed Hales now alfie...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

It gorn get ugly folks....

[guildfordbat]

Blimey ...."lightning break" now ?

Steyn certainly looking dangerous.  Not going to be easy batting this morning...though whether the toss will prove decisive rather depends on how the pitch behaves over succeeding days.
Fancy that England might be glad of the long batting list.

Rain now so we might be waiting a bit.

Yes, although I'm still anxious about us being able to contain SA's scoring and take 20 wickets. There's a good post from King Carlos above after, I guess, he rolled in after Christmas Mass - highlighting that the likes of Finn, Stokes and Ali are all capable of going for a few. A lot resting on Olly's man Woakes to keep it together.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Young Joseph root really is a fabulous player

[Galted]

Oh dear, Olly, what have you done?

[JDizzle]

Young Joseph root really is a fabulous player

Ahh....

[alfie]

Young Joseph root really is a fabulous player

Not satisfied with helping to jinx Hales, Olly ?

Bit of a surprise to see Root go like that to the spinner.

49/3 and pressure on ; just when one might have hoped it was starting to ease...

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Well I've predicted Taylor to be the leading run scorer so his wicket is going any second now

Turning on day one. MOEEN time later in this game

[alfie]

I agree Moeen might well be a key bowler here. If (big if !) England can get to a respectable total I think he might present more of a threat to SA than anyone might have anticipated.
He is apparently in form with the ball judging by the warm up game ; and this SA team hasn't a great record against spin recently.

Hoping Taylor can withstand the pressure of Olly's prediction...

[alfie]

Grrr. More bloody rain.

[msp83]

Good recovery from Compton and Taylor so far. England 97-3. Piedt bowling a good spell. He gives away a few runs but looks like a wickettaking threat as well.

[msp83]

Amla for some reason fancies Styan van Zyl to run through the England lineup! The guy is useless with the bat, Amla doing a bit of Virat Kohli, trying to justify an unjustifiable selection. But the original call to pick him was that of the selectors who didn't pick a backup opener in the squad, so take it easy, Hashim!

[Hammersmith harrier]

It might be a bit harsh on Compton given the situation but his very low scoring rate is the exact reason why he was dropped from the team in the first place, he needs to learn to put the bad balls away.

[msp83]

Good to see the track offering a bit of turn for Piedt on day one.......

[msp83]

Compton was dropped because his face didn't fit in with the dominant clique. More than anything else, it was yet another managerial mishap of those times. Surely he didn't help himself in the last couple of tests he played, both in terms of runs as well as strike rate. But that wasn't what did him in.......

[SimonofSurrey]

108-3 after 38 overs, having been put in with conditions favouring seamers then Cook out for a duck? I'd have taken it like a shot. Criticism of Compton is daft - would anyone really rather have seen our No 3 score a sparkling 20 off 20 balls then hole out? Saffers have three class seamers but not much else to rely on in support (Root's dismissal was a big shock/bonus, depending on whom you support). That is risky: if one of their three seamers breaks down, they could be short handed.

Meanwhile, from an England standpoint, even if they both get out now, Compton and Taylor surely have done enough today to warrant a decent run in the side this series. And we have four front line seamers to call on, plus Mooen if the pitch is taking spin. Inexperienced they may be (bar Broad), but this game might be the chance for one of the others to show true international class.

[msp83]

Morkel was absolutely brilliant in India, and he was really threatening with a fuller length and showed he could bowl that length with success and thus move away from his perceived natural length. Seems some way short of that best today.......

[Hammersmith harrier]

Meanwhile, from an England standpoint, even if they both get out now, Compton and Taylor surely have done enough today to warrant a decent run in the side this series. And we have four front line seamers to call on, plus Mooen if the pitch is taking spin. Inexperienced they may be (bar Broad), but this game might be the chance for one of the others to show true international class.

We have two front line seamers; Broad and Finn, the other two are competent fourth seamers but nothing more than that.

[msp83]

Fine partnership this, between Compton and Taylor. Taylor has overtaken Compton, both of them closing in on their 50s.
Think Amla should bring Steyn back on, South Africa really in need of a wicket.

[alfie]

Compton was dropped because his face didn't fit in with the dominant clique. More than anything else, it was yet another managerial mishap of those times. Surely he didn't help himself in the last couple of tests he played, both in terms of runs as well as strike rate. But that wasn't what did him in.......

That is a popular theory , msp : but I think it is largely nonsense. His slow scoring was the primary reason for his omission - coupled with the desire of the management to try Root at the top of the order. It was arguably a mistake ; but there is no evidence that personalities played any part in the choice (except in so far as Compton appeared to have lost all confidence at the time)

That said , for anyone to criticize him for slow scoring today is ridiculous. At 12/2 , England needed solidity above all ; and after Root went that didn't change ! He has done exactly what he should have ; and done his own future prospects no harm at all.

Even played some very handsome shots in between the defensive efforts. Hope he can go on from here...

[alfie]

Fine partnership this, between Compton and Taylor. Taylor has overtaken Compton, both of them closing in on their 50s.
Think Amla should bring Steyn back on, South Africa really in need of a wicket.

He heard you

Good partnership , this. Fifty for Taylor

[msp83]

Steyn's indeed back on, and Taylor gets to his 50 at of his first over back.......

[Duty281]

Good digging by the under-appreciated Compton and the gloriously-gifted Taylor (6/1, come on lad!).

Just have to dig a little more. 350 would be a fine effort considering the conditions and that the Saffers have to bat last; this track does look as though it will deteriorate substantially towards the end.

[msp83]

Compton was dropped because his face didn't fit in with the dominant clique. More than anything else, it was yet another managerial mishap of those times. Surely he didn't help himself in the last couple of tests he played, both in terms of runs as well as strike rate. But that wasn't what did him in.......

That is a popular theory , msp : but I think it is largely nonsense.  His slow scoring was the primary reason for his omission - coupled with the desire of the management to try Root at the top of the order.  It was arguably a mistake ; but there is no evidence that personalities played any part in the choice (except in so far as Compton appeared to have lost all confidence at the time)

That said , for anyone to criticize him for slow scoring today is ridiculous. At 12/2 , England needed solidity above all  ; and after Root went that didn't change !  He has done exactly what he should have ; and done his own future prospects no harm at all.

Even played some very handsome shots in between the defensive efforts.  Hope he can go on from here...

Alfie, if you remember, there was a clear the air talk at the time of the new England coach taking over that involved Compton. There were reports about an injury and that not being taken well by team management, and there were reports about him cutting a rather lonely figure in the change room as he was seemingly 'intense'!
Anyways they had to go back to him after all, and this has been a good comeback innings so far.......

[msp83]

Abbott took a 5for in India in the Delhi test, and so earned his place in the side. But young Kagiso Rabada was rested for the final test after he had played all the prior games, he was outstanding in the limited over games, and bowled really well without too many wickets to show for his efforts. He's a lot more quicker than Abbott, and I'd have picked him personally. The lad can make things happen.......

[SimonofSurrey]

Meanwhile, from an England standpoint, even if they both get out now, Compton and Taylor surely have done enough today to warrant a decent run in the side this series. And we have four front line seamers to call on, plus Moeen if the pitch is taking spin. Inexperienced they may be (bar Broad), but this game might be the chance for one of the others to show true international class.

We have two front line seamers; Broad and Finn, the other two are competent fourth seamers but nothing more than that.

My point entirely. All four have been selected as frontline bowlers: Broad and Finn to open, then Woakes and Stokes first and second change. I agree with your assessment of the latter two at this stage but my point was now is the chance for them to show what they are really capable of. Or maybe not...

[alfie]

msp : I know Compton felt he was treated unfairly - hence the need for some talks with the new coach. Doesn't make it so , though. Being "a positive influence" in the dressing room can help your prospects ; but the converse won't get you dropped if you are performing. Anyone who watched Compton bat in the two Tests that preceded the Australian tour could see why the selectors didn't fancy having him open in the Ashes series...

Never mind : as you say , he has deservedly won back his place ; and has made a good start towards retaining it. He certainly has his limitations...but given the lack of success enjoyed by Cook's various partners that might not keep him from having a longer run in the side this time around.

[alfie]

Fifty for Compton

A very timely innings. 148/3 looks a lot better than 12/2. - or 49/3

[GSC]

Disregarding Compton, Taylor is making some coaches and selectors look even more silly.

[alfie]

Disregarding Compton, Taylor is making some coaches and selectors look even more silly.

Probably fair to say both these players have had to work to convince the selectors of their worth...

Mind you , Taylor looks a much more complete player now than when he first appeared in 2012. It may well be that the time he spent back in the county game will have done him more good than being in and out of the international squads ?
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the past , Taylor really does look as though he will be anchoring the England middle order along with Root for a good few years now. And just may be an alternative for future leadership.

[msp83]

England in control now, 163-3.

[GSC]

Control is probably overly flattering. SA nicking a wicket or two before the close probably makes it slightly their day.

England will want this partnership to get past 250 before they start relaxing too much.

[GSC]

And on cue Taylor goes for a well played 70. SA needed that.

[JDizzle]

Oh Jimmy. Shame. Sometimes you just get a good un from Steyn though. Not the ideal situation for Stokes to be walking out. Has to be play his natural game I think, don't let the situation dictate how he plays too much.

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