England, Proteas search for opening solution
Zaahier Adams will be taking a closer look at the burning issues in a three-part feature series leading up to the first Test between South Africa and England starting on Boxing Day.
|||Independent Newspapers cricket correspondent Zaahier Adams will be taking a closer look at the burning issues in a three-part feature series this week leading up to the first Test between South Africa and England starting on Boxing Day at Kingsmead.
England
Alastair Cook and Alex Hales
The struggles both teams face are freakishly familiar. Neither has been able to forge a successful opening partnership in recent times with England searching for yet another new sidekick for their captain Alastair Cook, pictured left, the eighth since the retirement of Andrew Strauss three years ago.
The swashbuckling Moeen Ali was tried on the dusty tracks of the UAE, but he was more buckling than swash and the arduous task of facing up to Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel will be handed to the tall chap from Nottinghamshire Alex Hales.
Cook, as always, will be the foundation on which England build their innings around and the skipper has a decent - but not prolific - record in South Africa, averaging 41 in comparison to his overall average of 47.47. But how South Africa are wishing for an opener that averages above 40 in any conditions right now?
In comparison, Hales will be handed his first Test cap on Boxing Day at Kingsmead and will face a searching test of a technique that on the surface is better suited to limited-overs cricket. Time will tell whether he has the mental aptitude to survive a red-ball initiation from arguably the best pacemen in the world.
South Africa
Dean Elgar and Stiaan van Zyl
Like Strauss’ retirement has left a void that England are still struggling coming to terms with, so South Africa are negotiating the turbulent waters of Graeme Smith’s exit.
Although there are rumours that ‘Biff’wants to plan a comeback, the reality is that SA have to forge ahead and cannot keep looking back. The rock at the top of the Proteas top-order for over a decade is no longer and they will need to find similar stability soon.Dean Elgar, the heir to Smith’s throne for so long, possesses that all-important qualities called grit and determination that Smith had in abundance.
Left-handed like Smith, he is not the most aesthetically pleasing batsman to watch, but the Titans man is prepared to battle through the tough sessions which is essential for an opening batsman. He has played in every Test since Smith’s retirement last year and showed that he can occupy the crease for long periods with two centuries during this period.
His average, though, is still in the mid-thirties and if he wants to permanently position himself there he will know that needs to improve going forward.
Unlike England, who at least had the experience of Cook to move forward with, South Africa were hit with a double blow when Alviro Petersen followed his former skipper Smith into the sunset of international retirement.
Petersen’s qualities as a batsman haunts the South African selectors as he continues to pile on the runs on both the English county circuit and in here on the domestic front.
Stiaan van Zyl has been re-modelled into an opener to take over from Petersen and thus far has not been fit for the challenge.
A disastrous Tour to India saw Van Zyl lose his place to Temba Bavuma for the final Test in Delhi, but he has been thrown a two-Test lifeline to reignite his international career on the ‘comforts’ of home conditions.
Nobody doubts Van Zyl’s class as a batsman for he is one of the most stylish around, but he will need more than just ‘pretty cover drives’ to succeed against the likes of James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Steve Finn.
Highveld Lions captain Stephen Cook - a specialist opener - once again proved that he has the technique and patience required against a high-quality attack like the English when he stood head and shoulders above his South African A compatriots, carrying his bat for 53 off 170 balls in the final warm-up match before the Boxing Day Test.
Van Zyl will know that should he not register a meaningful score in the possible four chances he will have at the crease, Cook will be waiting in the wings to take his place. - The Star