Johannesburg - While England have been left wondering why they weren’t more assertive in their defeat to the Proteas at Lord's, the tourists still feel there is room for improvement when the second Test match starts in Manchester on Thursday.
Having had the weekend off to explore London, the focus from today will switch to how South Africa can wrap up the series at Old Trafford.
In Dean Elgar, the Proteas have a captain who is pragmatic and in his own words “always going to find a negative somewhere”.
Along with coach Mark Boucher, who Elgar effusively praised following the win at Lord’s, the captain will keep the players’ feet firmly on the ground as they start preparations for the second Test.
“Even when things are going well, you have to look for a negative,” said Elgar.
“If we keep playing the way we have been playing and conducting ourselves off the field, worrying about the small things, the cricket that we play, caring for each other like we do, more times than not (the result) will look after itself.”
South Africa were dominant at Lord’s, bowling England out twice in a total of 82.4 overs and finishing the match effectively in two days.
However, it was by no means a flawless performance. Two dropped catches in the slips highlighted an area Boucher had pointed to before the game as being crucial to the Proteas’ chances of winning the series.
Then there is the middle order, which continues to look weak.
It is to Marco Jansen and the team’s brains trust’s credit that they moved him up the order to No 6 and that he played as well as he did.
But he is still very new to Test cricket and initially at least, can’t always be expected to play in the manner he did in his innings of 48.
The English certainly got their plans wrong, especially in that final 30 minutes on the second day; then the next morning when captain Ben Stokes employed a bouncer strategy at the 22-year-old; and then at the Proteas’ lower order with a second new ball, leaving James Anderson twiddling his thumbs in the outfield.
Although the final outcome would suggest no changes be made to the starting team, the lack of impact from both Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram should lead to a conversation about their spots.
Elgar spoke in the build-up to the Lord’s Test about his preference for experience given Temba Bavuma’s absence, but if that experience doesn’t add runs, then it’s harming the team.
While a Ryan Rickelton/Khaya Zondo combination is probably going too far in that direction, at least one of those should come into consideration for the Old Trafford Test.
Meanwhile, both new England coach Brendon McCullum and veteran seam bowler Stuart Broad questioned whether England were sufficiently positive in their approach against SA.
“As a team, we began this summer’s journey on the front foot. If we were in doubt, we would always take an aggressive option, whereas at Lord’s, it felt we didn’t quite commit to that policy,” Broad wrote in his column in the Daily Mail.
“So, what am I going to do when I get to Old Trafford?
“I’m going to be ultracompetitive. I’ve had my spell now, bowled 20 overs in a game, had a bat, took a catch. Now I’m coming to hit the arena hard.”
Boucher and company will undoubtedly have the Proteas expecting England to bounce back in the manner Broad describes.
“We’ve got a seriously good coaching staff with a lot of experience and I don’t think they get a lot of credit. I have always been a massive fan of the group that Bouch has added to the staff,” Elgar said.
For the current series, Cricket SA’s high performance batting coach Neil McKenzie and SA ‘A’ coach Malibongwe Maketa have been in the change-room to bring their expertise to the squad.
“I get a lot of info and it’s up to me to use that. It’s not just me, it’s them, there’s a lot of great cricket brains in the backroom staff,” Elgar said.
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