England’s Test series-clinching win over South Africa in Johannesburg gave significant signs that the future is looking bright. South Africa are not the dominant force they once were, and Dale Steyn was missing through injury, but England still needed to play excellent cricket to win in a country where very few achieve success.
After the series defeat against Pakistan in the UAE, Alastair Cook’s men would have been forgiven to be disappointed at not turning their promising performances into defining results. England were right to be encouraged but at the same time knew that changes needed to be made and players needed to step up even more than before if they were to succeed in South Africa.
These are the reasons why England won in South Africa, going from the ‘nearly’ men in the UAE to the powerhouse that took down the best-ranked Test team in the world in their own back yard.
The return of Nick Compton
Many, including Compton himself, felt aggrieved when the Middlesex man was removed from the England side on the eve of the 2013 Ashes, despite hitting two centuries in a row during the winter series in New Zealand. The 32-year-old worked extremely hard to regain his place in the side and produced excellent and timely form after returning to his county.
After the continuous failures from Cook’s plethora of opening partners, Compton was tipped to finally return to the England side, but this time at number three, with Alex Hales the next cab off the rank to be given a chance to open with Cook in Tests.
Compton returned for his first Test in nearly three years in Durban, replacing Ian Bell whose poor form at first tested and ultimately ended the selectors’ faith in him.
In his first innings back, Compton showed the solidarity and reassuring technique that England have been missing in the position since Jonathan Trott retired, scoring 85 from 236 balls and helping England to 303 after his side had been 12-2 and then 49-3. He backed that up with 49 in the second innings, giving England a lead that ultimately proved too much for the hosts.
Although he has not gone big in this series yet, his consistency in setting the platform for others was badly needed and certainly proved to be a significantly positive change from previous series in which England have struggled to get off to good starts.
Giving James Taylor a chance
Much like Compton, Taylor was harshly dropped after showing impressive promise against South Africa in 2012. After his excellent one-day form at number three he was finally brought back in to the Test side during the final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah. The Nottinghamshire man scored 76 and fully earned his slot at number five for the series against the Proteas.
Taylor was needed early on in Durban. After Joe Root was dismissed to leave England 49-3 on the first morning, he and Compton combined with a partnership of 125 to bring the tourists back into the match. Compton provided the solidarity, but it was Taylor who really got the innings going, using his positive strokeplay, especially against off-spinner Piedt to put the pressure back on South Africa. The 26-year-old scored 70 and followed that up with 42 in the second innings in a hugely impressive performance under pressure.
Taylor seems to be the perfect player in the middle order for his side; his busyness and energy at the crease is symptomatic of ‘new England’ and rarely will you see him let bowlers settle into a rhythm. One wonders why he was not brought into the Test side earlier but he will undoubtably be a key component of England’s batting line-up for years to come.
The brilliance of Ben Stokes
There are many exciting features of this England team, but the man who gets everyone talking is Ben Stokes. His stunning 258 in Cape Town was one of Test cricket’s great attacking innings and although it did not contribute to a win, it was a performance that cemented, or even increased, his reputation as one of the most breathtaking cricketers in the world today.
Batting wise, Stokes’ technique is very simple. He stays very still and if the ball is in his arc, he will go for it, no matter if it is his first ball or his 200th ball. He is exceptionally strong through the ‘V’ and is a player who can change the course of a Test match very quickly. He also showed this at The Wanderers, where he combined with Joe Root to counter-attack their side out of a worrying position of 91-4 with a stunning stand of 111 in just 15 overs, with Stokes contributing 58 off just 54 balls. He is the leading run-scorer in the series with 368 runs from just five innings.
Not only does he provide breathless displays with the bat, Stokes is becoming an increasingly consistent and threatening customer with the ball. He has taken seven wickets, chipping in with crucial blows when his team really needed it.
In addition to being a genuine wicket-taker, having the Durham all-rounder as the fifth bowler who can easily bowl 15 plus overs in a day sheds the workload off the main England bowlers massively and it is the balance that he gives this side that makes the difference so often in Test matches. He is already a star cricketer with bags of ability.
The coming of age of Jonny Bairstow
Even during the days of Matt Prior as England’s prime keeper-batsman, rarely has the side had a wicket-keeper who has been as consistent with the bat as Bairstow has been this series. The Yorkshireman already has the most runs in a Test series by an England keeper (345) and has provided the final blows to keep out South Africa on more than one occasion.
He finally reached his maiden Test century during that stunning 399-run partnership with Stokes in Cape Town and for England to have a player who was the stand-out batsman in county cricket last season down at seven means that the batting order now looks strong as well as deep.
Bairstow also completed nine catches in Johannesburg, as well as a brilliant run-out to suggest that his wicket-keeping is certainly improving, even if a few chances have gone missing throughout the series so far.
After failing to impress at number five, it seems that Bairstow may have finally found his position at seven and could well keep Jos Buttler out of the side for a very long time. He has been crucial for his side this series in taking the game away from the opposition. England look to have a serious keeper-batsman in their side now.
The match-winning performances of Stuart Broad
It is no secret that Stuart Broad is known for his stunning, match-winning spells of bowling. Yet recently, he is making these spells more regularly than before. He is now the number one ranked Test bowler in the world.
His performance in Johannesburg, where he took 6-17 from 12.1 overs to skittle South Africa for 83 in the second innings, was a typical Broad masterclass. It was full of menace, relentlessness, accuracy and pace and the South African batsmen simply had no reply. When he gets on a roll like he did at The Wanderers and at Trent Bridge during the Ashes, he is virtually unstoppable and is a vital asset to England. The fact that he is producing these spells of bowling on a more consistent basis is an ominous sign for batsmen in the future.
Another aspect of the 29-year-old’s game that has changed is the demanding responsibility of being leader of the attack when James Anderson has not been fit, on which he has thrived. In the first Test at Durban Broad showed superb consistency to make sure that Anderson was not as badly missed as first thought.
Broad has picked up fifteen scalps in the series—the most of anyone—and has now gone past Bob Willis’s tally of 325 wickets to move up to third on England’s Test wicket-takers list. He is England’s match-winner and has been imperative in this series for his side.
The quick recovery of Steven Finn
Anderson and Broad take most of the plaudits in the bowling department for England, and rightly so. However, Steven Finn’s contribution to this side can not go unnoticed. On several occasions in this series, he has got vital wickets when England badly needed them. He may go for more runs than most but his wicket-taking ability makes him a key member of the bowling unit.
Finn was originally thought to have been out of this series but he made a miraculous recovery from his foot injury to push his way back into the side, with Mark Wood not being on tour. The Middlesex man has eleven wickets in the series so far—the second most on either side—and has become a menacing prospect for the South African batsmen.
His pace and bounce, along with the ability to produce rip-snorting deliveries, such as the one to dismiss Hashim Amla in the first innings in Johannesburg, means that he offers something different to the accurate, consistent new ball pair of Anderson and Broad. Unfortunately, Finn has been ruled out of the remainder of the tour with a side strain but keeping him fit will surely be one of England’s priorities going forward, such is his importance to this team.
