28 January 2020
4th Test, Day 4: England 400 and 248, South Africa 183 and 274 all out.
England win by 191 runs
On the face of it, this match proceeded to a predictable end, with England bowling out South Africa midway through the final session of Day 4 to win by a big margin. In reality, however, the road proved to be rockier than England would have liked, with the Proteas’ top order batsmen summoning up reserves of skill and determination that had been lacking in their performances since the first Test. Sadly for them, the length of the South African tail meant that, once the initial resistance was broken shortly before tea, the end came all too quickly - a recurring theme of the series.
Chasing a massive 466 to win (which never happens in Test cricket), South Africa batted positively and well for over four hours. Their beleaguered skipper, Faf du Plessis, in the twilight of his Test career, could but cling to the hope that at least two of his “gun” batsmen could make big hundreds to take the match into a final day. At 89 for 1 shortly before lunch, then 181 for 2 just ten minutes before tea, he - and the very few locals in the ground today - may even have dared to dream. Yet, out in the middle, he must have known that the England bowling was just too good, the bounce of the wicket now too unpredictable, the target still too far in the distance - and the remaining batting too weak.
That’s not to say some uncertainty hadn’t crept into the hearts and minds of the watching England fans. Even the Barmy Army's"Woody" song, fast becoming iconic, had not yet succeeded in bringing an early wicket from our hero, although the first drinks break did account for Pieter Malan, driving loosely straight after at an out-swinger from the excellent Chris Woakes. When Ben Stokes induced another horrible stroke from Dean Elgar, so patient up to that point, it came as a relief to end the first session with two wickets in the bag. England continued to bowl and field well in the afternoon session, but the combination of du Plessis and van der Dussen resisted everything thrown at them and looked more and more comfortable as the session went on. Finally, the arch partnership-breaker Stokes broke through du Plessis’ defences and we all began to breathe a little easier.
The stand-out innings was played by Rassie van der Dussen (or is it Dussie van der Rassen, or Rassen von der Dussie, maybe even Dussen Van Rental? So confusing). Since Cape Town, he had looked more and more like the proverbial walking wicket and this morning came within millimetres of a pair of noughts in this match. Given out LBW by the umpire, he almost ran out of time to review the decision, maybe lacking the confidence that his wicket was important enough to preserve - finally he did and it was. Afterwards he batted superbly to reach 98, only to fall agonisingly short of his maiden Test century - psyched out by some clever field-placings by Joe Root. I don’t like to say I called it - but I actually did call it. I had become convinced that van der Dussen would be out either just before he reached his century (due to nerves) or just after (due to euphoria-induced lack of concentration). Such a shame for him it was the former, as he would have richly deserved his ton. 187 for 4 at tea and despite all the hard work, South Africa were now staring down the barrel.
The final hour of the series seemed to pass by in a blur of boundaries, wickets and assorted favourites from the Barmy Army songbook. Quinton de Kock briefly smashed the ball to all parts as only he can, while the diminutive Temba Bavuma batted nicely before almost being decapitated by a vicious bouncer from Stuart Broad, which flicked his glove as he fell prone to the floor. Further resistance proved futile and brief as man-of-the-match Wood ran amok through the tail, though there was still time for a comedy run-out - always a joy - as Hendricks and Nortje found themselves running to the same end. The end, when it came, was somewhat of an anti-climax, as Nortje was shown by the technology to have gloved a catch down the leg-side, but that didn't dampen the England celebrations - or their achievement in winning the series 3-1 after going one down at sickness-plagued Centurion.
At the presentations, Joe Root described his team as being on the verge of something exciting. For me, he has called this right, even allowing for the euphoria of victory and the relative weakness of the opposition. Whilst there are still blind spots to work on, and particularly the more inexperienced players remain untested against stronger opponents, this England team is exactly that - a team. They play for each other, support each other, complement each other. It was telling that South Africa had the series’ highest run-scorer (de Kock) and wicket-taker (Nortje), but England still beat them comfortably because their players contributed consistently up and down the batting order and in the field. That said, the life-force that is Ben Stokes - man of the series, of course - was so often the talisman again, contributing runs, wickets and brilliant catches at the vital moments of matches. He is, quite simply, a winner and we’re very lucky to have him.
Among the other positives:
Joe Root looks to have (finally) come of age as a Test match captain. His juggling of his seam attack here - together with some innovative field-settings - was spot on. His batting also seems more assured and relaxed, the weight of captaincy maybe sitting less heavily on his shoulders than before.
The emergence of Dom Sibley as a Test-class opener was a big plus, especially after the freak injury to Rory Burns, up to then more or less the only consistent opener to emerge since the heady days of Cook and Strauss. Now we have two - and potentially three, given Zak Crawley’s promising start here.
Without wanting to put the mockers on him, Ollie Pope is surely an emerging superstar of England’s batting for the next decade. He looks an absolute gem - and a brilliant short-leg fielder too.
In Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, England have two genuinely quick bowlers who can damage the best batting line-ups at this level. A valid question to ask is whether they will ever both be fit at the same time, but what a thing it would be if this coincided with the 2021/22 Ashes down under.
Even without Wood and Archer, England’s other seamers contributed consistently and well in the last three Tests here (not so much at Centurion, but the sickness bug in the camp must been been a massive handicap there). Anderson (if fit), Broad, Curran, Woakes, backed up by Stokes - all can play valuable roles and also bring the opportunity of squad rotation into play.
Similar to the opening batsmen issue, the lack of a Test quality spinner has plagued England since the retirement of Graeme Swann (who himself only had a relatively brief career at the top level). Maybe I’m being harsh on Moeen Ali, who has had his moments of magic and hopefully will again, but I was very impressed by the performances of Dom Bess in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. At least we now have more options than in the recent past.
It would be churlish of me to dwell on the “areas for development” (using corporate HR speak), as these have been clear for a while - the wicket-keeper/batsman role and the perennial problem of the number three spot. For what it’s worth, I think Joe Denly’s contribution has often been under-valued over the past year, a difficult transition period. He has been the foil, and sometimes the fall guy, to Root’s desire to bat at four and not have to come in and face the new ball every innings at 10 for 2. This he has done consistently well and deserves credit for it. It's no coincidence that Root's own batting has started to flourish again.
Finally, as in Australia in 2010/11 (and with the same 3-1 scoreline), the Barmy Army tour experience has been utterly intoxicating (in most senses implied by this word). I realise I am very lucky to have this opportunity - and to share the time with the fun and varied characters that inhabit these overseas tours. South Africa is one of the most awesome destinations for such a tour, clearly not without its many difficult issues to solve, yet the people we met have been universally welcoming and friendly. It was also a privilege to be present for the swansong of Billy Cooper (a.k.a."Billy the Trumpet"), who was signing off after 16 years service as the Barmy Army's official trumpeter - a fellow Old Colfeian and all round good bloke. I look forward to doing it all again sometime in the future - but for the moment what I’m looking forward to the most is being reunited with my family. Being reunited with the English winter - not so much.
Acknowledgements: Photos by Brian Veitch and Steve Roberts (as well as myself)