England break the jinx, South Africa lacked the intent

Finally, the jinx is broken

In 1998, Hansie Cronje’s South Africa were far better for me than England in that summer. But, to my utter astonishment, that England team went on to defeat Cronje’s men at Leeds in the fifth Test, where I still believe, the standard of umpiring was mediocre. I still remember, how the crowd at Leeds flooded in to greet their heroes and celebrate the victory as in those days, a victory in Test matches for England was a rarity. The English team of the 90s were not one of the crowd pullers and frustrated their fans and critics more often. Thus, Alec Stewart’s men’s great victory came as a breath of fresh air for the fans which did not last longer as till the start of next decade, England had to digest a lot of humiliations.

But England under Nasser Hussain showed signs of improvement since 2000 and when Michael Vaughn took over the captaincy, England buried the ghosts of the 90s and under Andrew Strauss sunk Australia into oblivion at SCG in 2011 to break the Australian jinx on Australian soil after 24 years. Then, Alastair Cook’s men defeated the then World Champions India and England’s Test team, alongside South Africa built a very impressive record outside home in the last decade.

 Meanwhile, at home, from nowhere, another jinx gradually built without the notice of anyone. The Englishmen might have beaten the Proteas at their own backyard couple of times but on home soil, South Africa always had the upper hand and went home happily by shattering the confidence of England and ending the international careers of likes of Michael Vaughn and Andrew Strauss in 2008 and 2012 respectively.  Since that eventful win at Leeds on 1998, England failed to beat South Africa on home soil in Test series.

 But Joe Root, who took over the captaincy from his senior colleague Alastair Cook, did not have to digest any miseries. He started off his captaincy stint with a bang and his men thrashed the Proteans in a commendable fashion to break the almost-two-decade old jinx at Manchester on day 4. On a festive environment, Joe Root and his men bathed in champagne and cheered loudly to express their joy while at one corner, a bemused Faf du Plessis and his team could do nothing but applaud the brilliant display and celebration of the hosts.

 Moeen Ali made the series all his own and it was an Ian Botham like performance from the beard master. He not only scored runs while batting in the bottom half of the order, but his finger spin sunk the South African batting lineup twice in the series. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and bolt from the blue Toby Roland-Jones played key roles in the series to support the fragility in the English batting lineup.

South Africa lacked the intent

While the Englishmen exhibited the right intent, South Africa, except Trent Bridge, failed to display the ideal attitude which once made them one of the best and dominating Test sides in the World. They are still regarded as one of the bests, but at present, they are an inconsistent side who either blow hot or cold. 

Clearly, the absence of AB de Villiers was felt, but the lack of intent from the Proteans made the absence of AB felt. Neither AB nor Dale Steyn was there in Australia, but due to the exhibition of fighting intent,  South Africa gunned down Steve Smith’s men on their own den.    

The South African senior members were needed to show a lot more responsibility with the bat to shield the less-competent batters in the team, which the Englishmen did. Their bowlers were always beaming with confidence and bowled with a lot of aggressive intent despite the various setbacks, but their batters let them down. 

Faf should have been batting at number four rather than experimenting too much with that particular position. Temba Bavuma is more of a number five and six product who can play the role of a Larry Gomes and Shivnarine Chanderpaul. While Amla and Bavuma fought for life on the fourth day at Manchester, things could have been a lot easier had Faf partnered Amla during that crucial passage of play. The lower middle-order of South African batting lineup had been too fragile and seldom clicked and their failures, especially, Quinton de Kock, whose position was gambled too much, inability to arrest a sudden collapse left the Proteas at bay.

Gone are the days when the South African lower middle-order, boasting a lot of allrounders, would rise to the occasion and take the game away from opposition and script inspiring victories. In the current side, neither there is a Shaun Pollock nor Lance Klusener nor Brian McMillan, but consists of cricketers who decides to surrender meekly.        

Indeed, the intent was always missing. The inconsistency of the senior batsmen and half-baked Test débutantes undermined the Proteans, but above all, they lacked the self-belief and fighting spirit which they showed a few months ago in Australia and New Zealand.

England utilised their poor temperament to break the jinx.    

Thank You

Faisal Caesar