England should beat South Africa, but they will need to play intelligent Test cricket, says Jonathan Agnew.
Stuart Broad, Jofra Archer and Jack Leach have done next to nothing after suffering from flu-like symptoms. The second of the two warm-up games had to be downgraded from first-class status to allow England to field more than 11 players because of illness in the camp. Dom Bess and Craig Overton have been flown in as cover. It is far from ideal.
On 13 December, I was at a Professional Cricketers' Association lunch that served as a farewell for the squad heading to South Africa. Half of the team were still jet-lagged after their journey back from New Zealand. Then in New Zealand, they talked about occupying the crease. That's fine, but they pretty much took it too far the other way.
Joe Root understands that and he is in a much better place for scoring a double hundred in the second Test in New Zealand. Now, after what was a pretty barren patch, the captain can concentrate on getting results. New Zealand was a difficult tour for Archer, but South Africa raises the tantalising prospect of him joining forces with the fit-again James Anderson for the first time.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Chicago shooting: 13 people shot at party on South SideNo fatalities reported as yet from incidents that unfolded at three different locations, according to Chicago Police Department
Read more »
South Australia’s clean-energy shift brings lowest power prices on national grid, audit findsFor first time, state has cheaper wholesale power than rest of country for consecutive months
Read more »