England’s average age continues to plummet in the absence of Jimmy Anderson. At Port Elizabeth on Thursday, the team will hover around 26 years with two players, Stuart Broad and Joe Denly, aged over 30. By contrast South Africa will have an average age around 30, with five players above that figure.
England won with kids in Cape Town, fresh-faced ones in Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley, Dom Bess and Sam Curran, all of whom are under 23. Dominic Sibley, now a proud Test centurion, is 24 and may be joined by Jofra Archer, who is the same age. The kids prevailed in a Test, but can they be consistent enough to win the series?
It would be daft to think that a younger side is automatically a better one. The impact of the 37-year-old Anderson in the second Test should not be underestimated. He was not able to bowl at the end, which meant that it was easy to forget about him in the immediate aftermath, but he took seven for 63 from 37 overs in Cape Town, match-winning figures.
Whoever replaces him – the favourite is Archer provided he is recovered from his elbow injury – will be hard-pressed to match that. At Newlands, Anderson offered economy as well as wickets in batches, a combination that generally wins Test matches.
However, the youthfulness of the side added zest to England’s performance. They buzzed in the field throughout, the vast majority of catches were taken, the ground fielding was slick. An increasing number of players in the side only know Root as their captain; it is his team now.
Anderson’s injury ensures that there will be at least one change to the team in Port Elizabeth. The expectation is that the surface will not be as pacy there as it was at Centurion or Newlands but it would be wrong to expect a drawn match.
Since England last played a Test at St George’s Park in 2004 (when they won by seven wickets under Michael Vaughan) there have been nine Tests in Port Elizabeth and only one – against West Indies – has been drawn and even then rain intervened. The last one against Sri Lanka, in February, lasted three days, an outcome that would disappoint the commercial men this time around.
The first decision for England will concern Anderson’s replacement. One of the contenders, Mark Wood (Archer and Chris Woakes are the others), gave a typically candid view of his own chances. He is now back in training, bowling at full tilt but he acknowledged: “I wouldn’t say that I’m 100% because I haven’t bowled the full amount of overs that I should have.
“I got through 35 overs last week, which is probably similar to a Test-match week, but I’ve not bowled competitively since the World Cup. I’ll be putting my name in the hat for this next game, but it will be up to the management as to whether I’ve bowled enough and am ready to go.
“If I’m honest, Jofra and Woakesy are ahead of me in the pecking order, just because Jofra got five wickets in the first game and Woakesy did really well in the warm-up games and out in New Zealand.”
The option of playing Wood and Archer in tandem is tantalising, if only because this would constitute England’s fastest combination for some time. Wood is excited by that prospect, too, and it is possible they could play together in the fourth Test, on one of the fastest surfaces in the world at the Wanderers in Johannesburg. “I have heard that Joburg might suit me better‚“ said Wood. “It is at altitude and it is a bouncier pitch, so that might be the way to go.
“But it does reverse swing in Port Elizabeth, so that could bring me to the fore there. We’ll just have to wait and see and hopefully I’ll be ready if needed. I don’t know and this is why I’m not paid the big bucks to make those calls.”
However much he is paid, Wood’s assessment sounds spot-on. One other change will be considered, especially if it is decided that Jack Leach is 100% fit again. Bess did a sterling job at Newlands and despite his pair he has shown he can score useful runs.
But there remains a case for Leach in the final XI. He is more of a proven wicket-taker at this level than Bess and England are playing against a side that predominantly contains right-handers (the exceptions being Dean Elgar, Quinton de Kock and Kagiso Rabada). This suits Leach more than Bess.
Despite their defeat at Newlands South Africa have expressed confidence in their players by keeping exactly the same squad. This means that they continue to miss their transformation target regarding the number of black and coloured players in the side.
As ever, Graeme Smith, South Africa’s temporary cricket director, has a tightrope to walk but he is used to that, having captained his country in 109 out of the 117 Tests he played. If anyone can do this, Smith can. For him pragmatism reigns, as demonstrated by the selection of an experienced XI, designed to deliver a morale‑boosting series victory.
Which contrasts with England’s approach. Without really intending to, Root and Chris Silverwood are putting their faith in the kids.