Former England captain Nasser Hussain was critical of the English field set to Dean Elgar in South Africa’s second innings in the first Test at Centurion.
South Africa went in to bat in the evening session of day two after England had collapsed from 142-3 to 181 all out, with seamer Vernon Philander taking 4-16.
After South Africa’s Aiden Markram was dismissed from James Anderson’s opening over, his opening partner Dean Elgar – on a pair after his first-ball dismissal on day one – managed to get off the mark the next over with an edge for four through the vacant gap between the slip cordon and gully off the bowling of Stuart Broad.
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The boundary prompted Hussain, commentating for the host broadcaster, to say: “It’s just madness. You’ve got Stuart Broad pushing 500 Test wickets, you’ve got a bloke on a pair, you’ve got a deficit of over 100 and you’ve got two slips and a gully – on a pitch that’s doing a bit. It is beyond understanding, it really is.”
Elgar eventually perished to the bowling of Jofra Archer, whose angled delivery into the left-hander induced an inside edge, with Jos Buttler taking a diving catch behind the stumps. South Africa went on to finish the day on 72-4, taking their lead to 175.
Speaking on Sky Sports after the close of play, Hussain criticised England’s approach with the bat.
“I hope they don’t hide behind a scoreboard of 72-4,” Hussain said. “You can easily hide behind it and say it’s a problem for them, we’re getting wickets against them, it must be the pitch. Well, it’s not.
The last 10 wickets at Centurion have fallen for a combined 68 runs ?#SAvENG pic.twitter.com/ISfmv9fCdz
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 27, 2019
“If anyone has seen England over the last three or four years, it’s not the pitch, it’s batting techniques: it’s the repetitive nature of dismissals, it’s openers not getting runs and seeing off the new ball. It’s being 20-2, it’s Root flirting outside the off stump, it’s Jonny Bairstow getting bowled, it’s Stuart Broad getting bumped out – it’s Groundhog Day.
“I hope Joe Root is going to the nets, going to Graham Thorpe [England batting coach]: ‘I’m nibbling a bit too much.’ I hope Jonny Bairstow’s not saying, ‘that kept low’. I hope he says ‘I keep getting bowled, what am I going to do about it?’
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“I heard Joe Denly on interview with you [Ian Ward] say, ‘At tea our decision was to bat long’. I think, on a pitch like this, who have been successful on it have been the people who have put the right balance between attack and defence. Quinton de Kock’s 95 in that first innings could be a match-winning innings because he got the tempo right. It’s not about batting long, it’s about getting the right score for that surface. It might take two hours, it might take five, but get the right score for that surface.”
