James Anderson took a wicket with his first ball upon comeback, and Stuart Broad finished with five wickets in the Boxing Day Test, but neither of the veterans is certain to play for England in the New Year’s Test.
The two have played 285 Tests between them and have picked up a cumulative 1,053 Test wickets. Chris Silverwood, the England head coach, stressed that it was crucial for England to continue harvesting that vast reserve of expertise, but not at the expense of younger pace bowlers such as Sam Curran and Jofra Archer.
England may have to make a tough decision in Cape Town should they decide to play a specialist spinner, which they didn’t in Centurion. While Broad and Anderson bowled reasonably well, Curran was England’s most threatening bowler in South Africa’s first innings, picking up four wickets, while Archer took a five-for in the next.
[caption id=”attachment_133227″ align=”alignnone” width=”800″]
Sam Curran (pictured above) and Jofra Archer did a good job for England in the first Test[/caption]
“In Jimmy and Stuart we have a wealth of experience and we’d be really stupid not to take that into consideration every game,” Silverwood told reporters. “It would be naive of us not to do that. But equally, you do want your youngsters to come through and if we’re going to make room for a spinner, then we’ve got to have a look at that.
“We have to look at which seamers will be right for that particular pitch and choose from there. If there is a big decision to be made, we’re not afraid to make it.”
Should a spinner be brought into the team, with Jack Leach still feeling the effects of a bug that has gone round the team, Dom Bess – who played two Tests in 2018 – could be in line to return to the team. Uncapped Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson is also an option, but it is understood that Bess, who was not in the original touring party, has leapfrogged Parkinson in the pecking order.
[breakout id=”0″][/breakout]
England captain Joe Root had sung the same tune, hinting that the seniority of Anderson and Broad, while valuable, didn’t make them indispensable. He also said that the heavy competition for spots will spur them to perform better.
“If difficult decisions have to be made down the line then they will be,” Root said. “It’s a fine balance, you’ve got to look at the surface and at an attack you feel is best going to counter that and best counter the opposition.
He could make South Africa's XI for the next Test, but his selection won't be without controversy.
Find out more about Pieter Malan 👇 https://t.co/EuYywSYUnu
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) December 31, 2019
“I think the ideal scenario is to have people pushing them all the time, so that they’re constantly trying to improve themselves. They’ve got fantastic records behind them and they’ve produced fantastic things for England in the very recent past. You don’t want to wish those guys away or look back and think ‘we’ve forced Jimmy Anderson out’. You look at him physically and he’s in fantastic fettle and he’s got a brilliant record in these conditions. Similar with Stuart.”
[breakout id=”1″][/breakout]
Another important selection call awaiting England is with regards to their two wicket-keeper batsmen, Jos Buttler and Jonny Bairstow, both of whom have been in poor form with the bat. Bairstow was dropped from the side on their tour of New Zealand, before illness to Ollie Pope paved the way for his return. In the first Test against South Africa, Bairstow scored only 10 runs and looked out of sorts. But Silverwood said that he and Buttler will be given a longer rope.
“We’ve just got to keep backing them as we know they’re both very fine players,” Silverwood said. “They’re an asset to a team. We know Jos is a fine player and we know he can hurt people. We’ve got to keep giving him the opportunity to do that.”
