A man always more bash-ball than bashful was never likely to respond with a timid shrink into the corner and Brendon McCullum was typically bullish as England bid to square their series with South Africa at Old Trafford. “One message will be ‘can we go a little harder?’” McCullum said after South Africa blitzed England inside six sessions in the First Test at Lord’s, a seemingly odd response to a decisive first defeat as coach. “Did we go hard enough with our approach? Could we maybe go a little harder and try to turn some pressure back on the opposition as well?”
So north to Manchester England go, 1-0 down in the series but with coach McCullum and captain Ben Stokes still certain they have the right approach. On the surface, McCullum’s urge to fight fire with fire appears an ill-fated endeavour after such an out-classing, but his side were not reckless at Lord’s. The post-match reflection may have been that this was comeuppance for the foolish pursuit of a style of play that will never bring sustained success, but few of England’s top-order batters got themselves out.
Just as the four wins against New Zealand and India were not empirical evidence of a grand Test cricketing revolution, one defeat to a high-class South Africa is not proof that McCullum’s and Stokes’ methods are doomed to fail, that a lost toss and batting first are kryptonite to England’s new era. The touring South Africans possess an exceptional, varied bowling attack; England’s batting line-up remains frangible, stacked thin china on a shelf of imperfect construct.
For now, though, England’s only change is in their own bowling complement, with a fit Ollie Robinson back in the fold for the first time this summer. Having proved his fitness with the England Lions before the series, Robinson returns in the place of Matthew Potts with the hope that his high release-point, accuracy and nagging seam movement can add extra threat to an attack that at times looked one-note in the first Test. His inclusion may also slightly shorten England’s brontosaurus tail if Robinson can find his timing at the highest level.
“It’s obviously been a very difficult time for Ollie because it wasn’t the fact that his form was letting him down, it was his body,” Stokes said of Robinson’s battles with fitness issues on match eve. “That’s obviously a very tough thing to deal with when you want to do something, but the thing that needs to work for you to do that doesn’t.
“But I think he can look back on that and use it as something to always to look back on and to gain experience from that, because he’s here in the team and he’s playing this week. We think what Ollie offers as a bowler is he gets the most bounce out of our attack. Old Trafford, generally, with it being a slightly quicker wicket than other grounds we play at, it then obviously offers a lot more bounce.”
Despite significant debate over Zak Crawley’s place a change was always unlikely with spare batter Harry Brook an unnatural top-order fit. There is no doubting, though, that the Kent stroke-maker is in need of an affirming score. England will name a new squad for the final Test at The Oval.
For all the side’s backing of an obviously talented player and effusing of his natural style’s fit, a significant sample size in both first-class and Test cricket suggests that Crawley is not well-equipped to score runs in his current guise McCullum’s well-intentioned comment when backing Crawley that he was not a player with “the skillset to be a consistent cricket” seems tough to square. What sort of message is it sending to England hopefuls if consistent runs are no longer a strong currency?
The opener himself talked this winter of his county home at Canterbury being a tough place to bat, but this season, it has definitively not been. In a summer of plenty for county batters, every other regular member of Kent’s regular averages more than 43 in the County Championship this season; Crawley has scored his red-ball runs at below 25, beneath even his career average of 29.36.
There is Crawley’s own wellbeing to consider, too. Two more low scores and the best thing for Crawley may be to grant him a chance to step out of the glare and finish the season with a run of games in the County Championship’s September swing. Former England batters Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash have each spoken of their own struggles in the spotlight during prolonged patches of poor form, and the 24-year-old looks to be playing strokes around his own doubts and worries, propping forth on an anxious front foot. The place of opening partner Alex Lees has escaped scrutiny but the Durham batter could also use a convincing innings and a score.
It would be a surprise if South Africa are to make a change, though Old Trafford’s tweaker-friendly reputation may prompt thoughts of Simon Harmer, tormentor of many a county bat during his remarkably productive stint at Essex over the last few weeks, and a twin spin attack.
The batting line-up continues to do just enough to allow this thrilling clutch of bowlers to win their side games but Keshav Maharaj is confident that it will click as the visitors look to seal the series – which will worry England as they again face up to Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada and co.
"I don’t think it’s a case of the guys relying on the middle-to-lower order to score the runs,” the left-arm spinner said. "As a batting unit you are always wanting to score more centuries. Our top six/seven are very driven to score centuries. The opening partnership really set the foundation for us, the middle order probably didn’t fire in the last Test, but we know the quality they possess.”
