With what promises to be a mouth watering and action packed series of three Test matches between the best two Test cricket teams in the world, PakPassion.net spoke with former West Indies fast bowler turned television commentator Michael Holding about the upcoming series between England and South Africa.

By Saj Sadiq (14th July, 2012)

 

With all of the talking and build up almost over and the action only five days away from what promises to be a mouth watering and action packed series of three Test matches between the best two Test cricket teams in the world, PakPassion.net spoke with former West Indies fast bowler turned television commentator Michael Holding about the upcoming series between England and South Africa.

The latest ICC rankings show South Africa in third place and 9 rating points behind England, however a 1-0 or 2-1 win could lift South Africa above both Australia and England and into first place in the rankings table. A drawn series or 1-0 win for England will mean England retains the number one position and if Andrew Strauss’ team were to win 2-0 or 3-0 then South Africa would tumble to fourth position behind Pakistan. Holding feels that good starts by the top order batsmen are essential for both teams given the strength of opposing line ups and even though Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander should not be underestimated by England, it is his view that the home team start as the favourites.

With the experienced Mark Boucher suffering a terrible eye injury which has not only ruled him out of the series against England but cut short his international career, the South African think tank face the decision of either playing A B de Villiers as wicketkeeper or drafting in Thami Tsolekile who has previously featured in 3 Test matches taking 6 catches and scoring 22 runs at an average of 9.40. Holding feels though that the South Africans should opt for the specialist choice if the South African’s feel that Tsolekile can make a good contribution with the bat.

“De Villiers has kept wicket in the past for South Africa but I would think that perhaps the South Africans are thinking about getting the specialist keeper into the side. However if they are going to opt for the specialist wicket keeper then they need to make sure that Tsolekile can provide support to the top 6 with the bat, because Mark Boucher added a lot to the South African batting. De Villiers would be a risk behind the stumps in my opinion and one that the South Africans would only take if they planned to bring in another batsman against a strong England bowling attack” stated Holding.

Holding who took 249 wickets in 60 Test matches also believes that it would be a miscalculation on England’s part if they underestimated Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander’s capabilities as bowlers and instead solely focussed on the outstanding abilities of Dale Steyn when preparing for the series.

“Steyn is a fantastic bowler who leads the South African bowling attack very well, but the South African pace attack as a unit is not totally reliant upon Dale Steyn. They have Morne Morkel too who is a good bowler. Whilst Morkel has not probably done as well as some people were touting him to do, he cannot be underestimated. In addition the South Africans have Vernon Philander who has come into the team done very well. The conditions in England will suit Philander, he’s not a tearaway fast bowler, rather someone who bowls a good line and length and gets the ball to move around, so it’s not just about Dale Steyn, but rather about all three of the South African pace bowlers. England cannot afford to underestimate Morkel and Philander.”

“The South Africans in addition to the three pronged pace attack have leg spinner Imran Tahir in their ranks but unless the weather improves, I don’t see the spinners having too much of an effect on this upcoming series.”

Holding also feels that the wickets at the Oval and Lords where the first and third Test matches will be played will suit the tall Morne Morkel who has 139 wickets in 39 Test matches and assist him to generate extra bounce on those surfaces.

“Two of the three Test matches will be played in London where the pitches are quite hard and there will be a good amount of bounce. They won’t be particularly fast wickets but both wickets at Lords and the Oval will offer the bowlers a bit of bounce, they are good cricket pitches and with Morkel being so tall should be able to get the ball to bounce awkwardly on those surfaces and I suspect he will be supporting Dale Steyn. I would expect Morkel to do a pretty good job on those types of wickets.”

Turning his attention to the England bowling attack, Holding feels that the England bowling attack is a fantastic one with competition for places in the pace department the key to some excellent performances.

“The England bowling attack is a fantastic group of bowlers in England. They are an outstanding bowling attack. They have 5 or 6 fast bowlers that they can pick any three from and bring in Graeme Swann in as the spinner. Any three quick bowlers that have been picked recently have done well with James Anderson the leader of the attack and I’m absolutely sure that England will be trying to ensure that Anderson plays in all three Test matches against South Africa. The support for Anderson which is most likely to be in the shape of Broad and one of three seamers out of Finn, Tremlett or Bresnan have all done well and will not let anyone down.”

“Even if Anderson were to get injured, that does not mean that life will be easier for the South Africans, as I say, England have an outstanding group of bowlers.”

Looking at the South African batting unit and in particular the possibility of added pressure on Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis against a powerful England bowling attack, Holding feels that the South African batting line up is one that knows it’s roles very well and Amla and D Villiers have important roles to play in supporting Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis.

“I don’t think there is any extra pressure on Smith and Kallis, they know their jobs, they have been doing their jobs for years and are experienced cricketers. They have the ability and it’s a matter of going out there and getting runs on the board. De Villiers will also play a big part with the bat supporting Kallis and Smith. Hashim Amla is also a consistent performer and has done very well with the bat at the top of the order. He’s a very good batsman although in England he has not made as many runs as he should have but he’s a very good player and he will be looking to set the foundations at the top of the order with Graeme Smith - I expect Amla to get runs in this series.”

“Good starts are the key for both teams as both teams have strong bowling attacks and you want to make sure that your batting lineup gets off to a good start” stated Holding.

Offering his opinion on what he thinks will be the outcome of the Test series Holding feels that England are undoubtedly the favourites particularly with home advantage.

“The series will be played between two very good teams and a lot will depend upon the conditions. There are a lot of good players and match winners in both teams, but for me England are the favourites, they have been playing good cricket and the series is at home for England and they are in good form. “

The first Test match commences on 19th July at the Oval with the second Test match scheduled to start on 2nd August at Headingley. The Test series finale is at Lords starting on 16th August.