“It’s unfortunate that you have to come here as the visiting team to the Wanderers and a hostile environment.” – Quinton de Kock tries, and fails, to show empathy for England.
TELFORD VICE in Johannesburg
THE Wanderers desert lives and breathes. Out where the river breaks, the bloodwood and the desert oak, Holden wrecks and boiling diesels steam in 45 degrees. The time has come to say fair’s fair, to pay the rent now, to pay our share. OK, the game’s up. Those are lyrics stolen from Beds Are Burning, a 1987 hit by woke Aussie rockers Midnight Oil, and shamelessly bent out of their original shape.
But that’s par for the course in Johannesburg — Joburg to other South Africans, Jozi to the locals — a harsh, unforgiving urban sprawl where everything seems bent out of shape and has been, or will be, stolen from someone. Indeed, People Who Have Stolen From Me, a tale of crimes and their perpetrators, petty and otherwise, on and around Jules Street, the city’s longest, has already been written, by journalist David Cohen, and published, in 2004. And the Wanderers is at the centre of all that; Joburg’s navel, a place that traps the city’s human lint on sweltering, beery summer afternoons. It’s a gambling den as much as it is a cricket ground. Scratch that: it’s a stadium, and unlovely even on that score. That Joburgers don’t see the problem with nicknaming it “the Bullring” — those opposed to bloodsport might have a view on that — only highlights their crassness. All in the space of a few minutes on Thursday, a fire alarm and the lightning warning from the golf course immediately beyond the northern end rent the air. Nobody moved. But what the Wanderers has more of than any other venue in South Africa, perhaps the world, is atmosphere; heaps of the precious, crackling stuff. That’s only intensified by one of the smaller playing areas in the country being surrounded by the tallest stands that can hold 34,000, giving the Wanderers the biggest capacity. Quinton de Kock hoped on Wednesday that the Wanderers crowd, a hoary bunch even before the beer takes hold, will even odds that have been in England’s favour so far this series. Centurion, Newlands and St George’s Park were awash with St George’s flags and crowds have supported Joe Root’s team in greater numbers and more vocally than their South African counterparts. “When the Barmy Army’s been around it’s been a big push for them,” De Kock told an English reporter. “I’m hoping that if the crowd does come out and they support us we’ll also get our big push. It’s unfortunate that you have to come here as the visiting team to the Wanderers and a hostile environment.”
The pitch is overtly South African, a strip of sniping seam movement and sharp bounce that can become unpredictable as early as the second day because of indentations made by the ball. And if the cracks open, abandon all hope ye who bat here. The covers were shed on Thursday to reveal a khaki coloured pitch writhing with grassy, green snakes. Much of the khaki is a variety of grass called “skaapplaas” — the Afrikaans for “sheep farm” — and is what the groundstaff want. The snakes are of “gulf green”, and are trouble for anyone trying to build an innings. That’s not good news for South Africa’s struggling batting line-up, who between them have yet to score a century in the series.
England supporters will be pleased to learn that Jofra Archer, who missed the second third Tests at Newlands and St George’s Park with an elbow injury, bowled without his arm strapped during Thursday’s practice and cranked up the pace.
Will either side pick a spinner? South Africa have selected a specialist slow poisoner only once in their last five Tests here, of which they’ve lost two. One of those defeats was suffered against India in January 2018, when the pitch veered close to being declared dangerous — it ended up being rated poor — and led to play being temporarily suspended. For the first time in a Test, India’s seamers took all 20 wickets.
Thunderstorms are forecast for the first three days. That’s not unusual here in summer, when afternoons are often visited by visceral violence from above. And it’s nothing to be overly concerned about. Unless you’re struck by lightning. Almost always, an hour or so after what had seemed like Armageddon, the sun comes out, the water disappears, and play resumes. That’s Joburg for you: unsubtle, unapologetic and unforgettable.
When: Friday January 24, 2020. 10am Local Time
Where: Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg
What to expect: A pitch as challenging to bat on as the crowd is hostile to visiting teams. Thunderstorms galore, but which don’t overly impact on play. And not a dry eye even in this house when Vernon Philander, who has taken 39 wickets at 15.69 in his seven Tests at the Wanderers, takes his final bow.
Team news
South Africa
Faf du Plessis confirmed on Thursday that Rassie van der Dussen would be promoted from No. 5 to No. 3, and that Temba Bavuma — who was dropped despite recovering from the hip injury that kept him out of the first Test at Centurion — would return and replace the underperforming Zubayr Hamza. Beuran Hendricks seems the best available understudy for the banned Kagiso Rabada, albeit a left-armed one, and Dwaine Pretorius could be the lucky recipient of Keshav Maharaj being deemed surplus to requirements.
Possible XI: Dean Elgar, Pieter Malan, Rassie van der Dussen, Faf du Plessis, Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Dwaine Pretorius, Vernon Philander, Anrich Nortjé, Beuran Hendricks, Dane Paterson.
England
Although the news about Jofra Archer’s elbow and Mark Wood’s ability to back-up for back-to-back Tests seems positive, England will give themselves another 24 hours before naming their team. The prospect of unleashing both would be tempting, particularly given the likely conditions. After all, it’s not often England have had two bowlers of such rare speed. If Archer returns, it could be as a straight swap for Wood. If Wood plays too, Dom Bess might be jettisoned if England opt for all seam attack, as they did at Centurion, or Sam Curran might be left out, although that would weaken the batting. There’s certainly plenty of options for Root and Chris Silverwood to choose from. A good problem to have, as they say.
Possible XI: Dom Sibley, Zak Crawley, Joe Denly, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Ollie Pope, Jos Buttler, Sam Curran, Mark Wood, Jofra Archer, Stuart Broad
“When you are deep in the series already, the extra time in the nets is not going to make that much difference. The challenge is how mentally strong we are. We haven’t scored enough first innings runs. Thats the basics of Test cricket. The work we’ve put in is to make sure we are stronger in partnerships. There’s not enough time to change techniques. The secret weapon lies in how strong we can be emotionally and mentally.” – Faf du Plessis on his team’s efforts to overcome their batting problems
“It would be a relentless barrage of pace which is exciting, especially on a surface like you would typically get here. It would be great to have that extra firepower but ultimately we have got to hit those areas and ask the good questions we have done in the last two games.” – Joe Root on the potential combination of Archer and Wood
First published by Cricbuzz.
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