England vs South Africa
1st Test (of 3)
Lord’s, London
17th, 18th, 19th August 2022
Result: South Africa (326) beat England (165 & 149) by an innings and 12 runs

The latest issue of The Cricketer magazine was laying on the doormat when I got home from work on Friday. Its front cover asked the question: “Can the Proteas’ pace attack puncture Bazball?”. As I was unwrapping it, on my television the tall South African seamer Marco Jansen bowled James Anderson to seal a thumping win for the tourists inside three days. The early evidence would suggest the answer to that question is “yes”.

The first half of the English Test summer had been full of positivity. New captain Ben Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum combined to instill a never-say-die attitude into the ailing red ball side, an aura of self-belief that carried England to four wins in a row. They benefited from New Zealand suffering from a lack of form and a spate of injuries – their best batter, Kane Williamson, is going through one of the worst patches of his career and their best bowler, Trent Boult, was wary having just taken part in a full-on season of the Indian Premier League. Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson both succumbed to injury during the series and had to fly home. Yet, the Black Caps were in a position to win each of the three matches. At Lord’s, they had England on the ropes in the fourth innings but took the wickets of Stokes off a no ball, a reprieve that proved fatal. Then in Nottingham, a Jonny Bairstow inspired England powered to a final day chase that would previously have been seen as impossible. At Headingley, the home side were 55 for 6 in their first innings but were rescued by Bairstow and Jamie Overton.

It went down in the record books as a series whitewash, but closer inspection reveals a story that wasn’t so one-sided. India were also sent packing in the Test rescheduled from last year, at Edgbaston, though you wonder how. Rishabh Pant made a brilliant hundred on the first day, then on the second Stuart Broad was whacked for a record 35 off one over. India were on top for so much of the game but didn’t bowl well in the final innings and Bairstow and Joe Root made the chase look easy. England’s daring new approach to the Test format is undoubtedly exciting – they back themselves to play their natural games, never give up and when one falls short they believe they will always have someone who will step up. The media coined it Bazball, named after the Kiwi coach in the sunglasses with the beard who looked cooly on from the balcony. The squad and the management themselves hate the term. They feel it cheapens what they’re doing and is used on social media to poke fun at the England team when it doesn’t all go to plan.

It’s safe to say it didn’t go to plan this week. The series against South Africa had an oddly low key build up. It started six weeks after the India match ended, following a block of mostly disappointing white ball cricket and with the Hundred and the new football season in full swing. The first match was over so quickly that there is a chance some will not have noticed it. There had been plenty of chat in the days before the game, with South Africa captain Dean Elgar giving his opinion on Bazball (he’s not a fan) and Sam Billings giving his response. Billings had just captained an England Lions team (second string) to a big win over South Africa, in which they amassed 672 at nearly a run a ball. There was a bit of spice about the series not usually seen outside an Ashes. Elgar’s team had to back it up.

They did. All of England’s victories so far in the summer had come from chasing in the final innings, so Elgar turned the tables by putting Stokes’s men into bat on Wednesday morning. Then the mightily impressive South Africa pace bowlers got to work. Before long, England were 55 for 4 with both Root and Bairstow out for a combined 8 runs. The summer of 2022 has been characterised by very hot and dry weather, so naturally the first day of a Test match lasted just more than one session before it was abandoned due to heavy rain.

It didn’t take long for South Africa to wrap up the England innings on Thursday. All out for 165 in just 45 overs. Ollie Pope, with 73, was the only batter able to offer any resistance. Kagiso Rabada took 5-52. South Africa’s openers then demonstrated anti-Bazball, if you will, seeing off the new ball nicely and putting on 85 for the first wicket until Elgar was extremely unfortunate to deflect an innocuous Anderson delivery with his arm onto his stumps. His opening partner, Sarel Erwee, ground out 73 from 146 balls – by no means an attractive innings, but one that put his side in control. England should take note. All but two of the South Africans made it into double figures, compared to the four that got past single digits in the England innings. They were all out for 326 in the 90th over, 161 runs ahead.

Zak Crawley was the first to go, as usual, in what must surely be his final appearance for a while in the England side. They seem to have such confidence in him that it wouldn’t surprise me at all if he were to line up at Old Trafford on Thursday, but with form players waiting in the wings, I just cannot see how the Kent man can continue wasting a place in the batting order. After Crawley, it was a procession of England wickets as their innings lasted a mere 37.4 overs. Only a fifty partnership between Stokes and Stuart Broad delayed the inevitable. South Africa had won by an innings – they had not just beaten England, they had embarrassed them.

Let’s not pretend otherwise. For a team to be beaten by an innings within three days (don’t forget, the first day was largely washed out) – at home, especially – that’s bad. Lord’s will have to refund all the ticket holders for the weekend. Against the top teams, England have to realise that they are not always going to be able to assert their own style on the game. They are going to have to adapt to a situation, to play smart cricket. It was the lack of smart cricket that bothered me the most. It’s fine being ultra-positive, always setting attacking fields and playing the attacking shots, but at times the game demands that you think sensibly and do what is required to find a way back in. If that means keeping the flow of runs down for a while or blocking out a session, so be it. I’m all for the Bazball intention of having utter belief in your ability, but please use your brains. Oh, and drop Zak Crawley.

The second Test starts on Thursday 25th August, 11am at Old Trafford, Manchester.