England v South Africa preview
England’s cricketers will be back in action this week as the challenging Test series against South Africa gets underway at Lord’s. After a few dull duels with New Zealand, the South Africans will pose a real threat to England’s impressive Home record.
Captain Michael Vaughan, and indeed most of the nation, will be hoping that Kevin Pietersen continues his form wielding the willow, seeing as England’s other top order batsmen can hardly score a run between them.
Both Vaughan and Paul Collingwood, the Test and One-Day captains respectively, will aim to put their indifferent form behind them as they face the strictest examination of their credentials since the Ashes, but the hosts will definitely be underdogs.
In Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel, the visitors have a devastating bowling attack that could tear England to shreds. Steyn is being hailed in his homeland as the new Allan Donald, whilst Morkel might be the new Shoaib Akhtar (minus the off-field misdemeanours, of course) with his 95mph deliveries.
England’s armoury is comparatively limited with a significant lack of pace, and only Monty Panesar to strike fear into their adversaries. But Pietersen and Panesar must not be expected to take on the tourists on their own – the rest of the team will need to stand up and be counted after being largely anonymous during recent series.
Andrew Flintoff may feature later in the summer, and although he is likely to miss the first and second Tests, he could still provide the boost that England need. Competition for places will intensify greatly on his return, and given that only Pietersen is assured of his place in the top order, Freddie looming large might be just the sort of motivation required.
It’s likely to be a fascinating contest, and let’s hope England can be competitive. Pietersen will need to be at his best, but Flintoff might just be the unsung hero from the pavilion.
England are available at 9/4 with Boylesports whilst South Africa are 11/10 with totesport
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