 | James Anderson's knee would benefit from another couple of days rest |
Heavy rain continued to soak the Wanderers on Thursday, seriously jeopardising the opening match of the one-day international series, but England might be grateful for a little more breathing space in order to get their injury list down to something manageable. If the weather does take a turn for the better, there is the real possibility that James Tredwell will be pressed into service, barely 24 hours after stepping off a flight from England. It would be a brave move to include Adil Rashid as the sole spinner, not merely because he was thumped for 25 off just one over in Sunday's Twenty20 game, but because the ball will probably be greasy. Tredwell had a good season for Kent but this would be a tough baptism for him, and the fact that Monty Panesar is currently here, playing for the local franchise and living only a stone's throw from the ground illustrates just how out of favour he is a the moment. James Anderson's knee would benefit from another couple of days rest and while Paul Collingwood needs a fitness test before the match, the turn of speed he showed when the rain hit the ground during his gentle loosener looked promising. South Africa are a superb one-day team and look absolutely committed to continuing England's frankly embarrassing run in one-day internationals over the past year. In that time they have lost 5-0 in India and 6-1 to Australia and arguably they only won in the West Indies because John Dyson made a mess of reading the Duckworth Lewis score-sheet. South Africa have great depth in batting, but could be made to look vulnerable in the bowling department if England's plan to bat more aggressively in one-day cricket comes off. | 606: DEBATE |
It has taken a while for the management to recognise that England's approach to one-day cricket is more tentative and shackled than most of their opponents, and while it is always possible to over-attack, it would be preferable to see them fail while trying to lift their game than to watch the batsmen prodding about and apparently frightened of failure. It has been intriguing to monitor South Africa coach Mickey Arthur's very outspoken press conferences in which he has clearly aimed to get England riled. He has criticised their tactics and their players, and has instructed his team to be far less friendly than they were during the Twenty20 games. Arthur is a very easy-going man and this approach is surprising and a little difficult to comprehend. Is it because of the presence of Kevin Pietersen and Jonathan Trott in the England team? Do the South Africans feel unsettled, or is it that he has revenge on his mind for the hammering England handed out two summers ago when Arthur's team became distracted following the Test series? At least there's no danger of that happening this time - this tournament has been scheduled correctly, it is a curtain raiser to the Test matches and the team that comes out on top will carry valuable momentum with them into the winter's main event.
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