A tough call at the toss
Mike Atherton, writing in the Times , says Andrew Strauss could be confronted with a tricky choice at the toss for the second Test in Durban
Siddhartha Talya
25-Feb-2013
Mike Atherton, writing in the Times, says Andrew Strauss could be confronted with a tricky choice at the toss for the second Test in Durban. Though recent results show that the track is the best for fast bowlers in the country, prompting the captains to bowl first, the contests between the two teams at the venue have revealed a contrasting trend.
The bowlers will be looking forward with greater expectation to the conditions in Durban. A combination of recent rains, high humidity and a pitch — the fabled “green mamba” — that offers more bounce than anywhere in South Africa has encouraged a majority of captains since South Africa were readmitted into international cricket to put in the opposition. The pitch on Christmas Eve looked green, with plentiful cracks underneath the grass, although events in Centurion showed the folly of making your mind up too soon. Things might have changed by today.
In the Independent, Stephen Brenkley says England are likely to stick to the same outfit that played out a draw in Centurion but wonders if the combination can ever prove a winning one, as most of England's wins in recent years have come with the use of five frontline bowlers.
England will probably be minded to stick with the team with which they began on the grounds that it did not lose and therefore deserves another shot. It was impossible to see where 20 wickets were coming from then and it has not become any clearer now.
The case for a four-man attack is obvious: it allows you to play six batsmen. But all England's main successes of the past few years have come with five authentic bowlers – the Ashes 2005 and 2009, victory in South Africa in 2005. Only against Pakistan at home in 2006 did four bowlers do the trick when the batsmen all did their stuff.
Michael Vaughan turns the focus to Ian Bell in the Daily Telegraph. He says Bell faces plenty of pressure as he prepares for the second Test, and though he is likely to be picked there will be a lot weighing on his mind, including his Test future.
In his daily dossier in the Daily Mail, Nasser Hussain argues in favour of selecting Luke Wright for the Durban Test as a bowling option that would help England take 20 wickets to win the game.
Siddhartha Talya is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo