England vs South Africa - The blockbuster series of the summer

Had Gary Kirsten not quit the India job, he would have embarked on the flight to United Kingdom to defend the No.1 Test ranking of the Men in Blue last year but as it stands now, he is up against perhaps his biggest challenge as the coach of South Africa, a Test series against the current No.1 Test side in the world – England. In an ideal world, a marquee series like this should have no less than four test matches however we don’t live in an ideal world. But even with only three Test matches, for all money, this is going to be THE BLOCKBUSTER series of the summer.

Last time the Proteas toured England in 2008 they came out on top with a 2-1 win in a four match series. Core actors on both the sides remain same in 2012 but the biggest change between now and then between the sides is the brand of cricket they play. South Africa haven’t changed much as they always prefer to play a clinically perfect brand of cricket but it’s the English team which has learnt to play a refreshingly aggressive brand of cricket. Actually, the type of cricket they’ve played appear to be quite non-English (not surprising with players of South African, Indian & Irish origin in the mix), almost bullying the opposition at times with bat and ball, like the invincible Aussie team of the past which had the likes of Hayden, McGrath, Warne, Gilchrist et al. They have hardly lost a session in the Test matches and have rarely allowed the opposition to bounce back in their home conditions. Batters have looked to score runs and not just defend whereas the bowlers have looked to attack and take wickets unlike in the past where sticking to line & length, waiting for the batsman to make a mistake was the mantra.

Man-to-man there isn’t much which separates these two teams. Both England and South Africa possess perhaps the best bowling attack, capable of taking 20 wickets in a test match. While South Africa have Dale Steyn (arguably the best fast bowler in the world), Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander & Tsotsobe; England have an equally potent pace attack in Anderson, Broad, Bresnan & Finn. And given the wet summer we have seen in England this year, these bowlers are surely going to make that red cherry do a lot of talking. Among the spinners Swann, with his experience and proven record, scores over the rookie Imran Tahir.

Captains of both the teams lead the batting order in more ways than one and how they perform individually is likely to have a huge bearing on the final outcome of the series. In such a high profile series, an underperforming skipper would have a negative impact on the overall performance of the team. Both have found some runs in their respective last series and would be desperate to do one better in this series. With rock steady batters like Kallis & Amla coupled with “game changer” AB de Villiers in the middle, South African batting is in safe hands whereas on the other hand England have an equally good combination, if not better, in Trott, Bell & the vivacious Kevin Pietersen, who would be keen to let his bat do the talking for the coming four weeks. England have a slight edge when it comes to the all-rounders with Matt Prior, Stuart Broad & Tim Bresnan all capable of scoring a test match hundred.

Given the ammunition both sides carry, one wouldn’t want to pick a winner at this stage but having said that the team which takes a lead in a short 3 Test series like this, will prevail in the end.

Bring on the blockbuster!