Root era begins for England with Proteas test

1. Root era begins for England with Proteas test
London:A newEnglanderawill startwhenJoe Rootcaptains the Testside againstSouthAfricaat Lord’s
on Thursday.
Root wasappointedinFebruaryafterAlastairCook,stillinthe teampurelyasan opening batsman,
stooddownbut thisweek’smatchwill be England’sfirstTestsince the change of skipper.
Englandwill hope the captaincydrivesthe 26-year-oldYorkshiremanontoevengreaterheightsasithas
done fortwo fellowstarbatsmen — Australia’sSteve SmithandIndia’sViratKohli.
“The wayRootygoesabout hiscricket,he’snice andpositive the wayhe bats,I suspectthe wayhe will
captainthe teamwill be similar,”saidEngland’sAustraliancoachTrevorBaylisslastweek.
SouthAfricaendedthe Testcaptaincyof several EnglandskippersinNasserHussain,Michael Vaughan
and AndrewStrauss.
A similarfate,however,isunlikelytobefallRoot,whateverthe outcome of afour-matchseries,ahead
of thisyear’sAshescampaigninAustralia.
The immediate taskforRootis to returnEnglandto winningwaysinTestsaftereightdefeatsina2016
that endedwitha4-0 serieslossinIndia.
Root’scountycolleague GaryBallance hasforcedhiswayback intothe side afterpilingonthe runsfor
Yorkshire even thoughhislastsix Testinningshave yieldedjust49runs intotal.
Meanwhile,KeatonJennings,whoattendedthe same Johannesburgschool asSouthAfricawicket-
keeperQuintonde Kock,issettoopenalongside Cook — whohasbeenscoringheavilyforEssex this
season— againstthe country of hisbirth.
Withveterannewball duoJamesAndersonandStuartBroad fitto leadan attack featuringDurham
quickMark Wood,Englandmustdecide whethertohanda debuttoanotherpacemanin TobyRoland-
Jones,whowouldbe playingonhisMiddlesex home ground,orgive LiamDawsona firstTeston home
soil followingthe Hampshireleft-armspinner’spromisingstartinChennai inDecember.
SouthAfricaboast a remarkable recordof havinglostonlyone awayTestseriesin 10 years.Theyhave
beenwithoutABde VilliersinTestcricketformore than12 monthsandthe talentedbatsmanwill miss
the whole of thisseriesashe considershisinternational future.
SouthAfricatoo will have anewcaptainin DeanElgar but regular skipperFaf duPlessisisexpectedback
for the secondTestat Nottinghamfollowingthe birthof hisfirstchild.
“He isa gutsyplayer,”SouthAfricacoach Russell Domingosaidof openingbatsmanElgar.
“He epitomisesSouthAfricancrickettothe tee.”
The Proteashad a difficultstarttothistour, losingtoEnglandinboth one-dayandTwenty20series
eitherside of afirst-roundexitatthe ChampionsTrophy.

2. Meanwhile Domingo,whohasconfirmedhe willre-applyforhisjobasrequiredbySouthAfricaofficials,
had to returnhome brieflyafterhismotherwasinvolvedinatrafficaccident.
But despite the absence of injuredfastbowlerDale Steyn,SouthAfrica — 2-0winnersinEnglandfive
yearsago — boastan impressive pace attack.
Morne Morkel isrenownedforhowwell he bowlstoleft-handers(Englandwillhave several intheirtop
order) and VernonPhilanderisaprovenperformerinEnglishconditionswhile KagisoRababaisarising
star.
“He’sa phenomenaltalent,”saidPhilanderof Rabada,whose 17 Tests have alreadyyielded71wickets.
SouthAfricaare setto give a debutto HeinoKuhn,the latestopenertryingtofill the voidleftbyretired
formercaptainGraeme Smith.
Courtesy:Gulf news