They managed to last for 45 overs in the first innings, admittedly on the first day at least, very favorable bowling conditions, and for 37.3 overs on the third day in bright sunshine. South Africa’s wonderfully balanced attack – Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Anrich Nortje and Marco Jansen – were superbly and satisfyingly supported by Keshav Maharaj who smashed Zak Crawley and Ollie Pope to start the second over. They are likely to be just as formidable on an Old Trafford pitch usually enjoyed by the quicks. Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood shared 17 wickets in 2019 to ensure Australia burst the post-Headingley bubble and retain the Ashes. Things can get messy again. Although England’s batting is unchanged and therefore still fragile – with genuine concern over the fitness of Zak Crawley, Alex Lees and Ben Foakes to cope with the pace and different angles of attack posed by the fast bowling quartet, in combined with their instructions to take the batting with them – Ollie Pope’s first knock at Lord’s, the form and class of Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow and the quality of Ben Stokes when he plays wisely – it is not a sight we have seen the summer – always gives them hope. The recall for Ollie Robinson, who seems to have finally cracked the nut and committed to the fitness regime required to be durable in international cricket, is another positive. Of his 39 Test wickets at 21.28, at a strike rate of 48.4, he boasts of hitting Rishabh Pant four times, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma three times, Cheteshwar Pujara, KL Rahul, Steve Smith and David Warner twice each. He is not a man who polishes his figures with tail entrails. He bowls the best and if he can now manage more than two decent full-strength spells a day, he can make hay against the South African batsmen. “If” carries a lot of weight today and, as Stokes says, the problem with most people in this country is a lack of belief and willingness to think and act positively. I’m sure we’d all be different if we hadn’t burned our fingers so often before.
