Whenever there was a pause during the two England innings you could see Steyn, Ntini and Morne Morkel forming a triangle of terror, promising one another they would keep their word and for all the world behaving as if they might be Boer resistance fighters of 100 years ago devoting their lives to driving back the British Army, writes Ted Corbett.
Makhaya Ntini is the Godfather figure among the South African fast bowlers but at Lord’s, as the side followed on and appeared to be facing defeat in the first Test, it was Dale Steyn who stepped forward and made a brave speech.
“Look fellas,” he said, “if you batsmen can save this Test I guarantee we will win it for you at Headingley.” I am not sure whether it was the inspiration in Steyn’s oration or the lack of inspiration for the England attack in the Lord’s pitch but the match was saved convincingly.
You will remember that the top three batsmen made centuries as the South Africans needed 346 to avoid an innings defeat, that the top three — Graeme Smith, Neil McKenzie and Hashim Amla — scored long, slow centuries and in the end England were exhausted, only three wickets had fallen and Smith was able to draw — by agreement with Michael Vaughan, the England captain — and declare at 393 for three.
True to their word, the faster bowlers took all 20 wickets at Leeds so that a week after that famous declaration of faith South Africa won by 10 wickets and established a firm grip on the four-Test series.
Whenever there was a pause during the two England innings you could see Steyn, Ntini and Morne Morkel forming a triangle of terror, promising one another they would keep their word and for all the world behaving as if they might be Boer resistance fighters of 100 years ago devoting their lives to driving back the British Army.
“They do come at you,” I said to Vaughan at breakfast the following day. “Only the bowlers,” he said. “Their batters just bat.”
How they batted! Smith took an hour and a half over 44, McKenzie more than an hour over 15; Ashwell Prince occupied the crease for 400 minutes as he made 149 and A. B. de Villiers 513 minutes for 174.
They didn’t just leave winning to the bowlers. They made England groan in the field and bat hesitantly in their second innings, 320 behind.
It was a huge team effort, but then that has always been the strength of the Boks right from the time they squeezed into Test cricket alongside England and Australia late in the 19th century.
They learn at school that team work is everything, they obey their captains and their coaches and they fight tooth and nail to keep any advantage. “If they get the upper hand, they hang on,” said Vaughan, loading his plate with healthy food. “They take a lot of shifting if they get on top.”
What the fighting Boks cannot have expected is that England would play right into their hands.
The selectors had problems to solve but, newcomers under a new chairman, they made a dreadful hash of finding a solution.
Let’s face it they had a strong hand. For the last six matches they had maintained an unchanged side — a world record — won four of those Tests and drawn two. It is about as good as it gets in Test cricket unless you happen to be Australian.
The problems were an injury to Ryan Sidebottom, the mainstay of their attack, poor batting form of Paul Collingwood and the need to find someone who could exploit the Headingley pitch. The absence of Sidebottom, brought up on the Yorkshire pitch and with 20 Test wickets in the bag already this summer, was the most important missing link but they also had Andrew Flintoff back after 18 months spent curing two major injuries and big Freddie should have been enough to fill any boots. His spirit, his humour, his massive presence on the field and off were too important to ignore.
But what to do about Collingwood, sterling character, who bats anywhere, bowls all sorts of stuff around medium pace and one of the best fielders in the world? And, in the absence of Collingwood, who should bat at No. 6? One of them — and accounts vary as to his identity — suggested a solution right from the far corner of left field.
“There is this lad at Nottingham who bowls outswingers at a decent pace. He is 29, he has only played 11 first class matches and he used to be a roofer but he looks the business to me,” said this (anonymous) voice.
So Darren Pattinson was called into the side as cover for Sidebottom and on the morning of the match was handed his Test cap by Vaughan who said the word “hopefully” many times over as he outlined his plans for this complete unknown.
(When Pattinson headed for the crease I asked round the press box if anyone knew whether he batted left-handed or right and no one seemed sure. The press scorer spelt his name wrongly because at that stage Pattinson was not where you might expect to find him on Cricinfo and one of the brighter TV commentators kept calling him Duncan.)
I can imagine that by the time Pattinson had to bat — just before tea on the first day after England had been put in and advanced to 186 for nine — he was as nervous as a litter of kittens.
Just over 20 years ago I sat next to one of the selectors on tour with England for the first time and saw him shaking — really nervous — as he waited to bat against a Country XI. He should have known how Pattinson would feel but still jetted him into a Test that was already labelled the most important of the series.
Pattinson must have been the complete stranger in the dressing room. No one knew him, he had disturbed the safe feeling of an unchanged side and besides Collingwood is a very popular cricketer. I bet he was — Aussie accent and all — fairly lonely.
By this time all hell had broken loose. Newspaper writers who had no inkling of the arrival of this new boy, bewildered TV commentators who had no notes about him, even ECB staffers were wandering around as if they had been struck by lightning.
The result was entirely predictable. England collapsed in their first innings and were all out in 52.3 overs. South Africa batted 175.2 overs for 522; in their second go England hit 327, mainly thanks to a last wicket stand between Stuart Broad and Pattinson and late on the fourth evening South Africa had to make nine in their second innings and won by 10 wickets.
The repercussions from this decision will be widespread. Ask yourself how Collingwood feels after averaging 45 in recent Tests. Ask what is going on inside the head of Chris Tremlett, part of the original squad, but pushed out by an unknown at the last minute.
Consider the case of Matthew Hoggard, a more than adequate substitute for Sidebottom, driving to the ground for a radio interview and finding on his arrival that the place he might have filled had gone to Mr. Whatsit, as a DJ in Cape Town kept calling him.
“What is frustrating is that we can beat them,” Vaughan said, as he added a boiled egg to that healthy plateful.
Not without planning, thinking, careful selection and the passion displayed by those South African fast bowlers.
The ScoresSecond Test, Leeds, July 18-21. South Africa won by 10 wickets.
England — 1st innings: A. Strauss c Boucher b Morkel 27; A. Cook c Boucher b Morkel 18; M. Vaughan c Smith b Steyn 0; K. Pietersen c Smith b Steyn 45; I. Bell b Kallis 31; T. Ambrose c Boucher b Ntini 12; A. Flintoff c Boucher b Steyn 17; S. Broad c De Villiers b Morkel 17; J. Anderson (not out) 11; M. Panesar c De Villiers b Morkel 0; D. Pattinson c Boucher b Steyn 8; Extras (lb-6, w-6, nb-5) 17. Total: 203.
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-27, 3-62, 4-106, 5-123, 6-150, 7-177, 8-181, 9-186.
South Africa bowling: Steyn 18.3-2-76-4; Ntini 11-0-45-1; Morkel 15-4-52-4; Kallis 8-2-24-1.
South Africa — 1st innings: N. McKenzie c Flintoff b Anderson 15; G. Smith c Strauss b Flintoff 44; H. Amla lbw b Pattinson 38; J. Kallis b Anderson 4; A. Prince c Ambrose b Pattinson 149; A. De Villiers c Flintoff b Broad 174; M. Boucher b Anderson 34; M. Morkel b Panesar 0; P. Harris c Anderson b Panesar 24; D. Steyn (not out) 10; M. Ntini c Pietersen b Panesar 1; Extras (b-2, lb-19, w-1, nb-7) 29. Total: 522.
Fall of wickets: 1-51, 2-69, 3-76, 4-143, 5-355, 6-422, 7-427, 8-511, 9-511.
England bowling: Anderson 44-9-136-3; Pattinson 30-2-95-2; Flintoff 40-12-77-1; Broad 29-2-114-1; Panesar 29.2-6-65-3; Pietersen 4-0-14-0.
England — 2nd innings: A. Strauss c Boucher b Ntini 0; A. Cook c Amla b Kallis 60; M. Vaughan c Boucher b Ntini 21; J. Anderson lbw b Steyn 34; K. Pietersen c Boucher b Kallis 13; I. Bell c De Villiers b Morkel 4; T. Ambrose c Boucher b Steyn 36; A. Flintoff c Kallis b Morkel 38; S. Broad (not out) 67; M. Panesar b Steyn 10; D. Pattinson b Morkel 13; Extras (b-4, lb-11, w-2, nb-14) 31. Total: 327.
Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-50, 3-109, 4-123, 5-140, 6-152, 7-220, 8-238, 9-266.
South Africa bowling: Steyn 28-7-97-3; Ntini 25-7-69-2; Morkel 22-4-61-3; Kallis 17-3-50-2; Harris 15-5-35-0.
South Africa — 2nd innings: G. Smith (not out) 3; N. McKenzie (not out) 6; Extras 0. Total (for no loss) 9.
England bowling: Broad 1-0-8-0; Pattinson 0.1-0-1-0.
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