Andrew Strauss hopes England can use the pace and hostility of South Africa's attack to their advantage as they attempt to end their dismal Lord's record in the opening npower Test.Attention has understandably been drawn to South Africa's array of fast bowling talent - headed by Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - preparing to face England on Thursday.
Their ability to bowl in excess of 95mph, and Steyn's knack of intimidating batsmen with a slippery bouncer, has established the Proteas, currently ranked second in the world Test rankings, as favourites for the four-match series.
But Middlesex left-hander Strauss, who was born in Johannesburg but has since enjoyed considerable success against the country of his birth and averages 72 in five Tests against them, believes South Africa's strength could also be their weakness.
"The pace on the ball provides scoring opportunities as well," claimed Strauss, who hit three centuries during England's victory in South Africa three years ago.
"If they bowl well it's going to be hard work but if they're slightly off line there may well be more opportunities to score than, say, (against) the New Zealand bowlers who were very disciplined but with not quite so much pace.
"All it boils down to in the end is how well they're going to bowl and how clear you are in your gameplan about how you're going to counteract that."
How successful England are in achieving that will go a long way towards deciding the series as they chase their first Test victory at Lord's for seven matches - when they beat Bangladesh at the start of the 2005 summer.
It is going to be a very different challenge to that provided by New Zealand in recent months and Strauss admitted: "The New Zealand series tested us in very different ways.
"That attritional type of cricket in some ways is harder to play because you're fighting with yourself a lot of the time, whereas against South Africa you're pitting yourself against the opposition a little bit more. They're trying to get you out, you're trying not to give an inch in your own right.
"I think the opening batsmen have got a crucial role to play against their bowling attack. Both Alastair Cook and I are aware of that and the fact we need to do well to help out the team, and if we do that it will provide a good platform for the others to go out and play their shots."
Strauss can at least enter the opening Test knowing what he is about to face, having volunteered to play for Middlesex against the tourists at Uxbridge this week - scoring 29 in a rain-affected match against South Africa's expected Test line-up.
Ominously, it took Morkel only six balls before he claimed Strauss' scalp but the England opener insists the experience provided him with useful practice before this week's key battle.
"From my point of view it was fantastic to be able to face them before the Test series and start formulating game plans and how you're going to play the individual bowlers," he added.
"I was keen to play in that game. I thought there was a lot more benefits to playing than possible negatives so it just seemed like the right thing to do and I'm pleased I did it."
No comments:
Post a Comment