If the tail wags England stay number one

The likely lads 

As the rain falls on a sorry Edgbaston, I found myself watching the inevitable replays of tours gone by. Whislt watching highlights of a West Indies touring party in 2000, I noticed a stark contrast in the strength of the English tail when compared with today. Broad and Bresnan are in a different league to the likes of Gough and Cork. Yet, ironically in the Lords test match of 2000 it was the tail enders which won the match for England and this got me thinking about how important it will be that the lower order performs with the bat against South Africa later in the year.

Now of course it is primary job of England's bowlers perform with the ball in the series which pits the number one and two sides against each other, but their performance with the bat could make the crucial difference. When examining the two test sides it is difficult to see where the series will be won and lost. Both sides have strong openers - Smith and Peterson for South Africa, Cook and Strauss for England - as well as fantastic middle orders. Boucher and Prior are accomplished Wicket Keepers and  the sides possess arguably the two best bowling attacks in international cricket. Some will argue that South Africa lack a spinner with the class of Swann but if CSA cricketer of the year Vernon Philander can keep up his unbelievable form he will more than make up for that. So on paper the sides seem very evenly matched with neither team having a clear, traditional advantage over the other. This is why i feel the contribution of the English tail enders with the bat will be key. It is the only area in which we are substantially stronger than the South Africans and could make all the difference especially if their bowlers skittle out our top order - which is not an unlikely outcome. This is a series that will be won on very fine margins and each side will need to perform at their best. 

50 Wickets in just 7 matches. And what? 

 The batting line up in the 2nd test against West Indies last week ended Prior, Bresnan , Broad, Swann  and Anderson. If you compare this with the likely tail of South Africa you will see a major difference between the two.


         

         Player                             Country                              Batting Average 

         

       Prior                                  England                                              42.31

       Bresnan                             England                                             40.22

       Boucher                            South Africa                                       30.30

       Broad                                England                                             27.92

       Swann                               England                                              21.72

       Steyn                                South Africa                                       15.09

       Tahir                                 South Africa                                       15.00                                   

       Morkel                             South Africa                                        14.23

       Philander                          South Africa                                        13.71

       Anderson                          England                                              11.61            Source - Cricinfo 

This batting partnership could be key 

England occupy four of the top five spots whilst South Africa only have one player with an average over twenty (the aging Mark Boucher who is expected to retire after this tour and has just one score of 50 in his last ten innings). Only Anderson finishes below the South Africans but he has played in far more test matches  meaning his average is a truer reflection of his batting ability.  If England can make this advantage count it could be the difference between being the number one or number two test side in the world. Often the importance of the tail  has been overlooked but in this series it could be paramount to the teams chances.


Interestingly a series which will feature the worlds two best bowling attacks could be decided by their batting not their bowling.