In the last few years, England have looked all at sea while they played overseas. Bowlers had no plan, Batsman gave their wickets away. This was England at their worst. At this time, Root was captain and many people had huge doubts about his captaincy.

However, England have won a series overseas finally and all of the plaudits have to go to the captain, Joe Root. He has put together a capable team full of inspiring young players. Throughout the series they have grown. Pope, Sibley, Bess, Crawley, Curran and Bess. These players have shown their worth and proved that it is a good idea to blood your youngsters. Dom Sibley is a good example, he failed in his first few test matches but England have stuck with him and it has finally paid off.

England may have even won the series 4-0 if there wasn’t an illness outbreak in a series of good players. Older players also played maturely such as Mark Wood, Joe Root and Ben Stokes. England now need to build a solid foundation around the young players and make sure they play as a team not as 11 individuals.

Let me finish off with a few questions… Would you have rather won the series 4-0 without blooding the young players or won 3-1 while blooding the young players?

The answer is plain and simple, these young players are giving the opportunity for England to become one of the best test teams again. However they need to take it one step at a time and prepare for Sri Lanka.

England and South Africa have been going through a state of transition to a young and inexperienced squad. However, England’s transition has proved to be more beneficial than South Africa’s and they don’t seem to see any light at the tunnel.

England started really well with Dom Bess taking his maiden fifer. It was brilliant bowling and he generated lots of turn. He got many edges to fly to Ollie Pope who took some incredible catches. However, Nortje showed great discipline to survive 139 balls. Despite this, he got out to Stokes, the man of the moment. He played with better temperament than the entire South Africa top order.

Van der Dussen and De Kock put in a very good partnership to keep England on their toes. However Van der Dussen did not last long and departed for 24 with three fours. Quinton was dropped thrice and made a lucky 63. Philander also looked solid but just gave it away when he looked as if he was in. However, he gave his wicket away in the first over of Day 4 from Stuart Broad. This triggered a batting collapse which saw South Africa to lose 4/1. England were now on top.

England enforced the follow on while SA needed 291 to make England bat again and avoid the innings defeat. Pieter Malan and Elgar started well but Elgar gave it away and the experienced open got out for 15, bowled by Mark Wood. Mark Wood then took another one with a strangle down the leg side. This was Hamza’s problem with Test cricket. This may be his last game. Wood looked threatening at the start and deserved these wickets. He was also very fast and consistent at these paces.

Root then took 4 wickets and looked set to get his fifer. However the next day the last wicket was hard to come by after the first 3 wickets fell. Root was destroyed for 28 in an over from Maharaj. Maharaj and Paterson put a partnership of 99 but this couldn’t stop England winning by an innings and 53 runs.

Buttler is a player who has been under fire but who could replace him and why has he not played well with only one century in 40 innings.

He has not played well due to his one day style, he needs to play his natural game not just block every shot. This is one of the reasons why Buttler fails to translate his white ball form into red ball.

Possible Replacements

Foakes – He has been a very good player for a number of years however his first class form has dipped a little in the last year . Test Average : 41.50. First Class Average : 38.01.

Bairstow – His test form might not be in the best of touch right now but he may still become a great wicket keeper. Like buttler he is a one day cricketer. Test Average : 34.74. First Class Average : 43.51

England have ascended into the driving seat after they managed to get a mammoth score of 499/9 declared. This shows that England have potential and a have a really exciting team for the future. But not just for the future but for now. Crawley and Sibley started with a brilliant opening partnership of 70. Despite this, both of them fell to the leg side trap. This gave a foundation for the other players to build on.

Denly however did not play as well with a static 25. He struggled against the spin of Maharaj and could not get of strike. Root also didn’t play that well but he gave a strong example of how to play spin. He brought out his whole locker of sweep shots. However he fell too. Then came in Stokes and Pope, they both played fluently and at the close, they had a 50 partnership. They kept going and Stokes started hitting sixes. Finally Stokes reached his century to continue his lavish form with the bat.

Soon after lunch, Stokes fell after a brilliant innings which would set the tone for England. Sam Curran came in and played with intent for his 44. While this was happening, Ollie Pope was edging closer to his maiden ton. After some good shots, Pope finally reached the achievement. He had been lucky at times like when he decided to review at a wrong decision but it was a sensational innings from the youngster but it did not stop there. He went reverse scooping for fun against Rabada. However Pope cannot get complacent, if he wants to continue his form, he will need to work hard. Wood also added some runs swishing his bat for a quick 42 with 5 sixes. England then declared at 499/9

South Africa had a huge total that they needed to get and they got a good start after Elgar and Malan started with finesse against the opening bowlers, Sam Curran and Stuart Broad They managed to get a fluent 50 partnership.

However as soon as Dom Bess and Mark Wood came into the attack the batsman were in trouble. Mark Wood was given the role of softening up the batsman with sharp, skiddy bouncers while Dom Bess got the batsman playing rash shots. Bess finally took the wicket of Pieter Malan for 18 which ultimately was the breakthrough. It was a tame dismissal tapped back to the bowler. Dom Bess followed that up getting the insecure Hamza for 10 after some rash shots. South Africa then brought in the nightwatchman for that last overs but the game was called off at the end so he only had to survive a few balls. England should get the night watchman tomorrow and are favourites to win the match. 60/2

Player Ratings

Sibley – 6 (Helped the team with a solid amount of balls taken and for his opening partnership)

Crawley – 6.5 (Played very well and got his first decent score. He contributed well to the opening partnership)

Denly – 5 (Survived lots of balls but looked static and too defensive)

Root – 7 (Dissapointing batting but showing that he can captain well)

Stokes – 9 (Well calculated batting from Stokes, a century that will go in the record books)

Pope – 9.5 (Played very well and upped the antique when he has to. Deserved maiden century)

Buttler – 3 (Another dissapointing day for the keeper)

Curran – 7 (Batted well but his bowling was not up to scratch)

Bess – 8 (Didn’t bat that well but bowled brilliantly)

Wood – 8.5 (Bowled skiddy fast balls which buttered the batsman up and played with aggression for batting)

Broad – 6 (Not much to say)