The Missing Link?

England's recent thrashing away to India raised plenty of questions for Andy Flower and his boys heading into their New Year in the subcontinent. The media cameup with one answer: Eoin Morgan.

There's no doubt that England missed Morgan on the tour - he's had as much IPL experience as any other England batsmen, and he had some success on the subcontinent against Bangladesh last year. As MS Dhoni and India brought their totals up to and over 300, English fans were left hoping rather than believing that England's middle order could up the pace and challenge the home side. The 5 defeats ranged from the nailbiters to the collapses, but there was only one game where England ever really looked in total control. That didn't last long.

Is Morgan the answer? Why is such a relatively young player seen as so critical to the hopes of the world's top Test team, the T20 World champions? England always do badly in the subcontinent - would Morgan's presence have turned the series around?
In reality, no. The real problem isn't that Morgan was missing. It's that no one else on the English team plays in a similar fashion to him. I'm not asking for the improvised reverse pitching wedges and scoops over fine leg - the day Jonathan Trott tries that shot is the day cricket will end - but the English batsmen all showed a marked inexperience when it came to simple things.

Playing India at home is tough. Their spinners (now without Harbhajan Singh) can slow teams down as well as take wickets. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina can hold up one end while allowing a more attacking bowler the chance to strike. Their batsmen enjoy the dry pitches, and when MS Dhoni is in the form he showed on that tour it's tough to stop the juggernaut.
But you know you're in trouble if you're only taking Kohli for 5 runs an over. When Raina keeps you on strike for an over. What Eoin Morgan does as well as anyone is rotate the strike. He finds the gaps. That doesn't mean launching drives through cover for four. It means jinking and nurdling the ball behind point and square, between the keeper and fine leg. It means keeping the bowler off balance, and keeping the field moving. It means turning dots into singles, and singles into twos.

This English team is young, particularly some of the batsmen. They are still learning their craft. Alastair Cook is still finding his feet as a captain. But to succeed on the ODI stage, they need to adopt the Morgan approach. Cook has class, and his opening partner Craig Kieswetter has raw power. Morgan has both. Kieswetter might get you off to a flier, with 40 off 20, but how will he fare in the middle overs. There are times when it seems like it's the big shot over extra cover or nothing at all. If the boundary doesn't come off the first 3 or 4 balls of the over, all the pressure's on the batsman. Morgan doesn't let that happen. There's nothing more frustrating than watching your side bowl to a man who seems able to churn out 6 and 7 runs an over while playing risk-free cricket. Eoin Morgan can do that as well as anyone in the world.

As for the last ten overs, when a team needs to push on, he's just the man to have at the crease. He seems to shift gears effortlessly, and has the strength and wrists to clear any boundary. Again, though, what marks him apart is his nous. Samit Patel might hit three sixes and then be caught at long on. Morgan will hit a six and then take the single. Samit might make 30 off 18. Morgan will make 80 off 60. He sees the target, and finds a way to get there. His maiden ODI century came against Bangladesh when England were up against it. He barely raised the bat - his focus was on the job in hand, and working over the opposition to finish it off.

Not every player can play like Eoin Morgan; he's England's best ODI batsman, and guys like him don't grow on trees. But if England want to bring their dominance to the 50-over format, they need to learn from Morgan. Of course he has the physical attributes, but above all else he has a good cricketing brain and an ability to adapt his play to the situation. There are times when you want Jonathan Trott batting, to make his 50 even if it take 780 balls (typo, but I'll leave it). There are times when you want Samit to have a whack. Eoin Morgan can do both without changing his game.

It's always a little bittersweet to watch Morgan, thinking of what might have been with Ireland. But when he makes a matchwinning contribution, there aren't many you'd pick to watch instead.

Honours Even

It's no use playing the more stylish cricket, making the tons, and topping the stats lists if you can't do the basics. Australia discovered this to their detriment in the Ashes, and until the Johannesburg test it looked like South Africa might go the same way.

But after two frustrating draws delivered by the unlikely champion Graham Onions, South Africa totally outplayed Andrew Strauss's England and handed them a crushing innings defeat.

Yes, Graeme Smith took advantage of a shocking review decision to play another fine innings of 105, but Strauss isn't going to hold that up as an excuse. The English batsmen didn't do their job, and against the class of the South African bowling they were lambs to the slaughter. Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel showed themselves to be a fantastic pace duo, picking up 14 of the 20 wickets in the test between them.

Yet again, Paul Collingwood played two gritty, determined innings. For me, Colly deserves the man of the series award on the English side - Onions may have been the headline hero, but England would have lost the two drawn matches by a country mile but for Collingwood's determination. He's not always pretty, but he's not going to let you down temperament-wise.

For South Africa's part, they were clinical. The pitch was a good one to bowl on, but they still managed 423 declared, and they didn't waste time in the field. Paul Harris was left out after a disappointing series, and unless he develops something interesting in his bowling Mickey Arthur will be on the look out for a new spinner.Mark Boucher batted superbly all series and was unlucky to miss out on a century to cap it off. Smith got his game going in the final two tests, and once he sets up the Protea innings, it's very difficult to beat them.

1-1. England will be satisfied enough given the fact that they were outplayed bar the one match, and South Africa will be glad they didn't lose a series that they shouldn't have.

Where next? South Africa head to India for a series that has all cricket fans licking their chops - the one thing we need is for some decent pitches - no one wants to see another couple of 700-run innings. They are the two best teams in the world at the moment, and we can hope for a compelling tour.

As for England, well, they have some issues to think about. Ok, they won one game, but they never threatened in the other three. Once a batsman came in and played patiently - Amla, Kallis, Smith, Boucher, they found it impossible to dislodge them cheaply. Swann bowld very well all tour, but I still maintain that the four-man attack was the wrong option - you just don't have enough diversity to take 20 wickets.

Kevin Pietersen will be a slight worry, averaging just 25 in the series, but let's be realistic - he's only just returned to the test arena; any player needs time to get back into form. He won't be gone for too long. On the flipside, Ian Bell made some useful runs, including the best century of his life, and has made quite the case for holding his spot. Bell's batting troubles aren't over yet, but at least he can't be ignored any more, and if he can get into a good run, he's a wonderful player to watch.

England's next series is in Bangladesh who, if you ask India right now, are no pushover, and I don't think the mutterings about leaving out Strauss are all that wise - the last thing England need is a defeat to a resurgent minnow team.

We were treated to an enthralling series in South Africa this year, and while South Africa played some great cricket, Collingwood and Swann in particular deserved England's 1-1 result.

Both teams have a lot to think about going forward, and it looks like 2010 is going to be a fantastic year of cricket.

Pressure Mounting

How many times do we hear that a match has saved Test cricket? After the thrilling climax to the 1st Test at Centurion Park last weekend, writers were singing the praises of the longer format and saying that they never doubted its value. Clearly they weren't bashing their heads off the wall for most of the rest of the match as play crawled along at 2 runs an over for what seemed like an eternity. I'm never going to be the man to call for an end to 5-day matches, but let's face it - a decent spell against an English tail isn't going to send T20 packing.

But that's a story for another day...

Let's stick to the series we've got here. It was a dull match until Friedel de Wet came along on Sunday afternoon and gave Graeme Smith hope of pulling off a famous victory. Despite the debutant's heroics, he looks unlikely to feature in tomorrow's starting line-up. If Dale Steyn is returned to full fitness, it's going to be the young man to miss out. Makhaya Ntini, veteran of 100 tests, looks set to hold on to his place. Experience is valuable, but with Jacques Kallis appearing fit to bowl again I'm surprised the selectors have felt the need to hold on to Ntini. I hope there's more than sentimentality behind it, because he was of little use in England's second innings in Cape Town.

However, the return of Kallis certainly makes any South African attack look more balanced. He'll be there to dry up the runs in the middle overs, put pressure on the batsmen, and either lead to wickets falling or take them himself. Paul Harris bowled decently last match, and JP Duminy deserves to be called more than just a part-timer. If Steyn has his full pace with him, England could be in for a rough ride.

England plan to stick with their line-up, meaning a four-man attack and a place for Ian Bell, with Luke Wright missing out again. Bell looked as faltering as ever last match, with his 1st innings dismissal a particularly embarrassing memory as he left a straight ball to crash into middle and off. He's been given yet another chance, and to be fair, Wright isn't exactly the ideal substitute. If Bell plays well he'll score runs and stay at the crease - if Wright bats well he'll probably make a quick 40 and depart. But you get the feeling that England could use another option in the bowling department. Wright may not be the best bowler in the game, but at least he's another man. Even if he goes for a few runs, the South Africans will be getting more variations and will have to play different balls. Smith didn't fire last game, but all that means is that he probably will now, and with a batting line-up of Smith, Prince, Amla, Kallis, De Villiers, Duminy and Boucher you need plenty of wickets.

A word on Amla - he got a lot of stick from a lot of people, and he answered them in the best way possible. When Jacques Kallis fell on Saturday morning, things looked pretty bad for the hosts - would Graeme Swann's magnificent knock the night before turn the game totally on its head? Amla batted calmly and confidently, mixing beautiful shots to the boundary with intelligent defence. He deserves his place in that line-up and, at No. 3, showed himself capable of steadying a wobbling innings.

Kevin Pietersen returned to the Test arena with an excellent innings of 80-odd before taking on a non-existent single. These things happen, but Andy Flower will be delighted to see the big man back on form. He wants centuries in South Africa as much as his rivals want his wicket, and it should make for some exciting battles.

The first match redeemed itself somewhat with some late de Wet magic, but that didn't disguise it as good entertainment for five days. The pressure's building on South Africa as the home side to take a lead in this series, while England will feel that Onions and Collingwood tipped the momentum their way by hanging on grimly. Let's hope for some fireworks at Durban.