England will be hoping the toss and conditions go their way after being on the backfoot from the start of the first test at Lord’s and eventually capitulating inside three days.
They were undone by an impressive South African attack with four seamers rolling over the English batting order and spinner Keshav Maharaj taking a couple of wickets at the top of the innings to boot.
But both England captain Ben Stokes and coach Brendon McCullum insist they should continue to attack the bowling, casting aside caution and looking to take the game to the bowlers in the new approach dubbed ‘Bazball’.
It has already provided riveting watching, and winning results, as England successfully chased down imposing targets to beat New Zealand and India in recent months.
However, they met their match against the South African attack, where Kagiso Rabada stood out with support from Marcus Jansen, Lungi Ngidi and Anrich Nortje.
“I guess one of the messages we will be talking about is did we go hard enough with our approach? Could we maybe go a little harder and try turn some pressure back on the opposition as well?” McCullum said after the last Test.
It sets up the potential of a brilliant contest between bat and ball with South Africa heavily reliant on their seam attack, as the tourists look to clinch the series and strengthen their chances of playing in next year’s World Test Championship final.
England have problem at the top of the order although opener Zak Crawley is likely to have another stay of execution and be included.
Their real match winning potential comes from the middle order of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow and Stokes, who were all out cheaply in last week’s first test.
“Taking the positives from defeat is the worst saying in sport, but from a players’ point of view what we must take from our first defeat of the summer is that if we are committing to this enjoyable style of play, we have to be 100% in,” England bowler Stuart Broad said at the weekend.
“If you just poke around, it doesn’t work.”
England’s Stokes reveals he takes anxiety medication
England Test captain Ben Stokes has revealed he takes anxiety medication every day to help his battle with mental health issues.
Stokes stepped away from cricket last year to focus on his mental health after enduring a series of panic attacks.
The 31-year-old’s father, Ged, died of brain cancer two years ago and Stokes opted out of his sport for six months as he struggled to come to terms with the loss.
“I never thought I would be on medication to help me for that kind of stuff. I am not embarrassed or ashamed to say it because I needed the help at the time,” Stokes said in an Amazon documentary, which will be released on Friday.
“But it’s not done just because I’m back playing. I still speak to the doc, not as regularly, and I’m still taking medication every day. It’s an ongoing process.”
Since being appointed England’s red-ball captain earlier this year, Stokes and new Test coach McCullum have overseen their team’s impressive revival.
But Stokes still finds it hard to cope with international cricket’s relentless schedule.
In July, the World Cup winner announced he would retire from one-day internationals due to the “unsustainable” demands of playing all three formats.
Keen to further open the debate about mental health, Stokes allowed himself to be filmed for the documentary even when he was at his lowest ebb.
“I find sometimes people are a bit nervous to go into the detail about that kind of stuff with me. It’s perceived you can’t feel a certain way, that’s a sign of weakness to show that you are not mentally feeling great,” he told The Telegraph.
“People think they can’t ask people who have struggled. No. It’s fine.
“I’ll happily tell you as much as I possibly can.”
Stokes said at the time of his father’s death he resented the England cricket hierarchy and pondered if he was “playing for the wrong people” because he had been unable to visit him as much as he wanted during the cancer battle.
“So I had a real thing with cricket at the time I took a break. I was really angry at the sport because it was dictating when I could see my dad,” Stokes said in the interview.
Stokes, seen during net practice yesterday, will be in action for England in the second Test against South Africa at Old Trafford tomorrow, with the hosts trailing 1-0 in the three-match series.
