After a feast of one day cricket to begin the summer the real stuff gets underway on Thursday when England and South Africa start a four match Test series which should really capture the imagination as two top sides go at it.
These two sides met in an excellent series last winter which England won 2-1 so South Africa will be looking for revenge over the next month or so.
Schedule
1st Test: July 6-10 at Lord’s
2nd Test: July 14-18 at Trent Bridge
3rd Test: July 27-31 at The Oval
4th Test: Aug 4-8 at Old Trafford
England
It is the beginning of a new era for England in this series as Joe Root takes charge of the Test side for the first time. He takes over from Alastair Cook with a side who have been hit and miss over the last 18 months in this format of the game. One place where they have been solid enough though is at home which is one area they can be confident.
England are about to embark on a transitional period with the likes of James Anderson and Stuart Broad nearing the end of their careers and Alastair Cook only having a few more years left too so a winning start would be the perfect carrot. This will be England’s first series since a defeat in India in the winter.
South Africa
A transitional period is in progress for South Africa with AB de Villiers unlikely to play much more Test cricket and Dale Steyn’s injury record not favouring him playing for much longer either. Faf du Plessis has now taken on the captaincy role but at the back of their problems is the quota system which makes picking the best 11 tough.
Nevertheless whichever side the Proteas put out on the field it is always a tough one and that is unlikely to change in the upcoming series. They go into the four matches off the back of four series wins in a row and are very much the team to beat in this format of the game. They are very strong on the road too.
Head to Head
These two have met in 35 previous Test series. England have won 21 of those series with South Africa triumphing in just nine. Five of them have been drawn. In England they have played 16 series with England winning 10 to South Africa’s four. Two have been drawn.
In individual Test matches the sides have played 145 times with England coming out on top in 58 of them with 55 draws. South Africa have 32 wins of which just 13 have come in England.
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Betting
England look remarkably short to me for this series. They have a brand new captain who is inexperienced at captaincy level and they have a batting line up which is patched up at best. South Africa are not at full strength by any means but no side with their attack should be 7/2 to win the series especially with their record on the road. Despite not being at full strength I still fancy South Africa to be more than competitive.
On that basis the 3-1 South Africa correct score looks far too big a price. If there is no rain I’m not convinced these two batting line ups will go five days. They never did in South Africa 18 months ago and it is equally as unlikely here. I would be surprised if South Africa win all four matches so 3-1 looks a goer should they win the series.
Ben Stokes came of age down in South Africa and he looks to be a huge price to top score in this series. We have seen in some of the one day knocks he has played this season how he is taking on the extra responsibility in a good way. His knock in Cape Town in the last series these two played was one of the best innings you’ll see and this attack is the same for this series. It is a concern that he’ll bat at six but Cook aside everyone above him has doubts so I’m prepared to take a chance at the price.
I’ve regularly mentioned how I see Kagiso Rabada as the real deal and with Steyn not here and injury concerns over Vernon Philander and Morne Morkel the pace man looks a stand out chance for the top South Africa bowler. It could be that Keshav Maharaj is the biggest danger but over eight innings Rabada has to be the pick.
Tips
Back South Africa to win Test series for a 2/10 stake at 4.50 with Skybet
Back them here:
Back South Africa to win 3-1 for a 1/10 stake at 21.00 with Betbright
Back them here:
Back B.Stokes Top England Series Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 13.00 with Betfred
Back him here:
Back K.Rabada Top South Africa Series Bowler for a 3/10 stake at 3.25 with Bet365
Back him here:
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