England vs South Africa preview: 'We went to South Africa with all the bases covered'

Eleven years ago it all came together for the last England tourists to beat the Proteas. Stephen Brenkley talks to some of the main protagonists, who recall being at their peak in a remarkable series

Strauss soaks up the applause after his unbeaten 94 helped England beat South Africa by seven wickets in the first Test at Port Elizabeth (GETTY)

England are fully aware of what lies ahead. Any doubts they might have had about this were fully extinguished at the congenial gathering at Lord’s two days ago to send them on their way. Over the course of three hours they were told by everybody with an opinion – and everybody had one – how hard it is to win in South Africa.

The certain difficulty will merely have been enhanced as soon as they arrived yesterday in the university town of Potchefstroom, 70 miles west of Johannesburg. South Africa are the No 1 side in the world, they are hard-nosed, intransigent cricketers, their home record is compelling, blah, blah and blah.

But the task is not impossible. England have won in South Africa before, if only once since the country’s re-entry to international sport nearly a quarter of a century ago. In 2004-05 they fashioned an extraordinary 2-1 series win which confirmed the side led by Michael Vaughan as one for the ages. The victories came in the first and fourth Tests, the former feeling as if it was part of a familiar routine, the latter quite remarkably.

Eleven years ago, England arrived bearing a confidence bestowed by seven consecutive Test victories. New Zealand and West Indies had been swept aside the previous summer by Vaughan’s new broom.

There had emerged in those months a new opening batting star and the solidification of a bowling unit to be feared, which was to become known as the “Fab Four”. Andrew Strauss scored a hundred at Lord’s in his maiden Test innings and the form continued. By the time he reached South Africa, Strauss already had another Test hundred and a ninety to go with it.

“It was my first overseas tour on the back of that unbelievable, whirlwind introduction to Test cricket the previous summer,” he said at Lord’s this week. “We had won my first seven Tests and I headed to South Africa feeling like I was literally living the dream. I felt really excited about going there.”

A lot has happened to Strauss in the 11 years since. He went on to be a great England captain and is now the country’s director of cricket. But there is always something about a first tour, as some of England’s current finest are about to discover.

“Having won our last seven Test matches we were incredibly confident that we would win that series,” he said. “We were on this massive roll, we had a very good team. Everyone knew their role, we felt we had all the bases covered.”

England had to start well, they had to ensure South Africa knew from the off that this time they were in a contest. Five years earlier, England had been 2 for 4 on the first morning of the first Test. There could be no repeat in Port Elizabeth. There was not.

With the second ball of the series, Matthew Hoggard, who had established himself at last, induced South Africa’s captain, Graeme Smith, to edge the ball to slip where Strauss took the catch. It was the start that bowler and team needed.

“That set it up for me,” said Hoggard earlier this week. “Yeah, it was nice to get off to that start, backed up by the batters. In that team always somebody stood up and did something if our backs were against the wall but in that first match our backs weren’t up against the wall. We played well from ball one.”

Strauss was to finish the series as the leading run-scorer with a total of 656, including three hundreds. Hoggard was the leading wicket-taker with 26, which culminated with an extraordinary display at the Wanderers in the fourth Test. It is at least arguable, despite what England were to achieve later in 2005 by regaining the Ashes after 16 years, that neither was quite as potent again.

“There is a very important bridge to cross when you play international cricket and that is to prove to yourself that you’re good enough to do it,” Strauss said. “I did that early, on my first two or three Test matches. You have this incredible surge of confidence, you walk as little bit taller, as I said living the dream.

“I did pretty well in the Ashes through 2005 but that was the one time where I felt completely in control of my game in international cricket and felt incredible self-assurance and that every time I walked out to bat I would score runs.”

England won the first Test match in Port Elizabeth by seven wickets, built on Strauss’s 126 and 94 not out and wickets for all the fast men, four for Hoggard, five each for Andrew Flintoff and Simon Jones, two for Stephen Harmison.

Hoggard remembers it still with deep affection. “It was the start of the ‘Fab Four’ and the ‘Fab Four’ got on fabulously,” he said. “It wasn’t just that they’re decent bowlers and were bowling individually. We all got on really well – but then we had three northerners and a Welshman.

“I think a) we were all different types of fast bowler and challenged the batsmen in different ways and b) we wanted to bowl for the person at the other end, it didn’t matter who was bowling well or who wasn’t and c) we all got on like a house on fire and were good mates off the pitch as well as on the pitch. It was a great combination.”

There should have been victory too at Durban – another Strauss hundred – which would have put the tourists two up and effectively ended the series. But bad light brought off the players with England needing two wickets. Minutes later, but too late, the sun came out again. “We sat outside in our sunglasses as the match finished in a draw,” Hoggard said.

The sides went to Cape Town for the New Year’s Test. England were blown away by 196 runs. The series was back on.

“Maybe it was a bit of a hangover from Durban in some ways, that took a lot out of us,” said Strauss. “Cape Town was a bit of a kick up the backside. We were getting to a state where we thought we could just turn up and dominate and actually it was a reminder that you need to earn the right to do that.”

This present England side are much earlier in their development than the team for which Strauss played 11 years ago or even the one he led five years ago. But the director of cricket might do well to remind them of what can happen at Newlands in Cape Town. It does not have the menace of the Wanderers in Johannesburg but it has mystique: South Africa have won 19 of the last 28 Tests there since they resumed playing international cricket in 1992 and Australia are the only opponents to have won there – five times – since 1961. England’s last triumph was in 1957.

There was a week between the Cape Town and Johannesburg matches. Vaughan, England’s captain, was beginning to feel the strain, though he disguised it well. He was prepared to take risks in pursuit of a second victory. He did not wish to leave it until the final match in Centurion.

“The Wanderers was as well as I had ever batted for England,” said Strauss of his magisterial 147. “It was one of those days where everything seemed to hit the middle of the bat, I was driving down the ground, hitting through the covers.

“I can remember thinking to myself after that innings I knew I was a good player but I didn’t think I was that good. And as soon as I thought that it was the start of me realising I wasn’t actually that good.”

South Africa took a narrow first-innings lead. To win the match, England had to make the running but they were in danger of messing up their second innings. A young Dale Steyn, who had already shown frightening potential, was not the real danger then but Shaun Pollock and Makhaya Ntini still had plenty left in the tank.

Marcus Trescothick, himself at the height of his powers, scored a thunderous hundred which on the fifth morning transformed the match. He went from an overnight 101 to 180 in 84 balls with a blazing stroke play. Trescothick still considers it his Test masterpiece.

Vaughan declared at 332 for 9. England had two sessions to bowl out South Africa. A draw was probable but Smith, South Africa’s captain, was batting down the order after being concussed. Hoggard made his mark on history. He had taken five wickets in the first innings, albeit for 144, but he was not exactly overjoyed.

“I didn’t think I bowled well in the first innings, I didn’t feel in great nick,” he said. “I had played a couple of times at the Bull Ring with Free State and never bowled well. I can remember thinking it was one of my voodoo grounds.

“I can remember thinking I needed to put it right. When we came out it was swinging. I managed to take wickets. Jacques Kallis’s wicket summed up that spell. He played the perfect forward defensive shot. His bat was close to his pad, his head was over the ball, he didn’t follow the ball, the bat kept straight and he nicked it. Geraint Jones, the wicketkeeper, dived across Trescothick at first slip and tried to take it one handed. I thought he’d mucked it up to be fair. But Tres caught it. That’s how my spell went. Everything seemed to go in my favour.”

Hoggard took three wickets quickly and added three more before South Africa began offering some prolonged resistance. Like all bowlers he said that there were occasions when “I had bowled better but not taken any flipping wickets.”

As Strauss recalled it: “The intensity in the field was incredible, you could see Hoggard was completely in the zone and you almost felt he was an irrepressible force.

“Hoggard was a pretty industrious bowler, who could bowl a number of different ways according to conditions. He was getting it to reverse a little bit and just getting enough movement.”

The conclusion was slightly delayed by Smith’s defiant hitting. Hoggard had been withdrawn and the last wicket was proving elusive. Vaughan acted. He brought Hoggard back. Steyn immediately edged an outswinger to Jones.

The teams went to Centurion for the last match. South Africa had marginally the better of proceedings after trailing by 112 on first innings but the Gauteng rain precluded a result. England had their first series win in South Africa for 40 years.

Strauss said: “It was little bit like my form at that stage, not quite appreciating it because it’s all you know. But looking back it was one of the great series victories.”