Over the years I've followed English Cricket with more than a passing interest and I enjoy their successes as much as the next sports fan. Andy Flower and Andrew Strauss can be proud of the team they have built and the fact that they are ranked number 1 in both Test Cricket and One Day Cricket. However having watched the recent series against South Africa I cannot help but conclude that South Africa, and not England, are the world's best test side.
I've been looking at the career batting averages of both teams and if you aggregated the averages of each side's top 7, England 277, South Africa 279 there is little to choose between the sides. If you replaced Bairstow with Pietersen then that improves to 314 and tips the balance in England's favour. Going into a crucial series-deciding test against a potent South African bowling attack with 2 inexperienced middle order batsman, Bairstow and Taylor, is far from ideal. That situation occurred a) because England haven't settled on a number 6 batsman since Paul Collingwood retired in 2011 and b) because of Kevin Pietersen's ego and the mismanagement of it. This is the first area in which South Africa have the edge, their team is more united and there is no off the field issues overshadowing their team.
I think England know that South Africa are the stronger team. Some of the decisions by the selectors have shown this. Swann was left out of the second test and Pietersen spun his way to wickets. Finn didn't play the first game but then took 10 wickets in 2 games after that. England have been on the back foot from the off and this has led to tinkering and uncertainty. Consistency in selection has been one of England's core values but they have deserted it and I think that this has sent a negative message to the team. I know its easy to keep a settled team when everyone is playing well and the team is winning but unfortunately many of the players have been slightly out of sorts including Cook, Strauss and Swann.
England's much vaunted bowling attack has been out gunned in this series only managing 20 wickets in 1 of the 3 test matches. Steyn, the series' leading wicket taker, (282 career wickets at an average of 23.36) has proven why he is the number 1 bowler in the world, whilst Phillander (ranked 3rd) and Morkel (ranked 9th) have also enhanced their reputations. Tahir has 8 wickets which is matched by England's 8 spinning wickets (Swann 4, Pietersen 4). Whilst England's 4 man attack would match South Africa's on a good day, the South Africans have clearly relished the English bowling conditions and outperformed England's bowlers.
A throwaway comment about England's "customary 4 man attack" by the Sky Commentators got me thinking. England haven't got a genuine all-rounder and then I realised that South Africa have probably the best all-rounder of all time, Jacques Kallis. Kallis has scored nearly 13,000 test runs at an average of 57, he also has 279 wickets at an average of 32.46 and a miserly economy of 2.82 runs per over. He is one of the all time greats and one of the rocks upon which the South African team is built. I really think that having Kallis, the number 2 ranked batsman in the world, who is also the world's best all-rounder as their 5th bowler is what makes South Africa the world's best test team.
On the top of their form England can challenge South Africa, but in beating England in England, South Africa have earned their number one test ranking and in so doing have shown up some of England's deficiencies. England will be left with plenty of questions to answer after their comprehensive defeat in this series.
Footnote
Ian Botham has just brought up the fact that England have dropped catches in this series. We all know that catches win matches but i'd say that the drops are symptomatic of the team's overall performance and morale. The other point is that the team that is on top creates more chances, therefore the drops become less important. I think, because England have been below par, their dropped chances have really hurt them.
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