England hope for a revival

PORT ELIZABETH, December 8: Surprisingly, even England's harshest critics have not written the team off ahead of the second cricket Test a...

PORT ELIZABETH, December 8: Surprisingly, even England’s harshest critics have not written the team off ahead of the second cricket Test against South Africa at St George’s Park tomorrow.

The reason is simple: They were so badly outplayed during their innings defeat in the first Test at The Wanderers that supporters, management and the players themselves believe it to be irrelevant.

South Africa, meanwhile, are working overtime to ensure that momentum is not only maintained but increased in a bid to emulate last season’s 5-0 whitewash of the touring West Indians.

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“We must look at ourselves, our weaknesses, and concentrate on improving. Like (golfer) Ernie Els we must play the course and not be distracted by the opposition. We don’t want to shoot par, or enough to win by one shot, we want to win with a course record,” captain Hansie Cronje said today.

Teams (from) — South Africa: Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie Cronje (captain), Jonty Rhodes, ShaunPollock, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher, Allan Donald, Paul Adams, Mornantau Hayward, David Terbrugge.

England: Mark Butcher, Michael Atherton, Nasser Hussain (captain), Michael Vaughan, Alec Stewart, Chris Adams, Andrew Flintoff, Chris Silverwood, Andy Caddick, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally, Alex Tudor, Phil Tufnell.