South African Cricket Team in England in 2008 - Test Series - 2nd Test

2nd Test

The second test of the series was played at Headingley. England omitted the struggling Paul Collingwood from the side, and replaced him with Andrew Flintoff, returning to play his first test since the final Ashes test at the SCG at the start of 2007. Ryan Sidebottom, suffering from injury, was replaced with debutant Darren Pattinson. This decision provoked considerable reaction as many felt there were other bowlers who were better placed to come into the side – Chris Tremlett, Matthew Hoggard and Stephen Harmison all sprung to mind. Pattinson, born in Grimsby and raised in Australia, had only bowled a handful of overs at first class level, and whilst he had shown promise, his elevation to the test arena was arguably too much too soon for him. A year previously, he was playing grade cricket in Australia alongside his regular job as a roof tiler. He had even shown uncertainly when asked about how keen he was to actually play for England. The decision to field him during a critical Test match prompted a variety of reaction and viewpoints from commentators, players and press experts.

South Africa named an unchanged side, boosted by the confidence of the draw at Lords and content that their bowlers could deliver as anticipated second time around. Graeme Smith enforced this belief by opting to field, and was rewarded as Morné Morkel and Dale Steyn in particular got stuck into England's batsmen. England were dismissed for 203 on day 1. Kevin Pietersen top scored with 45, and Ian Bell scored 31, but this was the best of a bad bunch. Andrew Flintoff scored 17 and looked to have some confidence with the bat, having had very little success in his recent county appearances. But overall, it was a disappointing effort from England, but they did respond with 3 wickets before the close of play to leave South Africa on 101/3.

South Africa used day 2 to ensure England had no chance in the match. Although Hashim Amla was dismissed by Pattinson for his maiden test wicket during the morning session, Ashwell Prince and AB de Villiers formed a strong partnership which would frustrate England for the rest of the day. Their batting was cautious, but not defensive, and they both gradually ground out large scores knowing that they were taking the match out of England's reach. By the end of day 2, South Africa's score was 322/4, a lead of 119.

Ashwell Prince registered his century on day 2, and would go on to score 174. AB de Villiers passed the 3 figure mark on day 3, and was eventually dismissed for 149, and it required a brilliant catch by Andrew Flintoff at slip to do so. England's bowling attack looked innocuous, and lacking any firepower at all. Even Andrew Flintoff struggled to make a significant impact, as South Africa were eventually dismissed for 522 – a massive lead of 319.

England's second innings batting effort was an improvement on the first, but still left people with more questions than answers. Andrew Strauss was out for 0, Michael Vaughan looked brilliant for 21 runs but then edged Makhaya Ntini through to Mark Boucher. Alastair Cook scored a decent score of 60, but not enough to get England out of trouble. Kevin Pietersen came in for the most criticism, scoring 13 runs of 4 balls before edging through to the keeper off the bowling of Jacques Kallis.

In contrast, the non specialist batsmen showed the sort of application that was required in the situation. James Anderson, batting as nightwatchman, kept Alastair Cook company for almost the entire morning session of day 4, compiling his highest score of 34. He faced some extremely hostile bowling during this, and was hit on the helmet by Dale Steyn. Later on, Andrew Flintoff and Tim Ambrose formed a partnership that looked promising, but both fell in the 30s. Stuart Broad, batting at no 8 and with just the tail to support him, made another highly impressive innings of 67 (not out) which included some magnificent cover drives and pull shots. Broad had arguably contributed more with the bat than the ball in the series so far, and even prompted Geoffrey Boycott to compare some of his strokeplay with that of Sir Garfield Sobers.

However, the overall picture was that England succeeded in making South Africa bat again, but with a target of just 9 runs. South Africa therefore won the test by 10 wickets and took a 1-0 lead in the series.