Big Picture
Notwithstanding the fast-approaching World Cup in India this year, and the need for international teams to reacquaint themselves with the rigours of 50-over cricket, this bizarre stop-over rather epitomises the current moribund state of bilateral international cricket – a format that has long been beholden to the whims of TV contracts, but which has been made to feel extra extraneous in recent months.
Either way, the settled England side that, by this stage of the 2019 World Cup cycle, was on cruise control is a thing of the past. All manner of questions will need answering in the coming months, and only a handful of them are likely to be addressed in the next three days.
Is Jason Roy’s slump in form terminal? Is Dawid Malan the long-term answer at No.3, or just a placeholder while Joe Root focuses on Bazball? Do Chris Woakes, Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali have another World Cup in them? And can Mott get through a press conference without being obliged to address the elephant who is most emphatically not in the room, Ben Stokes? Just as the T20 World Cup XI came together as if on the back of a packet of Tepal Tea in Pakistan, so you suspect the 50-over side won’t have any look of permanence until the final approach in October.
South Africa, by contrast, have a pretty good idea of their best XI – their major issue would appear to be settling on a style in which to unleash it. Temba Bavuma, their captain, acknowledged on the eve of the series that England’s recent Test exploits would serve as an inspiration of sorts, although seeing as he added that South Africa’s interpretation of Bazball might include “blocking the s*** out of it”, it sounds as though their tactics are a work in progress.
Either way, the form of Heinrich Klaasen in the SA20 bodes well as an example for the rest of the side to follow, and if de Kock has been short of a few runs, the class he exudes at the top of the order remains permanent. And lest we forget, in this era of cross-pollinated red- and white-ball mindsets, it was an attack spearheaded by Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rababa and Lungi Ngidi that got the better of England’s Test team at Lord’s last summer – the only match in 10 that Stokes’ men have so far lost. A repeat of that showing, and the Free State crowds might just decide that there’s legs in the international game yet.
Form guide
South Africa LLWLW (last five Tests, most recent first)
England LLLWL
In the spotlight
Team news
South Africa (possible) 1. Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Janneman Malan, 3 Temba Bavuma (capt), 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 David Miller, 7 Wayne Parnell, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Sisanda Magala/Lungi Ngidi, 10 Tabraiz Shamsi, 11 Anrich Nortje
England: 1 Jason Roy, 2 Phil Salt / Ben Duckett, 3 Dawid Malan, 4 Jos Buttler (capt & wk), 5 Harry Brook, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Adil Rashid, 11 Reece Topley / Olly Stone
Pitch and conditions
Bloemfontein boasts the biggest outfield in South Africa. There have been thunderstorms in the lead-up to the match but the weather on Friday is set fair, and due to be a sweltering 31 degrees.
Stats and trivia
Quotes
“We have a World Cup nine months away now and we don’t have loads of games before that. They’re all really vital games to give guys chances and exposure to the ODI format and give guys an opportunity to try and nail down a place in the XI or 15 for the World Cup.”
Jos Buttler, England’s captain, recognises that the clock is ticking on England’s title defence
“We are South Africans. We have our way of thinking, our way of doing things. There’s nothing wrong with us taking a little bit from England, putting it together and seeing what comes about. With the personnel we have, guys going out and expressing themselves – if that equates to a South African ‘Bazball’ way of playing, to use a stupid term – then so be it. If it means we are going to go out there and block the s*** out of the ball, so be it.”
South Africa’s captain Temba Bavuma isn’t afraid of borrowing some ideas from England, and putting a unique spin on them
Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket