England Cricket / Ralph Ellis / 23 October 2009 / Leave a comment

As the England touring party prepares for South Afica, Ralph Ellis asseses the impact of some of the more controversial sqaud selections.

"South Africa are short at [1.57] to win the Test series, but to be honest, and after enjoying the Ashes win it pains me to say it, that’s actually value."

There are times when I wonder if I know what I'm talking about. For instance I think Monty Panesar should have been in England's squad for the Test series in South Africa. Yesterday he started his contract playing for Highveld Lions by taking one for 56 from 19 overs, which hardly backs up the argument.

I also think Steve Harmison should have been kept in the touring party as the only bowler we've got with enough genuine pace to trouble the South African batsmen on bouncy wickets. And the stats hardly back up that viewpoint, either, because the last time Harmy went there in 2004-5 he was in one of his horrible, erratic phases and took just nine wickets at an average of 73 in a five Test series.

But then I read this morning the thoughts of South Africa's coach Mickey Arthur about Harmison's absence, and maybe I'm not so stupid after all! He's told Lawrence Booth in the Daily Mail that his batsmen are "pretty happy" that they will be out of Harm's way.

"On our wickets with pace and bounce he would have been a very awkward proposition," says Arthur. "We saw how dangerous Mitchell Johnson was against us on both Australian and South African wickets because his stock ball got rib high and was hitting batsmen under the heart. Harmison could have done the same thing."

Now of course Harmison could also have bowled every other ball straight to second slip. But the whole point about Test bowling is you need people who can take wickets, not just trundle down consistent but benign rubbish.

England have a big enough problem already with Andrew Flintoff retiring, and there isn't anybody else in the squad who can hit the sort of speeds that the likes of Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Jacques Kallis can produce. Without Panesar there's nobody that will really turn the ball either.

South Africa are short at [1.57] to win the Test series, but to be honest, and after enjoying the Ashes win it pains me to say it, that's actually value. We might have Kevin Pietersen returning to fitness and the promising Oval debut of Jonathan Trott also suggests more strength in the middle order (yes, I know they are both South African but it is our middle order and not theirs I'm discussing!). But winning Test cricket is about who will take wickets, not who will score runs, and that's where Andrew Strauss remains desperately short of options.

Stuart Broad might be pretty good at both batting and bowling but he's yet to blossom into an all-rounder who is world class at either. And if you move Matt Prior down the order to number seven then you're left relying on Paul Collingwood to do a lot of bowling and he's not going to take wickets on flat, bouncing pitches either. It could be a long, hard tour.

Five things you might not know about Mickey Arthur

1. Born in Johannesburg in 1968, Michael is actually his middle name. His first name is John. He came to be known as Mickey because his friends at school were always, well, taking the Mickey!

2. He scored 6,557 runs in South African State cricket, but never had an international cap beyond the A team as his peak years were while the country was banned from Test cricket

3. As a coach he took Eastern Cape to the Twenty20 finals, but was still a surprise choice to take over the national side in May 2005.

4. He won a major political battle with South Africa's cricket authorities by insisting his team be picked on merit rather than trying to maintain racial quotas

5. He says he takes his philosophy from the basketball coach Pat Riley's book, The Winner Within. "You start by identifying a team, then a brand, then a goal. You establish a core covenant, rules that govern the team."

Tags: Andrew Strauss, England, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior., Mickey Arthur, Monty Panesar, South Africa, Steve Harmison