NICK HOWSON: An already wearing pitch at Port Elizabeth begs the question why neither side have selected two spinners while Temba Bavuma sends another message
It has been nearly 11 months since South Africa captain Faf du Plessis last won a toss before a Test match.
The United Kingdom has held a general election, the British Royal Family has been pulled apart and a new decade has been begun since the last time The Proteas skipper last called it right.
Joe Root inflicted upon Du Plessis his sixth loss in a row, dating back to the infamous second Test against Sri Lanka, again at Port Elizabeth, in February 2019.
De Plessis prevailed on that occasion but it made little difference to the result, as the tourists claimed an eight-wicket success to become the first Asian side to win a Test series in South Africa.
The team then headed to India after the World Cup where the coin continued to defy Du Plessis, as he lost all three tosses to Virat Kohli, whose side ran out 3-0 series winners.
He has now won only two in the last 12 Tests. It is one of the few stats which is worse than his batting average across the last two series, which stands at 21.10.
In an effort to change his luck, Du Plessis even changed hands, flicking the coin with his left at St George's - but to no avail, as Joe Root called right.
He even enlisted the services of a proxy captain in the form of Temba Bavuma ahead of the third Test in India, in a desperate attempt to instigate a change in fortune. That didn't work either.
Certainly feeling sore after being swatted aside by India, Du Plessis called for the toss to scrapped completely from Tests in order to help visiting teams.
"Every Test match, they bat first, they score 500, they declare when it's dark, they get three wickets when it's dark and when day three starts, you're under pressure," he said. "It was like copy and paste in every Test match."
Unable to offer up an alternative, you can't help but feel this view was a case of sour grapes rather than a suggestion to help improve the spectacle.
The ICC cricket committee did discuss the prospect of getting rid of the toss for the World Test Championship but eventually concluded that "it was an integral part of Test cricket which forms part of the narrative of the game".
Since 2016, visiting teams in the County Championship have been given the option to field first or have a toss - though the ECB have reversed this for the upcoming campaign.
Perhaps Du Plessis might prefer the bat toss, introduced into the Big Bash from the 2018-19 edition. You don't get many double-sided coins there.
Temba Bavuma's return could now be imminent
We're going to start getting letters from Faf du Plessis' mum.
As scrutiny grows over the make-up of this South Africa side, not least its fragile batting line-up, Temba Bevuma sought to pile the pressure on the incumbents.
A hip injury forced Bevuma out of the first Test, which he was scheduled to play, but he has failed to regain his place despite making a full recovery. It has not been a decision that has been received well.
Though a 2019 Test average of 19.84 meant his place was uncertain anyway, it is also true that he was in line to play at Centurion in the Boxing Day Test. So the about-turn is slightly curious and goes well beyond just a dubious selection policy.
Pieter Malan did impress hugely during the New Year's Test at Cape Town in place of Aiden Markram, while The Proteas are persisting with Zubayr Hamza at No.3. Du Plessis challenged Bavuma to force his way back into the reckoning with runs in the four-day Franchise Series, which unused players have returned to this week.
He has initially responded in perfect fashion, striking a fourth day century for Lions against Dolphins, eventually making a mammoth 180. It might be a small sample size, but given South Africa's issues, you can't argue that Bevuma hasn't done what has been asked of him.
However, a recall might actually become a necessary step rather than a natural one. South Africa are currently short of their target of fielding six players of colour, two of which must be black African, over a season. And with Vernon Philander due to retire the future look rather bleak too.
It is also true that Du Plessis has not helped his own position by insisting that Bavuma needs form to be reconsidered. Granted, 12 innings across as many months have passed without a half-century for his country, an unignorable run.
But, as previously mentioned, Du Plessis has floundered himself in recent months even if not quite to the extent of his teammate. Insisting one player needs form to be recalled while his place remains intact smacks of double standards; at the very least.
Couple that with the subtext regarding quotas - Du Plessis himself has stated the side is not selected based on colour when it pointedly is - and a desire to have representation in the South Africa team and it threatens to become a rather uncomfortable subject for the skipper.
England 61-0 off 26 overs. This is England's longest 1st-innings opening partnership in 58 Tests, since October 2015.https://t.co/SNgX5hbUSA#SAvENG
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) January 16, 2020
Don't adjust your screen. Refrain from reaching for your reading glasses. Continue sipping that late afternoon merlot. England really did go the first session without losing wicket.
That is not to mock Dom Sibley and Zak Crawley's performance on the opening morning of the third Test. They were barely out of nappies when England's frailties at the top of the order began. Sort of.
The pair went into lunch on 61 for 0, the first time England hadn't lost a wicket before the first interval on day one of a Test since 2015.
In terms of deliveries, the 186 the pair soaked up on a pancake of a pitch was the most since later in the same year, when Alastair Cook and Moeen Ali fought away in Abu Dhabi against Pakistan. That was 58 Tests ago.
In fact, exclusively in the first innings, you have to go back to July 2009 for a longer opening stand, one which lasted 287 deliveries between Cook and Andrew Strauss against Australia at Lord's.
After Sibley's century at Cape Town, perhaps England are finally emerging from the post-Cook-Strauss era. This all without Rory Burns, too.
The good news for Root is England have never lost at Port Elizabeth after an opening partnership in either innings of 50 or above.
And only two other visiting pairs have scored more than Sibley and Crawley did on day one for the opening wicket. Daren Ganga and Chris Gayle's 98 in 2007 was matched in 2018 by Cameron Bancroft and David Warner.
Both men were eventually out in that regulation manner which you come to expect of any opening batsman. Caught leg gully. An anomaly that perhaps signifies that England might actually be onto something.
England 61-0 off 26 overs. This is England's longest 1st-innings opening partnership in 58 Tests, since October 2015.https://t.co/SNgX5hbUSA#SAvENG
— Andy Zaltzman (@ZaltzCricket) January 16, 2020
Both South Africa and England tinkered with their bowling attacks for this third Test.
Dwaine Pretorius was replaced by debutant Dane Peterson, while Mark Wood came in for the injured James Anderson.
Though each captain might be now considering other changes they could have made to their respective line-ups.
Du Plessis and Root had a thorough look at the surface on the eve of the game, with both concluding that batting first would be more preferable. Obviously, only one of them got their wish.
With an already dry pitch and some of the hottest and humid conditions of the series anticipated, reverse swing is expected to be present at some stage.
As surely will plenty of turn. Indeed, just six overs into Keshav Maharaj's first spell either side of lunch he had found plenty of grip and spin. He then took the third England wicket of the day as he got delivery to straighten before Ben Stokes survived from one which turned several feet.
At one stage on the opening day, the 29-year-old had achieved 5.5° of turn. Only four non-Asian matches have seen more turn on offer at the same stage since 2005, according to CricViz.
Victim Joe Denly scored just three from 62 deliveries off Maharaj, as the run-rate slowly desperately and South Africa took a grip on proceedings.
His success begs the question as to why neither side have selected two spinners this week. Conditions are as both sides predicted, and the selection of Wood, in particular, suggests at least England were willing to tinker with their side to reflect them.
Mark Nicholas rather ignorantly suggested such a decision was reflective of the resources of both sides. Granted, South Africa have no alternative option in their 12-man group but they have recently returned from India where they at times fielded three.
Kagiso Rabada did not withhold his delight at dismissing Joe Root
That George Linde will have a watching brief for much of this Test as the highest wicket-taker in the Four-Day Franchise Series for Cape Cobras is somewhat strange. Dane Piedt could even have been called on, despite his troubled series in south Asia.
Despite Jack Leach going home as his illness continues, Matt Parkinson is waiting patiently in the wings for an opportunity. England seem strangely hesitant to give him a Test debut this winter.
It is a particularly strange decision given that South Africa and England go to India and Sri Lanka in March where they will be forced to field at least two spinners. This week could have been the perfect opportunity to tick both boxes.
Kagiso Rabada rarely needs much to pump him up, but not being given the new ball on the opening morning of the Test would certainly have helped.
On an up and down day for Du Plessis, it was one of his more baffling decisions.
But the 24-year-old was not about to start feeling sorry for himself and in the final session provided the abiding memory of the day and one which will have reverberated around both dressing rooms.
Root had looked relatively comfortable fending off the strike-bowler until a ball at a good length kept low and took out his off-stump.
The Yorkshire is an adept back-foot player and watching the way he flayed desperately at the ball suggested there was something more mischevious at play than just a miss-timed poke.
Further assessment of the delivery confirmed that the ball had levelled out significantly more than previous balls, down to 68 centimeters from 1.1 meters, according to CricViz.
Having followed Maharaj's success against Denly, it was another sign this pitch could cause havoc as the match goes on.
If the (relatively) violent bounce wasn't the abiding highlight of the day, then the sight of Rabada howling in Root's midst with his stumps all over the place, certainly was.
It was a message as much to England's skipper as it was to his own. This is what happens what I'm angry.
Rabada gets the England captain. #SAvENGpic.twitter.com/xuRHZy7Nva
— The Cricketer (@TheCricketerMag) January 16, 2020
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