The hard truth

England is looking down the barrel ahead of their series with South Africa. Their New Zealand triumph exposed several flaws in their lineup and approach and now it’s back to the drawing board ahead of their toughest opponents since the 06-07 Ashes.

Let’s face it, England, compared to South Africa, have a pedestrian attack. Sidebottom is a world class swing bowler; there is no doubt about that, but Anderson is still suffering from unpredictability, and poor Stuart Broad just doesn’t have any venom in his bowling yet.

South Africa have not just one, but three quality seamers turning up in this series: The fiery and rampant Dale Steyn, whose dominance in the last year and a half has been remarkable; Makhaya Ntini, still among the game’s best quicks; and Morne Morkel, who is almost as fast as Steyn and looking dangerous ahead of this series.

A major difference here will be the batting lineups. While South Africa has looked good over the last year in repelling strong bowling in unfavorable conditions, England has not. Ian Bell and Paul Collingwood are under serious suspicions regarding technique and temperament, and Alastair Cook clearly still has a problem outside off-stump that was exposed ruthlessly by McGrath and Stuart Clark.

The only area England probably wins is the spin department. Harris struggled in India and may not find favorable conditions in England. Panesar, however, is a more aggressive spinner and could be an important factor considering the South Africans have not played against him.

I can’t see England winning this series. South Africa is looking the strongest I have seen them for many years, with good players in all the right areas and an improving team ethic and standard. This is a real test for both teams, with both within the next year to face the game’s number one team, Australia.

May the best team win.