Joe Root insists illness is not an excuse for defeat after First Test setback in South Africa

England lost by 107 runs on Sunday.
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Will Macpherson29 December 2019

Joe Root refused to blame illness for England’s 107-run First Test defeat against South Africa in Centurion and said they would not be afraid to drop senior players for the second match at Cape Town.

After being skittled for 181 in the first innings, England showed some fight as they were bowled out for 268 on the fourth day, falling to defeat. Root admitted that their first innings performance with bat and ball – when South Africa were able to sneak from 111 for five to 284 all out – had lost England the match.

England’s preparation for the match had been disrupted by illness. Ten players and four members of staff have been struck down by the bug, including Jofra Archer and Stuart Broad, who went into the game without any tour matches.

“We’re not going to hide behind that as an excuse,” he said. “But 14 of our squad have been taken ill in the last week and a half. Ben, in particular, has had to deal with that horrible thing with his father and his illness. So we’ve had a lot thrown at us.

“Certain things, like time in legs of bowlers and overs under belt can play quite a part and that’s why you have warm-up games and five days of cricket leading into the first Test. It’s frustrating. But it’s happened. Hopefully the crux of the illness is through the camp and we can all be fighting fit in time for Cape Town and can bounce back.”

Root was dismissed by Anrich Nortje on day four.
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England look likely to make changes for the Newlands Test, which starts on January 3. Ollie Pope is over the illness and back in training, and is in line to regain his place from Jonny Bairstow – who failed twice with the bat – in the middle order, while they are also likely to bring in a spinner due to conditions in Cape Town.

That presents two problems. There are three spinners on tour. One of them, Jack Leach, remains in quarantine with an illness that has troubled him for a fortnight. Another, Matt Parkinson, is an uncapped leg spinner who did not impress in the tour matches. That makes Dom Bess, who will remain in South Africa as cover alongside Craig Overton. Bess, 22, played two Tests in 2018 and offers more with the bat and in the field than his rivals.

The second problem is which of the seamers to drop to accommodate a spinner. Root said it could be that James Anderson or Broad drop out of the side.

“They’ve got fantastic records behind them and they've produced fantastic things for England in the very recent past,” he said. “You don't want to wish those guys away or look back and think 'we've forced Jimmy Anderson out'. You look at him physically and he's in fantastic fettle and he's got a brilliant record in these conditions. Similar with Stuart.

“It’s a fine balance, you've got to look at the surface and at an attack you feel is best going to counter that and best counter the opposition you come up against.

“If difficult decisions have to be made down the line then they will be, but if they don't they won’t.

“It would be silly to push fantastic experience and a wealth of knowledge of fast bowling out the door when there is no need to.”

Of the spin situation, Root said: “All the illness has created a bit of a problem for us. Especially Jack. It's been really a tough month or so for him having gone down in New Zealand as well. It's really sad actually and really hard for him. He's trying to deal with it as best as he can.

“We're trying to manage that as best we can. We've got some very able back-up in Dom Bess, we've got Matt Parkinson as well as another option. We'll turn up at Cape Town, look at the surface and make our decision.”

South Africa are set to bring in the uncapped Pieter Malan for the injured Aiden Markram, but have also called up Keegan Petersen – who is also uncapped – as extra cover. The injured Temba Bavuma and Lungi Ngidi may struggle to immediately return to the. XI when fit.

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