ENGLAND captain Michael Vaughan has warned his faltering fellow batsmen to prepare for a pace examination reminiscent of the lauded West Indies attack of the 1980s.
Vaughan leads England into a four-match Test campaign against South Africa, starting at Lord's on Thursday, following a poor 12 months in which they have failed to deliver a first-innings score in excess of 400.
Only two of the current top six, Ke
vin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss, have averaged over 40 in that period. Yet the most hostile bowling trio currently operating in world cricket are about to be unleashed in the form of Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel.
Vaughan, who has been cranking up the bowling machine in the nets at Loughborough in recent days, paid them a huge compliment when he compared them to Windies greats Michael Holding, Joel Garner and Malcolm Marshall.
"The lads will be working the angles as you always do against the opposition, putting the machine on a similar kind of pace," Vaughan said. "But it is how you react to the ball out in the middle and that is mostly what Test match cricket is about.
"We are going to need big scores, and big hundreds, and to get them against that kind of attack will be very rewarding. Pace bowling, like mystery spin, is always fascinating to watch and I guess this is a bit of a throwback to the 80s when the West Indies were around.
"Over the next six weeks we are going to be tested physically, mentally and in all areas of our game. That is why I find it exciting – you want to play in these kinds of series as a team."
Each of the pacemen offers different attributes. Steyn, undoubtedly the quickest, has taken 54 wickets in seven Tests against New Zealand, West Indies and Bangladesh, Ntini angles the ball in at right-handers' bodies, and the 6ft 6ins Morkel extracts extra bounce at 90 mph.
In contrast, England's genuine pace threats are in the wings, either on the comeback trail or out of favour. "We don't have bowling of 90-95mph," Vaughan said. "But it's not always about that. We have an attack that relies more on the control side. It has not got the pace it used to have but I think they've got a decent amount of skill.
"Jimmy Anderson showed against New Zealand at Trent Bridge that if the ball is swinging he has a hell of an amount of skill, Stuart Broad is developing into a fine cricketer, he's inexperienced but he bowls beyond his years and Ryan Sidebottom has probably been the find of the last year in Test match cricket.
"You add to that Monty Panesar, who can get five and six-wicket hauls, and the attack looks quietly nice."
The last time the two countries met, England went into their 2-1 away victory in 2004-05, with an attack of genuine speed in Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and Simon Jones, complemented by Matthew Hoggard's control. Months later it was instrumental in winning the Ashes.
Flintoff is the one closest to a return, and could be back for the second Test at Headingley. And although Vaughan constantly praises his current batch of bowlers, he offered hope for Welshman Jones, who is bowling well for Worcestershire, and Durham's Harmison, who took the captain's wicket in County Championship action last week.
The England selectors are backing the incumbents, but they may have to switch tack if the Proteas pace continues England's batting torment and it is deemed necessary to fight fire with fire.
The full article contains 609 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
