Tour of South Africa 2004-05            Captain : Michael Vaughan         

England’s 89thTest tour

(November  – January 2005)

17th Test playing tour of South Africa by England

   (previous tour 1999-2000)       

The England Cricket Board was reluctant to tour Zimbabwe because of Robert Mugabe’s human rights record but the I.C.C. said that, in the absence of direction from the British government, commitments under the Future Tours Programme would have to be met. Four one-day internationals were grudgingly played in Zimbabwe, with England winning them all comfortably, and flying out as soon as possible.

There were five Tests in succession in only 40 days, which has not occurred on an England tour before.: England gained their first series win in South Africa since 1964-65. As happened with Chris Broad in 1986-87 and Alistair Cook in 2010-11, England’s key to winning the series was an opening batsman, Andrew Strauss, hitting rich form and scoring three centuries.

Michael Vaughan was fined his match fee of £5500 for criticising the ‘inconsistent’ way the umpires had ruled on bad light and being “dismissive and rude” to match referee Clive Lloyd.

Other England tours

Previous Test tour

West Indies 2003-04

Next Test tour

Pakistan 2005-06

Next tour of  South Africa

2009-10

Members of the Test tour party (16)

Opening batsmen:  Andrew Strauss,  Marcus Trescothick, Mark Butcher

Middle-order batsmen Michael Vaughan, Graham Thorpe, Robert Key, Paul Collingwood

Wicket-keeper: Geraint Jones, Chris Read

All-rounder:  Andrew Flintoff

Slow bowler: Ashley Giles, Gareth Batty

Fast bowlers: Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones, James Anderson

ECB contracts  Alan Butcher, Andrew Flintoff, Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Ashley Giles, James Anderson, Graham Thorpe, Steve Harmison, Mathew Hoggard, Simon Jones, Andrew Strauss and Geraint Jones

County representation:

Du - Durham (2)

Gm - Glamorgan (1)

Kt  -  Kent (2)

La - Lancashire (2)

Mx - Middlesex (1)

Nt - Nottinghamshire (1)

Sm - Somerset (1)

Sy - Surrey (2)

Wk - Warwickshire (1)

Wo - Worcestershire (1)

Yo - Yorkshire (2)

Average age of  team at time of first Test match

(17 vember 1950): 

2 yrs  2 months.

Test Appearances made before the tour

Thorpe 93,  Butcher 69,  Trescothick 54,  Vaughan 50,  Flintoff 40,  Giles 40,  Hoggard 33,  Harmison 23,  Key 12,  Anderson 11,  Read 11,  G Jones 8,  S P Jones 8,  Strauss 7,  Batty 5,  Collingwood 2,  Bell 1,  Lewis 0.

Tour Officials

Selectors

David Graveney (chairman),  Duncan Fletcher (coach),  and  Michael Vaughan (captain)

Selection

Not considered:  Nasser Hussain (retired)

Tour Party Announced  : 25 August 2004.

Not selected:  Ian Bell,  Jonatahan Lewis (both stand-by players),  Kevin Pietersen (he was later added to the one day squad).

Time between selection and departure from England

   84 days

 (25 August - 17 November)

Travel

London  Q   Johannesburg

Departure from London was on approx 17 November and moved on to Windhoek where rainy weather held up the intended days of practice.

The team went to Johannesburg and expected to fly from there to Zimbabwe on Wednesday 24 November but the government did not issue visas to 13 of the accompanying pressmen, resulting in the first ODI being cancelled.

Mark Butcher, Andrew Flintoff, Stephen Harmison, Graham Thorpe and Marcus Trescothick flew in to Johannesburg on 1 December to practise for the Test series.

The main team returned from Zimbabwe to Johannesburg on 7 December 

The one-day specialists flew out to South Africa on 17 January.

Time spent in South Africa

    days

(7 December - 

On-tour selection panel

Reinforcements

Ian Bell flew out on 12 January to take the place of Mark Butcher  who had suffered a sprained wrist and had to return to England

Andrew Flintoff tore an abdominal muscle at Cape Town and then had a recurrence of an ankle injury that required him to have an operation after the fifth Test.

Jonathan Lewis was brought in to the Test party for the final Test as cover for the fast bowlers.

Kevin Pietersen was added to the announced one-day side.  Matthew Hoggard was retained in the touring party at the end of the Test series to replace Andrew Flintoff who returned home. Simon Jones was also kept on as cover for Steve Harmison who pulled a calf muscle but was not needed after all and returned home.

Fixtures/Results

The Namibian CA refused Fletcher’s request to turn the two games into 14-a-side practice matches

The five one-day matches in Zimbabwe were not agreed upon until 9 September

There was a seven-day break between the third and fourth Test matches

† not first-class

Time spent in South Africa before First Test:

   10 days

(7 December - 17 December)

Test appearances on tour

5 -    Flintoff,  Giles,  Harmison,  Hoggard,  G Jones,  Strauss,  Thorpe,  Trescocthick,  Vaughan.

4 -    S Jones

3 -    Key

2 -    Butcher

1 -    Anderson

0 -  . Batty,  Collingwood,  Read.

Match appearances

T  Test match

o  one-day international 

x other match 

W won  L lost  D drawn  T  tied

N no result   A abandoned

C  cancelled  u unknown result

The first match against Namibia was 12-a-side; in the second match Ashley Giles was captain

Highlights

•  Andrew Strauss scored three centuries in the series, the first Englishman to do so on a South African tour

•  At Durban  Strauss, Trescothick and Thorpe scored centuries in the second innings.

•  Matthew Hoggard's performance at Johannesburg (5-144 and 7-52) helped England win the fourth Test match

•  Trescothick and Strauss shared an opening partnership of 273 at Kingsmead - the highest first-wicket stand since 1960

•  Kevin Pitersen’s century (100*) in the fifth ODI at East London was England’s fastest in one-day cricket

Tour Summary

F  Fixtures   W  Won   L  Lost   D Drawn   T  Tied  Canc  Cancelled  Aban  abandoned

Return to England

Johannesburg  Q  London

Mark Butcher went home early with a wrist injuiry that would not heal.

Andrew Flintoff also had to return home at the end of the Test series for surgery on his ankle.

Test specialists Graham Thorpe, Robert Key, Chris Read and reinforcement Jon Lewis returned to England after the Test series.

Simon Jones was added to the one-day squad but when Harmison turned out to be fit enough, Jones went home at the end of January

Time away from England

  x days  

(1 December  - )

Finances

Accounts of the Tour

Postscript

The E.C.B.’s Director of Cricket Operations, John Carr, admitted that the gruelling tour itinerary was far from ideal but said it was necessary to accommodate South Africa’s busy international schedule. Carr also explained that England had to play seven Tests and ten one-day internationals at home each summer to finance cricket development and this tour programme was necessary to reciprocate the Tests and one-day internationals played on the South African tour of 2003.

Other tours in 2004-05