'England have lots of good things to talk about in their dressing room...'
Thursday 31 December 2015 07:11, UK
England must compound South Africa's mounting problems by hitting their hosts hard when the second Test begins in Cape Town on Saturday.
Alastair Cook's side cruised to a 241-run victory in the opening Test in Durban, South Africa slumping from their overnight 136-4 to 174 all out in 24 overs as Moeen Ali picked up three quick wickets.
With skipper Hashim Amla struggling for form and paceman Dale Steyn unlikely to play in Cape Town due to a shoulder injury, Botham said South Africa are an unsettled unit and told Sky Sports that England mustn't take their foot off the gas.
"South Africa don't really have time to forget about this defeat - that's the good thing from England's point of view," said the former all-rounder.
"They've only got a couple of days before the next Test; the team will be up and bouncing around. They don't care if they bat or they bowl. It doesn't matter at the moment.
"South Africa are the ones with the problems - let's keep it that way. That's what England should be saying in their dressing room. 'We've won this, we've steamrollered them in the first Test in their own backyard; they got hammered in India, now we've got to keep the momentum going.'
"England have lots of good things to talk about in their dressing room but there aren't so many in the South African one."
South Africa wasted little time adding Quinton de Kock and Chris Morris to their squad after the first Test defeat.
De Kock's inclusion suggests that AB de Villiers will be relieved of wicket-keeping duties for the next Test at least, while uncapped Morris will provide cover for Steyn.
But Amla's captaincy - his side won four and drew two of his first six Test in charge but now haven't won in seven - and form continue to concern Botham.
"I thought some of the tactics on day four were a little strange - not taking the new ball, for example, which would have helped the slow bowler," he said.
"They stuck with the old ball thinking that England wouldn't get the runs quickly but Jonny Bairstow put that to bed quickly.
"They have a lot of problems because for six years the selectors sat down for about two minutes and said 'that's it, there's the team - it's the same as we had last week and the year before that' and that's why they were world No 1.
"They were a settled unit but they're not now; they've internal problems, the captain's under pressure, AB de Villiers should not be keeping wicket - that's starting to affect them now mentally.
"They've got a lot of things to sort out whereas England are in a very comfortable position."
England skipper Alastair Cook said 'the lads played really well' in the wake of his team's victory, a sentiment Botham concurred with.
"England were magnificent - it was a fantastic performance. Getting AB de Villiers straight up set the tone for the morning and they've wrapped it up with 20 minutes to lunch.
"They deserved it, in fairness, as they bossed the game. It has been a collective team effort. South Africa had the one hundred and the one five-for of the match but everyone contributed for England and that's what's important on pitches like this and in this weather.
"They were 12-2 after being put in on a green one in overcast conditions but got to 300. It was a brilliant effort from Nick Compton and James Taylor when the real crisis was on as well as down the order with everyone chipping in.
"The bowlers backed the batsmen up. They played on the lack of confidence of South Africa's middle-order; there has been a lot of talk about that around the ground, in the newspapers and that was reflected in the way that South Africa played.
"When AB de Villiers was out third ball this morning it was almost as if a pin had been stuck in the balloon and it was out of control then."
Watch highlights of day five at 6pm on Sky Sports 4, then tune in to get Bob Willis' view on England's exploits in The Verdict from 7pm on the same channel. Our coverage of the second Test begins at 8am on Sky Sports 2 on Saturday.
