Nasser Hussain criticises England batting performance at Newlands: "Getting in and out on there is inexcusable"

Only Ollie Pope went beyond 50 for the tourists as they finished the day on 262 for 9, having won the toss

• Scorecard
• Day 1 talking points

Nasser Hussain slated England’s batsmen for their “inexcusable” performance on the first day of the second Test against South Africa.

Only Ollie Pope went beyond 50 for the tourists as they finished the day on 262 for 9, having won the toss.

On a benign strip, the entire middle order got starts but failed to go on, leaving Hussain hugely critical at the close of play.

“Getting in and out at Centurion was not a problem. It happened. Nearly every batsman said ‘there’s a bit in this pitch, you never feel in’,” Hussain, the former England captain, said.

“Getting in and out on there is inexcusable. That is a day to book in for bed and breakfast, and go big.

“Yet again, England’s batsmen refused to do that.”

^{Nasser Hussain was unimpressed by England's performance}

Hussain rated the Newlands playing surface as a “300 for 5 pitch on day one, even if you give a couple of dismissals away”, yet the visitors now face a tricky test hauling themselves into a position of control in the contest.

They trail 1-0 in the four-match series.

“You look at those scores and, apart from Pope (who finished unbeaten on 56 at the close), nearly every batsman got in and got out. There were soft dismissals in there, I thought it was a very average performance,” Hussain said.

“If anyone wonders why, when you look at England’s averages in Test-match cricket, there is no one apart from Root averaging over 40, that performance tells you.

“When it nips around in England with a Dukes ball, you’ve got an excuse. Or when it nips around at Centurion, you’ve got an excuse and you don’t get any runs.

“Then you get to a flat one and you don’t convert your starts, you will be averaging between 25 and 40.”

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