Snape urges seamers to be best

Former England spinner Jeremy Snape has been working with Dale Steyn

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Jeremy Snape is delivering a simple motto to help South Africa’s much-touted pace attack put their Lord’s labours behind them when they face England again in the second Test this week.

Snape, noted for his specialist knowledge of effective mental preparation thanks to a degree in sports psychology, is the former England one-day international off-spinner who first plied his trade in a coaching capacity as an adviser to his native country at last year’s World Cup.

He has since taken on a similar role in the inaugural Indian Premier League, and was snapped up by South Africa for their four-Test tour of England this summer.

There was no obvious indication that the tourists had their preparation right in the first Test - when Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Co were powerless to prevent England piling up 593 for eight declared, after the hosts had been asked to bat first by South Africa captain Graeme Smith.

Assistant coach Vinnie Barnes has since acknowledged the South African bowlers were “overawed” and got sucked into “believing the hype” about being the fastest in world cricket since the great West Indies attacks of the 1980s.

Snape, however, is hoping he can get the best out of them - at Headingley Carnegie this week, and then at Edgbaston and the Brit Oval later this summer - simply by going back to basics.

“Jeremy Snape has been talking to the guys and telling them he wants them to be the best - not the fastest or the most hostile, but the best,” Barnes revealed.

Snape was renowned in his playing days with Leicestershire, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire and England as one of the slowest bowlers in the world.

The experienced Makhaya Nitini struggled for penetration during the first npower Test at Lord's

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But South Africa have placed faith in him to help ready them for a heavyweight series which still stands at 0-0 after the tourists fought back from following on 346 behind at Lord’s to earn an improbable draw.

Barnes, meanwhile, remains confident the five-man attack which struggled at HQ - Morkel, Steyn, fellow pace bowlers Makhaya Ntini and Jacques Kallis, and slow left-armer Paul Harris - can put things right in Leeds.

“I back the attack that has done so well for us in recent matches,” he said.

“I still believe that this is the attack that can take 20 wickets at Headingley - and I support them completely.”

South Africa were bailed out at Lord’s by three second-innings hundreds - the longest, by some margin, being opener Neil McKenzie’s nine-and-a-quarter-hour 138.

He is under no illusions that he and his team-mates did it the hard way in the first Test - and must be ready to produce their best from the word go second time round.

“We’ve got away with having probably not been up for it, just sitting back a little bit,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ll be sitting back any more.

“There’s still a lot of work to do. The Lord’s pitch was batter-friendly towards the end, so I’ll definitely take the runs.

“But I know things will get tougher from here, and I’ll have to apply myself even more.”