Sonny Baker’s nightmare debut tipped England’s day from bad to horror-show at Headingley.
Rarely has a dream day turned so quickly, but that fits the pace of Baker’s career so far. At the beginning of the day, he was handed his first cap by Jos Buttler, England’s greatest-ever white-ball batter and a fellow Somerset boy. There were murmurs of whether he could be a bolter for the Ashes squad due to be hashed out soon, with Jamie Overton’s shock withdrawal yesterday drawing possibility further into reality.
But, after his golden duck ended England’s annihilation with the bat, his opening spell completed their disaster. The late eighties pace was no bother for Aiden Markram to pick off, as Baker pitched fuller and fuller, searching for swing. He pushed wide, over-corrected, and was smashed down the ground. Then came the switch, banging it into the surface as fast as possible, Markram using the extra pace to help the ball soaring over the rope.
Once Markram had punched Baker for an eighth four, at the end of his fourth over, Brook had had enough. Baker remains a highly prized debutant quick, who will likely go on to greater things; but with only 132 on the board this wasn’t sport, it was target practice. When he was brought back from a different end no longer with the powerplay restrictions in place, he was again marmalised by Markram. By the end of his seven-over spell, he’d conceded the most runs of any England bowler on debut, with the second-highest economy rate for a debutant of all time, with a minimum of five overs bowled.
Those figures are a lesson England have repeatedly refused to learn. Late-eighties pace alone is electric in domestic cricket, and stands out among the plethora of those getting wickets at 10mph slower. Over 10 balls under lights in The Hundred, it’s enough to get batters briefly hopping around. But, over an opening spell against one of the best ODI batters in the world and one of the purest players of pace, it’s cannon fodder without the accuracy and skills to match. Jofra Archer’s unhittability at the other end only highlighted Baker’s struggles further.
A dramatic collapse that began with the captain being run out 😬
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) September 2, 2025
England are in all sorts of trouble against South Africa in the first ODI at Headingley.#ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/YFpnv733sa
Over Baker’s short career so far, there’s been enough evidence to see that he does possess the skill and tenacity to go on to play for England. In the post-match presentation, Brook said why Baker is the type of character England have felt justified in fast-tracking: “The way he kept on chucking in and giving his 100 per cent was awesome to see. That’s exactly what we ask for from our bowlers.”
But, Baker last played a 50-over professional game in 2022. He fits into the wider theme of his generation of England players who don’t have a grounding in the 50-over game. It was a criticism levied at them after their Champions Trophy fiasco, and – as was shown today – hammering the West Indies doesn’t count as a fast-track course.
Speaking after the match, Mark Butcher summed it up on Sky Sports: “The worrying thing for me about England’s batting in one day international cricket full stop, is that they do not have an absorption button … We played some horrendous shots, got no responsibility being held by any of those fantastic, fantastic players England have in that middle order, to say, ‘you know what, we can just absorb for a little while, let’s just get ourselves back in and have a reassessment at some point and put a score on the board that our bowlers have a chance of bowling at.”
The stats back up the picture of England looking to go too hard, too early. Since the end of the 2023 World Cup, England have the third-lowest average among Full Member nations for their first two wickets. Scotland, Nepal, and the USA all average more before they’re two down. At the same time, only Australia score faster in their first two partnerships. Simply, England play fast 50-over cricket in every sense of the word. Fast to score and fast to collapse. In the same time period, no other team has been bowled out more times than they have in 50-over cricket.
Following the Champions Trophy, there was some acknowledgement of that. “I think the learnings from that are I definitely didn't need to be at a top tempo straight away, I do have a bit more time to build into an innings,” Jamie Smith told ESPNcricinfo in March. Today, Smith looked like he’d taken that on board. He put away the bad balls early in his innings and brought that tempo back down when wickets fell, and when life was tougher against Keshav Maharaj. But, having reached 50 and 100 runs on the board, still with the possibility of posting a defendable total with Buttler at the crease, a soft dismissal opened the floodgates.
Smith was the one point of resistance in England’s innings. Once he fell at that crucial point, Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks followed in even softer fashion. Jacks played a match-winning innings in The Hundred final at The Oval on Sunday night, and was one of several England players who battled that tight turnaround to play at Headingley. South Africa’s preparation was beating the world champions Australia in their own backyard less than two weeks ago. Close to full-strength as one of the best 50-over outfits in the world, they served up a humbling reminder of exactly where England are at right now.
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
