MANCHESTER – Vernon Philander
has given a rather unpleasant-sounding summary of his troubles at The Oval,
which played a significant part in South Africa losing the Third Test.
Philander remains none the wiser about where he picked up
the “viral infection”, with problems emerging, as he put it, “top and bottom”.
“It got a lot a lot worse having to bowl having lost a lot
of fluids,” he said at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Philander recounted that he’d started feeling poorly the
night before the match, and that the team’s medical staff – mystified as to
what ailed him – hoped he’d get over it if South Africa batted first.
That didn’t happen Joe Root won the toss, forcing Philander
into a first spell of four overs – where he was still too good for Keaton
Jennings – before he had to leave the field.
“It was really frustrating that I couldn’t be out there and
bowl longer spells. But the result is done. Had we batted first, I would have
had the extra day to recover and been better for the rest of the Test.
“Having to go from the loo, to then bowling, it was draining
from a fluid point of view because I couldn’t really keep anything down. It was
really bad.”
Vernon Philander will hope to make an impact with the bat too in the final Test. Photo: Reuters
The night he was forced to spend in hospital on the second day of the match helped, but on the third afternoon of the Test the troubles had returned, curtailing his impact in England’s second innings.
“I’m obviously an important part of that line-up and look, even when I was bowling there – at about 70 to 80% - I could feel my intensity was missed.
“There’s no excuses, we lost the Test, we’ve had a few hard chats, and we have to step up for it from Friday.”
Philander gave assurances that he was feeling a lot better. “I’m feeling a lot more hydrated,” he quipped. “It was a tough week personally, but I’m looking forward to this week coming up.”
It's a bit gloomy in Manchester today but the show must go on #indoortraining #OldTrafford #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/HVI2Y8kVge
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) August 2, 2017
Proteas Test Squad
Faf du Plessis (captain), Hashim Amla, Temba Bavuma, Theunis de Bruyn, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Keshav Maharaj, Aiden Markram, Morné Morkel, Chris Morris, Duanne Olivier, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada.