South Africa bigger threat to Australia than England

[EnglishRose]

Yes indeedy.

South Africa may have lost to England but I think they rebounded well on their tour of the West Indies. Nel's return has given the Saffers a lot more firepower and he and Ntini form a potent new ball combo. This will be backed up up by the ever reliable Polly.
Smith provides strong leadership and the batting looks good again.

I feel the real battle of this year will take place in December between the Saffers and Australia and continuing on to February. I think it will be alot closer than the 5-1 scoreline last time.

English cricket has no depth.....their A team was well beaten in Sri Lanka recently and their u-19's got whitewashed in India. Few players of genuine quality are emerging from the English academies...something which even Rod Marsh (their coach) admitted.
SOuth Africa have a number of quality youngsters waiting in the wings e.g Imraan Khan, Keagan Africa, Brent Kops, Dale Steyn......
Cricket Australia te monitor the programs and development of other countries to gauge which teams will be a threat to Aussie world dominnace. They have identified South Africa as being a clear threat over the next ten years even tho they went thru a difficult period recently. England was not mentioned as a long term quality adversary.

SO there you go....England may be world no. 2 but it will only be short term. I can't see players like Harmison and Jones being anything other than inconsistent. ALso, England don't have a quality spinner in sight.....at least South Africa are rectifying this problem. Several promising spinners have been identified and sent to India for coaching.
I fully epect South Africa to be Australia's main challengers again within a year's time.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I think South Africa are on par with India at about third in the world currently, but England are clearly a bigger threat.

 

[aussie]

Yes indeedy.

South Africa may have lost to England but I think they rebounded well on their tour of the West Indies. Nel's return has given the Saffers a lot more firepower and he and Ntini form a potent new ball combo. This will be backed up up by the ever reliable Polly.
Smith provides strong leadership and the batting looks good again.

I feel the real battle of this year will take place in December between the Saffers and Australia and continuing on to February. I think it will be alot closer than the 5-1 scoreline last time.

English cricket has no depth.....their A team was well beaten in Sri Lanka recently and their u-19's got whitewashed in India. Few players of genuine quality are emerging from the English academies...something which even Rod Marsh (their coach) admitted.
SOuth Africa have a number of quality youngsters waiting in the wings e.g Imraan Khan, Keagan Africa, Brent Kops, Dale Steyn......
Cricket Australia te monitor the programs and development of other countries to gauge which teams will be a threat to Aussie world dominnace. They have identified South Africa as being a clear threat over the next ten years even tho they went thru a difficult period recently. England was not mentioned as a long term quality adversary.

SO there you go....England may be world no. 2 but it will only be short term. I can't see players like Harmison and Jones being anything other than inconsistent. ALso, England don't have a quality spinner in sight.....at least South Africa are rectifying this problem. Several promising spinners have been identified and sent to India for coaching.
I fully epect South Africa to be Australia's main challengers again within a year's time.

Please..... its early in the morning what nonsense is this mate , first off all i wont read too much into SA's win againts the WI because if you remember in 2003/04 they thrased WI at home & then went through a very difficult period in international cricket.

Secondly to say that English cricket currently has no depth is absolutely ignorance, how could you make such an atrotious comment . Also what makes you think that Harmison & Jones will be inconsistent throughout their career???.

Finally i do believe that SA have a side that can compete againts the aussies in 2005/06 season but i dont think they will be has competitive has ENG will be in the ashes.

 

[Jono]

Nah I really don't think so.

 

[aussie]

Nah I really don't think so.

who are you talking to, me or the thread starter??

 

[EnglishRose]

England were a tad lucky in South Africa IMO -- the SAffer side was pretty disjointed and going thru a rough patch.
I Think it would be a different story if they met now.

So far England have done Ok agsint Australia, but when Australia reach tehir best during the Ashes snd really put the Pommies unde pressure, I think England will crack.
Several English players are massively overrated --- e.g Strauss, Harmison, Ashley Giles.

 

[EnglishRose]

Secondly to say that English cricket currently has no depth is absolutely ignorance, how could you make such an atrotious comment . .

Look at the recent performances of the England A and under-19 teams. These players , if you believe some forum members like Pickup and Marc, come from supposedly the "second best domestic setup" in the world.
Hell even Rod Marsh admitted he hasn't seen much outstanding talent in his tenure.

 

[aussie]

England were a tad lucky in South Africa IMO -- the SAffer side was pretty disjointed and going thru a rough patch.
I Think it would be a different story if they met now.

So far England have done Ok agsint Australia, but when Australia reach tehir best during the Ashes snd really put the Pommies unde pressure, I think England will crack.
Several English players are massively overrated --- e.g Strauss, Harmison, Ashley Giles.

If ENG & SA met now (test cricket) things might be a bit closer but ENG would beat them. People pressume that ENG will crack if put under pressure by the aussies but you must remember this is a different english outfit but during the ashes it wil be interesting to see ENG react when pressure by Australia. Thats why this series is going to be so great BRING ON THE ASHES.....

In a way i thin Strauss is overrated, Harmison was for a period, but defiantely not Gilo

 

[aussie]

Look at the recent performances of the England A and under-19 teams. These players , if you believe some forum members like Pickup and Marc, come from supposedly the "second best domestic setup" in the world.
Hell even Rod Marsh admitted he hasn't seen much outstanding talent in his tenure.

I cant remember what the under-19 side were recently but i know the England A side did pretty well in a tour to su-continent precceding the SA tour, plus players like Pietersen & Lewis are blokes who have played for England A and have come into the international side recently.

Lets look at it form a different point of view with regards to back up to the Test side, their is much depth. It may not be superb but their is talent.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

South Africa may have lost to England but I think they rebounded well on their tour of the West Indies. Nel's return has given the Saffers a lot more firepower and he and Ntini form a potent new ball combo. This will be backed up up by the ever reliable Polly.
Smith provides strong leadership and the batting looks good again.

Fine job by South Africa to rebound against the West Indies, who have only lost 5-0, 2-1, 3-0 at the hands of their African counterparts in the last 3 meetings...

Smith is a character indeed, but he still has a lot tactical work to do before he can be considered among the top captains in the world or fit to lead his team to battle against England, let alone Australia.

I feel the real battle of this year will take place in December between the Saffers and Australia and continuing on to February. I think it will be alot closer than the 5-1 scoreline last time.

Many tend to believe the Ashes will be rather closer too...

English cricket has no depth.....their A team was well beaten in Sri Lanka recently and their u-19's got whitewashed in India. Few players of genuine quality are emerging from the English academies...something which even Rod Marsh (their coach) admitted.

IIRC, South Africa hasn't even put out an 'A' team since 2000 or 2001, so any point with regards to the English 'A' players as opposed to South Africans, is quite frankly irrelevant.

SOuth Africa have a number of quality youngsters waiting in the wings e.g Imraan Khan, Keagan Africa, Brent Kops, Dale Steyn......

And how exactly are these players any better than the likes of Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen or even Kabir Ali and Chris Tremlett? Their domestic records certainly don't suggest it. Talent is one thing, but England has that too.

Cricket Australia te monitor the programs and development of other countries to gauge which teams will be a threat to Aussie world dominnace. They have identified South Africa as being a clear threat over the next ten years even tho they went thru a difficult period recently. England was not mentioned as a long term quality adversary.

Cricket Australia is not immune to mistakes. After all, they did change their name to Cricket Australia.

Irrelevant. Just because the superpower identifies another power as a threat doesn't validate the claim. For further evidence, watch CNN/BBC.

SO there you go....England may be world no. 2 but it will only be short term. I can't see players like Harmison and Jones being anything other than inconsistent.

Well South Africa's Ntini averages about as much as Steve Harmison does against Australia. It's fascinating that he's also more expensive than Harmison is against the Aussies.

ALso, England don't have a quality spinner in sight.....at least South Africa are rectifying this problem. Several promising spinners have been identified and sent to India for coaching.
I fully epect South Africa to be Australia's main challengers again within a year's time.

Irrelevant yet again. Identification of talent does not a quality spinner make. "Talented" South African spinners training in India does not stimulate a transformation into Harbhajan Singhs and Anil Kumbles.

Currently South Africa has no matchwinning spinner and arguably neither does England, so how is South Africa superior? Is one of these glorious talents going to emerge by the time Australia takes on the South Africans again? The likelihood of this amuses me, and thus the irrelevance comes into play.

 

[EnglishRose]

IIRC, South Africa hasn't even put out an 'A' team since 2000 or 2001, so any point with regards to the English 'A' players as opposed to South Africans, is quite frankly irrelevant.
.

WRONG. RSA sent an A team to Australia in 2003 where they drew the 'test' series. Contrast this with the efforts of England A who went to India in 2004 and lost every match they played barring one game against a u-19 side and flopped again on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2005.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

WRONG. RSA sent an A team to Australia in 2003 where they drew the 'test' series. Contrast this with the efforts of England A who went to India in 2004 and lost every match they played barring one game against a u-19 side and flopped again on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2005.

Did England go to Australia in 2003 though? How is it so much a gauge of the talent in the England ranks rather than the talent of the opposition?

South Africa A in Australia in 2003.

OD at Brisbane - lost
OD at Canberra - lost
OD at Melbourne - rained out
OD at Hobart - won

4D at Adelaide - drawn
4D at Perth - drawn
4D at Perth - lost

Just before that tour they were beaten 2-1 in an OD series with Zimbabwe A.

Didn't England beat SL 'A' by almost 200 runs earlier this year?

 

[Swervy]

Yes indeedy.

South Africa may have lost to England but I think they rebounded well on their tour of the West Indies. Nel's return has given the Saffers a lot more firepower and he and Ntini form a potent new ball combo. This will be backed up up by the ever reliable Polly.
Smith provides strong leadership and the batting looks good again.

I feel the real battle of this year will take place in December between the Saffers and Australia and continuing on to February. I think it will be alot closer than the 5-1 scoreline last time.

English cricket has no depth.....their A team was well beaten in Sri Lanka recently and their u-19's got whitewashed in India. Few players of genuine quality are emerging from the English academies...something which even Rod Marsh (their coach) admitted.
SOuth Africa have a number of quality youngsters waiting in the wings e.g Imraan Khan, Keagan Africa, Brent Kops, Dale Steyn......
Cricket Australia te monitor the programs and development of other countries to gauge which teams will be a threat to Aussie world dominnace. They have identified South Africa as being a clear threat over the next ten years even tho they went thru a difficult period recently. England was not mentioned as a long term quality adversary.

SO there you go....England may be world no. 2 but it will only be short term. I can't see players like Harmison and Jones being anything other than inconsistent. ALso, England don't have a quality spinner in sight.....at least South Africa are rectifying this problem. Several promising spinners have been identified and sent to India for coaching.
I fully epect South Africa to be Australia's main challengers again within a year's time.

you beleive what you want to....

All you have said seems to be based on guesswork...I suspect you are only trying to antagonise the English fans on here.

Trust me when I say that Ricky Ponting is worried about England this summer,alot more than he is worried about playing South Africa

 

[marc71178]

South Africa may have lost to England but I think they rebounded well on their tour of the West Indies.

First Test they were lucky to draw and they only won the series 2-0 - that's not rebounding well.

English cricket has no depth.....

I wouldn't be so sure - there are a number of players who would have got into any England side from 3 or 4 years ago.

 

[marc71178]

England were a tad lucky in South Africa IMO -- the SAffer side was pretty disjointed and going thru a rough patch.

SA were lucky it only finished 2-1 - there's an argument that but for a dropped catch in the 2nd Test, England could have taken it by 3 or 4.

 

[superkingdave]

WRONG. RSA sent an A team to Australia in 2003 where they drew the 'test' series. Contrast this with the efforts of England A who went to India in 2004 and lost every match they played barring one game against a u-19 side and flopped again on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2005.

Sending an 'A' or under 19 side to a country where the conditions are pretty similar to their own is completely different to sending them to somewhere like Sri Lanka or India - and England 'A' actually drew that series in Sri Lanka.

 

[marc71178]

WRONG. RSA sent an A team to Australia in 2003 where they drew the 'test' series. Contrast this with the efforts of England A who went to India in 2004 and lost every match they played barring one game against a u-19 side and flopped again on a tour to Sri Lanka in 2005.

Except that is not England 'A' - England 'A' was disbanded a fair while ago - that was an Academy side which is far from England 'A'.

 

[Crazy Sam]

south africa collapsed spectacularly against australia in the two test series last time around. i think australia will dominate again.

 

[Jono]

who are you talking to, me or the thread starter??

Thread starter lol sorry.

 

[Pratters]

I think South Africa's main problem was the lack of a front like bowler trying out guys like Dale Steyn vs England who didnt work.

If South Africa find a good new opening bowler who performs consistently at the top level, they have the makings of a very good side and may challenge Australia in the future but not currently.

India have looked to have potential because of their strong batting line up but we all know a toothless bowling attack means you can never perform that strongly. Specially after the team has performed poorly the last year or so. India needs to sort out its fast bowling department but its a very tough thing to do and a far bigger problem than in South Africa's case as injury problems and unfit bowlers means no one can really stake a claim as a consistent peformer on the international stage. Not in the last two years atleast.

England are the number 2 as things stand.