***Official*** South Africa in England

[Langeveldt]

Typical England really. Let a touring side bat themselfs into form and get use to the conditions Vs. a really ****ty attack. Whats wrong with trying to crush their confidence while they might not be up to 100% in the first game?

Just letting us get used to the rest of the summer.. Flintoff will probably bowl 2 excellent overs, then explode.. Simon Jones will be drafted in and step on a land mine, or something.. And then it will be Onions and Mahmood from both ends, at the same time.. I imagine Pietersen will average 250, and England will win 2-1 again..

 

[GIMH]

4-0 ftw

 

[social]

It's rather more about selection than player motivation.

Dunno mate

If I was a county pro with an ounce of ambition in me, the last game I'd want to miss is the one against our test opponents

 

[GIMH]

Yeah but if your county's coach or whoever doesn't selectyou, there's not a whole lot you can do

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah but if your county's coach or whoever doesn't selectyou, there's not a whole lot you can do

Indeed.

I bet a lot of the players left out would love to be playing this game.

 

[Richard]

Perhaps a little worryingly, Kallis' retired-hurt was indeed actually hurt - he was hit on the elbow by Caddick.

Hopefully he'll be OK.

 

[social]

Yeah but if your county's coach or whoever doesn't selectyou, there's not a whole lot you can do

Not saying I was a regular pro, but in my experience on staff, the players didnt care

 

[GIMH]

That I can't understand. I'm with you - if I was a Somerset player I'd be chomping at the bit for this game.

Did you play/coach at a high level did ya?

 

[Langeveldt]

For sure, the chance to compete against some really good South Africans instead of some fairly good South Africans?

 

[GIMH]

mustard

 

[Richard]

For sure, the chance to compete against some really good South Africans instead of some fairly good South Africans?

TBF, Northants and Leics would give most SAfrican franchises a decent run for their money.

Wouldn't bet against the national team falling to them either, if Kallis, Smith and Steyn all got injured at once.

 

[social]

That I can't understand. I'm with you - if I was a Somerset player I'd be chomping at the bit for this game.

Did you play/coach at a high level did ya?

An Aussie kid on staff behind a couple of world class internationals for a few years

Thing that really depressed me about the county set-up was that it was like any company - you had your stars in the making wh were treated with kid gloves and your drones.

The latter saw it as a great life to be had before they took a boring job in the local sports store or as an insurance salesman and made up the vast majority of players.

 

[Langeveldt]

TBF, Northants and Leics would give most SAfrican franchises a decent run for their money..

You say it like it's an achievement.. They are basically SA franchises

 

[Richard]

Typical England really. Let a touring side bat themselfs into form and get use to the conditions Vs. a really ****ty attack. Whats wrong with trying to crush their confidence while they might not be up to 100% in the first game?

BTW, FWIW Caddick agrees with you.

 

[Richard]

You say it like it's an achievement.. They are basically SA franchises

That was, almost, my point.

Also that they've managed to procure some rather excellent SA players in the process... Northants having pretty much snapped-up every all-rounder in the country.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

BTW, FWIW Caddick agrees with you.

Good to hear it from such a player. But i cant believe what he says about an ECB directive to give touring sides flat pitches though. If it is true then someone needs to be sacked and replaced with someone who actually cares about the English national team.

 

[Manee]

BTW, FWIW Caddick agrees with you.

And he notes that it is an ECB directive to prepare flat pitches for the opposition, so I was indeed right

 

[Perm]

A very good start to the tour by the South Africans, even if it was at Taunton against a pathetic bowling attack.

Disappointing for Neil McKenzie though, he would have wanted to get amongst the runs early on and show the selectors that he is a class player. Hopefully he can find some form in the remaining tour games and score big in the Tests. Would love to see him partner Smith for the next 3-4 years.

Even though Duminy isn't likely to play in the Test series I feel this was an important knock for him. We all know that batting wasn't exactly difficult out there, but the young guy may finally be getting a look in at higher FC honours after being selected for so many ODI matches (and performing well enough) despite not being a limited overs batsman of note. Averages over 55 in South African domestic cricket too, says a lot about his run-scoring ability.

 

[Goughy]

One of the saddest things about the county game is that the county contracted players make very little effort where tour games are concerned.

It used to be the case that players would take this opportunity to press for higher honours, e.g. Lawson bouncing the hell out of Boycott for NSW, but for many years it has appeared that these games are nothing more than a chore for the "locals."

Don't know what the answer is (appearance fees maybe) but days like today dont reflect well on the local competition

Its been that way for a long time in England. You look at a lot of guys who have 1 or 2 FC games and they are often against touring teams.

Its a chance for fringe players and 2nd teamers to get a game. There is some money up for grabs but noone really cares about the games.

In a busy season noone wants their quicks pounding in and risking tiredness and injury for no good reason. These games are on a par with the County games against the Universities.

 

[Richard]

Good to hear it from such a player. But i cant believe what he says about an ECB directive to give touring sides flat pitches though. If it is true then someone needs to be sacked and replaced with someone who actually cares about the English national team.

Well, it depends, really.

I've never really liked the idea of trying to disadvantage the touring team in tour-games. I always think if you're going to try that, you might as well just refuse to schedule the damn things ITFP. Either go the whole hog and say "we're doing you no favours" or be hospitable.

If you're going to provide the help of scheduling tour-games, I think you should also basically look further in order to attempt to help the touring team get acclimatised. Allow them to use them as they'd best like.

And generally, a flat wicket is what tourists would like best, particularly right at the start. Batsmen get the chance to bat long, bowlers probably get a good few overs under their belts.

I'm always more concerned with the game itself than one particular team.