Well that isn’t going to happen. He said he would take the gloves if given them, he just doesn’t want them but what he wants is irrelevant. South Africa can improve their top order ten fold by giving him the gloves and that’s what should happen.
Which fast bowlers would replace Morkel and Ntini?
Do you mean by bringing Prince in?
Tsotsobe would be the natural choice but his injured so **** knows. There is a couple of kids with potential (Parnell, Alexander, de Villiers) but no one else looks to be test class and de Wet is just coming back from a serious injury.
I think you're presuming he'd bat as well if he had to keep.
If de Villiers batted at #7 to accommodate Prince their batting would be stronger. With Smith out and McKenzie on the brink of banishment forever, their opening situation looks in big trouble. This may skittle such plans to move de Villiers to take the gloves. But I would think A.Morkel in for the third test might be ok. He seems to play cricket with a lot more competitiveness and passion than his giant sibling.
Prince will comeback for Smith but if AB was given the gloves full-time, South Africa's top order could look something like this...
Do you remember if he said anything about KP?
Neither is Prior, Haddin, Dhoni et cetera. He would do a job (a good one) and would bat at 7, so it’s not going to affect his batting because his coming in so low and he has a decent rep of batting well with the tail.
All of them are better 'keepers than AB, though.
De Villiers is a much better keeper than Prior.
Don't mind Botha as a cricketer in the sense that I think he cops too much flack given his overall contribution, but he shouldn't play ahead of Harris or Tahir within the current context of the team. If Ntini and Morkel were more consistent you'd think about the extra batting someone like Botha could provide but they need another genuine bowler and he's not as good as the other two on bowling alone.I haven't looked at his recent domestic first class form but is their any possibility at all that Johan Botha could be brought into the squad?
His leadership and lower order batting could be of some use. Doubt it will happen, just a thought.
>implying Prior can keep better than a brick wall with gloves stapled to it
Not from what I've seen. At worst, they were on par, in my view. Not denigrating De Villiers, per se; he's just so good an athlete, he can do pretty much anything. But to be SA's regular 'keeper? Takes too much from one strong area to paper over another for mine.
Prior has nothing on AB.
