*Official* England in South Africa

[Furball]

Wait, so jboss is moaning about quotas, Kolpaks etc, yet he himself doesn't live in South Africa? Am I not alone in seeing the irony in that?

 

[Nate]

AB

 

[King Pietersen]

ABDV is such an awesome player. He's really going to batter us in the Test series. Surprised to see no sixes in his innings, or in SA's as a whole so far. I imagine that'll change in the next 6 overs. Be amazed if we get anywhere near chasing this score down. Going to need Pietersen or Trott to play a De Villiers-esque innings.

 

[popepouri]

I vote for AB to never take the gloves...ever.

 

[Uppercut]

That including domestic?

No no, just ODIs. Only includes games between two test nations, ftr.

It's not actually thirteen in a row for the toss-winner though. Ricky Ponting pulled the schoolboy error of fielding first in this match, before collapsing to Nicky Boje. The last test side to lose batting first was South Africa in this match nine and a half years ago.

You still get remarkably good value on the toss-winner though. D/N ODIs are the only area I've found since I've been old enough to gamble where I know that I definitely have a big edge on the bookies. Gutted I missed this one.

 

[kingkallis]

i vote for ab to never take the gloves...ever.

+1

 

[wpdavid]

Eng will continue to be a middling ODI team until they find some bowlers

They have some good batsmen who'll win them some games but with this attack, you'd fancy more days like this I'm afraid

Yup. Poor bowling's a bigger factor today than losing the toss imo.
And tbf the Saffers have batted beautifully.

SA by 100+ afaics.

 

[Uppercut]

Jeez, AB De Villiers is seriously destructive when he gets going. Reminds me of that IPL game where he hit a century.

 

[kingkallis]

29 fours and no SIX

That shows how dominantly SAF have batted! Amazing knock by ABdV!

Alviro Peterson looks a very good player, he has a very balanced head on this strong shoulders!

 

[kingkallis]

So jboss's favorite 'food' is there! Bouch

 

[Prince EWS]

No no, just ODIs. Only includes games between two test nations, ftr.

It's not actually thirteen in a row for the toss-winner though. Ricky Ponting pulled the schoolboy error of fielding first in this match, before collapsing to Nicky Boje. The last test side to lose batting first was South Africa in this match nine and a half years ago.

You still get remarkably good value on the toss-winner though. D/N ODIs are the only area I've found since I've been old enough to gamble where I know that I definitely have a big edge on the bookies. Gutted I missed this one.

Haha, I'm actually pretty sure I've benefited from your system a lot more than you have; you seem to forget a lot of the time. I'll remind you next time.

 

[King Pietersen]

Heh, who'd have thought it. Tim Bresnan's our best death bowler...

 

[Uppercut]

Yup. Poor bowling's a bigger factor today than losing the toss imo.
And tbf the Saffers have batted beautifully.

SA by 100+ afaics.

They have been, yeah. I wonder how heavily the history of the ground impacts visiting teams now. When you come to a ground where the toss-winner never loses and the toss-winner seems to always be South Africa, it must be hard to keep your team's heads from dropping when they get off to a half-decent start.

 

[Uppercut]

Haha, I'm actually pretty sure I've benefited from your system a lot more than you have; you seem to forget a lot of the time. I'll remind you next time.

Haha yeah. And on one of the few times I did remember, NZ managed to out-crap the toss at Colombo during the Compaq Cup. Recouped the losses a few days later on India at the same ground, but was still raging.

 

[kingkallis]

Finally the 1st SIX and thats some shot!

Oh wait thats Boucher!

 

[wpdavid]

They have been, yeah. I wonder how heavily the history of the ground impacts visiting teams now. When you come to a ground where the toss-winner never loses and the toss-winner seems to always be South Africa, it must be hard to keep your team's heads from dropping when they get off to a half-decent start.

Maybe. Strauss was certainly aware of the importance of the toss when interviewed yesterday. And he must be aware that his attack isn't the greatest. I suppose he figures that there will be times when they get a good caning, but he also knows SA can collapse sometimes - shades of the recent Ashes, I suppose.

 

[Jono]

Haha yeah. And on one of the few times I did remember, NZ managed to out-crap the toss at Colombo during the Compaq Cup. Recouped the losses a few days later on India at the same ground, but was still raging.

Yeah its a good strategy, but you have to do it in matches where the dew doesn't have the opposite effect right?

 

[wpdavid]

So to put this in context, what's the usual first innings score in onedayers here?

 

[Uppercut]

Maybe. Strauss was certainly aware of the importance of the toss when interviewed yesterday. And he must be aware that his attack isn't the greatest. I suppose he figures that there will be times when they get a good caning, but he also knows SA can collapse sometimes - shades of the recent Ashes, I suppose.

Yeah, England certainly have what it takes to compete with South Africa. Beating them six times in a row proved that. There are a lot of doubters, there always is in English cricket, but I think Strauss knows they have what it takes to win the series.

They need a few things to go their way though, and today, the big one didn't.

 

[wpdavid]

I see that Anderson only sent down seven overs today - at a tick under 8 a time. That's pretty shocking for the so-called leader of the attack who's played 118 of these games.

EDIT
And Broad's just picked up his 3rd wicket - a tad flattering, but he's kept going rather better than his senior partner.