Best South African to play test cricket for England ?

[CricAddict]

I initially thought it would be worth a go if we include people who came to England when they were young boys.
Then it got tricky at numbers 2 & 5 and finding any bowlers apart from Tom Curran. Although I've probably forgotten some obvious candidates.


1. Strauss
2. Maybe C. Smith
3. Trott
4. KP
5. R. Smith / D'Oliveira / Lamb
6. T. Greig
7. Prior
8. I. Greig
9. Curran
10. & 11. - No idea


EDIT
I don't think there have been any other England bowlers that were born in SA.
If it helps, Pringle, Edmonds and Radford were born in Kenya or Zambia respectively.

Hick can find a place if we include Zimbabwe. Add Ballance and the above players and we have a potential 'Best Rest of Africa players to play Tests for England' thread in future.

 

[Dendarii]

Abbott had very legitimate reasons to complain about the quota system. Rossouw less so, but to my knowledge neither attributed leaving to quotas- both cited financial security.

Except that last bit gets overlooked because it doesn't fit the "quotas are driving players away" narrative.

It wasn't quotas that kept Abbott out of the test side - it was Steyn, Philander, Morkel, and Rabada. The reality is that the South African team was a tough one to break into, and both players were the first one in when an injury occurred, only to be dropped once the injured player came back. Can they really be blamed for looking elsewhere under those circumstances, whether or not quotas also played a role in their decision to leave?

 

[Prince EWS]

Greig for mine. Pietersen was obviously the better batsman but I think Greigy's bowling more than accounted for that difference. No-one else is really even in the running.

 

[Bolo]

Except that last bit gets overlooked because it doesn't fit the "quotas are driving players away" narrative.

It wasn't quotas that kept Abbott out of the test side - it was Steyn, Philander, Morkel, and Rabada. The reality is that the South African team was a tough one to break into, and both players were the first one in when an injury occurred, only to be dropped once the injured player came back. Can they really be blamed for looking elsewhere under those circumstances, whether or not quotas also played a role in their decision to leave?

Abbott got left out of the WC semi on quotas (dropped in great form for a semi-injured Philander on directive from minister of sports). He has a legitimate grievance with the quota system, but I'm not sure it played any role in him leaving. He got offered a county contract and wanted a central RSA contract to stay for comparable financial security, which he hadn't really earned, quotas or no. His decision made a lot of sense from a financial perspective as there was always a chance his international career would be done in a year or 2, quotas or no.

Rossouw is an odd one. He would definitely have gotten a lot more game time if he had stayed. Showcasing his talent at international level would likely have led to some lucrative IPL contracts, and he would have ended up richer than from playing county cricket. Financial security vs greater earnings potential. No quotas there, just someone playing it safe financially.

 

[the big bambino]

Gee I'm recalling Abbott in great form about that time and the big 3 being a bit fragile with their fitness. I reckon he earned that upgrade and if they really wanted to keep him they should have offered it.

 

[Prince EWS]

The controversy over Abbott lied mainly with his ODI selection in the World Cup, particularly when Philander was selected ahead of him in that semi-final (I think?) despite only being half-fit. Quotas never really impacted his Test chances, but that World Cup incident didn't help given he was clearly not first choice in the Test side.

EDIT: I see someone already made pretty much this exact post two posts above mine now, lol.

 

[R!TTER]

Abbott got left out of the WC semi on quotas (dropped in great form for a semi-injured Philander on directive from minister of sports). He has a legitimate grievance with the quota system, but I'm not sure it played any role in him leaving. He got offered a county contract and wanted a central RSA contract to stay for comparable financial security, which he hadn't really earned, quotas or no. His decision made a lot of sense from a financial perspective as there was always a chance his international career would be done in a year or 2, quotas or no.

Rossouw is an odd one. He would definitely have gotten a lot more game time if he had stayed. Showcasing his talent at international level would likely have led to some lucrative IPL contracts, and he would have ended up richer than from playing county cricket. Financial security vs greater earnings potential. No quotas there, just someone playing it safe financially.

In both cases an IPL contract would've secured their future & ensured they get to play for SA, on & off. The SF fix was a major letdown though, no way Philander makes SA 2nd X! in ODI & Kyle was in red hot form in the QF, I'd say the quotas robbed SA (plus AB) a chance at WC glory. There's really no turning the wheels back on that one, the people in charge at that time should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

 

[Bolo]

I'd say Rossouw had a good shot at multiple big IPL contracts. Abbott not so much, he's more of a test player.

I don't particularly like the quota system, and think numbers are a bit too high, but I don't particularly mind it either. What hurt about that match was that it wasn't actually even quotas, which weren't really in place at that point- it was an order to play a particular crap player at the expense of a good one, and it probably cost the match.

As for a chance at going for WC glory, I think it robbed AB of the chance, but not RSA. AUS was a much stronger team, and if AB failed, we probably would have lost. He wasn't exactly making a habit of failing in that WC though.

 

[Top_Cat]

KP for me. Greig superb as player and skipper, though.

 

[RK_123]

Kp