*Official* England in South Africa 2020

[BoyBrumby]

Jeez. Too close to cut that, Jase.

Roy seems a trifle skittish, but that sweep will hopefully settle him down.

 

[BoyBrumby]

This is quick, quick stuff from Nortje.

Bit too rapid for Malan. Looks like that one caught him right in the orchestra stalls.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Smart bowling from Shamsi, that. Saw Buttler coming and turned one back through the gate.

 

[chris.hinton]

England havent played that well in this series but we are 2-0 up. I feel South Africa haven't got that much more to give

Great stuff

 

[theegyptian]

Looks like both games we could have done with a second spin option. That's certainly an issue going forward if they aren't going to pick Ali (or Root) in these kind of conditions. Don't really have any other options right now.

Feels like this is an average South Africa and if we intend to challenge for the World t20s we really need to be playing better than we've shown in these games.

 

[grecian]

Looks like both games we could have done with a second spin option. That's certainly an issue going forward if they aren't going to pick Ali (or Root) in these kind of conditions. Don't really have any other options right now.

Feels like this is an average South Africa and if we intend to challenge for the World t20s we really need to be playing better than we've shown in these games.

We do kinda know England aren't that great on poor batting pitches, and leaving out Root isn't helping that, Roy would miss out for me, but it goes against our ethos and tbf it's a philosophy that has done okay for us.

 

[SeamUp]

And this RSA batting is managing to surpass my expectations in its dour- and direness.

It is so bad bar QdK and Faf. Such a massive drop off to the rest.

It lacks power, dynamism, flair, x-factor, flexibility. So much.

 

[StephenZA]

It is so bad bar QdK and Faf. Such a massive drop off to the rest.

It lacks power, dynamism, flair, x-factor, flexibility. So much.

I am not going to even blame the players. This is truly terrible selection, and anybody who knows anything about SA cricket knows that. I don't know what the purpose of the SA squad is at the moment but it is certainly not going to build SA cricket back up to strength and not going to win bugger all.

 

[Dendarii]

I don't know what the purpose of the SA squad is at the moment

If the purpose was to meet quotas then I wouldn't be happy, but at least I'd understand the bigger picture. But they've picked two teams with six white players, so it's not even that.

 

[Heboric]

If the purpose was to meet quotas then I wouldn't be happy, but at least I'd understand the bigger picture. But they've picked two teams with six white players, so it's not even that.

I just dont agree with team gymnastics so that some fat cat polictician is happy at the trough

 

[StephenZA]

These particular problems have nothing to do with the external politics. This has to do with 'sunken cost' the selectors and Boucher/Smith went this route a year ago and now want 'patience' while these players come good. But really these players where never good enough so all we doing at the moment is treading water (and sinking a bit) while not making headway in any direction. As long as the selectors and administration are not brave enough to move on and start the rebuilding properly, SA are going nowhere fast.

 

[Heboric]

Well whatever they are doing it is not in the best interest of the team. Its not as if they asked AB to come back - which could be seen as problematic if they did

 

[Nintendo]

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...d-test-south-africa-tour-of-australia-1997-98 just looking at some old scorecards and saw the batdeep on this sa lineup, #11 averages 28 and has a test 100.

 

[honestbharani]

hahaha.. he batted #6 in the second innings too.

 

[SeamUp]

These particular problems have nothing to do with the external politics. This has to do with 'sunken cost' the selectors and Boucher/Smith went this route a year ago and now want 'patience' while these players come good. But really these players where never good enough so all we doing at the moment is treading water (and sinking a bit) while not making headway in any direction. As long as the selectors and administration are not brave enough to move on and start the rebuilding properly, SA are going nowhere fast.

Don't want to make excuses but "balancing" squads can't be easy either.

No way should Reeza Hendricks ( a top order bat) have replaced Pite van Biljon yesterday for example. We crying out for batsmen who can lose their shape and hit boundaries from the get-go.

Nortje missed out first game because of it.

 

[Dendarii]

Don't want to make excuses but "balancing" squads can't be easy either.

No way should Reeza Hendricks ( a top order bat) have replaced Pite van Biljon yesterday for example. We crying out for batsmen who can lose their shape and hit boundaries from the get-go.

Nortje missed out first game because of it.

Phehlukwayo not being available has hurt us in that regard. Admittedly, coming in at 6 is possibly slightly too high for him, but he is someone who can find the boundary, gives us another bowling option, and ticks the transformation box.

 

[SeamUp]

Phehlukwayo not being available has hurt us in that regard. Admittedly, coming in at 6 is possibly slightly too high for him, but he is someone who can find the boundary, gives us another bowling option, and ticks the transformation box.

I rate Andile but he is a player that needs to start stepping up. Particularly with the bat.

I think his bowling makes an important contribution with change-ups and pace-off and he is what he is there.

Right now I think Shamsi is showing a good upward trajectory out of the shadow of Tahir. We need Phehlukwayo to become more of a match winner ?

 

[StephenZA]

Unfortunately Andile can't replace a batsmen in the side, he would have to replace Nortje, Ngidi or Linde. All of whom are doing pretty well at the moment. Bowling is not our issue really, not perfect, but doing a decent job.

 

[Dendarii]

I rate Andile but he is a player that needs to start stepping up. Particularly with the bat.

I definitely agree with you. He's shown that he has the ability to do it, but he needs to be more consistent.

Right now I think Shamsi is showing a good upward trajectory out of the shadow of Tahir.

Shamsi looks like he's benefitting from getting an extended run in the side and not coming in just when they want to give Tahir a break. But since batting is our concern, can we really afford to play Nortje, Ngidi, Rabada, and Shamsi together? If we want two spinners then should they be Linde and Maharaj given that Maharaj offers more with the bat than Shamsi?

The long tail isn't a new problem as none of our batsmen being able to bowl and none of our bowlers being able to bat has been an issue for quite some time. You might be able to get away with it if you have a stellar batting line-up that's almost always going to come off, but we're a long way from that.

 

[Heboric]

I definitely agree with you. He's shown that he has the ability to do it, but he needs to be more consistent.



Shamsi looks like he's benefitting from getting an extended run in the side and not coming in just when they want to give Tahir a break. But since batting is our concern, can we really afford to play Nortje, Ngidi, Rabada, and Shamsi together? If we want two spinners then should they be Linde and Maharaj given that Maharaj offers more with the bat than Shamsi?

The long tail isn't a new problem as none of our batsmen being able to bowl and none of our bowlers being able to bat has been an issue for quite some time. You might be able to get away with it if you have a stellar batting line-up that's almost always going to come off, but we're a long way from that.

This is where the problem of 'forced' team gymnastics comes in. Where we have the players, but not the right players