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*Official* England in South Africa Thread
- Thread starter Richard
- Start date
SpaceMonkey
International Debutant
leaving a bowler who naturally swings it into your stumps....brains!
garage flower
State Vice-Captain
Agree with most of this, but not too sure about your last point. I think "not in love with his own voice" is putting a complimentary spin on it. He didn't appear to have all that much to say and needed a lot of prompting from the likes of Gower. The odd stint when he was partnered by Willis was about as soporific as cricket commentary gets.BoyBrumby said:Just been watching the highlights on Sky. A few random observations:
1) Pollock got a absolute smeller of a decision. I rate Taufel as an ump, but SP missed the ball by a very good six inches.
2) Genius slower ball from my new fav Taff to dismiss SA's wicket-keeper (not gonna try to spell name), maybe Cairns's to Read will be shown a bit less now.
3) Said wicky is a quality keeper. When Boucher comes back it will be because of his superior batting. Is 56 extras with no byes a test record?
4) Watching Strauss at the mo is like being smacked in the face with a cricket-bat with "class" stamped on it in big letters. FEC if ever there was one. Gotta work on that pull tho!
5) Steyn's ball to bowl Vaughan was absolute Jaffa. Good length, pitched middle & leg, hit off. Too good for most batters I'd reckon. The boy will do well.
6) Smith's offies have definite potential. Admittedly getting fair bit of help from pitch, but turning it further than Ash was.
7) AD is gonna be quality commentator. Laconic, precise & not in love with his own voice or opinions.
Strauss looked rock solid throughout. Didn't look the least bit peturbed in the 2nd innings when England wobbled.
My overriding impression was that England's bowling quintet will be able to put South Africa under constant pressure during the series, whereas England's batsmen will probably be able to dominate from time to time.
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wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
It can't be bad news to win with half the side playing poorly - as long as they improve, anyway. Strauss has astounded me. As did Jones yesterday - I wonder how significant that performance will be for him personally in making that step up as a consistent test cricketer. Apparently all the other games will be played on faster tracks, which is good news if Harmy can relocate his line & length. Goodness knows what the SA side will be in Durban. On the radio, they reckoned Gibbs will be fit, which isn't what we were originally told. If so, maybe de Villiers will drop down the order & keep wicket. They were also saying Amla would play because of the large Asian contingent there, which is an interesting way of selecting a side. If Kallis can bowl, presumably either Hall or De Bruyn will go, as the clearly need a better batsman at number 6.
LongHopCassidy
International Captain
So that's 8 in a row for England.
Langeveldt
Soutie
BoyBrumby said:Just been watching the highlights on Sky. A few random observations:
1) Pollock got a absolute smeller of a decision. I rate Taufel as an ump, but SP missed the ball by a very good six inches.
2) Genius slower ball from my new fav Taff to dismiss SA's wicket-keeper (not gonna try to spell name), maybe Cairns's to Read will be shown a bit less now.
3) Said wicky is a quality keeper. When Boucher comes back it will be because of his superior batting. Is 56 extras with no byes a test record?
4) Watching Strauss at the mo is like being smacked in the face with a cricket-bat with "class" stamped on it in big letters. FEC if ever there was one. Gotta work on that pull tho!
5) Steyn's ball to bowl Vaughan was absolute Jaffa. Good length, pitched middle & leg, hit off. Too good for most batters I'd reckon. The boy will do well.
6) Smith's offies have definite potential. Admittedly getting fair bit of help from pitch, but turning it further than Ash was.
7) AD is gonna be quality commentator. Laconic, precise & not in love with his own voice or opinions.
1) agreed
2) I didnt see it as a good slower ball, it was way to slow.. Boucher would have had time to play about six shots before it reached him, and still keep it out. I thought the whole thing looked comical.
3) Thami is a quality keeper, but SA cricket is shooting itself in the foot by keeping him, his batting is such a liability, and we arent in the age where keeping alone gets you in teams
5) Steyn's looking good tbh, if he cuts down on the no balls. I rate him ahead of Nel and Hayward. I like the look of AB De Villiers too
6) Potential, yeah, but the spin cupboard is still horribly empty
7) Yep, AAD is a good, knowledgable commentator. Makes some of the channel four guys look stupid (mentioning no names). Atherton and Neil Manthorp are also impressive on the radio
Scaly piscine
Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I think unless Steyn consistently bowls well England could run away with this series, you can't get away with picking a couple of 2nd rate guys each Test to make up the quotas against England. Pollock hasn't got the pace to take lots of wickets against England in the conditions coming up, Ntini apart from when he's given free wickets will get smacked about all day. Without the dumb shots I just can't see SA bowling England out twice - then you've got SA who are gonna be under pressure no matter who is bowling.
Neil Pickup
Cricket Web Moderator
Going to cut-and-paste my match report thoughts on the way to Durban (had to write something, possibly all rubbish, but 9.4 overs - all of which I slept through - really isn't much to get my teeth into)
In a game characterised by England never being far from the driving seat, but always leaving the passenger door open, it's been typical of the side's current form that two men in particular - Strauss and Simon Jones - stood up and were counted when it really mattered. With the majority of the side putting in solid performaces, it didn't really matter that Steve Harmison had one of his worst games in the Three Lions shirt.
With the teams moving on to Durban for the Boxing Day Test, the promise of a more livelier pitch will buoy the spirits of the England seam attack as they strive to turn eight consecutive wins into nine. Mark Butcher's first innings 79, despite his second innings failure, is likely to be enough to protect him from the challenge of Robert Key.
For the hosts, Thami Tsolekile's position with the gloves will be under pressure from both opening batsman AB de Villiers and the experienced Mark Boucher, whilst question marks are appearing over Zander de Bruyn's aptitudes at Test level, with Hashim Amla waiting in the wings. Nicky Boje, sorely missed as the Port Elizabeth track began to turn, should return (injury-permitting) - with either Andrew Hall, Dale Steyn or de Bruyn possible candidates for replacement.
England will definitely be the happier party as the sides make their plans for Kingsmead, but as their skipper Michael Vaughan acknowledges, there are several areas where they need to work upon if they are to maintain the high standards set in the summer. As for South Africa, Graeme Smith summed things up well - Test matches are won and lost on the fourth and fifth days, and on the afternoon of day four, the Proteas didn't perform at the crunch.
In a game characterised by England never being far from the driving seat, but always leaving the passenger door open, it's been typical of the side's current form that two men in particular - Strauss and Simon Jones - stood up and were counted when it really mattered. With the majority of the side putting in solid performaces, it didn't really matter that Steve Harmison had one of his worst games in the Three Lions shirt.
With the teams moving on to Durban for the Boxing Day Test, the promise of a more livelier pitch will buoy the spirits of the England seam attack as they strive to turn eight consecutive wins into nine. Mark Butcher's first innings 79, despite his second innings failure, is likely to be enough to protect him from the challenge of Robert Key.
For the hosts, Thami Tsolekile's position with the gloves will be under pressure from both opening batsman AB de Villiers and the experienced Mark Boucher, whilst question marks are appearing over Zander de Bruyn's aptitudes at Test level, with Hashim Amla waiting in the wings. Nicky Boje, sorely missed as the Port Elizabeth track began to turn, should return (injury-permitting) - with either Andrew Hall, Dale Steyn or de Bruyn possible candidates for replacement.
England will definitely be the happier party as the sides make their plans for Kingsmead, but as their skipper Michael Vaughan acknowledges, there are several areas where they need to work upon if they are to maintain the high standards set in the summer. As for South Africa, Graeme Smith summed things up well - Test matches are won and lost on the fourth and fifth days, and on the afternoon of day four, the Proteas didn't perform at the crunch.
wpdavid
Hall of Fame Member
I would imagine we'll see a pretty lively track at Durban. SA must know that their best bet is to give Pollock & Ntini some help before England's batsmen and Harmison find some sort of form, so I'm expecting the greenest wicket we've seen for some time on Boxing Day.
Neil Pickup
Cricket Web Moderator
That would be a very dangerous game to play for SA - with their limited seam stocks and our four-pronged attack (at least one of whom's bound to fire) coupled to the fact that the SA batsmen in all likelihood have far less experience of 'green' tracks than England.
Given the defensive mentality that seems to permeate SA cricket as of now, I really can't see it happening.
Given the defensive mentality that seems to permeate SA cricket as of now, I really can't see it happening.
Tom Halsey
International Coach
Agreed it's only potential, but if he worked more on it, and got some accuracy, he'd be a decent bowler. He gives it some air too.Langeveldt said:
I'm very disappointed in the South Africans. Perhaps dropping Gibbs is not the way to go from here?
I really like the look of Dale Steyn. I love out-and-out fast bowlers, and that's the kind he is. The delivery with which he removed Trescothick in the first innings was amazing!
If you search on Google for "Cricket Clips", a site comes up with clips of past cricketers. I love watching the fast bowlers clips. The best ones, in my opinion, are Shoaib Akhtar clean bowling Fleming at the 99 World Cup from around the wicket and Shoaib's bouncer over Shane Watson's head and to the boundary at the Tower Challenge. Now that's pace!
I really like the look of Dale Steyn. I love out-and-out fast bowlers, and that's the kind he is. The delivery with which he removed Trescothick in the first innings was amazing!
If you search on Google for "Cricket Clips", a site comes up with clips of past cricketers. I love watching the fast bowlers clips. The best ones, in my opinion, are Shoaib Akhtar clean bowling Fleming at the 99 World Cup from around the wicket and Shoaib's bouncer over Shane Watson's head and to the boundary at the Tower Challenge. Now that's pace!
Richard Rash
U19 Cricketer
It is depressing for world cricket England doing so well. It is not good for the game at all. I hope they get a whole heap of injuries and then return as the laughing stock of cricket.. i suppose it will be inevitable as soon as they play the ashes and get demorilised and pummeled into submission by Australia. I can't wait.