**Official** Afro-Asian Cup

[JASON]

Mahela continuing on from where he left at the World Cup in fine form...

This is the guy who Creamed South Africans for 370 odd ....Its not as if the guy only cashes in the subcontinent or against weak teams like some minnow bashers do...

His record in the World Cup speaks for itself.

 

[JASON]

Lack of interest by the selectors in picking the best possible Team seen quite clearly by their failure to pick the best bowler the day before Dilhara .

 

[JASON]

This African Team is a joke ...where else would you find a chap like Kemp leading a team which has 2 Morkels as their front line bowlers... What a joke...

 

[Fiery]

This African Team is a joke ...where else would you find a chap like Kemp leading a team which has 2 Morkels as their front line bowlers... What a joke...

Nobody likes a bad winner Jas

 

[pasag]

This African Team is a joke ...where else would you find a chap like Kemp leading a team which has 2 Morkels as their front line bowlers... What a joke...

They've done quite well for a joke team tbh, losing by only 34, 31 and 13 runs against a relatively star studded Asian lineup. I don't really understand this post tbh.

 

[JASON]

Nobody likes a bad winner Jas

 

[JASON]

They've done quite well for a joke team tbh, losing by only 34, 31 and 13 runs against a relatively star studded Asian lineup. I don't really understand this post tbh.

That's another joke ..... if you want to call them a star studded line up...

It had stars but that does not mean its star studded ....some of them just got there by accident or because they just happened to be nearby...

The stars in African line up were fewer ....but neither of these teams would be considered a star studded line-up , IMO.... that's a real exaggeration if you ask me...

 

[pasag]

That's another joke ..... if you want to call them a star studded line up...

It had stars but that does not mean its star studded ....some of them just got there by accident or because they just happened to be nearby...

The stars in African line up were fewer ....but neither of these teams would be considered a star studded line-up , IMO.... that's a real exaggeration if you ask me...

Note the word relatively Jason and I italicised it for a reason that you seemed to completely miss.

 

[JASON]

They've done quite well for a joke team tbh, losing by only 34, 31 and 13 runs against a relatively star studded Asian lineup. I don't really understand this post tbh.

ODI cricket is a great leveller in that a very strong team can play a moderately weak team but still win by margins that don't seem like a thrashing....34 and 31 runs are huge margins in Terms of ODIs ... that just 3 overs or 4 overs difference.

More than that if you never looked like getting near the opposition score most of the game , the end result may in fact lie by narrowing the difference and make it look like a evener contest than it really was...

Did Africa ever look like they were going to win any of the ODIs after the first innings ? the answer is no....there rests my case.

 

[pasag]

ODI cricket is a great leveller in that a very strong team can play a moderately weak team but still win by margins that don't seem like a thrashing....34 and 31 runs are huge margins in Terms of ODIs ... that just 3 overs or 4 overs difference.

More than that if you never looked like getting near the opposition score most of the game , the end result may in fact lie by narrowing the difference and make it look like a evener contest than it really was...

Did Africa ever look like they were going to win any of the ODIs after the first innings ? the answer is no....there rests my case.

It doesn't really, Asia were the better team and they won all matches and deserved to. But really, they should have thrashed Africa and Africa did very well to get so close and could have conceivably won any of the matches. That's not the point though, I'm just confused as to why you are calling them a joke when they did so well, and if you followed the games they did do quite well getting past 300 in a second innings twice and 280 in the first match. That's great stuff chasing really, so for you to start calling them a joke is really quite unfair when looking at their performances. I agree with you that their lineup was a joke looking at the names, but their performances (with the bat at least) weren't.

And reversed, if they are such a joke, what does that say about the opposition who conceded 907 runs in 3 ODIs to them?

 

[Raghav]

They look good for the first ten overs of the second inngs in two occasions

 

[Raghav]

Did Africa ever look like they were going to win any of the ODIs after the first innings ? the answer is no....there rests my case.[/QUOTE]

Yes they looked winning for the first ten overs of their secind inngs

 

[honestbharani]

I was really impressed with Morne Morkel.

He seems to have the whole package. Good height, nice, easy paced action with control over where he lands the ball, good pace, generates good bounce, has a good bouncer and yorker and seems to be able to swing it a bit both ways, hits the seam when he wants to....

I think he will be a real blue chipper for RSA in years to come as a bowler.


HOw good is his batting and fielding? I know he thrashed India once, but it is Indian bowling and so I don't want to read much into it.

 

[Nishant]

I was really impressed with Morne Morkel.

He seems to have the whole package. Good height, nice, easy paced action with control over where he lands the ball, good pace, generates good bounce, has a good bouncer and yorker and seems to be able to swing it a bit both ways, hits the seam when he wants to....

I think he will be a real blue chipper for RSA in years to come as a bowler.


HOw good is his batting and fielding? I know he thrashed India once, but it is Indian bowling and so I don't want to read much into it.

fair enough!

 

[sohummisra]

I couldn't follow this series completely, unfortunatley, but I managed to catch bits and pieces of it. Was quite impressed in the end by the African's performance and I would really like to see what it would be like if they had batted first. While it's easy to point at the teamsheet and claim it's a joke, you have to keep in mind that given that many of the cricketers on the team weren't first-team cricketers for their countries and also that they wouldn't have been used to the crushing heat and humidity in Chennai. I think we could have seen an upset if Africa had won a toss or two and had a bat, first up.

Overall, it seemed more like a warm-up series for the Asian teams some of whom are heading into tough tours. There was still some good cricket played, though, and Dhoni continued to show that he is a big resource in the subcontinent.

 

[sohummisra]

What a horrible thing to say, Asif is already a better bowler than Pathan and has only played a handful of matches.

Asif is no doubt a great bowler but his career is too short to judge him, I feel. Pathan started off being India's Wasim Akram but where is he now?

 

[sohummisra]

Fair play to Dhoni and Mahela but it is hard to consider they will score another century as easy as the ones they scored today.

I guess as long as they stay away from Zimbabwe and Kenya. Not to mention Dhoni'll be playing Ireland shortly.

 

[Perm]

Asif is no doubt a great bowler but his career is too short to judge him, I feel. Pathan started off being India's Wasim Akram but where is he now?

Pathan was never India's "answer" to Wasim Akram, the idea that he was came almost exclusively from the Indian cricket media who seen a left arm bowler who could swing the ball and hold the bat. Already it is clear that Mohammad Asif has the tools to be a very good Test bowler with the movement he can get both through the air and off the pitch with his accuracy an added bonus.

 

[Perm]

I guess as long as they stay away from Zimbabwe and Kenya. Not to mention Dhoni'll be playing Ireland shortly.

I doubt Mahendra Singh Dhoni will get much of a chance against Ireland actually, the top order will more than likely score most of the runs and he will only make little cameos. Unless India choose to open with him, which would be a foolish idea, then he shouldn't get a bat against Ireland.

 

[JASON]

Why is this still a sticky thread ?