***Official*** South Africa in England

[Zinzan]

Off to bed fellas...My prediction at stumps for what its worth..........SA all out for 440 and England 135/2

 

[Manee]

Would love to see Pattinson do well, for his sake, after being criticised throughout the media through no fault of his own.

 

[Manee]

It was good, yeh. Angled in to the left hander, on a line that would shave off stump and just straightened enough to take the edge. The pitch has been lively today, slightly quicker, been seaming and a hint of swing.

Correction, was a bit higher and wider than I stated.

 

[BoyBrumby]

That when it comes to selection having something that helps you stand out from the pack or makes you unique increase the chance of selection.

Sport is all about getting noticed and appearing different to the norm and the so called average. Different national origin, accent, skin colour etc all play a role in giving the player an edge in selection. It helps them stand out. There is nothing paticularly wrong with this apart from if its not noticed.

Ive benefied and been hurt by this. I can see it happening to my benefit etc.

When abilities are close its about who stands out and what names stick in your head. How 'interesting' and unusual you are really plays a role in this.

Just look at the 90s. Aus became the number 1 team in the the World and then suddenly Anglo-Aussies got better by association in the minds of the selectors. So we saw McCague, White, Mulally, Gallian, Hollioakes etc.

Fair enough, but it's always dangerous to draw general conclusions from one's own specific experience. Of the players I named how many denied better-qualified (or even equally qualified) Englishmen a position? I guess one could make cases for Read & Foster as keepers, but both have had call-ups previously (several call-ups in the former's case).

& yeah, in the 90s we selected some ordinary Aussies (although I think White's selection by Illingworth was more to do with his Yorkshire roots than his Victorian upbringing), but the most recent of their debuts was over a decade ago, which is a heck of a long time in sport. It's unfair to blame the sins of a previous regime on our current batch.

 

[Richard]

Would love to see Pattinson do well, for his sake, after being criticised throughout the media through no fault of his own.

He's not particularly been criticised - just the selectors for picking him.

I'd hate to see him do well because if he does it makes it look to those who judge selection purely on outcome like some inspired, brilliant selection, which it simply wasn't. It was a shocker, and shockers generally look better when they fail to pay-off.

 

[Manee]

He's not particularly been criticised - just the selectors for picking him.

Either way, it must be hard for him to have his name spread across back pages for the wrong reasons.

I'd hate to see him do well because if he does it makes it look to those who judge selection purely on outcome like some inspired, brilliant selection, which it simply wasn't. It was a shocker, and shockers generally look better when they fail to pay-off.

I think it is safe to say that the media are not changing their mind on this one.

 

[zaremba]

I'd hate to see him do well because if he does it makes it look to those who judge selection purely on outcome like some inspired, brilliant selection, which it simply wasn't.

Well as an England supporter I wouldn't hate to see him do well, I'd be delighted.

And if his selection proves successful I frankly couldn't care less whether it was anything more rational than a hunch.

 

[Richard]

As an England supporter I'm also concerned more about long-term than short-term. If Pattinson were to do well, that'd be him in the frame for more than this game, rather than written-off as a terrible mistake as I think it'd be so much best if he were.

If we lose this game badly rather than by a small margin, I see it as a small price to pay for learning better lessons than we otherwise would.

 

[_Ed_]

I'd suggest on the evidence of the last couple of days that the Headingley crowd may not be very generous in their applause for this hundred if he gets it.

 

[Richard]

Am wondering what the reaction would be should he be dismissed for 99 TBH.

Hope it doesn't happen obv - hate 99s, for any batsman. So untidy.

 

[zaremba]

As an England supporter I'm also concerned more about long-term than short-term. If Pattinson were to do well, that'd be him in the frame for more than this game, rather than written-off as a terrible mistake as I think it'd be so much best if he were.

I'm struggling to see any hint of logic in that. If he were to do well then we would have discovered a bowler capable of success at Test level. In which case I'd have no problem him being in the frame for more games.

 

[Natman20]

How long do I have to wait for this century before bed time...

 

[BoyBrumby]

I'm struggling to see any hint of logic in that.

Welcome to the weird & wonderful world of Richard...

ABdeV definitely coming down with a touch of the nervous 90s; been on 99 for an age.

Monty on, interesting.

 

[Richard]

100 up for ABdeV, and sure enough a round of boos to greet.

 

[Tom Halsey]

Atherton is apparently not sure why de Villiers got booed, hmm.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Big applause on the balcony but boos around the ground, it's not clear why. So he briings up 100 runs from 264 balls, the slowest of his Test hundreds


How thick are Cricinfo commentators (and Atherton too it seems)?

 

[BoyBrumby]

Atherton being slightly disingenuous there "A round of boos, I'm not sure why?". Claiming grassed catches never likely to endear a player to the opposing fans is it, Michael?

Poor show from the crowd all the same, like to think we're better than that as a nation.

Bollox. Edged & just didn't carry to Cook.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Big applause on the balcony but boos around the ground, it's not clear why. So he briings up 100 runs from 264 balls, the slowest of his Test hundreds

Ha, cricinfo have lifted that exactly word-for-word from Atherton. Tut, tut.

 

[zaremba]

I've got to admit I'm perfectly happy about ABdV getting booed. I'm disappointed that he got any runs at all in fact.

 

[Shaggy Alfresco]

I'm struggling to see any hint of logic in that. If he were to do well then we would have discovered a bowler capable of success at Test level. In which case I'd have no problem him being in the frame for more games.

Blah blah obvious fluke blah blah not test class blah blah Dominic Cork better blah blah first chance average