***Official*** South Africa in England

[Richard]

What's wrong with...

Paul Horton (873 runs @ 62.35)
Stephen Moore (917 runs @ 53.94)
Ravi Bopara (961 runs @ 53.38 and 23 wkts @ 26.82)
Matt Prior (804 runs @ 47.29)

Horton is the only one of those I'd hope might one day play for England. Bopara too, but not again any time too soon.

 

[Uppercut]

Ditto.

That's no excuse for the fact that several England batsmen have been poor.

They're not lose-by-ten-wickets poor. But they're not as good as the SA lineup.

 

[Richard]

Rain? WTF?

You're familiar with western Europe?

It rains here, y'know.

 

[Steulen]

Bad last ball of the first over, allowing McKenzie a leg-side single to retain the strike.

 

[Richard]

They're not lose-by-ten-wickets poor. But they're not as good as the SA lineup.

Michael Vaughan, Ian Bell and yes, even Kevin Pietersen, should all have done better than they have so far. Alastair Cook too to an extent.

Obviously Strauss has had a bad decision once and stepped on his stumps once, so he's not quite in the same boat, but stepping on your stumps is even more unforgiveable than any other way of being out. It's so careless.

 

[Richard]

Sidebottom has to be able to get McKenzie here. And Harris, well, he should be a sitting-duck.

Always lip-smacking to see inswing like this.

Wrong line there though.

 

[Uppercut]

At least now we know why Paul Harris is in the side. Every team needs a **** but jammy night watchman to hang around like a turd that won't flush.

 

[Steulen]

Mckenzie off to a flyer, surprisingly. Or maybe the England bowlers are just following the batsmen's lead.

 

[Zinzan]

Honestly, some people's ability to spell the simple name Nasser Hussain as Nassar Hussein is ridiculous.

Looks like rain isn't far away again BTW.

Honestly, ridiculous that people would go out of their way to correct a minor spelling error unless of course they cared about their post numbers.

 

[Richard]

Honestly, ridiculous that people would go out of their way to correct a minor spelling error unless of course they cared about their post numbers.

It irritates me when people misspell names, and I'll always correct it. And no, I don't care in the slightest for post numbers. It's hardly like 1 post makes the slightest difference to me anyway is it?

Rain is a strange thing. On come the covers, and the rain stops.

 

[Steulen]

You're familiar with western Europe?

It rains here, y'know.

Hah, tell me about it.

Had my mind set on fair summer weather so was taken by surprise just this once. Won't happen again, promise.

 

[tooextracool]

I do feel that currently Sidebottom > Hoggard (though that certainly hasn't been true for most of their careers until very recently) but also, to suggest that Monty Panesar is a better bowler than him under more circumstances than not is mad.

The more I watch of Sidebottom, the less convinced Ive got regarding his bowling ability. Ive never been entirely convinced about Sidebottom anyways, but I cant seem him getting wickets when the ball isnt swinging. Hoggard is, was and probably will always be a better bowler than Sidebottom but the only reason why Sidebottom will get selected is because he swings the ball the other way.

 

[Richard]

Hah, tell me about it.

Had my mind set on fair summer weather so was taken by surprise just this once. Won't happen again, promise.

Due back on in a few minutes, but as I say - not terribly optimistic we'll get all that much play today. It never seems all that long between showers.

Shaun Pollock mentioning how Paul Collingwood would like to take 5 wickets. That truly would create one of the most odd scenarios ever. Broad, picked for his bowling, has his batting keeping him in the picture. Collingwood, picked for his batting, has his bowling doing so.

You just wouldn't know what to think there.

 

[Richard]

Anderson on instead of Sidebottom. Can't say I like that much ITBT, but obviously you never want to write Anderson off in these sorts of conditions.

 

[Steulen]

Due back on in a few minutes, but as I say - not terribly optimistic we'll get all that much play today. It never seems all that long between showers.

Shaun Pollock mentioning how Paul Collingwood would like to take 5 wickets. That truly would create one of the most odd scenarios ever. Broad, picked for his bowling, has his batting keeping him in the picture. Collingwood, picked for his batting, has his bowling doing so.

You just wouldn't know what to think there.

Pollock hasn't been the most inspirational of pundits so far, to say the least.

Top bloke, though. Would do well in the England dressing room

 

[andruid]

Due back on in a few minutes, but as I say - not terribly optimistic we'll get all that much play today. It never seems all that long between showers.

Shaun Pollock mentioning how Paul Collingwood would like to take 5 wickets. That truly would create one of the most odd scenarios ever. Broad, picked for his bowling, has his batting keeping him in the picture. Collingwood, picked for his batting, has his bowling doing so.

You just wouldn't know what to think there.

I woukd just point and laugh

 

[andruid]

Due back on in a few minutes, but as I say - not terribly optimistic we'll get all that much play today. It never seems all that long between showers.

Shaun Pollock mentioning how Paul Collingwood would like to take 5 wickets. That truly would create one of the most odd scenarios ever. Broad, picked for his bowling, has his batting keeping him in the picture. Collingwood, picked for his batting, has his bowling doing so.

You just wouldn't know what to think there.

I would just point and laugh

 

[Richard]

I woukd just point and laugh

I would just point and laugh

Interesting way of correcting a typo. Anderson far, far too wide that over. And Sidebottom still not on. Not sorry to see Flintoff bowling, is the perfect chance for him to demonstrate that he can use conventional swing, and he's doing it well so far.

But I'd much prefer Sidebottom to Anderson. Sidebottom went for a few in his 1 over, but he did it because he was making the batsmen play. Anderson in his 1 so far the exact opposite.

 

[tooextracool]

But I'd much prefer Sidebottom to Anderson. Sidebottom went for a few in his 1 over, but he did it because he was making the batsmen play. Anderson in his 1 so far the exact opposite.

He also did it by bowling 2 rank poor balls down the leg side and being well below pace.

 

[Richard]

2? There was 1. The other was taken straight off middle and would have been plumb lbw had it been missed.

Anderson bowling a no-ball - that's an extreme rarity.

But the only ball of his spell so far that has raised a stroke has been a short ball smashed for four through mid-wicket. Nothing I hate more than seeing perfect swinging conditions wasted by bowling too wide. Anderson needs to get right on the edge of the crease here IMO, angle it in as much as he can.