*Official* England in South Africa

[silentstriker]

Id love to know what hey see the role of Rashid as. Do they see him as a batsman that can bowl (ie top order), a young legspinner that has the bonus of batting, a player that can do a bit of both and could bat at 7 or 8 and add depth to both areas or just as a young kid brought along for the experience without any role or expectations?

I hope he can turn into a) but it doesnt seem they have a lot of faith in him at the moment and I dont think he should be included in the squad. The callup of Carberry makes the selection of non-specialist bats like Wright and Rashid look silly.

According to cricinfo there is now a 19 man squad

Surely they would be hoping for either (b) or (c).

 

[silentstriker]

Also I notice he took five wickets in the first innings in his last FC outing, including the wicket of Laxman.

I'm wondering how his bowling has looked in FC cricket over the past year? Swann is doing well, so I don't think they should be in any hurry to bring him up to the Test squad anytime soon.

 

[Goughy]

Surely they would be hoping for either (b) or (c).

God no. A) would be perfect. Would make England an amazing team if he could bat in the top 6 and do a good job. A top 6, Prior at 7, Swann at 8 and Broad at 9. Bat down to 9 and have 3 seamers and 2 spinners. Perfection. His priority should be his batting right now.

Also I notice he took five wickets in the first innings in his last FC outing, including the wicket of Laxman.

I'm wondering how his bowling has looked in FC cricket over the past year? Swann is doing well, so I don't think they should be in any hurry to bring him up to the Test squad anytime soon.

He also scored 150 odd not out in his last FC innings

Whilst he still bats low for Yorkshire there are some more favourable reports about his batting than his bowling.

 

[tooextracool]

Yes, the number of bowlers struck me when I looked at the squad that Goughy posted. All being well, there will be five who don't play a single test, which is surely excessive, even allowing for the fact that two of them weren't originally selected.

Would think, the ideal squad would have been 7 bats, 2 keepers, 2 tweakers, and 4-5 fast men. I am not sure what Wright counts as, although it seems to me that they have put him in a separate category as all rounder even though he is far from it. Honestly, if Swann is injured, will England really play Tredwell or Rashid? They might just be better off picking the likes of Sidebottom.

 

[grecian]

I'm very hopeful that Adil can turn into a top six bat, that bowls when conditions suit. I'd much rather he spent time at the crease in first-class matches then be called up for silly one-day tourneys, where he's not any good.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Zondeki has had lots of injuries and ups and down in terms of form. He is still around playing cricket and the selectors will be keeping half an eye on him.

Langeveldt is 35 yrs old now and not a viable Test option unless a shortterm replacement

Parnell will have a future and his time will come in Test cricket.

I agree with you that the bowling was the main issue. There are issues with Ntini and Morkel and (as Ive said for a long time) I dont think Steyn is as good as some people think.

This is a pretty weak SA team and the fact it was towards the top of the world ranking shows we are in a period of pretty weak Test teams but we have parity that ensures close fought series.

Parnell is what 20/21? There is no right age to be ready.. There is a lad who is 17 and is taking 5 wickets against Australia. South Africa need to be a bit more brave here.
De Wet has to play..he is picking up wickets..he should be playing
Also I think people are being a bit harsh on Morkel. I find him impressive..I saw him in England in 08 and looked pretty good to me.

 

[Briony]

Parnell is what 20/21? There is no right age to be ready.. There is a lad who is 17 and is taking 5 wickets against Australia. South Africa need to be a bit more brave here.
De Wet has to play..he is picking up wickets..he should be playing
Also I think people are being a bit harsh on Morkel. I find him impressive..I saw him in England in 08 and looked pretty good to me.

Morkel's problem is when he appears to be bowling really well he doesn't take wickets. It doesn't help he's part of a weak attack. Ntini is gone, while Steyn looks super flat and ineffectual. Harris is struggling to contain while Kallis's best days with the ball are behind him. Parnell may not be quite ready for five day cricket but de Wet deserves another go. There appears to be a shortage of quality seam bowlers in SA compared with in other countries.

 

[mdoggie]

Parnell is what 20/21? There is no right age to be ready.. There is a lad who is 17 and is taking 5 wickets against Australia. South Africa need to be a bit more brave here.
De Wet has to play..he is picking up wickets..he should be playing
Also I think people are being a bit harsh on Morkel. I find him impressive..I saw him in England in 08 and looked pretty good to me.

Parnell has had a poor first class career. He needs to mature before he becomes a threat at first class level, never mind Test level. Not all bowlers mature as young as Aamir, some take longer, especially with the discipline that is required for test cricket.

 

[Briony]

Parnell has had a poor first class career. He needs to mature before he becomes a threat at first class level, never mind Test level. Not all bowlers mature as young as Aamir, some take longer, especially with the discipline that is required for test cricket.

Apparently Aamir's age has now been confirmed as nineteen.

 

[wpdavid]

I'm very hopeful that Adil can turn into a top six bat, that bowls when conditions suit. I'd much rather he spent time at the crease in first-class matches then be called up for silly one-day tourneys, where he's not any good.

Certainly agree with your last point. As for Rashid's batting, where does he come in for Yorkshire nowadays? I don't think he could ne considered as a specialist bat for England if he isn't in Yorkshire's top 5, preferably their top 4. And scoring hugely, of course.

 

[zaremba]

God no. A) would be perfect. Would make England an amazing team if he could bat in the top 6 and do a good job. A top 6, Prior at 7, Swann at 8 and Broad at 9. Bat down to 9 and have 3 seamers and 2 spinners. Perfection. His priority should be his batting right now.

Yes it would be great, and imho he has the ability to become a genuine batsman. However the one note of caution is that legspinners who don't focus on their legspin do tend to become pants very quickly.

 

[Pizzorno]

Got in early this morning after a heavy night on the booze and for some reason I decided to bang on the highlights of day 4 of the second Test. Made me proud to be English as the cricket team so often does to be honest. Haven't really reflected on our win the other day yet (which i'm still convinced they only won because it was my birthday) but it's moment like this that make it so amazing to be an England fan.

I'm not getting sentimental or anything, i've just got a stinkin' hangover and typing helps ease the pain somewhat. I'm just hoping we don't do our usual England thing of getting battered after a win. Oh yeah, and SWANNEH NUMBER 3 IN THE WORLD BABEHH!!!!

 

[silentstriker]

Yes it would be great, and imho he has the ability to become a genuine batsman. However the one note of caution is that legspinners who don't focus on their legspin do tend to become pants very quickly.

Yea, actually, I always felt someone like Tendulkar could have focused on his bowling much more and became a better player. He had many of the basic attributes required to become a good spinner.

 

[aussie]

HA, didn't realise that Bell's score was reduced to 140. Missed that..

 

[GIMH]

It was done overnight on day four apparently.

 

[zaremba]

Can't help wondering whether they would have done that if he had made precisely 100 - even more so if England had declared with him on 100 not out.

 

[UncleTheOne]

Yes it would be great, and imho he has the ability to become a genuine batsman. However the one note of caution is that legspinners who don't focus on their legspin do tend to become pants very quickly.

ain't that the truth. he only needs to look across his county dressing room to see jacques rudolph as living proof.

 

[Goughy]

ain't that the truth. he only needs to look across his county dressing room to see jacques rudolph as living proof.

I know the case of Rudolph pretty well. He lost it after coaching and trying to change some things technically with his bowling. It wasnt as if he 'gave up' because of his batting. He gave up because he lost it and concentrated on his batting as he was struggling to get it back.

 

[UncleTheOne]

I know the case of Rudolph pretty well. He lost it after coaching and trying to change some things technically with his bowling. It wasnt as if he 'gave up' because of his batting. He gave up because he lost it and concentrated on his batting as he was struggling to get it back.

interesting. do you know the ins and outs of what the coaches were trying to achieve with him? were the changes necessary?

 

[Goughy]

interesting. do you know the ins and outs of what the coaches were trying to achieve with him? were the changes necessary?

I do. Im close friends with the guy who was his head coach at Affies High School.

If you look at the two U19 WC he played in, the first he was a frontline spinner and the second he was a batsman that barely bowled.

A famous outside coach was brought in to work with him (naming no names but it is pretty obvious) who wanted to change the pace and flight of his deliveries.

He told him to bowl close to as fast as he could and put a rope across the nets that the ball had to go over and then drop on a length. Very, very difficult to do and little instruction was given to how it could be done. Just that this was what was needed. The end result was a bowler that increased his pace and lost all confidence on his capabilities and where the ball was going. Obviously the outside coach was long gone after a short while but the legacy remains.