Morne Morkel

[Richard]

Harmison doesn't really go for runs when he's bowling badly tbf. Some of his worst spells have been pretty economical.

Harmison tends to go for plenty when he's bowling badly - which is a large proportion of the time. He tends to go for not-all-that-many (in the First-Class game at least; obviously not in ODers) when he's bowling absolutely horrendously and though these occasions are relatively few and far between they stick in the memory much more readily because they're so not-what-one-expects when you've got a bowler playing Test cricket.

And of course on the rare occasions he bowls well he's near impossible to get away.

 

[Richard]

I don't rate him at all at the moment and I'm not convinced he should even be in the team as it stands. He's one of those players who's been rated a lot based on what people think he should be able to do rather than what he's doing.

I recognise he has some great tools and the potential is definitely there so I can see why South Africa are picking him, but based on performance and actual current ability to take wickets, he doesn't do much for me. I'm not saying he'll never progress into a top bowler or anything like that but I'm not too interested in judging someone on what they'll do later.

My thoughts are pretty much similar. Undoubtedly Morne Morkel could possibly be very good. However I'm far less absolutely certain about the fact that he will than quite a few seem to be.

He may or may not; if he does, great. South Africa aren't however doing themselves any favours by picking him right now, because he weakens their side. Fortunately they've just about enough quality right now to be able to carry a relative passenger most of the time.

 

[Uppercut]

Little dig to say Morkel's spell yesterday was absolutely awesome. McGrath-esque, only around the wicket to the left-hander and faster.

It's all about the consistency now.

 

[DaRick]

He reminds me of a taller, right-arm version of Mitchell Johnson in many ways. Both are quite tall, can extract significant bounce, occasionally dart the ball back in and aren't particularly enjoyable to face when they get it right (particularly Johnson). Both are regarded as prime talents who can hold a bat and field competently. Unfortunately, both are also erratic, meaning that they bowl in the wrong place too often and squander their talents.

In comparison to Johnson, though, Morkel falls short. For instance, even when Mitch bowls dross (too much of the time) he still manages to pick up wickets with surprisingly frequency - Morkel just goes for runs and picks up few wickets. Morkel, unlike Johnson, has not yet demonstrated the ability to burn through high-class batting lineups. He has also regressed with the bat since entering the top side, whilst Johnson has advanced.

Could Morkel improve? Certainly. But to fulfill his potential, he needs to become vastly more consistent, as he seems to lack Johnson's 'gift' of picking up wickets with poor balls.

 

[Richard]

I don't disagree with much of what you say there but funnily enough some of Morkel's most prolific wicket-taking spells have been Johnson-esque taking wickets in spite of rather than because of how well he was(n't) bowling. Funnily enough some of his best spells have gone pretty much unrewarded - such as the one mentioned by Mr. Quinn.

 

[Uppercut]

I don't disagree with much of what you say there but funnily enough some of Morkel's most prolific wicket-taking spells have been Johnson-esque taking wickets in spite of rather than because of how well he was(n't) bowling. Funnily enough some of his best spells have gone pretty much unrewarded - such as the one mentioned by Mr. Quinn.

I noticed that too. There was one match in particular- when South Africa won a series in England for the first time post-admission at Edgbaston- where he bowled absolutely incredibly in the first innings and got no wickets, then took four in the second knock despite being a borderline disgrace to his country.

 

[DaRick]

I don't disagree with much of what you say there but funnily enough some of Morkel's most prolific wicket-taking spells have been Johnson-esque taking wickets in spite of rather than because of how well he was(n't) bowling. Funnily enough some of his best spells have gone pretty much unrewarded - such as the one mentioned by Mr. Quinn.

Heh. Interesting - you must be talking about the ENG vs SA series (much of which I never got to see). Against AUS, when he bowled poorly, he often went the journey and had poor figures to boot.

Closer to Johnson than I realised, then.

 

[Richard]

Yeah, in the series' both in England and what we've had so far in SA his bowling has accorded to pretty much that pattern. Against Australia he pretty much got the figures his bowling deserved and was dropped for the last of the six Tests.

I didn't watch very much of the series in India in 2007/08 but he certainly looked like he did something similar there.

 

[stephen]

I think he's one of those players that has all the raw ingredients, but has mixed them incorrectly and cooked them for the wrong amount of time. He needs to improve his accuracy consistently to be a real threat to high quality batsmen.

 

[Pratters]

Little dig to say Morkel's spell yesterday was absolutely awesome. McGrath-esque, only around the wicket to the left-hander and faster.

It's all about the consistency now.

Good to see him do good. Had always had the faith.

 

[slippy]

He reminds me of Andy Caddick.

 

[Richard]

Really? Apart from height and gangliness, Caddick and Morne Morkel have precious little in common. Morkel is wayward, Caddick was by-and-large very accurate until later in his career; Caddick had the perfect natural action and was a swing bowler of excellence, Morkel has a moderate action and consequently struggles to do very much with the ball (which is the main reason why to date he's not really that good); Caddick was if one was to be uncharitable unsound of mind and needing to be made to feel welcome before he would be able to perform to his top standard, Morkel seems to be made of pretty tough stuff even though he's near-universally acknowledged as a smashing lad.

 

[tooextracool]

Caddick was like precious few we've seen before at the international level, in both a good and a bad way to be honest.

 

[FBU]

Morkel seems fragile. I can't see him lasting through a 5 Test series or having a workload like Johnson who bowled 585 overs in 2008 and 502.5 last year in Tests.

 

[Black_Warrior]

is pretty quick...has tremendous potential..I think he will be one of the best bowlers in years to come.

 

[Shri]

Morne who? Albie Morkel ftw.

 

[wpdavid]

Caddick was like precious few we've seen before at the international level, in both a good and a bad way to be honest.

Caddick & Gough = the most emotionally insecure pair of opening bowlers ever to grace test cricket afaics.

As for Morkel, it's still relatively early in his test career, isn't it? If they keep letting him use the new ball, he seems a real enough threat.

 

[popepouri]

Only a matter of time before he gets a big haul.

 

[Pratters]

Morne ****ing Morkel. So delighted he is dong well.

Morne Morkel has never been much of a bowler

I hope Richard can shut the **** about him for good.

 

[social]

is pretty quick...has tremendous potential..I think he will be one of the best bowlers in years to come.

This

Compare him to Steyn, Ntini, Anderson and Broad

Guy s light years ahead and all he needs is a bit of confidence