*Official* England in South Africa

[aussie]

SA doctoring the pitch.

Once its bowler friendly & gives the batsmen work thats good. We dont want any damn flat pitches anymoreeee...

 

[silentstriker]

The tongue was firmly in cheek.

 

[superkingdave]

Looks like South Africa are going to have a seriously good tail whichever side they pick now.

Mclaren
Parnell
Morkel
Steyn
Harris

4 of those 5, one will have to bat at 11, given that Steyn was elevated to 8 in the last match you could have Parnell batting at 11 or Morkel.

 

[BoyBrumby]

TBF de Wet wasn't the worst with the bat either.

Oliver Brett on the BBC site quotes Gary Kirsten who reckons Harris is up for the arse,

"Harris is a problem. The England batsmen have worked him out quite nicely, have attacked him and tried to knock him off his stride."

 

[zaremba]

de Wet out with a stress fracture of the back. Its de Wet's third in the last two years, so probably won't see him again.

Poor guy.

 

[popepouri]

Looks like South Africa are going to have a seriously good tail whichever side they pick now.

Mclaren
Parnell
Morkel
Steyn
Harris

4 of those 5, one will have to bat at 11, given that Steyn was elevated to 8 in the last match you could have Parnell batting at 11 or Morkel.

McLaren won't be playing unless Parnell gets injured.

Parnell is a bowling allrounder, he batted at 7 in the U19s. He should leapfrog Morkel/Steyn to bat 8.

 

[TT Boy]

Arthur is now saying that they would play a pace quarter and drop Harris if the wicket and forecast remains. Arthur doesn't want to do it but there is some pressure on Harris coming from Mike Procter, who thought Harris should have spun South Africa to victory last week and Graeme Smith favouring Duminy over Harro spoke volumes. Probably favour the decision but McLaren really is struggling this season, more so than Parnell who is having a difficult season but still at least is bowling at a good pace and in the ODI's had the nice habit of picking up wickets with crap. As opposed to McLaren who just bowled wicket-less crap.

 

[TT Boy]

TBF de Wet wasn't the worst with the bat either.

Oliver Brett on the BBC site quotes Gary Kirsten who reckons Harris is up for the arse,

"Harris is a problem. The England batsmen have worked him out quite nicely, have attacked him and tried to knock him off his stride."

Peter.

Gary would be liking it though. I can't see team India treating Harris with much respect.

And nice to see Clive Rice talking more ****. Man is so bitter.

 

[superkingdave]

I hope thats just seriously bad writing and dropping Harris for Petersen is not genuinly being considered, that would be funny going in to a final test you have to win, one seamer on debut and two only just back from injury.

Both Rice and former Test batsman Peter Kirsten say South Africa should find a way to compensate for Prince's failings and beef up the batting. One way to do that is by leaving out their spinner Paul Harris, who has been frequently outbowled by the part-timer JP Duminy, and replacing him either with all-rounder Ryan McLaren or batsman Alviro Petersen.

 

[Uppercut]

Harris has been bowling filth in the last couple of matches. He's always bowled filth, but it was accurate filth. Recently it's just been Yuvraj-esque filth.

 

[superkingdave]

Can see him being dropped, but surely not for a batsman

 

[Uppercut]

I'm sticking with him personally, took England apart only two matches ago. I'd probably play Tahir if he was available, just because I think he'll be a better player.

 

[Briony]

Arthur is now saying that they would play a pace quarter and drop Harris if the wicket and forecast remains. Arthur doesn't want to do it but there is some pressure on Harris coming from Mike Procter, who thought Harris should have spun South Africa to victory last week and Graeme Smith favouring Duminy over Harro spoke volumes. Probably favour the decision but McLaren really is struggling this season, more so than Parnell who is having a difficult season but still at least is bowling at a good pace and in the ODI's had the nice habit of picking up wickets with crap. As opposed to McLaren who just bowled wicket-less crap.

Or Steyn who bowls wicketless gems.

 

[Top_Cat]

Paul Harris in ball-turning shocker | Page 2 | Cricinfo.com

Meh to the rest but I liked this line.

Graeme Smith put down his post-workout isotonic recovery éclair.

 

[marc71178]

Bumble suggesting that Sidebottom will play in place of Onions - WTF?

 

[Furball]

Paul Harris in ball-turning shocker | Page 2 | Cricinfo.com

Meh to the rest but I liked this line.

Graeme Smith put down his post-workout isotonic recovery éclair.

 

[Woodster]

Bumble suggesting that Sidebottom will play in place of Onions - WTF?

On what basis ? I like Siddy, but it would be exceptionally harsh for Onions to miss out, not just because of his batting prowess! Onions is surely going to be a real handful on this supposed green track that's going to meet the players tomorrow morning. Would be amazed if we make any changes, unless enforced of course.

 

[GIMH]

Harsh if Onions misses out on another potential landmark victory

 

[aussie]

On what basis ? I like Siddy, but it would be exceptionally harsh for Onions to miss out, not just because of his batting prowess! Onions is surely going to be a real handful on this supposed green track that's going to meet the players tomorrow morning. Would be amazed if we make any changes, unless enforced of course.

Yea. The way this pitch has been talked up like this ultimate green-top, the option of playing 4-seamers is definately not out of the question. But then again it would be harsh to drop Swann - this is where we miss Flintoff.

But overall i'd say Anderson/Onions/Broad is lethal enough for a greentop.

 

[GIMH]

When our most in form player is a spinner then an all-seam attack is always out of the question