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*Official* England in South Africa

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
Onions has surprised me. Thought he would do really well this series but he is bowled genuinely too short and not looked as lively as he did in the Ashes. You can't drop him though. Think Bumble is talking ****e.
 

TT Boy

Hall of Fame Member
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.
It hasn't really. Kallis said he has seen greener and Harris will probably play which is some indication that it isn't that green and even if it was the ultimate green wicket, Swann would still play as he is England's best bowler.
 

FBU

International Debutant
Onions has surprised me. Thought he would do really well this series but he is bowled genuinely too short and not looked as lively as he did in the Ashes. You can't drop him though. Think Bumble is talking ****e.
He better be. I will be furious if Sidebottom replaces Onions.
 

Woodster

International Captain
Starts at half 8, I will be up and ready to enjoy, hopefully.

I know the weather's been pretty poor there recently but don't know what they've given for the time the Test is on.

Yes Swann has to play, tbf, they all deserve to be playing in this final Test, there is nothing that's happened in the previous three to suggest we need to tinker with our line-up.
 

social

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Both teams rolling the dice in a big way with selections

Onions has looked Eng's best seamer whilst Sidebottom cant be match fit and I can understand SA picking one debutant seamer but 2?????

Doesnt really say much for Harris at all
 

kingkallis

International Coach
Duminy the sole spinner? WOW! Some desperate selection it seems...

I dont think McLaren will be that effective but I hope he proves me wrong here!
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
McLaren may or may not be a Test standard bowler but I think he's a little under-rated at the moment due to how he looked in the ODIs he played. If you compare his List A record to his First Class record you'll see that he's a much, much better bowler in the longer version - be it the way he bowls or how much he moves the red ball, you can't argue the difference in performance. I think he may surprise a few people in this game, particularly if the pitch does a bit as expected.
 

NUFAN

Y no Afghanistan flag
Wow, exactly what South Africa needed! Don't know why but this is the first test all series that I'm actually going for SA.

Re: Sidebottom and McLaren, both pretty poor selections IMO.
 

Craig

World Traveller
Sky have just declared that Strauss is the first Englishman to fall to the first ball of a Test match since Stan Worthington in 1936. Incredible. I thought Mike Atherton did so every other game. Mind you, he did bat at 2 a lot ...
 

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