*Official* - Road to India in South Africa - 2010-11

[Cricket_God]

Well Sreesanth is crap. A bowler who is so incosistent in which you dont know whether he will bowl well on one-day or good the others - is not a good test bowler.

If a bowling attack is bowling on sub-continent for 2 years it would affect their confidence to a degree yes - especially if they dont have the skills to take wickets on those flat surfaces. But i dont see why that should be an excuse, Wasim/Waqar/Dev/Vaas did that their entire careers. The fact that Sharma cant trouble batsmen in such conditons shows he is average ATM.

When AUS toured IND 2008, Sharma actually bowled superbly on those flat surfaces getting lovely reverse-swing @ good pace. That has clearly gone in matches he has played in sub-continent since that series.





No i dont see the need to wait so long. Since as i said above its fairly obviosu Sharma has been in decline for the past 2 years, regardless of what conditons he has been bowling it.

Sharma vs AUS 2008 showed the skills that potential top-quality bowlers need to have when bowling on flat su-continent pitches - reverse swing. Since that series he has lost that ability.

So based on recent performances i dont see an attack Khan/Sharma/Sree being a consistent threat to the SA batsmen like the 2006/07 IND attack in bowler-friendly conditions. I see Khan if fully fit - having to carry the burden of leading the attack by himself.

What inconsistencies are you talking about sreesanth has bowled well in each and every test match he has played except the lords test 1st innings and his stats prove that and look at the calibre of batsman he has dismissed-
Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

He gets the best players in the world out,he has had fair share of injuries,but in tests he is our most talented bowler,

Coming to sharma ,He was great in the series against australia in india,but the fact is bowling on roads for 2 years leads to lack of confidence which leads to changes inaction and other things and you do not lose ability,its all about confidence.Also reverse swing is not available at allgrounds and best way to compare sharma is look at the opposition bowlers performances in the games played on roads.

Vaas is higly overrated as conditions in srilanka do help seam,swing bowling unlike rest of sub continent also his wickets are against zim,bangladesh,wi,nz .Wasim was a legend also the pitches were not road like they are now,So no point comparing.

India attack of 2006/07 was not even half as good as this attack,and we will see at the end of the series.

 

[Sir Alex]

Yeah hard to be an indian player these days.

You perform well as a bat - dismissed as flat track bully
You don't do well - you're ****

Bowl well - Nah you've played all your cricket there
Don't bowl well - you're ****

 

[kingpin]

Yeah hard to be an indian player these days.

You perform well as a bat - dismissed as flat track bully
You don't do well - you're ****

Bowl well - Nah you've played all your cricket there
Don't bowl well - you're ****

BTW really Tough to be an Indian supporter even in other Forum's....This is the trend...

 

[Uppercut]

Because aussie definitely only talks ****e about Indian players.

 

[vcs]

Yeah hard to be an indian player these days.

You perform well as a bat - dismissed as flat track bully
You don't do well - you're ****

Bowl well - Nah you've played all your cricket there
Don't bowl well - you're ****

 

[aussie]

What inconsistencies are you talking about sreesanth has bowled well in each and every test match he has played except the lords test 1st innings and his stats prove that and look at the calibre of batsman he has dismissed-
Bowling records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

He gets the best players in the world out,he has had fair share of injuries,but in tests he is our most talented bowler,

Inconsistencies in the sense that his good days are few & far between. You dont know what Sreesanth will show up. Good test bowlers, do not operate like that.

Thats why as i've mentioned on previous pages looking ahead to this SA Tour. Although he is capbale in bowler-friendly conditons. Having such an unpredictable bowler in a the usual 4-man attack that IND will play, is a cruel disadvantage.

Plus i dont see how he more talented than Zaheer Khan.

Coming to sharma ,He was great in the series against australia in india,but the fact is bowling on roads for 2 years leads to lack of confidence which leads to changes inaction and other things and you do not lose ability,its all about confidence.Also reverse swing is not available at allgrounds and best way to compare sharma is look at the opposition bowlers performances in the games played on roads.

Vaas is higly overrated as conditions in srilanka do help seam,swing bowling unlike rest of sub continent also his wickets are against zim,bangladesh,wi,nz .Wasim was a legend also the pitches were not road like they are now,So no point comparing.

India attack of 2006/07 was not even half as good as this attack,and we will see at the end of the series.

I dont see how bowling on roads for any lenghtly period of time can cause a drop in confidence. All the great bowlers in test history who had to bowl on roads consistently - bowled well on them because they had the ability to reverse-swing the ball.

The fact that Sharma vs AUS 2008, was displaying those skills & yet 2 years on in similar sub-continent roads has lost those skills along with a stark drop in pace. Is a clear & obvious sign of decline.


I'm not sure what cricket from SRI you have been following over the years that would make you suggest that pitches in SRI "help swing bowling unlike the rest of the sub-continent". Nothing of the sort - SRI pitches are just as flat as IND or PAK. In recent Australian & England tours to IND & SRI in the last decade that i've watched, i've seen farrrrr more seamer- friendly decks in India than in Sri Lanka. So it is grossly inaccurate to say Vaas is "overated" in any way, he is legend on flat SRI surfaces & has taken wickets in SRI againts the big teams such as AUS, SA, ENG.

Pitches in PAK during Akram's career where just as flat as it has been the last "2 year period" in which Sharma has bowled in the sub-continent, probably even flatter. So yes it can be easily compared.


The IND attack that toured SA 06/07 is definately way ahead of the one that will tour SA later this year. In fact that 6 month period between that SA 06/07 & ENG 07 tour was probably the best i've seen an IND attack bowl in my lifetime of watching cricket.

 

[aussie]

Because aussie definitely only talks ****e about Indian players.

And you definately only talk ****e about everything else about cricket in general.

Distgusting posting...SMH

 

[aussie]

Should be a great series. Interesting to see who the 3rd quick for RSA will be if Botha/Harro plays. Lopsy didn’t look like he could make the step up in the Windies, Parnell and de Wet probably won’t be back until late October at the earliest (de Wet could be finished…) and McLaren is really only an option if they abandon the spinner.

Hope De Wet plays. Lovely bowler.

Isn't Tahir going to be available to play by year end as well?

Is this bloke on the radar for a test call-up? Cornelius de Villiers | South Africa Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com

Admittedly though with De Wet a bit injury proned. Behind Steyn/Morkel their isn't no clear pace back-up for the saffies. This article from couple months back was a solid read on the issue:

Where's South Africa's next major fast bowler? | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

 

[Woodster]

Hope De Wet plays. Lovely bowler.

Isn't Tahir going to be available to play by year end as well?

Is this bloke on the radar for a test call-up? Cornelius de Villiers | South Africa Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com

Admittedly though with De Wet a bit injury proned. Behind Steyn/Morkel their isn't no clear pace back-up for the saffies. This article from couple months back was a solid read on the issue:

Where's South Africa's next major fast bowler? | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

Yes read that article, it is a good read. Was surprised by the lack of decent pace bowling options, and I agree that de Wet looks a nice bowler, bowled well during the England series, and would like to see more of him.

 

[Shri]

I dont see how bowling on roads for any lenghtly period of time can cause a drop in confidence. All the great bowlers in test history who had to bowl on roads consistently - bowled well on them because they had the ability to reverse-swing the ball.

The fact that Sharma vs AUS 2008, was displaying those skills & yet 2 years on in similar sub-continent roads has lost those skills along with a stark drop in pace. Is a clear & obvious sign of decline.


I'm not sure what cricket from SRI you have been following over the years that would make you suggest that pitches in SRI "help swing bowling unlike the rest of the sub-continent". Nothing of the sort - SRI pitches are just as flat as IND or PAK. In recent Australian & England tours to IND & SRI in the last decade that i've watched, i've seen farrrrr more seamer- friendly decks in India than in Sri Lanka. So it is grossly inaccurate to say Vaas is "overated" in any way, he is legend on flat SRI surfaces & has taken wickets in SRI againts the big teams such as AUS, SA, ENG.

Pitches in PAK during Akram's career where just as flat as it has been the last "2 year period" in which Sharma has bowled in the sub-continent, probably even flatter. So yes it can be easily compared.


The IND attack that toured SA 06/07 is definately way ahead of the one that will tour SA later this year. In fact that 6 month period between that SA 06/07 & ENG 07 tour was probably the best i've seen an IND attack bowl in my lifetime of watching cricket.

Why the hell are we comparing Sharma/Sreesanth to Wasim and Vaas? They are above average at the best of times ffs. No way comparable to those legends. And your views on SL pitches are contrary to the general opinion.

 

[Sir Alex]

I dont see how bowling on roads for any lenghtly period of time can cause a drop in confidence. .

Wow sir. Ever tried guessing why India has produced **** all pace bowlers in it's cricketing history?

The rest of your post shows your complete lack of understanding about subcontinent pitches. You're quite a knowledgable guy as regards to English and Aussie cricket, but I think you have to do a bit more research in This.

 

[Cricket_God]

I dont see how bowling on roads for any lenghtly period of time can cause a drop in confidence. All the great bowlers in test history who had to bowl on roads consistently - bowled well on them because they had the ability to reverse-swing the ball.

The fact that Sharma vs AUS 2008, was displaying those skills & yet 2 years on in similar sub-continent roads has lost those skills along with a stark drop in pace. Is a clear & obvious sign of decline.


I'm not sure what cricket from SRI you have been following over the years that would make you suggest that pitches in SRI "help swing bowling unlike the rest of the sub-continent". Nothing of the sort - SRI pitches are just as flat as IND or PAK. In recent Australian & England tours to IND & SRI in the last decade that i've watched, i've seen farrrrr more seamer- friendly decks in India than in Sri Lanka. So it is grossly inaccurate to say Vaas is "overated" in any way, he is legend on flat SRI surfaces & has taken wickets in SRI againts the big teams such as AUS, SA, ENG.

Pitches in PAK during Akram's career where just as flat as it has been the last "2 year period" in which Sharma has bowled in the sub-continent, probably even flatter. So yes it can be easily compared.


The IND attack that toured SA 06/07 is definately way ahead of the one that will tour SA later this year. In fact that 6 month period between that SA 06/07 & ENG 07 tour was probably the best i've seen an IND attack bowl in my lifetime of watching cricket.

Tell Me who?Most players Had tours in between on helpful tracks ,Its humanly impossible to maintain Consistency on F-1 Tracks ,Even When India Toured NZ They prepared flat pitches for broadcasters.

And Reverse swing needs specific conditions,It is not a given in subcontinent.

You Look at the How many test matches have results in srilanka compared to india,pakistan,bangladesh you will have the answer except ssc most ground aid swing and seam bowling,

Pitches were not as flat in 1990s if you watched cricket in that era you would surely know.

 

[TT Boy]

Hope De Wet plays. Lovely bowler.

Isn't Tahir going to be available to play by year end as well?

Is this bloke on the radar for a test call-up? Cornelius de Villiers | South Africa Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | Cricinfo.com

Admittedly though with De Wet a bit injury proned. Behind Steyn/Morkel their isn't no clear pace back-up for the saffies. This article from couple months back was a solid read on the issue:

Where's South Africa's next major fast bowler? | Specials | Cricinfo Magazine | Cricinfo.com

Firdose Moonda is not usually well informed (on cricket), think he use to write about South African football... Bring back Vice or Manthorp.

Case in point from above article - "The only other upcoming player who has been identified as a genuine quick in the country is 24-year-old CJ de Villiers." CJ de Villiers is not a genuine quick and the likes of Alexander, Friend, Plaatjies, Rusty, Walters and van der Wath (he wants to play again for RSA this year) are all quicker than him. Moonda does not even mention Alexander and Plaatjies let alone the rest...

CJ seems to have fallen down the pecking order since impressing in the CL 20/20. Went on the Emerging Players Tour and was only called into the A teams tour of Sri Lanka because speedster Plaatjies got injured again. Though he could be the type of bowler you would want to face the Indians giving CJ's height and style.

Alexander had a good tour down under but he has just comeback from a serious injury but pre-injury he was swinging it both ways at 145kph+. Really good bowler to watch and very attacking.

Don't think we will see Tahir, especially with Botha's performance last test in the Windies, Botha's ability with the bat and Botha's greater role in the RSA set-up.

 

[taipan1]

Tahir couldn't even get a game for his franchise last season.

 

[Cevno]

Yeah hard to be an indian player these days.

You perform well as a bat - dismissed as flat track bully
You don't do well - you're ****

Bowl well - Nah you've played all your cricket there
Don't bowl well - you're ****

 

[SeamUp]

Hi Taips it Gaz here, how you doing, mate???

Anyone Saffies watching the 'A' series down in Sri Lanka. Top draw stuff from the lads. The depth is looking great.

Finally Deano (Elgar) was given the captaincy...quite claerly a future Protea captain.

Our batting strength looks top-class. Elgar, Ingram, Miller and even though ROssouw has had an iffy tour...he has bundles of talent but needss to get his head right.

Finally they give Heino Kuhn the gloves and he scores a 100 today. One of the most under-rated players on our domestic circuit.

On the spin bowling front...don't write-off the 20 year-old left-arm chinaman bowler, Tbaraiz Shamsi getting a call up soon. He will turn heads this season literally.

On the fast bowling front...the depth isn't there but I still believe we are a lot better off than most other countries.

Morkel, Steyn, Parnell, Ntini, Tsotsobe and McLaren are in the pund seats at the moment.

I hope De Wet can recover but its going to be difficult with his injury trsck-record.

The chasing pack is Philander, Kleinveldt, Theron, CJ De Villiers, Plaatjies and ALexander. THe last 2 can hit 145-150 regularly.

We also have one of those hot teenage talents in Calvin Savage coming through. Probably Parnell and him will be the next 2 sper-heads after Morkel and Steyn.

 

[Flyonthewall]

Hi Taips it Gaz here, how you doing, mate???

Anyone Saffies watching the 'A' series down in Sri Lanka. Top draw stuff from the lads. The depth is looking great.

Finally Deano (Elgar) was given the captaincy...quite claerly a future Protea captain.

Our batting strength looks top-class. Elgar, Ingram, Miller and even though ROssouw has had an iffy tour...he has bundles of talent but needss to get his head right.

Finally they give Heino Kuhn the gloves and he scores a 100 today. One of the most under-rated players on our domestic circuit.

On the spin bowling front...don't write-off the 20 year-old left-arm chinaman bowler, Tbaraiz Shamsi getting a call up soon. He will turn heads this season literally.

On the fast bowling front...the depth isn't there but I still believe we are a lot better off than most other countries.

Morkel, Steyn, Parnell, Ntini, Tsotsobe and McLaren are in the pund seats at the moment.

I hope De Wet can recover but its going to be difficult with his injury trsck-record.

The chasing pack is Philander, Kleinveldt, Theron, CJ De Villiers, Plaatjies and ALexander. THe last 2 can hit 145-150 regularly.

We also have one of those hot teenage talents in Calvin Savage coming through. Probably Parnell and him will be the next 2 sper-heads after Morkel and Steyn.

This guy sounds really exciting, have you seen him bowl at all? If so what further can you tell us about him, he doesn't have a description up on Cricinfo.

 

[taipan1]

Hi Taips it Gaz here, how you doing, mate???

Anyone Saffies watching the 'A' series down in Sri Lanka. Top draw stuff from the lads. The depth is looking great.

Finally Deano (Elgar) was given the captaincy...quite claerly a future Protea captain.

Our batting strength looks top-class. Elgar, Ingram, Miller and even though ROssouw has had an iffy tour...he has bundles of talent but needss to get his head right.

Finally they give Heino Kuhn the gloves and he scores a 100 today. One of the most under-rated players on our domestic circuit.

On the spin bowling front...don't write-off the 20 year-old left-arm chinaman bowler, Tbaraiz Shamsi getting a call up soon. He will turn heads this season literally.

On the fast bowling front...the depth isn't there but I still believe we are a lot better off than most other countries.

Morkel, Steyn, Parnell, Ntini, Tsotsobe and McLaren are in the pund seats at the moment.

I hope De Wet can recover but its going to be difficult with his injury trsck-record.

The chasing pack is Philander, Kleinveldt, Theron, CJ De Villiers, Plaatjies and ALexander. THe last 2 can hit 145-150 regularly.

We also have one of those hot teenage talents in Calvin Savage coming through. Probably Parnell and him will be the next 2 sper-heads after Morkel and Steyn.

Hi Gaz, been posting Dean's stats on other forums.

I thonk you know the new one.

Can't wait for India to get here. The easiest series of all time.

 

[Cricket_God]

Hi Gaz, been posting Dean's stats on other forums.

I thonk you know the new one.

Can't wait for India to get here. The easiest series of all time.

You mean for india,last time india lost the series than southafrica winning so i think it is going to good series this time.

 

[Sir Alex]

Hi Gaz, been posting Dean's stats on other forums.

I thonk you know the new one.

Can't wait for India to get here. The easiest series of all time.

Love that.

Will see you around next year...