**Official** South Africa in England 2012

[NasserFan207]

Morkel has improved in the last year or so.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Morkel has improved in the last year or so.

Based on what? Averaged slightly under 30 after bowling mainly against a comically bad batting side (NZ) - he was largely toothless except for that 6 for 23. About the only thing he's improved is bowling yorkers.

 

[Viscount Tom]

Wouldn't be writing off Morkel so soon, Oval generally has pretty decent bounce and he's likely to cause problems there if he gets it right, same for Headingley.

 

[Heboric]

Morkel has a Test average of over 30 and that's with the help of battering rubbish like Bangladesh, West Indies (2010 version) and New Zealand. England are the only decent side he averages less than 30 against. It's not like he's started off being completely awful and has improved out of sight - as Broad and Anderson have done. Finn, Onions, Bresnan and so on all average below 30 and do it against decent sides, not by bullying rubbish.

If there are typical English conditions then I'd be very disappointed if Morkel averages under 35. England can get after him and Imran Tahir.

Zing and my point is proven straight away.

Morkel was dropped and improved drastically. Why is it that only England players can improve and the famous line "still learn"

 

[stumpski]

Going tomorrow. Hopefully see some cricket.

Forecast is for showers tomorrow and Friday, and OK after that. You should see some cricket, but probably not 90 overs.

 

[Jacknife]

Zing and my point is proven straight away.

Morkel was dropped and improved drastically. Why is it that only England players can improve and the famous line "still learn"

Not that I agree totally with Scaly, not sure that averaging 29 this year has shown that he's improved. I watched nearly every test he's played in the past year and I kept hearing from commentators and some fans that he'd improved but he looked the same bowler that he's always been the past few years, capable of very good spells but also very inconsistent.

Not really sure what you're point is because stats are not intangible, ftr Broad averages 24 in the last 2 years, Morkel 29.

 

[Spark]

Zing and my point is proven straight away.

Morkel was dropped and improved drastically. Why is it that only England players can improve and the famous line "still learn"

He was between mediocre and dreadful in large patches of SA's last summer. Not sure if that's the "drastic" improvement you want to be heralding.

 

[Heboric]

He was between mediocre and dreadful in large patches of SA's last summer.

Really!!! Good grief, well in defence of the poor guy he hasnt had the chance to pad his stats in playing in bowler friendly conditions. The bowling equivalent of flat track bullies

 

[NasserFan207]

We'll hopefully find out during the test series, I think Morkel could cause England a few problems.

 

[screamingfields]

Graham Onions might not play. If there is a chance of rain, then it has to be a bowler friendly pitch?

England v South Africa: Andrew Strauss's team will need to use all their imagination and flair to retain No 1 status - Telegraph

Finn and Onions would have gone well.

South Africa have got a good team. Fast bowlers and a leg spinner, Imran Tahir.

Graeme Smith is probably the main cut of point. He went for six innings, for the something like 18 runs.

Amala has great patience, a bit of flair even. AB De Villiers is bad against spin. Swanny?

Saffers don't play well against spin. Three in the top six, Rudolph, Smith and Duminy. Swann has played well this summer.

Should be a good match.

 

[grecian]

Really!!! Good grief, well in defence of the poor guy he hasnt had the chance to pad his stats in playing in bowler friendly conditions. The bowling equivalent of flat track bullies

Yeah the UAE and Sri Lanka well-known seamers-paradises.

BTW English pitches really aren't that bad, not compared to decades past, our batsmen often seem to get a few runs too.

 

[theegyptian]

Smith destroys england. If Smith doesn't make runs England will win imo.

 

[Uppercut]

He was between mediocre and dreadful in large patches of SA's last summer. Not sure if that's the "drastic" improvement you want to be heralding.

Still better than he was before he was dropped though.

Steyn hasn't had a great year either, and struggled with the duke a bit last time he toured. They've somehow managed to regress in spite of Philander. When one hole is filled another opens.

 

[Jacknife]

Really!!! Good grief, well in defence of the poor guy he hasnt had the chance to pad his stats in playing in bowler friendly conditions. The bowling equivalent of flat track bullies

LOL where do you get this rubbish from, in the last 2 years he's played 8 test in SA, 3 in NZ and 2 in the UAE.

England have just had a winter of playing 6 tests in the subcontinent and the pitches in the WI series were hardly sporting for the bowlers, not much bounce or pace in them that's for sure.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Really!!! Good grief, well in defence of the poor guy he hasnt had the chance to pad his stats in playing in bowler friendly conditions. The bowling equivalent of flat track bullies

Is this the saffer version of Windie Weathers?

 

[MW1304]

Christ you can't begrudge our fans a bit of confidence considering how much better the last few years have been compared to any of the previous 30 before it. Much confusion between confidence and arrogance too, although not everyone steers clear of it.

Personally I'm ****-scared of Steyn and Philander. Forget how much of a weak link the third seamer may or may not be, or the spinner, these two have the ability to rip through us regardless. Will rely heavily on the top 3 I feel, would be nice for both openers to be in form at the same time for once.

Anyway I want cricket, so rain please go on holiday, we've seen enough of you.

 

[Stumpcam]

Yeah, Steyn and Philander worry me too. It's been a while since England openers faced really top-notch fast bowling and I worry that they will succumb to it too easily - I hope I'm being too pessimistic.

However, England does have a decent batting depth these days and bowlers too, that are capable of devastating spells.

It's a fascinating match-up, and I hope the weather plays ball for everyone's sake.

 

[Eds]

Can't really think of an area where SA actually beat England now that ABDV is keeping, apart from seam bowling. And it's not as if we're really struggling there.

 

[Manee]

Can't really think of an area where SA actually beat England now that ABDV is keeping, apart from seam bowling. And it's not as if we're really struggling there.

It won't come down to career performance though. It'll come down to who steps up against the high quality opposition and sometimes it can be the people you don't expect.

 

[BoyBrumby]

SA's fifth bowling option pisses on ours, notwithstanding Ravinder's improvement of late.

Kallis was their best bowler in 2008.