**Official** South Africa in England 2012

[KungFu_Kallis]

That Smith statistic is stunning. I also read somewhere that he only played 8 tests or so before becoming captain. Can someone with more knowledge than me explain how/why he was made captain so quickly after debuting? Seems quite unusual. Anyway - hats off to him. Truly great effort. Interesting to note Ricky played 77 tests as captain yet will never be considered a great captain. Not with two Ashes defeats under his belt.

AWTA, + can't resist being the first to point out it is unfortunately in fact 3 Ashes defeats under Punter's belt... and could quite possibly soon be another one as player...

 

[KungFu_Kallis]

Yes got pretty sick of this whole KP saga overshadowing what should be a fantastic Test in a well poised series, and a 100th cap for our outstanding leader Mr Strauss.

AWTA. Couldn't resist starting another separate KP thread though... for cricketing reasons. As to whether he will go down as an ATG batsman, considering he may or may not be finished with Tests.

 

[Thriel]

I think its just one of those daring moves SA sometimes make, he was well liked even as a youngster, and clearly they must have seen something in him, cause captaincy was thrust apon him so young and look at him now, one of the all time greats and still breaking records. and he still has a few years in him.

 

[Top_Cat]

Front-line candidates for when Smith was made captain included him, Gibbs, Kallis or leaving Pollock as captain.

It was a no-brainer.

(literally)

 

[jan]

...
Most tests as captain

Graeme Smith (SA) 93*
Allan Border (Aus) 93
Stephen Fleming (NZ) 80
Ricky Ponting (Aus) 77
Clive Lloyd (WI) 74
Steve Waugh (Aus) 57

Most tests as captain of South Africa

Graeme Smith 93*
Hansie Cronje 53
Shaun Pollock 26

Wonder how many of those tests were victorious for each skipper.

 

[Expressway76]

I think its just one of those daring moves SA sometimes make, he was well liked even as a youngster

Amazing when you consider he looks like a fat school bully. Just goes to show that looks can be deceiving

 

[BoyBrumby]

Front-line candidates for when Smith was made captain included him, Gibbs, Kallis or leaving Pollock as captain.

It was a no-brainer.

(literally)

Boucher? Not a huge fan of keepers as captains myself (ditto for football too, but I digress), however he did have experience, tenure and age on his side.

For England I'd be bringing in Swann & Onions for Finn & Bresnan, moving Taylor to #4 (which looks a better fit for his MO anyway) and Bluey at six. Prior at seven is one of the team's greatest strengths, so don't see why we should change that. Gilchrist was better than pretty much everyone who played ahead of him at fourth drop & the crims never felt the need to move him up.

Bres's batting is nice and all, but he looks to have lost a yard since his elbow woes and, cliche as it is, this is a must win jobby.

Strauss*
Cook
Trott
Taylor
Bell
Bairstow
Prior+
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions

 

[MW1304]

I would agree with that but I can't see the selectors following suit. Would imagine Bell will be bumped up to 4 and Bres persisted with. Pretty uninspiring for a must win Test but such is life.

 

[Top_Cat]

Boucher? Not a huge fan of keepers as captains myself (ditto for football too, but I digress), however he did have experience, tenure and age on his side.

Wasn't a serious candidate, from memory.

EDIT: Was tried and failed so wasn't a long-term option, I mean.

 

[Spikey]

they'd liked smith's jib

 

[vic_orthdox]

Wasn't a serious candidate, from memory.

EDIT: Was tried and failed so wasn't a long-term option, I mean.

Wasn't it Bouch who stuffed up the DL stuff, that got Pollock the sack? Would have been ... interesting if he got the gig.

 

[Woodster]

Boucher? Not a huge fan of keepers as captains myself (ditto for football too, but I digress), however he did have experience, tenure and age on his side.

For England I'd be bringing in Swann & Onions for Finn & Bresnan, moving Taylor to #4 (which looks a better fit for his MO anyway) and Bluey at six. Prior at seven is one of the team's greatest strengths, so don't see why we should change that. Gilchrist was better than pretty much everyone who played ahead of him at fourth drop & the crims never felt the need to move him up.

Bres's batting is nice and all, but he looks to have lost a yard since his elbow woes and, cliche as it is, this is a must win jobby.

Strauss*
Cook
Trott
Taylor
Bell
Bairstow
Prior+
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions

Tbf, there was also six exceptional batsmen above Gilchrist so it was never deemed necessary to move him up. If England had their strongest top six available there would be no talk of moving Prior up if we continue with the same balance. As it is there is a need to be flexible and if it means splitting two very inexperienced Test players up and moving Prior up a slot, I'd have no problems with that. Bell at four for me.

 

[grecian]

Saffies batting first, not that disappointed, cloud cover there. Four bowlers of course, not sure about this though, Scaly spewing.

 

[Spikey]

strauss loses the toss. i'm not sure how his teammates can trust him anymore

 

[Prince EWS]

England have picked the right team here IMO. I'm definitely not as big a fan of Finn as most here but I do think he's a better bowler than Onions, particularly within the balance of this lineup. I've always been a Bresnan fan but he's noticeably been well below his standards since his injury and he's had a while to get together now too so I think a change did have to be made there. There's no point having the fast bowling depth England do if you aren't prepared to use it when you have someone under-performing over a semi-extended period and I'm sure Bresnan will be back down the line.

 

[Prince EWS]

Saffies batting first, not that disappointed, cloud cover there. Four bowlers of course, not sure about this though, Scaly spewing.

Yeah I'm sure Strauss would have batted first if he won the toss and I would've too but this isn't a terrible result under the circumstances. It's easier to rally as a team in the field than it was with the bat for obvious reasons and they'll be looking for a bit of an ambush here.

 

[BackFootPunch]

Really interested to see how the Saffas approach this given their widely acknowledged issues closing out a series. Two teams with their own fairly major issues always make for a decent contest.

 

[grecian]

Yeah I'm sure Strauss would have batted first if he won the toss and I would've too but this isn't a terrible result under the circumstances. It's easier to rally as a team in the field than it was with the bat for obvious reasons and they'll be looking for a bit of an ambush here.

Yeah, in fact I bet he's a bit relieved. Wouldn't have been able to not bat as it would look like they're running scared, but the pressure on him and the bats would have been immense. Can't help but feel Steve Waugh would have put us in.

 

[Jager]

Atmosphere sounds great there

 

[Prince EWS]

Atmosphere sounds great there

Yep, nothing ever makes me wish I was at the ground more than watching the first morning of a Lords Test.