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*** Official *** West Indies in South Africa 2014/15

kykweer.proteas

International Debutant
Watching the bounce Benn is getting and the way the Windies have bowled this morning, even more reason for Windies supporters to be seriously pissed off with Chanders, Samuals or the tail.
 

Swingpanzee

International Regular
Yeah. Absolutely shambolic and pisspoor from West Indies. A target of about 230 to get in two sessions would have let WI with a fair enough chance of victory while not being overly risky.
 

SeamUp

International Coach
Virus has announced his retirement from test cricket. 34 years of age.

Did a good job at the top order for us. Nothing great but got 5 test centuries with a nothing-to-pathetic 34.88 average for an opener in SA. Hundreds at Eden Garden, Cape Town v Sri Lanka and Headingley stand out.
 

Swingpanzee

International Regular
So Alviro quits international cricket. Hope he does well in his future endeavours.

Stiaan to open I believe.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Well that ends a pretty frustrating series. At the end of if I don't feel we've progressed much for various reasons. Like WW said, the same old weaknesses still exist. We have been having to play weakened sides due to injury, illness and politics and the depth of our cricket just isn't good enough to cope with that.

After the 1st test we were at least reasonably competitive, which given the batting lineup we were playing and the injury to Roach was pleasing. But a disgraceful lack of application from some key batsmen and particularly the tail meant we squandered any footholds we got in the games. During the 1st test we had them 57/3. In this test we had a lead of almost 100 with 7 wickets left on a deteriorating pitch. All it needed was the middle lower order to buckle down and scramble a 200 lead but they panicked and threw it away. I am absolutely fed up with the batting of Taylor and Benn for example, who both have a reasonable amount of batting talent but don't apply themselves at all.

The fact that Ramdin and Chanderpaul both had terrible series was a big blow to our chances too. They simply had to perform for us to have any chance and instead they both had their worst series for years. I think SA bowled very well to both of them tbh, but I think we had a right to expect more from both of them. I also thought Taylor bowled terribly on occasion when he should have been leading the attack in Roach's absence. Benn bowled reasonably well without having much luck, but I'm yet to be convinced he is the best spinner in the Caribbean when we are blessed with quite a lot of talent in that discipline.

There were some positives at least. I though Kraigg handled the SA attack very well and is clearly going to be a World Class opening batsman if he isn't already. Samuels looks to be back to his best form and scoring runs (even if his shot selection left something to be desired). I also thought Blackwood looked good at the crease and scored some runs against a very good attack. Leon Johnson did better than I expected which is a credit it to him and he should be kept around the squad even when Darren Bravo returns.

On the bowling front, I was impressed with Gabriel who was the quickest bowler on display and is bowling more cosistently. He's certainly a good option to have when you need a little extra pace on flat pitches. I also thought Kenroy Peters looked decent enough and will be extremely effective on helpful pitches.

Overall, we were a distant second best, which we all knew was the case anyway. One thing I would say is that we simply must have more warm up matches when we tour. We were woefully unprepared for the 1st test and I believe more match practice would have meant for a more competitive match which in turn would have made the series much more interesting.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Other little thoughts:

The umpiring was very poor. Reiffel should not be umpiring at this level yet and Billy Bowden made a totally bizarre call the other day when failing to give Hamer out when the TV replay showed a clear deflection. I don't think errors like that when the umpires are viewing the same footage we all are should be tolerated.

South Africa's reserve batting stocks look pretty good with Van Zyll, who could definitely replace Peterson. I also thought Elgar looked like a good solid opening batsman.
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Beamer; thoughts on the Chanders/tail innings?
I thought it was terrible tbh. The tail were a disgrace as usual, they need a real talking to as far as application is concerned. As for Chanders, it was nothing I haven't come to expect. He's a great batsman but batting with the tail and the quest for constant red ink is his biggest weakness. This is the worst series I can remebr Chanders having for a long long time.
 

Niall

International Coach
I thought it was terrible tbh. The tail were a disgrace as usual, they need a real talking to as far as application is concerned. As for Chanders, it was nothing I haven't come to expect. He's a great batsman but batting with the tail and the quest for constant red ink is his biggest weakness. This is the worst series I can remebr Chanders having for a long long time.
Concerned? l

I don't take runs against Bangladesh seriously and he didn't excel in the second division last year, seeing signs of decline or just a bad patch?
 

Beamer

International Vice-Captain
Concerned? l

I don't take runs against Bangladesh seriously and he didn't excel in the second division last year, seeing signs of decline or just a bad patch?
Yep a little bit concerned I must admit. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes out of it against England in March but he is 40 years old and has been carrying an entire batting lineup for far too long.

Thankfully Johnson and Blackwood did reasonably well as if they had failed like many young batsmen tend to do in South Africa, this series would have been all kinds of humiliating.
 

jan

State Vice-Captain
van Zyl is going to open. Apparently he was going to do so in place of Virus in this series if everyone was fit. It's an upgrade IMO; I think he'll do well there.
Good for Proteas, less good for Cobras. Not gonna open until June against Bdesh if Im not mistaken?
First Two 1987 born LH openers who made their FC debut in 2006, time to pair then in CC2014.
 

SeamUp

International Coach
From the SA 'A' squad just released, Reeza Hendricks , Andrew Puttick and Gihahn Cloete are the openers. Stiaan van Zyl may open though due to future plans while Theunis de Bruyn opens for the Titans to get into the team but will play for the Proteas in the middle order player one day.

David White who made his SA 'A' debut in the winter in Oz is another to watch but injuries have put him back. The SA u19 world cup winning captain, Aiden Markram, is around too but can't get into the Titans team but would do so at a few other franchises. These 2 are going to the new state of the art National Academy facilities in the winter.
 

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
From the SA 'A' squad just released, Reeza Hendricks , Andrew Puttick and Gihahn Cloete are the openers. Stiaan van Zyl may open though due to future plans while Theunis de Bruyn opens for the Titans to get into the team but will play for the Proteas in the middle order player one day.

David White who made his SA 'A' debut in the winter in Oz is another to watch but injuries have put him back. The SA u19 world cup winning captain, Aiden Markram, is around too but can't get into the Titans team but would do so at a few other franchises. These 2 are going to the new state of the art National Academy facilities in the winter.
Puttick's an interesting one. I've always felt he was a better opener than Virus, but the interesting part is that they've bothered selecting someone of his age and experience in A squad. Seems to suggest he's at least vaguely in the frame.
 

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