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

[Prince EWS]

this happened to me just now with the . key

protip: fork and felt tip pen makes for a fine keyboard maintenance kit

Haha a few months ago I took off every single key on my keyboard with these exact tools.

 

[Spark]

the felt tip pen is particularly useful for digging out those little soft rubber contact pads beneath the keys (one of them had become stuck in its depressed state, hence the problem)

 

[OverratedSanity]

People still exaggerate the amount they actually "choke" though. Like in 2007. Back then they just weren't good enough to beat Australia.

Lol that was arguably the best choke of the bunch.

 

[Goughy]

People still exaggerate the amount they actually "choke" though. Like in 2007. Back then they just weren't good enough to beat Australia.

Nah, I am just rereading Donald's autobiography and it is a running theme - the inability of South Africans to handle pressure situations.

For want of an over generalisation, South Africans have a ceramic mentality - tough and very hard but when under excess strain shatter.

 

[BigBrother]

Lol that was arguably the best choke of the bunch.

No it wasn't. Sure you might expect them to be more competitive than that but you look at that Aus world cup squad and SA world cup squad and you expect the Aussies to win at least every 3 out of 4 games.

 

[akilana]

it wasn't even the worst choke by any team in that 2007 WC

 

[akilana]

Nah, I am just rereading Donald's autobiography and it is a running theme - the inability of South Africans to handle pressure situations.

For want of an over generalisation, South Africans have a ceramic mentality - tough and very hard but when under excess strain shatter.

how do you explain the success they have had in tests?

 

[Marius]

Lol that was arguably the best choke of the bunch.

Nope, Aussies were just too good.

No choke there, 1999 and 2011 were chokes but not 2007.

 

[Marius]

Nah, I am just rereading Donald's autobiography and it is a running theme - the inability of South Africans to handle pressure situations.

For want of an over generalisation, South Africans have a ceramic mentality - tough and very hard but when under excess strain shatter.

how do you explain the success they have had in tests?

Yeah, exactly. I don't know how a team that's won two consecutive Test series in England and Australia can be considered to be mentally fragile.

 

[GotSpin]

Because they keep ****ing up at Home. Not hard to figure out really.

 

[Marius]

Because they keep ****ing up at Home. Not hard to figure out really.

Apart from Australia, South Africa hasn't lost a home series since England, 2004/05.

If ****ing up at home is your criteria for 'choking' then England are surely the biggest chokers on world cricket.

 

[GotSpin]

Im not sure how this is even up for debate considering South Africas history in World Cups and their ability to drop random tests at home.

England just suck. Thats not choking.

 

[Marius]

Im not sure how this is even up for debate considering South Africas history in World Cups and their ability to drop random tests at home.

England just suck. Thats not choking.

Fair enough.

But after 1999, I think the only World Cup we have choked in was 2011. 2003 we weren't great, and in 2007 we also weren't great and met a rampant Australia in the semis.

 

[GotSpin]

When Was the counting fiasco? 2003?

Cant go past that

 

[Marius]

When Was the counting fiasco? 2003?

Cant go past that

Yup, 2003.

But we didn't have a great World Cup anyway, had already lost to WI and NZ before that. Don't think that counts as a choke.

 

[Tec15]

Don't really see what dropping random tests at home (Something they only really did for a stretch from the mid-2000's) has to do with choking. South Africa have never been chokers in test matches.

Now if there have been real chokers in tests it was the 90's Australian side which lost numerous matches from strong positions with certain players hilariously wilting in the face of pressure (Martyn in Sydney 1994, Healy in Karachi etc). Luckily for them, "mental disintegration" was yet to be a thing among the opposition and they escaped without the tag and kept their "mentally strong" image.

4th Test: Australia v West Indies at Adelaide, Jan 23-26, 1993 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo
2nd Test: Australia v South Africa at Sydney, Jan 2-6, 1994 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo
1st Test: Pakistan v Australia at Karachi, Sep 28-Oct 2, 1994 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo
4th Test: Australia v England at Melbourne, Dec 26-29, 1998 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo
3rd Test: West Indies v Australia at Bridgetown, Mar 26-30, 1999 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Talk about choking.

 

[Jono]

2007 WC semi loss to Aust may not be a choke in the traditional sense of "favourite or team in winning position throwing it away" but it was a deer in headlights kind of choke. Got psyched out by pre-game chat.

 

[Jono]

Because they keep ****ing up at Home. Not hard to figure out really.

What SA home losses were chokes?

Don't think they've choked at home really in tests. They just lost random matches but ensured they never lost the series.

Compare that to Australia against SA in 2008/09 who choked in the first and second test when in absolutely dominant positions to lose a home series.

 

[Heboric]

Im not sure how this is even up for debate considering South Africas history in World Cups and their ability to drop random tests at home.

England just suck. Thats not choking.

I am sorry this whole "We are rubbish" line is the weakest attempt to try brush aside that England also choke. Fact is England have been in finals and semi finals and blew it That final against the West Indies at home in the 2000's is a prime example. If you dont call that choking i dont know what.

 

[Marius]

2007 WC semi loss to Aust may not be a choke in the traditional sense of "favourite or team in winning position throwing it away" but it was a deer in headlights kind of choke. Got psyched out by pre-game chat.

Then almost every team that played Australia in big matches between 1996 and 2005 choked.