***Official*** England in South Africa 2015/16

[Marius]

Good day for us.. even with the few bumps... well done boys.

Taking into account Steyn's injury, this is probably our strongest team.

Except for JP maybe, would rather have had Rilee playing.

 

[Scaly piscine]

That won't happen though. It will be an inexperienced Lanka and a Pakistan side who has rarely left the SC over the last few years for him to bowl at.

Anderson will have a few months to put his feet up and recharge his batteries after what has been a bloody long slog for him, 3 tests in WI, Ashes, the UAE and these 4 tests, that would take a toil on a lot of fast bowlers especially as their been plenty of roads prepared in those matches.

Its one bad series lads.

Yes, a bad couple of matches. But it was always likely that a guy who got injured then bowled a full 5 overs in the warm-ups wasn't going to perform to anything like his usual level and the staff should have seen he was short of nip.

It's harder on an away tour, particularly when the next guy in line is apparently Woakes. But if this happens in a home series I hope the selectors have the guts to pick Wood or the like and send whoever it is off to County Cricket to get some match practice.

 

[StephenZA]

Taking into account Steyn's injury, this is probably our strongest team.

Except for JP maybe, would rather have had Rilee playing.

Rilee definitely better, I feel for van Zyl, hopefully gets confidence back as I truly rated him. I would probably swap both Morkel and Abbott for a fit Steyn and Philander

 

[Marius]

Rilee definitely better, I feel for van Zyl, hopefully gets confidence back as I truly rated him. I would probably swap both Morkel and Abbott for a fit Steyn and Philander

Yeah, think Vern and Steyn would have wreaked havoc in Joburg.

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah I just don't want a bowler with that filthy an action ever playing for England.

 

[vcs]

No way would he be able to survive a day in India without contemplating murder or suicide.

Get rid of the 'p' and you get....

 

[Stefan9]

Taking into account Steyn's injury, this is probably our strongest team.

Except for JP maybe, would rather have had Rilee playing.

I would have both steyn and philander in our strongest team.Personally I am not sure I would morkel ahead of radaba if he keeps developing as he is.Would have rossouw ahead of faf/jp.

Considering today think SA just ahead, jp & ab should have done better but nice recovery from bavuma and qdk. Great knocks by hash and cook.

 

[Compton]

Recovery at the end puts SA back into the driving seat. Another 100 runs tomorrow puts England under a bit of pressure. Pitch will likely be a little quicker tomorrow, too.

 

[Howe_zat]

Missed all the cricket today, just here to demand facts - when was the last time two players with the same name and the same position/role played each other in a test?

 

[harsh.ag]

Missed all the cricket today, just here to demand facts - when was the last time two players with the same name and the same position/role played each other in a test?

Graeme Smith and Devon Smith 2005

 

[Spark]

Who else do you drop? Finn has looked genuinely world class to me since he came back into the side. For me, Finn has been better than Anderson since coming back into the side

If you're dropping the all-time leading wicket taker for your side on the back of a few Tests then I really don't know what to say.

Of course, this is all superseded by the simple point that you could play all of Anderson, Broad and Finn. You know, like a sane person would do.

I don't see the thing about Mark Wood. He's a decent bowler, but he's never really impressed me in Test Cricket.

He's skiddy and causes some problems because he's a little quicker than you think, but yeah I don't get the rage about him.

 

[JRC67]

If you're dropping the all-time leading wicket taker for your side on the back of a few Tests then I really don't know what to say.

Of course, this is all superseded by the simple point that you could play all of Anderson, Broad and Finn. You know, like a sane person would do.



He's skiddy and causes some problems because he's a little quicker than you think, but yeah I don't get the rage about him.

JA has had a couple of average games, all players in every sport do. It may be he is now at the point in career where he will take a few games to get back to speed and get the muscles moving. Wood has really moved beyond promising yet. He's a bit different to alternatives in being so skiddy. Yet to take more than 3 wickets in a game and only averages 3 wickets a match. Next 12 months are really important for him.

Finn looks like he's a regular now, but might not be an ideal foil for Broad when Anderson finishes as they both bowl from a similar height. There is a slot for someone to take over the next two years so plenty of incentive for the likes of Woakes and Wood.

 

[JRC67]

If you're dropping the all-time leading wicket taker for your side on the back of a few Tests then I really don't know what to say.

Of course, this is all superseded by the simple point that you could play all of Anderson, Broad and Finn. You know, like a sane person would do.



He's skiddy and causes some problems because he's a little quicker than you think, but yeah I don't get the rage about him.

JA has had a couple of average games, all players in every sport do. It may be he is now at the point in career where he will take a few games to get back to speed and get the muscles moving. Wood hasn't really moved beyond promising yet. He's a bit different to alternatives in being so skiddy. Yet to take more than 3 wickets in a game and only averages 3 wickets a match. Next 12 months are really important for him.

Finn looks like he's a regular now, but might not be an ideal foil for Broad when Anderson finishes as they both bowl from a similar height. There is a slot for someone to take over the next two years so plenty of incentive for the likes of Woakes and Wood.

 

[Johann]

Its good to see that we've pulled it back somewhat, but I'm absolutely disgusted with the decision to play Woakes over Footitt. It reeks of a decision to avoid a selection headache to me; Finn walks into the team when he's back, and if Footitt comes in and performs (which I believe is inevitable, the guy is pure class) then you have to drop one of Anderson, Broad, Hales, Stokes or Ali to make way for Finn. If we drop Ali it has to be for Rashid, you can't see us weakening the batting to play 5 seamers, so that leaves you with a choice between Stokes and Anderson. The safe option was play Woakes, he might make 25 with the bat, go 2 for 100 with the ball, and you can drop him as soon as Finn is back.
For me this is up there with the Trott in the Windies **** up

What is this utter nonsense

Foottitt may have been the better call in these circumstances but he was very poor in the warmup game and Woakes is the man in possession. Really was a toss up as to who got the nod between those two - you could argue it either way

To suggest that it's been done to avoid a selection headache is preposterous in the extreme

 

[Johann]

Woakes has been poor in this test so far but I do think he still has something to offer. He strikes me as the kind of player that would benefit from being backed by management and having a little run in the side - it's got to be really difficult coming in for the odd test here and there.

You get the impression they're trying to groom him to replace Jimmy when he goes in a year or two but it's pretty hard to do that when he's probably behind Jimmy, Broad, Finn and probably Wood in the pecking order

As for Wood, he's the sort of bowler you watch and he looks like he's got something about him. Probably the quickest bowler we have available, skiddy, awkward to face and can reverse swing the old ball. He'll need to make significant strides and start taking more wickets when he's back from injury though - same as Woakes

 

[Scaly piscine]

Woakes has been poor in this test so far but I do think he still has something to offer. He strikes me as the kind of player that would benefit from being backed by management and having a little run in the side - it's got to be really difficult coming in for the odd test here and there.

You get the impression they're trying to groom him to replace Jimmy when he goes in a year or two but it's pretty hard to do that when he's probably behind Jimmy, Broad, Finn and probably Wood in the pecking order

As for Wood, he's the sort of bowler you watch and he looks like he's got something about him. Probably the quickest bowler we have available, skiddy, awkward to face and can reverse swing the old ball. He'll need to make significant strides and start taking more wickets when he's back from injury though - same as Woakes

Nothing like Woakes at all. Woakes doesn't look like an international cricketer. Wood does. He has respectable figures in not particularly great situations against the tougher teams in Test cricket.

 

[Bijed]

Got to admit that my staunchly held belief that Woakes will one day come good and become a solid member of the England team has been pretty much extinguished today. I think the point that he'd benefit from a little backing and actually having something approaching a proper run in the side is a good one, but I think that even if he does get going, he won't really be good enough for it to have been worth it when you consider that he'd have to keep a much better bowler out of the side. Kinda makes me think of a bowling Adam Lyth in that respect - you feel he's got something to offer, but he just never does. That said, he's not exactly aging, so it's not infeasible that he reappears in a few years having changed his game somewhat and becomes at least a decent first reserve.

On the flip side of the coin, I'm in a way not too gutted about how things are going, since it's a very busy time at work and tbh I could do without the distraction of a competitive, compelling game of cricket (us annihilating SA would be just as distracting, but I'd take it )

 

[Shady Slim]

well what would have happened if they had cook the whole time...

big series of what ifs for SA if this is going to continue the way it is

 

[Furball]

Would you ever consider Steyn (not that it is even a distinct possibility) but just for discussion's sake.
I wonder why bowlers are never trusted with the captaincy. Top performer, automatic selection, great attitude, generally one of the fittest players, is generally well respected both within his team and in international circles.

I think the theory is that bowlers can't be trusted to look at bowling changes objectively. Certainly when Flintoff was captain against Sri Lanka back in 06 he bowled himself for about a million overs in their 2nd dig at Lord's and injured himself.

 

[cnerd123]

James Taylor's catching at short leg is being negated by England's catching behind the wicket.