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

[Marius]

He's suggesting that maybe he should be opening instead of keeping; not doing both.

It's still a terrible idea.

 

[Johann]

It's an interesting point made about Taylor being absolutely essential to our Winter in India and Bangladesh and so we have to get him through til then. He really is the best player of spin that we have

 

[flibbertyjibber]

It's an interesting point made about Taylor being absolutely essential to our Winter in India and Bangladesh and so we have to get him through til then. He really is the best player of spin that we have

Well he should be ok against Sri Lanka at home and it all depends who Pakistan have available out their pace attack to how he may do against them. He has to play the next 14 tests providing he is fit as he is so good against spin and he needs a fair crack of playing tests on home soil anyway. He is one I would ink in and we look again before the summer of 2017.

 

[Johann]

Well he should be ok against Sri Lanka at home and it all depends who Pakistan have available out their pace attack to how he may do against them. He has to play the next 14 tests providing he is fit as he is so good against spin and he needs a fair crack of playing tests on home soil anyway. He is one I would ink in and we look again before the summer of 2017.

Agree entirely. Even if not for his qualities against spin I think he's the kind of player we need to be persevering with properly anyway - just strikes me as the kind of player that has something about him.

Also those catches at short leg are not to be sniffed at

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah although he has taken most of his screamers off pace bowlers him at short leg in Asia would likely add 3-5 wickets over the course of the 7 Tests

 

[Captain_Cook]

Well he should be ok against Sri Lanka at home and it all depends who Pakistan have available out their pace attack to how he may do against them.

Prasad was a menace at Headingley last time SL toured. Eranga was okay with the ball. The unknown quantity is Chameera, who looks like a handful if wayward at times. I don't think we can take it for granted that he'll play well against Herath who is the best spinner who isn't taking steroids.

There is enough quality Sri Lankan bowlers to make Taylor very uncomfortable. Then with Amir (who will certainly play given he averages 18 in England) and Wahab to come. Taylor could be unselectable by the time the Bangladesh series comes around.

I'd rather drop him after Sri Lanka series (if he struggles) and bring him back as a horses for courses pick in Bangla.

 

[Dan]

Oh man, if SL and England get into a bouncer war with Prasad and Chameera going nuts, I'm going to laugh so hard. Especially after Ishant bounced England out at Lord's.

 

[Captain_Cook]

Oh man, if SL and England get into a bouncer war with Prasad and Chameera going nuts, I'm going to laugh so hard. Especially after Ishant bounced England out at Lord's.

At least Cook will get a bucketload of runs! I'd be pretty gutted if Anderson and Broad get caught up in any short ball nonsense...

 

[Adders]

Not a bad record for the 5th ranked test team.............



England hold 7 of the 9 Test trophies they play for - beating Pakistan & Sri Lanka would give them the set!

 

[Flem274*]

At least Cook will get a bucketload of runs! I'd be pretty gutted if Anderson and Broad get caught up in any short ball nonsense...

Chameera has a decent bouncer tbh. it's bowling "properly" he struggles to do consistently.

it's giving the new ball to the likes of lakmal and pradeep that will really help England pile on the runs.

 

[Niall]

QDK must not open in tests, I don`t think he has the temperament for it. He is fine in ODI but not Tests. Can you ever imagine Aus discussing putting Gilchrist to open in Tests... maybe they did but I don't think so.... there is enough good batsmen in SA to cover opening. For all van Zyls problems at the top he is a highly talented batsmen and could still become a good opener for SA, people forget he made most of his runs at 3 in domestic cricket, facing the new ball often.

Ideally, QDK would be at 7, and I think that is what SA will do. But without a good enough all-rounder in SA atm I personally think QDK should be six and we should be playing Philander, Steyn, Rabada, Morkel and Piedt.

Rabada is to similar to Steyn for me to drop Morkel. Morkel gives great variety to the attack, people forget how good he actually bowled in India. Morkel can just not be the leader of an attack, even with all his experience.

What was the last wicket keeper who opened in tests regularly? Genuinely can't recall. I suppose the closest thing was Kumar who batted at three, but lets not forget his stats only went into beastly numbers when he abandoned the gloves. Its a brutal ask for someone so young to keep and open in test cricket. Even if QDK were to drop the gloves and open you would have to bring in Vilas who is not good enough at anything.

All rounders?

What is this guy like?

Dwaine Pretorius | South Africa Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

Only seen him in some t20 and he looked ok, but not the best judge to whether he is ready for test cricket. His numbers do look pretty good though.

 

[MrPrez]

I still contest that QdK has both the potential and the time to be moulded into a genuinely classy top-order batsman. Gilchrist was best for Aus at 7, but that's largely because they hat the likes of Hayden, Langer and Slater to compete for the opener slot already. We have keeping talents coming through (and good-enough blokes at the moment, too), but we don't really have much to go on as far as openers are concerned.

 

[Marius]

What was the last wicket keeper who opened in tests regularly? Genuinely can't recall. I suppose the closest thing was Kumar who batted at three, but lets not forget his stats only went into beastly numbers when he abandoned the gloves. Its a brutal ask for someone so young to keep and open in test cricket. Even if QDK were to drop the gloves and open you would have to bring in Vilas who is not good enough at anything.

All rounders?

What is this guy like?

Dwaine Pretorius | South Africa Cricket | Cricket Players and Officials | ESPN Cricinfo

Only seen him in some t20 and he looked ok, but not the best judge to whether he is ready for test cricket. His numbers do look pretty good though.

Alec Stewart kept and opened fairly often in Tests didn't he?

Pretorius is all right, not sure he's Test quality though.

There are two young guys coming through who are very promising - Andile Phehlukwayo and Calvin Savage. Still very young, both are about 20, but definitely ones to watch.

 

[StephenZA]

I still contest that QdK has both the potential and the time to be moulded into a genuinely classy top-order batsman. Gilchrist was best for Aus at 7, but that's largely because they hat the likes of Hayden, Langer and Slater to compete for the opener slot already. We have keeping talents coming through (and good-enough blokes at the moment, too), but we don't really have much to go on as far as openers are concerned.

Our keeping talent does not have the batting capability that QDK has imo. I agree QDK will be a quality batsmen, however his overall technique and temperament is not suited as a test opener, however as a more aggressive number 6 I think he would be perfect. To make QDK a test opener you would have to tighten his technique up quite a bit and probably alter how he bats... which is a difficult thing to do. I don`t see the point of trying to stop him playing his more natural attacking game rather than just finding a good opener/batsmen with a better technique that can be turned into an opener in the long run, who does not have to worry about keeping. If another keeper/batsmen comes along and we can move QDK up the order so be it, just don`t see it in the next 3/4 years.

Alec Stewart kept and opened fairly often in Tests didn't he?

Pretorius is all right, not sure he's Test quality though.

There are two young guys coming through who are very promising - Andile Phehlukwayo and Calvin Savage. Still very young, both are about 20, but definitely ones to watch.

I really like both these guys, hopefully one of them becomes a really good allrounder as we need a good 7 sooner rather than later.

 

[YorksLanka]

At least Cook will get a bucketload of runs! I'd be pretty gutted if Anderson and Broad get caught up in any short ball nonsense...

The excessive short balls will come from Chameera and Pradeep as they have done this on any pitch which gives the quicks assistance as they get carried away- this is what they need to stop doing. Hopefully Ford will slap them into line!!it will be a comfortable win for England in tests and odi's and t20 too close to call.

 

[marc71178]

Seam bowling stocks look fine to me, both guys playing at moment + depth for them and youngsters coming through. Woakes is done as a test match player which is a shame for him, but he can go back to being a good white ball cricketer and the best player in County Championship.

Yes, that's the problem with Woakes, if fit he'll be awesome in the Championship year after year but I doubt he'll ever make the step up.

 

[Stefan9]

Don't suppose there is anyway to watch the SA a vs eng warmup game?

 

[Howe_zat]

Again this looks like a pretty strong SA A side, or at least as genuinely close to an A side as possible with Zondo randomly included. 7 South Africa international players, plus this one guy who averages 28

 

[Captain_Cook]

it will be a comfortable win for England in tests and odi's and t20 too close to call.

I'm not so sure. England's record at Headingley is appalling, 1 English win in 7 tests since 2007. If you lead after the first test, that'll put huge pressure on England. While the SL batting is suspect, the bowling should keep them in the game although England will be on a high from SA rather than depressed after the whitewash.

 

[91Jmay]

Yeah South Africa deserve huge credit for putting out strong tour opponents (useful for them as well, get to learn a lot about young players). Seems to be going pretty well so far, especially without our best player.