*Official* South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka 2018

[Bijed]

This is the best we have lads. The only way I see us winning in these conditions is if we bat first and score close to 350+. Vern is always underrated with the bat imo. Never gets a big score but he usually stands up when we need a rear guard. I'm sure his 2nd innings stats with the bat are actually quite good to be honest,although I can't be bothered to check.

All-round records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | ESPNcricinfo

Averages nearly 40 with the bat in the 3rd/4th innings of a test!

 

[StephenZA]

And I am happy that none of the team or media have called the pitch a dustbowl. That means the team has to look at themselves instead of acting like victims,ala India 2015.

Nothing wrong with the pitch... just poor batting by SA. Turn was consistent, no overly erratic bounce day 1 or 2... just good bowling from the SL spinners which we could not handle.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Nothing wrong with the pitch... just poor batting by SA. Turn was consistent, no overly erratic bounce day 1 or 2... just good bowling from the SL spinners which we could not handle.

that's good. I'll admit my first assumption was otherwise

 

[Burner]

How good is Karunaratne!

Haven't seen the match but looks like SA has had a remarkably bad day in the office, to say the least.

 

[Black_Warrior]

As well as his batting declining, Mathews seems to have let his fitness slip and has put on a fair bit of weight. So in that respect he'll be irreplaceable once Herath has gone.

Don't recall a time when his fitness was good.

 

[Migara]

SL Will Win This Series But Does This Even Matter They Can Only Win On Dustbowls Their Bowling Is Poor And Their Batting Is Pathetic In Short They Are Equal To Associates Nations.

Thanks for your superb contribution to the thread.

 

[Migara]

SSC will not turn as quick as Galle. It will be slow, low turn. Batsmen who could stay at the crease will score big, and players who want to force the pace will not do that well on SSC. And usually batting will get easier and easier as game goes on. 1st innings bowling usually decides the game. If a team goes for a hefty 1st innings score, it will be very difficult to beat them.

 

[Bolo]

SSC will not turn as quick as Galle. It will be slow, low turn. Batsmen who could stay at the crease will score big, and players who want to force the pace will not do that well on SSC. And usually batting will get easier and easier as game goes on. 1st innings bowling usually decides the game. If a team goes for a hefty 1st innings score, it will be very difficult to beat them.

Are you saying you win the toss and bowl?

 

[straw man]

Even without ABDV and a couple of new batsmen, this SA side is very good on paper, so for SL to win this so comprehensively surprises me. We know the batting isn't good in turning conditions but even so...

Karunaratne has something about him too - not a great average yet but his 8th hundred and scored runs opening in NZ, which is rare for an SL opener.

SL are quietly accumulating some good results to push up the test rankings here.

 

[Pup Clarke]

Could SA use Elgar/Markram more as a 2nd spin option? Maharaj is so good that I don't know if it's imperative to play another front-line spinner (instead of a batsman). SA are such a fragile batting unit at the moment

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Even without ABDV and a couple of new batsmen, this SA side is very good on paper, so for SL to win this so comprehensively surprises me. We know the batting isn't good in turning conditions but even so...

Karunaratne has something about him too - not a great average yet but his 8th hundred and scored runs opening in NZ, which is rare for an SL opener.

SL are quietly accumulating some good results to push up the test rankings here.

Yeah, they're upto 6th, and despite beating Pakistan in the UAE last year, Pakistan look a tad low at 7th given they have two drawn series in England in the last 3 years and a win in the WI. Doesn't help that their series win in SL points from 2015 were cutoff in May.

But what seems to be really hurting them is their lack of home tests:

2017/18 2 home tests;
2016/17 3 home tests;
2015/16 3 home tests;

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/pakis...am/series_results.html?class=1;id=7;type=team
It is worse than NZ.

 

[straw man]

Tbf SL did beat Pakistan in Pakistan's 'home' recently so no surprise they're above them.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Tbf SL did beat Pakistan in Pakistan's 'home' recently so no surprise they're above them.

Yeah, well given that few tests at "home" - Pakistan isn't really in a position to wear losses there well.

I hope the test championship gives them a fairer lot.

 

[Migara]

Are you saying you win the toss and bowl?

Yes. That's when maximum support for bowlers. This is of course, in the event of typical SSC slow, low featherbed.

 

[Maximas]

Yes. That's when maximum support for bowlers. This is of course, in the event of typical SSC slow, low featherbed.

I reckon something closer to what was produced for the 2014 tour will be prepared, where it was pretty good to bat on throughout but offered **** all to the seamers and broke up a bit towards the end of the match and took some decent turn on day 5

 

[Black_Warrior]

Yeah, they're upto 6th, and despite beating Pakistan in the UAE last year, Pakistan look a tad low at 7th given they have two drawn series in England in the last 3 years and a win in the WI. Doesn't help that their series win in SL points from 2015 were cutoff in May.

But what seems to be really hurting them is their lack of home tests:

2017/18 2 home tests;
2016/17 3 home tests;
2015/16 3 home tests;

Cricket Records | Records | Pakistan | Test matches | Series results | ESPNcricinfo
It is worse than NZ.

Pakistan will always struggle to make it to the top because of their poor schedules. Their home seasons are never consistently heavy enough like the Big 3 so they never accumulate a strong lead. For example India have such a massive lead now, even if they lose 0-5 in England, they will remain on number 1. That's on the back of their unbelievably long home season from 2015-2017 where they only toured West Indies and Sri Lanka

The Test Championship hopefully will make the rankings a little less relevant the way the World Cup makes ODI rankings less relevant.

 

[TheJediBrah]

The Test Championship hopefully will make the rankings a little less relevant the way the World Cup makes ODI rankings less relevant.

India are set up beautifully, just geographically speaking, to remain on top for a long time. They are easily the strongest team in Asia and their only real rivals in Test cricket around the world are SA, Eng & Aus (edit: maybe Pak too), who they only have to tour once every couple of rotations. Compared to these other teams who have more competitive home/away matches against each other and India are going to be very hard to knock off.

They'll win nearly everything at home, nearly everything away against SL, BD, Pak, WI, so that even if they lose heavily every tour to SA, Aus or Eng they'll probably still be no. 1.

That's not to say they wouldn't deserve it, they could very well be the best team, just that they're going to have to really start struggling to be knocked off any time soon.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

India are set up beautifully, just geographically speaking, to remain on top for a long time. They are easily the strongest team in Asia and their only real rivals in Test cricket around the world are SA, Eng & Aus (edit: maybe Pak too), who they only have to tour once every couple of rotations. Compared to these other teams who have more competitive home/away matches against each other and India are going to be very hard to knock off.

They'll win nearly everything at home, nearly everything away against SL, BD, Pak, WI, so that even if they lose heavily every tour to SA, Aus or Eng they'll probably still be no. 1.

That's not to say they wouldn't deserve it, they could very well be the best team, just that they're going to have to really start struggling to be knocked off any time soon.

Unlikely to play tests against one another unless both qualify for the final at a neutral I suspect:

Cricket Records | Records | India v Pakistan | Test matches | Match results | ESPNcricinfo

But the championship will make test tours to NZ and UAE of far more importance for England (and India for the former), definitely. Aus will need to raise its UAE, SL and Bangladesh game. SA also needs some Asian improvement.

 

[Borges]

India are set up beautifully, just geographically speaking, to remain on top for a long time.

Right. Where would we be, without Bangladesh and Sri Lanka?
Grant test status to Nepal (and every other Asian country which can compete with Eng/SA/Aus at home), I say.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Right. Where would we be, without Bangladesh and Sri Lanka?
Grant test status to Nepal (and every other Asian country which can compete with Eng/SA/Aus at home), I say.

No wonder the BCCI have given Afghanistan so much support.