*Official* South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka 2018

[OverratedSanity]

I do too but it's impossible to tell from two tests in these conditions.

Don't think he's bowled badly, just not very penetrative. Him not breaking down so far and bowling a lot of overs is a big positive.

 

[vcs]

Steyn's been more than effective enough in the past on spin friendly tracks like these, and KG and Lakmal have taken wickets, so I wouldn't call them flat.

Like TJB said, I would love to see him return to his best post-injury, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

 

[Black_Warrior]

This series kinda puts in perspective the shellacking Australia took a few years ago.

And the one England will take later this year

 

[Jack1]

A part of me feels like Steyn should have retired and all this is doing is tarnishing his legacy and stats. He's doing a Ponting

I just think he simply shouldn’t be playing in these conditions. It’s unfair on a seam bowler that’s come back from a long spell out to be playig in conditions like this. Especially after his first test performance. We need to judge a player with a historical record like him after ten tests post injury probably, so he can play on different types of surfaces and get some rhythm in test cricket again.

 

[Jack1]

And the one England will take later this year

We will see. We are less likely to succumb to pressure like this. We also think outside the box a lot more now with selection and have confident players.I would still fancy England in any conditions against Sri Lanka. We will have to wait and see what happens, time will tell.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Steyn has been good. He's just not going flat out which is totally understandable given his injury record over the last 3 years. When he came back in Perth in 2016 after his 2015 injury, he cranked it up to 150 and broke down straight away.

This time he is bowling well below his optimum capacity, as a result he didn't get the wickets Rabada did with sheer pace and energy. That being said, he did get a touch of reverse and see now reason why he cannot slowly get up there again.

 

[vcs]

And the one England will take later this year

They'll struggle no doubt but they surely can't bat any worse than what SA have done here.

 

[Black_Warrior]

We will see. We are less likely to succumb to pressure like this. We also think outside the box a lot more now with selection and have confident players.I would still fancy England in any conditions against Sri Lanka. We will have to wait and see what happens, time will tell.

England's record in Asia over the last 3 years is 1-7. The only reason they didn't lose their last series in Sri Lanka was because of a Kevin Pietersen masterclass.

There is absolutely nothing that suggests this England team plays spin better than Australia or South Africa. If anything, Australia demonstrated better skills on their tour of India than England did.

 

[Maximas]

Backing England in SL is about as safe a bet as backing SL in England

 

[Jack1]

Backing England in SL is about as safe a bet as backing SL in England

I am backing England 51-49. I didn’t say I’m confident. I just fancy England very slightly over Sri Lanka even abroad. It’s a difficult series to call, especially between seeing the squads and selected XI’s. We will see what happens. I would back England if I had to place a small bet.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

England's record in Asia over the last 3 years is 1-7. The only reason they didn't lose their last series in Sri Lanka was because of a Kevin Pietersen masterclass.

There is absolutely nothing that suggests this England team plays spin better than Australia or South Africa. If anything, Australia demonstrated better skills on their tour of India than England did.

Hmmm. I think Steve Smith proved himself to be a dynamo in India. Tbh, and I havn't looked at the scorecards, but I wouldn't be surprised if overall that the English batsmen (Cook, Stokes, Root et al) did better in India compared to Australias, but Australia's O'Keefe and Lyon did a better job than Adil and Moeen.

Yeah, looked at the scorecards, I am sure of it, England twice scored 400 or more only to lose by an innings.

 

[trundler]

Is it just me or does Ngidi look like Trevor Noah?

 

[TheJediBrah]

Hmmm. I think Steve Smith proved himself to be a dynamo in India. Tbh, and I havn't looked at the scorecards, but I wouldn't be surprised if overall that the English batsmen (Cook, Stokes, Root et al) did better in India compared to Australias, but Australia's O'Keefe and Lyon did a better job than Adil and Moeen.

Yeah, looked at the scorecards, I am sure of it, England twice scored 400 or more only to lose by an innings.

Take away Smith and Australia's batting efforts in India 2017 look a bit different

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Take away Smith and Australia's batting efforts in India 2017 look a bit different

He also tried to bring out the best in his batting partners.

 

[Bahseph]

I'd be concerned if Steyn was the only seamer not being incisive, but other than KG no one else has looked like running through a side. Hasn't looked like peak Steyn in Asia, but hasn't embarrassed himself at all imo. Probably should have saved him for the home Tests at the end of the year though.

 

[Borges]

It has started reversing a bit. Let us see if Steyn cranks it up now.

 

[Maximas]

Roshen Silva playing for his place in the team, probably likely to be squeezed out by Chandimal regardless anyway

 

[Borges]

He has looked pretty unconvincing so far.

In other news, the Sri Lankan batsmen have learnt that it is not wise to overdo the sweep against Maharaj.

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Will Lakmal give Mathews the most meaningless test century scored this year or declare?

 

[Dendarii]

Steyn took 1-89 last game and has taken 0-70 this game. He made 10 runs with the bat in three innings. He's had injury problems and has zero test form. Philander got given 11 overs in an entire test mach for 1-38. This game Steyn has been given 21 wicketless overs. That's garbage captaincy. It shows inconsistencies in captaincy and favouritism based on no substance. Steyn has added 10 runs in 3 innings with the bat. Philander got out once last game for 40 runs.

You are ignoring the point about picking bowlers to suit the pitch and team balance. In my view Philander's pace, trajectory, skidiness and accuracy is arguably more suited to the pitch than any seam bowler picked. Philander's style on all surfaces is building pressure with patience and accuracy, plus a little movement. By not giving him a chance to create this pressure it isn't helpful for him or the team. I think it's criminal he only got bowled 11 overs in an entire test match, how's he meant to get a rhythm at all or create pressure for the batsman? I do not agree with Steyn getting so many overs for a return of 1-159 over 2 games. This is garbage captaincy and selection. Philander creates more team balance too as he can bat.

Except that performances don't seem to back up your view. Steyn and Rabada have better averages in Asia than Philander and he's only taken one wicket on the tour. Maybe he would have taken more wickets if he'd bowled more, or maybe he wasn't bowled more because he didn't look like picking up wickets, in which case it would possibly have been poor captaincy to continue with him.

And while he can bat, he's not good enough to make the team just for his batting, so the selection was made based on his bowling and he hasn't shown enough on the tour to make his omission the glaring mistake that you seem to suggesting it to be. In any case, the problem with selection was not picking a second spinner rather than not picking Philander.

There is plenty of debate in terms of averages vs seam and spin if you crunch all the first class and test averages. I'm not going to do it for all your available first class batsmen that's for sure.

It sounded like you had. You can't criticise a team for not picking their best players of spin without evidence that they haven't.

Looking at the South Africa A squad, the batsmen there are pretty much either have little experience above domestic level (where they generally won't have played on spin-friendly wickets) or journeymen who have probably reached their ceiling at this level. So there are no other immediately obvious candidates for selection. Questions will definitely need to be asked after these abject batting performances, but at the the start of the tour it definitely looked like South Africa had picked their best batting line-up.