*Official* South Africa Tour of Sri Lanka 2018

[Black_Warrior]

Now wait for him to score one good innings and 'prove the doubters wrong'.

Well this 'decline' is around 3 years old and he got that 'good' innings against Sri Lanka in late 2016 and got a few tough half centuries against England last year

I fear we might already be past that 'one good innings'

 

[Xuhaib]

Anyone really disappointed with Quinton progress as a test bat after the Aus tour I thought he had the potential to turn Fab Four in to Fantastic Five unfortunately he has been really below par for a while now.

 

[Black_Warrior]

I wonder if South Africa will consider taking the gloves off him and try? At this point, he is not really contributing as a keeper batsman so might be worth it

 

[Stefan9]

I wonder if South Africa will consider taking the gloves off him and try? At this point, he is not really contributing as a keeper batsman so might be worth it

If he plays as only a batsman he is getting dropped. He has a very obvious technical issues and is getting exposed.

His keeping is keeping him in the team

 

[Moonsorrow999]

Now wait for him to score one good innings and 'prove the doubters wrong'.

Cook does that tbf. 0, 3, 22, 14 then 258 not out. Then back to many failures.

 

[Bahseph]

Congratulations to Sri Lanka. The best team won without a doubt. So sad that Herath is retiring soon. Dhananjaya was impressive. I do hope he develops a little more than Perera and makes a name for himself overseas as well. In terms of the batting, I really enjoy watching de Silva and Mendis. Just a thought, the reason why Sri Lanka are the least competitive of Pakistan, India and themselves overseas is clearly because the pitches don't encourage seamers. They aren't minefields, but I wouldn't want to be bowling seam on those.

As for South Africa, de Bruyn and Maharaj the positives. Rabada was Rabada. And I think it's a little premature to rule Steyn out just yet. Stefan9 mentioned it, and he is entirely correct in that QDK has good averages for a keeper. It's just dissapointing because we had hope for him as a Test batsman. Just always plays with an angled bat. It irks me to no end. Just don't think he can change that now.

 

[Bahseph]

Or he doesn't seem to want to work on it.

 

[Bijed]

the Herath retirement adds some bad news.

How many more tests will SL have played by November? I'd really like him to play the 8 more to bring his total up to 100 - just wouldn't feel right if doesn't end up as a round figure

 

[Mr Miyagi]

Cook does that tbf. 0, 3, 22, 14 then 258 not out. Then back to many failures.

59.4 average, outstanding. :P

 

[Mr Miyagi]

How many more tests will SL have played by November? I'd really like him to play the 8 more to bring his total up to 100 - just wouldn't feel right if doesn't end up as a round figure

Rangana Herath may retire from international cricket in November, following the three-match Test series against England. Provided he plays every Sri Lanka Test until then, he will finish five Tests short of 100.

Herath had earlier retired from the shorter formats in order to lengthen his Test career, but now, aged 40, he believed it was time to consider stepping away from all formats.

"Maybe my final series will be the England series later in the year," he told BBC Sinhala. "Following this South Africa series, there is another three months until the England series. For now, this is what I've planned for. There comes a time for every cricketer, when they have to stop playing. I think that time has come for me."

He's thinking 95 at this stage.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/24056002/rangana-herath-retire-international-cricket-november

 

[Gnske]

Well he's no Azharuddin at least.

 

[Black_Warrior]

If he plays as only a batsman he is getting dropped. He has a very obvious technical issues and is getting exposed.

His keeping is keeping him in the team

Another keeper batsman might contribute more with the bat at this point

 

[Maximas]

Philander out is a big call. Weakens their batting even further

Edit: oh wait, de bruyn is in for shamsi which in theory is good for their batting.

In practice I honestly think their batting could be weaker for it, haven't seen much of de bruyn though

'In Practice' is probably a phrase best used after the fact it appears...

Although tbf the match was gone by the time de bruyn walked out to bat in the 2nd dig

 

[R!TTER]

Well he's no Azharuddin at least.

Come again?

 

[YorksLanka]

This series (read: South Africa) was a letdown. Ridiculously one sided.

Lanka have a whitewash, which is a huge, but don't have much else to take away from this. Karunaratnes batting was ridiculous, but not much else to speak of. Bowling obviously very good, but it's hard to know how much to read into it, and the Herath retirement adds some bad news.

A couple of the RSA players did well, but it's one of the worst collective failures they have ever had. This marks a definite end to RSA being good travellers, which is a disappointment not to have in general. I'm hoping India and Pakistan can take over that mantle now. Everyone winning at home is dull.

There is plenty to take away: gunathilake did well coming in at the top.Good performances by de Silva at 3 considering his age and the fact he had just come in. Also good from mendis. Nice to see Akila perform with bat and ball and Dilruwan showed why he is in this team. Lakmal was good as captain and finally we got s whitewash without our captain and coach so plenty to be pleased about...

 

[StephenZA]

If he plays as only a batsman he is getting dropped. He has a very obvious technical issues and is getting exposed.

His keeping is keeping him in the team

Is his keeping really that much better than Klaasens? I think his biggest technical flaw is in his head at the moment, it is not like he is setting the world alight against any bowling spin or seam; seen him play spin well in the past; but he could not hit a football at the moment, never mind a cricket ball. But he is not going to get dropped unless he continues this form into the LO stuff.

 

[Starfighter]

Come again?

He played 99 tests (then got banned)

 

[Bahseph]

There is plenty to take away: gunathilake did well coming in at the top.Good performances by de Silva at 3 considering his age and the fact he had just come in. Also good from mendis. Nice to see Akila perform with bat and ball and Dilruwan showed why he is in this team. Lakmal was good as captain and finally we got s whitewash without our captain and coach so plenty to be pleased about...

Agree with most of your points except Gunathilaka. Guy seems to be a little bit of a loose cannon from what I've read. Are they really going to persist with him?

 

[Prince EWS]

Agree with most of your points except Gunathilaka. Guy seems to be a little bit of a loose cannon from what I've read. Are they really going to persist with him?

50/50 call IMO.

Chandimal has to come back in, and given Mendis averages 56 opening from nine innings, they have the option of moving him up to open to make that happen. Roshen is on shaky ground too, but sometimes they like to play five bowlers so they might both be dropped.

 

[Bolo]

There is plenty to take away: gunathilake did well coming in at the top.Good performances by de Silva at 3 considering his age and the fact he had just come in. Also good from mendis. Nice to see Akila perform with bat and ball and Dilruwan showed why he is in this team. Lakmal was good as captain and finally we got s whitewash without our captain and coach so plenty to be pleased about...

I guess I'm overstating the batting. RSAs bowling was ineffective, not complete junk, and it takes more than 1 person for bowling to be ineffective.