Pakistan Tour of South Africa 2018/19

[Ahmad Zahir]

He does come into the mix but only if Markram is unavailable which looks unlikely.

Although he has competition from Eddie Moore, Gihahn Cloete, Reeza Hendricks. His younger bro probably more talented but think they will want a full 4-day season and SA A selection first for him.

Then I think it would be Cloete because he was even selected in T20s when he had a pretty average record so it would be ironic to ignore him for Tests and I think QdK needs some rest from keeping as well.

 

[Burgey]

Is Faf the most frequently sanctioned captain in ICC history?

 

[M0rphin3]

I've been thinking about this and ability v spin. That Theunis knock in Sri Lanka shocked me as I didn't think he had it in him & I didn't particularly think... ok Theunis is a really good player of spin but then he played that knock.

Zubayr has improvement to make v spin but I do think he is the type of player who can adapt his game to requirements. He scored some runs for SA Emerging in Sri Lanka a few years ago but nothing dominant (Markram, White, Klaasen were main run scorers) & I think the recent India A 4-day matches weren't played on typical spinning wickets. I'm sure Borges will confirm that. But he scored the runs and with Rudi Second the only batsman in 4-day series to really push forward their case.

Like for Hamza I do think Mulder will adapt to requirements the more they in the elite environment. But like Hamza you probably say they get out to spinners donestically from time to time. Think Mulder has been to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for SA u19s where he did alright particulary when he was bit older in Sri Lanka where he got runs in u19 test matches and 50-over games.

This is all with India in mind later this year and I think we all know how tough it is going to be for this SA side.

Yeah, fair. Problem though, is that if you want them to play in India (either of Mulder or Hamza), you gotta give them exposure in the SL series. Then the question is, whether you're willing to drop TdB. Should be interesting, the squad/teaXO for SL tests and preps for the India series.

 

[Borges]

Rudy Second and Hamza did well with the bat for South Africa A in India.

 

[SeamUp]

Otis' thoughts. Which I love by the way.

Suck it up, roll up your sleeves and be prepared to fight for your Test match runs.

That is effectively Proteas coach Ottis Gibson's response to criticism that has been directed at the state of South African Test wickets over the last 12 months.

Test cricket, Gibson says, has never been easy and batsmen have been taking shots to the body for decades on all sorts of surfaces.

The Proteas cruised to their seventh home series win in a row on Sunday morning when they beat Pakistan by 9 wickets in the second Test at Newlands.

The Test, as is often the case in South Africa these days, was not without controversy and Pakistan coach Mickey Arthur blasted the state of the wicket after play on day two, claiming it was not good enough to host Test cricket.

Despite Arthur's criticism, no less than eight batsmen made scores of 50 or more while Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis top-scored with a gritty, patient 103.

Arthur's concern centred around uneven bounce making life difficult for batters from as early as day one, and while Gibson acknowledged that the bounce was unpredictable, he was still somewhat puzzled by Arthur's comments.

"I don't comment on other people's comments, but to make a comment like that when your team has only got four wickets on the day and a guy has scored a hundred seems a little bit strange," Gibson said.

"Mickey and I go way back to our days in Kimberley and we get on very well. I guess when you're behind the eight ball in a game like he was then you sort of want to deflect away from your team and that's the way to do it."

Arthur's comments came on a day where Pakistan had taken just four wickets as Du Plessis and Temba Bavuma (75) combined for a stand of 156.

"Test cricket has always been that if you are prepared to bat long and stick it out and show some resilience, then you will score runs and earn the runs you score," Gibson added.

"Yes, the wicket was a little bit uneven and I'm not going to deny that, but Faf showed that you can still bat on it.

"I don't really subscribe to the fact that it was the worst pitch you've ever seen. We were in Sri Lanka not long ago (South Africa lost 2-0) and I can tell you that they were a lot worse than this, in my opinion."

But, how far is too far? Is there a line when it comes to preparing home wickets? Can they become too heavily one-sided to the point where the game becomes farcical?

South Africa experienced what it was like to be on the receiving end of exactly that during their tour of India in 2015 when they were destroyed by the home spinners on wickets that certainly took conditions to the extreme.

"Every other country does it and therefore we will continue to do it until the ICC says to everybody that there is a standard pitch to prepare for Test cricket, and then everybody plays on it and it is a level playing field," Gibson added.

"At the moment, when you go away from home you take what you get. We did that in Sri Lanka and it wasn't nice or comfortable. We lost horribly and therefore when we play at home I think that conditions should favour us."

When pushed to respond on pitches resulting in length deliveries spitting up and striking batsmen, Gibson revealed his hardened approach to the game.

"Guys have been hitting in Test cricket for years, off a length too, but they showed some character and courage and they stuck it out," he said.

"Faf got hit but he stuck it out and he got 100.

"The ICC is still the governing body for world cricket and if the ICC feels that it is leaning too heavily one way, then they must step in and give a standard pitch to expect across the world in Test cricket and then we play on that.

"I don't prepare the pitch, but we expect home pitches to favour our team."

When asked if he himself thought that the line was being crossed internationally when it came to preparing home strips, Gibson's short response spoke volumes.

"No ... not yet," he offered.

 

[Borges]

"when we play at home I think that conditions should favour us."

Yes. Yes.

 

[Rasimione]

I feel sorry for Dr Bruyn. He's never really experienced failure. The harder he tries the worse he plays.

 

[Heboric]

Otis' thoughts. Which I love by the way.

Thankfully he didnt go full Pieter De Villiers

 

[Dendarii]

Elgar confirmed as captain for the third test.

 

[Stefan9]

Pieter malan on standby for aiden.

 

[StephenZA]

Elgar confirmed as captain for the third test.

Sensible.

Pieter malan on standby for aiden.

Sensible.

Assume Hamza in for Faf (no other choice really).

 

[StephenZA]

Any reports on the Wanderers pitch?

I am hoping it does not turn into a road (which it can do sometimes), with the public criticism of the pitches in general and the problems from the last pitch I hope the groundman is not overreacting.

 

[SeamUp]

Pieter Malan has lost a franchise contract twice. That is a superb effort of pure doggedness.

Can't tell much from this but it looks like hint of green tinge is only through the middle of the pitch... maybe outside right-handers off stump facing from Golf Course end ?

 

[TheJammyTurtle]

Gibson putting himself in a position where he can't say anything when the Saffers get smacked around on Indian dust bowls later this year.

 

[StephenZA]

Pieter Malan has lost a franchise contract twice. That is a superb effort of pure doggedness.

Can't tell much from this but it looks like hint of green tinge is only through the middle of the pitch... maybe outside right-handers off stump facing from Golf Course end ?

Looks a little dry, not very green hopefully pace... see what happens.

Gibson putting himself in a position where he can't say anything when the Saffers get smacked around on Indian dust bowls later this year.

We already had that in SL... no surprises for India. We need to just find some batsmen that can play spin.

 

[SeamUp]

We already had that in SL... no surprises for India. We need to just find some batsmen that can play spin.

Basically the way I look at it too. We know whats coming after India and Sri Lanka and to be honest all you can do is get another thrashing or actually fight and scrap and try produce the goods. Which is what I want to see. No easy collapses.

 

[Heboric]

Gibson putting himself in a position where he can't say anything when the Saffers get smacked around on Indian dust bowls later this year.

Nah, quite frankly I am happy about it. CSA finally growing a spine. Sick and tired of South Africa giving these batting paradises when teams tour South Africa.

About time we joined the club

 

[Borges]

Yes. South Africa should produce South African pitches. And expect and accept Sri Lankan pitches when they play in Sri Lanka.

 

[SeamUp]

No Haris Sohail or Junaid Khan.

Pakistan ODI Squad

Sarfaraz Ahmed (captain), Babar Azam, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Hasan Ali, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hafeez, Mohammad Rizwan, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Afridi, Shan Masood, Shoaib Malik, Usman Shinwari.

We haven't seen Faheem Ashraf, Hussain Talat, Imad Wasim, Mohammed Hafeez, Mohammed Rizwan , Shadab Khan, Shoaib Malik & Usman Shinwari in the tests.

 

[Spark]

Nah, quite frankly I am happy about it. CSA finally growing a spine. Sick and tired of South Africa giving these batting paradises when teams tour South Africa.

About time we joined the club

heh, nice to see we aren't the only ones who have these problems