Quinton de Kock has retired from test cricket

[Heboric]

Playing on Highveld is different. Sri lanka won on relatively slower venues in Durban & PE in 2018 but as soon as they got to play in Centurion & Joburg... SA completely destroyed them in 2020.

I think SA has to be clever about where they host games against visiting sides. India/Pak/SL should always play at Highveld. They can vary that against Eng/Aus by hosting games in Durban & PE & I don't mind even those secondary venues. Durban anyways traditionally hosted Boxing day tests.. New year's test in Cape town.
Don't host Australia in Joburg.

Durban is a hoodoo ground for the Proteas, they could play a team of Randoms and still lose

 

[Woodster]

He's saying that saying that he deserves credit for his home conditions being unusually difficult is inaccurate because, relatively speaking, they weren't.

I appreciate that and still think you come across your fair share of juicy wickets in SA. The fact his home record was better doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with conditions being easier to bat in.

 

[Woodster]

you're still not getting it lol dw

I understand your point, lol, just didn’t think it was a particularly good one.

 

[Apex Predator]

Durban is a hoodoo ground for the Proteas, they could play a team of Randoms and still lose

Well yes.. Why is that so? In early days I have heard Durban used to be full on grassy & it become slower with time. India Pak SL all 3 have won over there. So definately not a great idea to host them there. That leaves Kiwis Poms Aussies & Windies... Aus won in 2018 in Durban.. But lost at PE Joburg & Capetown. Poms lose at Centurion mostly.
Kiwis don't tour much.

 

[Heboric]

Well yes.. Why is that so? In early days I have heard Durban used to be full on grassy & it become slower with time. India Pak SL all 3 have won over there. So definately not a great idea to host them there. That leaves Kiwis Poms Aussies & Windies... Aus won in 2018 in Durban.. But lost at PE Joburg & Capetown. Poms lose at Centurion mostly.
Kiwis don't tour much.

I really dont know, the wonky weather doesnt help, bad light a lot and early. Plus let just say Durban is to cricket what Cape Town is to rugby union especially when certain teams are playing- I will just leave it at that

 

[OverratedSanity]

The fact his home record was better doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with conditions being easier to bat in.

Yep it's nonsensical. Probably only mid tier of garbage tjb cricket chat posts so pretty unremarkable overall.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Some of the pitches in the series we've had in SA have occasionally been pretty flat tbf. Cape Town 2014 when Clarke batted for a day with a cracked collarbone comes to mind, that was a pretty batting-friendly pitch. Slightly outside the time window but the pitches in 2009 were mostly quite flat too.

It really depends on what SA choose to roll out depending on the opposition. They put out some brutally difficult pitches in the 2018 tour. Capetown was a greentop and the joburg pitch was one of the worst up and down decks of recent years. Genuinely unsafe.

On balance over his career i'd say sa has still had the toughest decks.

 

[a massive zebra]

Saying that SA is the most difficult place to bat in the world is not wrong in general, while also acknowledging being in home conditions, for most players, and for many different reasons gives home players an advantage. Hence why since 1994 to date their is only one SA batsmen that has avg above 50 since readmission (not including Morkels one match!). While most other countries have many.

de Villiers and Kallis both average over 50.

 

[TheJediBrah]

I appreciate that and still think you come across your fair share of juicy wickets in SA. The fact his home record was better doesn’t necessarily go hand in hand with conditions being easier to bat in.

I understand your point, lol, just didn’t think it was a particularly good one.

I'm still not sure you do quite get it judging by the above comment. I never said that the wickets weren't jucier or harder to bat on in SA, that wasn't my point at all. Purely in the context of judging his batting, whether or not wickets in SA were harder to bat on in general, for him they evidently weren't. So rating him higher because the wickets in SA were harder for batting in general doesn't make much sense when they weren't harder for him. It's by no means a perfect point, players adapt to their home conditions of course, but it's something to think about and it applies to a lot of players.

eg. Mitchell Starc's bowling. Should rate him higher because he's played on the flattest decks imaginable at home, yet he has a better bowling average at home than away. See also, Imran Khan's bowling at home.

 

[Prince EWS]

It is funny that he played with Devon Conway when growing up who is just starting his test career while QDK has finished.

Random NZ cricketer has entered the chat!

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Hardly random since he was mates with QDK

 

[Daemon]

I'm still not sure you do quite get it judging by the above comment. I never said that the wickets weren't jucier or harder to bat on in SA, that wasn't my point at all. Purely in the context of judging his batting, whether or not wickets in SA were harder to bat on in general, for him they evidently weren't. So rating him higher because the wickets in SA were harder for batting in general doesn't make much sense when they weren't harder for him. It's by no means a perfect point, players adapt to their home conditions of course, but it's something to think about and it applies to a lot of players.

eg. Mitchell Starc's bowling. Should rate him higher because he's played on the flattest decks imaginable at home, yet he has a better bowling average at home than away. See also, Imran Khan's bowling at home.

Cricket was really easy for Bradman therefore he shouldn’t get marked up for being so much better than everyone else.

 

[TheJediBrah]

Cricket was really easy for Bradman therefore he shouldn’t get marked up for being so much better than everyone else.

poor illogical analogy and I think you know that

 

[CricAddict]

poor illogical analogy and I think you know that

Just take out the words "in SA" in your post and apply for Bradman. Does make sense as an analogy.

 

[sunilz]

Would DeKock make SA ATXI team ?

 

[Lokomotiv]

enter @Lokomotiv

There should be no change in 1st innings. The question is 2nd innings.

 

[Dendarii]

Would DeKock make SA ATXI team ?

ODIs yes, tests no if you're using batting as a criterion as that gives the gloves to AB.

 

[trundler]

ODIs yes, tests no if you're using batting as a criterion as that gives the gloves to AB.

Waite and Boucher.

I'd give it to Waite as he kept admirably to Tayfield and also had a far superior rate of tonning up than Boucher. QdK in the mix though. Don't want ABdV keeping.

 

[Dendarii]

Waite and Boucher.

I'd give it to Waite as he kept admirably to Tayfield and also had a far superior rate of tonning up than Boucher. QdK in the mix though. Don't want ABdV keeping.

Yeah, I didn't really want to comment on keeping ability as that becomes tricky to assess. AB keeping does mean that you aren't forced to decide between him and Nourse, but I actually lean towards Waite because of how people who saw him play rate him. So either way, De Kock doesn't make it.

 

[Pup Clarke]

A wonderful, free-flowing batsman who had both grace and poise in equal measure. To me, he's been the most aesthetically pleasing batsman to watch over the past decade.
Re-watching his hundred at Hobart in 2016, his on-drives and inside out shots over cover in that particular innings were just majestic. He always gave bowlers a chance, and didn't possess a watertight defence, but my word he was entertaining to watch in the test format