*Official* South Africa in New Zealand 2022

[Bahnz]

Well done SA, thoroughly professional performance, seized the advantage over the first 2 days, withstood an NZ fightback on day 3, and then never let go.

 

[Frost]

The spinner question is always weird, it's not like nz have one available at the moment so overs from gdg or Mitchell are just as effective as any spinner going around first class cricket at the moment. Any chance we send a shadow team to England now? Warm ups etc, kj southee Latham Conway don't need to play odi against Netherlands.

 

[RossTaylorsBox]

Obviously Southee and Jamieson’s batting is basically irrelevant to their selection, but I just can’t comprehend what is going on behind the scenes or with the coaching when they so obviously get out in totally inexcusable ways. Is anyone actually passing on the basic cricket commonsense they aren’t applying? Has anyone pointed out they’re doing something wrong?

Gotta play your shots mate

 

[Apex Predator]

Big win for SA moving forward. NZ couldn't break the jinx again. SA most likely have blown up the chances of Both NZ & India in WTC now. While they themselves are in the reckoning now I think.

 

[Bahnz]

Lower order coping a fair amount of stick, and to a certain extent that's fair enough. But you only have to look at the openers to see the difference between the 2 teams. Elgar and Erwee added 170 runs in this game. Latham and Young added 4 - 80% of the margin of defeat is made up of the difference between the openers.

 

[Ghost]

It's all on now in the 3rd test...

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Don't rule out Rutherford. He was the back up opener for this series, while Ravindra was middle order allrounder cover.

 

[SteveNZ]

Think that's an unnecessarily stacked batting lineup with Conway and Kane in the XI. Would drop one of Mitchell or Colin for Ajaz (presuming he's fit).

I wouldn't play Ajaz at Lord's, not sure how Nottingham and Edgbaston play. One of them can go out for Ajaz there, potentially. I like the extra batting given how unreliable our lower order is. No it's not their 'job' per se, but as TH says - I can't cop the approach. We're playing four sloggers from 8, which once in a while might work out but it was disgraceful when a set batsman like CdG was in during the first dig, and didn't look much better when trying to hold out for a draw today. It might be well against the odds to bat out a session and a half on the last day, but you can very well guarantee those odds are zero when you try and hoick most things.

 

[honestbharani]

I remember the OTT reactions here to both India losing to RSA away and then the first test loss here by RSA, especially by couple of usual suspects who are still salty about SC and India for some reason. The fact is, RSA were battling very heavy odds the first test but once they got a hang of things, they were much tougher opponents and this happened in both these series. More than anything else, I think both India and NZ expected much lesser resistance and were a bit found out when RSA played better than what IND and NZ expected, perhaps. The fact that RSA have won without their best batsman and bowler from the series win against India makes it even better.

I think NZ are having what I wanna call the Strauss' England syndrome. Almost all pieces fall together to a ridiculous extent and they become the best in the world but just as they start to take their foot off the pedal a bit it all starts falling apart.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

Disappointing when you compare the disclipine we showed in saving that 1st test in India under much more difficult batting conditions:
Latham 52 off 146
Somerville 36 off 110 (nw)
Williamson 24 off 112
Blundell 2 off 38
Ravindra 18* off 91
Jamieson 5 off 30
Ajaz 2* off 23

 

[Immenso]

Disappointing when you compare the disclipine we showed in saving that 1st test in India under much more difficult batting conditions:
Latham 52 off 146
Somerville 36 off 110 (nw)
Williamson 24 off 112
Blundell 2 off 38
Ravindra 18* off 91
Jamieson 5 off 30
Ajaz 2* off 23

It was low and slow at Kanpur. No fear of being hit, a fear our 8 to 11 have is of stuff above waste height.

 

[nzfan]

Well played South Africa, I didn't think they had it in them to bounce back like they did. I just couldn't see how South Africa could turn around with the bat but they did and although they were in tough spots few times in the game they fought it out with patience.

Seeing South Africa struggling the last few years wasn't fun, hope they are turning it around and go well. Makes following international cricket more fun.

NZ needs answers fast for backup fast bowlers, spin bowling and batting order at the top. We're a bit stagnant at the moment, need to find ways to improve.

It's a bit of a worrying trend we are a bit impatient with our players right now. We're going to CDG, Rutherford, Tickener route... not sure if that's the answer for long term. Not like that they don't deserve to be in the mix but a spectacular CDG hundred will help us in the long term? Don't think so if he's going to bowl like 6 overs in an inning. Band aid fixes won't get us anywhere I suppose. Next thing Kane will be back and we'll see Santner reinstated? Or go back to Ish? It's time to take some bold decisions and look towards future and fool proof it.

 

[SteveNZ]

I think NZ are having what I wanna call the Strauss' England syndrome. Almost all pieces fall together to a ridiculous extent and they become the best in the world but just as they start to take their foot off the pedal a bit it all starts falling apart.

Someone argued better than I could that it is more a timing thing. A lot of things were timed exactly right around the WTC final - Kane was fit, Ross still had one major knock in him, Devon had just debuted and looked a million bucks, Jamieson was in beast mode, Wagner had a bit more pep in him and Boult/Southee were doing their thing as well. Move forward 9 months and we have the wrong guy opening, Kane out, Ross gone, Nicholls batting higher than we want, limited output from our WK/batsman, Jamieson lost his spark, and Wagner not being as able to blast people out on flat ones (which often negated the need for a spinner) plus CdG also being down on pace/was injured.

 

[Frost]

I remember the OTT reactions here to both India losing to RSA away and then the first test loss here by RSA, especially by couple of usual suspects who are still salty about SC and India for some reason. The fact is, RSA were battling very heavy odds the first test but once they got a hang of things, they were much tougher opponents and this happened in both these series. More than anything else, I think both India and NZ expected much lesser resistance and were a bit found out when RSA played better than what IND and NZ expected, perhaps. The fact that RSA have won without their best batsman and bowler from the series win against India makes it even better.

I think NZ are having what I wanna call the Strauss' England syndrome. Almost all pieces fall together to a ridiculous extent and they become the best in the world but just as they start to take their foot off the pedal a bit it all starts falling apart.

That's alot of pressure to put on that young batter. For now anyway, doubt he would of changed the results, KW might of though. Saf have always had great bowling depth.
Kinda agree re the Strauss comparison only problem I see is the players are there I just worry about nz selection policies.

 

[nzfan]

Someone argued better than I could that it is more a timing thing. A lot of things were timed exactly right around the WTC final - Kane was fit, Ross still had one major knock in him, Devon had just debuted and looked a million bucks, Jamieson was in beast mode, Wagner had a bit more pep in him and Boult/Southee were doing their thing as well. Move forward 9 months and we have the wrong guy opening, Kane out, Ross gone, Nicholls batting higher than we want, limited output from our WK/batsman, Jamieson lost his spark, and Wagner not being as able to blast people out on flat ones (which often negated the need for a spinner) plus CdG also being down on pace/was injured.

I don't think anyone's droppable from the fast bowling unit and add to that Henry's ascend has added to the problem whom to rest. I think the best way forward is keep the quarlet, add Henry to it and maybe Lockie if fit or Ben Sears. Rotate these bowlers based on form and conditions. Stick with Ajaz and Ravindra as spin options, give them consistent opportunities. If CDG plays Ajaz should be playing or if Ravindra is playing then play with 4 fast bowlers. No other way around as I can see it. And be patient, the players if given reasonable opportunities will settle down and play their game. If they are in and out it's hard to find rhythm. Also release the players if they're not needed at least they could play some sort of cricket. Use local players for 12th and 13th man duties. There's already very less cricket being played at the moment and they need to be playing consistently to be able to perform.

 

[nzfan]

Although we lost this test match, good on the curator though. There was enough for everyone, the fast bowlers, bit for spin, batting etc.. it was flatter than most Hagley decks but the game did last 5 days. When a game last 5 days and a team wins it's a good test wicket I'd presume.

 

[ataraxia]

I don't think anyone's droppable from the fast bowling unit and add to that Henry's ascend has added to the problem whom to rest. I think the best way forward is keep the quarlet, add Henry to it and maybe Lockie if fit or Ben Sears. Rotate these bowlers based on form and conditions. Stick with Ajaz and Ravindra as spin options, give them consistent opportunities. If CDG plays Ajaz should be playing or if Ravindra is playing then play with 4 fast bowlers. No other way around as I can see it. And be patient, the players if given reasonable opportunities will settle down and play their game. If they are in and out it's hard to find rhythm. Also release the players if they're not needed at least they could play some sort of cricket. Use local players for 12th and 13th man duties. There's already very less cricket being played at the moment and they need to be playing consistently to be able to perform.

At the moment the problem is that we have a lot of unequivocally test-standard players, and a lot of other promising options -- but we can't really trial them out because we don't play enough tests. If we could get 5 more tests in the year ahead then we could rotate through the bowling attack a lot easier, and (presuming we are all but out of WTC running) give a few other players a chance.

 

[nzfan]

At the moment the problem is that we have a lot of unequivocally test-standard players, and a lot of other promising options -- but we can't really trial them out because we don't play enough tests. If we could get 5 more tests in the year ahead then we could rotate through the bowling attack a lot easier, and (presuming we are all but out of WTC running) give a few other players a chance.

Very good point... these 2 match series' leaves a lot to desire. Fed up with these 2 match series.

 

[honestbharani]

That's alot of pressure to put on that young batter

I mean, I only said he was their best batter in that series against India, which is a fact.

 

[cnerd123]

I would love to have a look at NZC's finances and find out why it costs them half a million or whatever it is to host a Test match, as well as what amount of revenue they're able to generate of it.

If you can't run a profitable home Test on the back of being WTC champions then something must be really wrong. I get that NZ is an expensive place and the audience/market for Tests isn't that big, but surely there must be some revenue streams being untapped here.