*Official* South African tour of England and Ireland 2022

[Gremlin]

The more I read into interviews with current England players the more I think Stokes' captaincy is very good man management and not just the on the field stuff

 

[Adders]

i'm slightly amazed people still bring archer's name up.

I agree with you, but I also do think about how long it took Australia to get Cummins on the park and look what they've got now. I guess it depends if Archer has the desire for it or not.

 

[GoodAreasShane]

Archer is a fair bit older than Cummins was during the worst of his injury problems though

 

[Zinzan]

Stating the obvious but England get a couple of decent openers, get Archer and co returning with the ball to nip at the heels of the existing attack & their prospects look excellent for the next 2-3 years.

Meanwhile Jack Leech is just good enough to hold his place on anything other than an absolute green seamer.

 

[Red_Ink_Squid]

Agreed. Unfortunately England have been looking for decent openers for a full decade now without success.

 

[kevinw]

Archer probably should just concentrate on being fit for t20 and just earn a very good living from that. I wouldn't blame him. Ironic that there was a big deal to qualify him for England when he'd have made his franchise career from Barbados anyway, probably.

 

[grecian]

http://instagr.am/p/Ch12hAAjocf/
Yeah, I'm not holding my breathe for us to get two decent openers, as I say I'd take Burns and Sibley as they're mediocre and sometimes waste a few overs up before the real batting starts.

Still remember that argument some put forward that Cook who'd been averaging mid-30s for a bit, being dropped retired, would free up the other openers to come out f his shadow. Not really worked as it. Cook would still be easily our best opener, though I guess his average would be creeping ever lower.

 

[GIMH]

I do think we should put Burns back in. I know it’s slim pickings but for me he’s the standout of a very mediocre group over the last 4-5 years.

 

[Nintendo]

I do think we should put Burns back in. I know it’s slim pickings but for me he’s the standout of a very mediocre group over the last 4-5 years.

I prefer sibley just on the grounds that when he got binned he went back to county, fixed his technique a bit, got fit and started making runs again as opposed to burns who swapped back to his ungainly technique halfway through this county season to start making runs again because he couldn't perform without it. In retrospective its worth a horses ass, but sibley's attitude rings alot better with me.

 

[Blenkinsop]

I'll be surprised if Archer plays another Test match. Wood and Stone both proper fast bowlers but it'll be hard to keep them on the park. Potts did well against NZ but was poor in the first SA Test. There are some decent pace bowlers coming through though -- Gus Atkinson and Tom Lawes at Surrey, Sam Conners at Derbyshire, Brad Currie at Sussex, Tom Helm at Middlesex, etc. JOverton has looked a different and much better bowler this season and Mahmood is quality too.

As for the openers, that's a tough one. Tom Haines has had a ton of runs but all in Div 2.

 

[Fuller Pilch]

His countryman Flintoff says hello.

Shakib better than both

 

[Flem274*]

Outside of Australia I think England have options for everywhere tbh.

Potts does look pretty vanilla but he deserves an opportunity. Doesn't make my first choice trio anywhere though.

 

[Heboric]

England unchanged squad:

England name unchanged squad for Test series decider against SA | Sport

England named an unchanged 14-man squad for next week's third and deciding Test against South Africa at The Oval.

www.news24.com

 

[Socerer 01]

round 3 of glorious Zak begins

 

[wpdavid]

England unchanged squad:

England name unchanged squad for Test series decider against SA | Sport

England named an unchanged 14-man squad for next week's third and deciding Test against South Africa at The Oval.

www.news24.com

Yeah, not unexpected. There had been some discussion about whether England would bring a second spinner into the squad, but I've no idea who that might be. And the Oval's reputation as a spinner's paradise hasn't held for a few years now. As for the openers, for all the talk of Crawley, Lees is probably under as much pressure to retain his place. His summer has quietly deteriorated after a couple of decent innings earlier in the season.

 

[Heboric]

Yeah, not unexpected. There had been some discussion about whether England would bring a second spinner into the squad, but I've no idea who that might be. And the Oval's reputation as a spinner's paradise hasn't held for a few years now. As for the openers, for all the talk of Crawley, Lees is probably under as much pressure to retain his place. His summer has quietly deteriorated after a couple of decent innings earlier in the season.

oh geez dont mention a second spinner...

 

[wpdavid]

oh geez dont mention a second spinner...

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be mean.

 

[kevinw]

Second spinner would probably be Bess. Cant see a situation where bringing in a mediocre spinner for say, Broad, would make sense.

 

[grecian]

Second spinner would probably be Bess. Cant see a situation where bringing in a mediocre spinner for say, Broad, would make sense.

_Particularly as Root is probably not far off Bess as a bowler.

 

[FBU]

_Particularly as Root is probably not far off Bess as a bowler.

South Africa could have used Markram as the 2nd spinner - 6 wickets in the Lions game.
Maharaj 22-0-169-1
Markram 16-0-91-6