Jayzamann
International Regular
We're pretty open with the use of the word 'wog' down here
Guido Hatzis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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***Official*** Australia in South Africa
- Thread starter Spark
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Guido Hatzis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ah ok, didn't know that.
Howe_zat
Audio File
SA are a long way from the best fielding side, especially in Tests.
chicane
State Captain
Australia! What a match and series! As for SA, with their renewed pace bowling and full strength batting you'd expect them to smash a few teams in the series coming, but despite not winning as much as expected they sure do produce incredible test cricket wherever they go.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Correct. South Africa's ranking is artificially high because they don't play a lot of Test cricket, there's no way they were the number 2 side going into this series on the basis of results. They haven't won a Test series for 18 months.
Howe_zat
Audio File
Even then it was against the Windies, wasn't it? IIRC they haven't won against a top side since 2008.
Ftr I don't think we can call their ranking "artificial", after all they haven't been losing series either, and before this dry patch they went on a fantastic winning streak to get them rated as one of the best.
I agree, though, that it would've been a shame for them to beat only two different sides in three years and just let that happen to nudge them into the top spot. It seems a lot more fulfilling when a team having a brilliant run ascends to the top.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Yeah, but their winning streak occured in 2007 and 2008. Since their win in the Boxing Day Test in 2008 (almost 3 years ago), they've:
Lost the 3rd Test vs Australia
Lost 2-1 at home to Australia
Beaten the West Indies 2-0
Drawn 1-1 vs England
Drawn 1-1 in India
Drawn 0-0 vs Pakistan in the UAE
Drawn 1-1 vs India
Drawn 1-1 vs Australia
for a record of P20 W7 D6 L7. (these results are off the top of my head so there might be one or two wrong.)
That's not the sort of recent a record a side in with a close shout of number 1 should have, particularly when you compare England and India's records in that time.
I think the way I'd describe SA is that they're very hard but very brittle at the same time. Which means if you happen to be standing in the wrong place you're going to get your head knocked off, however hit the spot & they fall to pieces.
There are way too many "on their day" players. Boucher is living off his past reputation as a fighter rather than actually being one, Smith & his opening partner haven't provided a solid platform consistently. Prince is so clueless against spin he makes even the most gentle tweaker seem like the lovechild of Warne & Murali and as much promise as Morne Morkel has, he's often wayward.
In the past, we had Pollock down the order to help recover & Boucher was a far more effective batsman. We could count on them to shepherd the tail to something decent. Steyn tries his best, but Morkel has quickly regressed. Hopefully Big Verne can bed his place down & get into some batting knick.
At some point very soon SA are going to have to look hard at replacing at least Prince & Boucher, the payoff for persisting with them simply isn't worth it. They aren't world beaters at their best anyway and neither are going to be around long enough to make it worth it. #6 needs to either be a guy like Hussey, who's a class bat & will keep the rate ticking or the young gun you want to blood in.
I've often felt that Prince actually tends to kill momentum when we need to kick on. I'd rather have a Dumniy, Elgar, et al in that spot. Keeper's a bit harder, I don't want AB keeping but nobody really jumps out as a ready made Test keeper-batsman, though I suppose you'll never know 'till you try someone.
There are way too many "on their day" players. Boucher is living off his past reputation as a fighter rather than actually being one, Smith & his opening partner haven't provided a solid platform consistently. Prince is so clueless against spin he makes even the most gentle tweaker seem like the lovechild of Warne & Murali and as much promise as Morne Morkel has, he's often wayward.
In the past, we had Pollock down the order to help recover & Boucher was a far more effective batsman. We could count on them to shepherd the tail to something decent. Steyn tries his best, but Morkel has quickly regressed. Hopefully Big Verne can bed his place down & get into some batting knick.
At some point very soon SA are going to have to look hard at replacing at least Prince & Boucher, the payoff for persisting with them simply isn't worth it. They aren't world beaters at their best anyway and neither are going to be around long enough to make it worth it. #6 needs to either be a guy like Hussey, who's a class bat & will keep the rate ticking or the young gun you want to blood in.
I've often felt that Prince actually tends to kill momentum when we need to kick on. I'd rather have a Dumniy, Elgar, et al in that spot. Keeper's a bit harder, I don't want AB keeping but nobody really jumps out as a ready made Test keeper-batsman, though I suppose you'll never know 'till you try someone.
Howe_zat
Audio File
You're right, but I think they deserve more credit than you may be giving them for their 2007-08 run, because it was almost entirely the same team as they have now. Their big performers during that run were Smith, De Villiers, Steyn, Kallis and Amla. The only player they've really lost is Ntini, and he was flagging somewhat towards the end anyway.
BoyBrumby
Englishman
Partial credit.
WAC. It's bad enough the Transvaal's most mobile elbow gets to play limited overs.
What a game tho, seriously. Been an absolute epic. Had pretty much everything.
robelinda
International Vice-Captain
Guido Knows his stuff. Remember this one -"I think you are upset because your husband has your handbag".....
Top_Cat
Request Your Custom Title Now!
Yeah, basically my attitude too. 'Never change a winning team' to be the slogan from now until the Gabba Test when Ponting, Johnson and Haddin line-up.
(that said, a Saffer loss is always yummy. Omnomnomnomnomnomn.)
Good to see a ****ing bowler take the man of the series for a change, especially noteworthy when one bloke scored (all but) match-winning tons in both Tests.
Sylvester
State Captain
Ausage
Cricketer Of The Year
BoyBrumby
Englishman
Penrith boy too, isn't he?