***Official*** England in South Africa 2015/16

[Gnske]

Need to keep faith with Piedt and not succumb to the four pacers meme.

 

[Stefan9]

There is also an issue with playing 4 pacers. How do they meet the quota requirement of 4? They would have to bring duminy in and see no spot for him.

Personally I would like to go with 4 pacers at wanders, never seen a spinner win a game there for his side.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yeah they finally have a spinner now who doesn't release all the pressure built by the quicks at the other end. Dropping him now would be silly.

 

[Dan]

Yeah they finally have a spinner now who doesn't release all the pressure built by the quicks at the other end. Dropping him now would be silly.

Paul Harris dislikes this post.

 

[kykweer.proteas]

I used to feel that way too for a while but to be honest, he has been incredible this year, both in India and in this series. No complaints there.

Morkel has been adequate... I guess we have been spoilt by genuine match winners like Dale and Verne.

I think I expect a lot more from Morkel, but you are right, he has been better this year, but also due to him being mostly disappointing previously in test cricket... Largely because he is extremely highly rated by his team mates and coaching staff.

 

[Captain_Cook]

The real damning statistic for Morkel is no test 5-fers since 2012. Granted, trying to take 5 in the same innings bowling first change with Steyn and Philander would be tough for any bowler. Yet, Finn, Stokes, Moeen, Plunkett and Rashid have taken 5-fers since 2012 playing with Anderson and Broad.

SA need Morkel to break England's back if they want to win the series.

 

[indiaholic]

I think he has had a few 4 wicket hauls though..

 

[Howe_zat]

When someone much less effective than Morkel gets an extended run in Tests they're often pigeonholed as a steady contributor even though that's what people say about bowlers who just aren't that much cop. Morkel is a good bowler precisely because he is a contributor - absolute king of taking 3-60 - but because he's actually good people expect him to be taking five fors and running through. It's a paradox

 

[indiaholic]

Just checked.. Philander has 5 innings after 2012 where he has taken 4+ wickets.. Morkel has 4. Steyn, of course, has 13.

 

[Dan]

When someone much less effective than Morkel gets an extended run in Tests they're often pigeonholed as a steady contributor even though that's what people say about bowlers who just aren't that much cop. Morkel is a good bowler precisely because he is a contributor - absolute king of taking 3-60 - but because he's actually good people expect him to be taking five fors and running through. It's a paradox

It's almost like nobody remembers Morne did this a couple of weeks ago, on a pitch not especially friendly to quicks:
3rd Test: India v South Africa at Nagpur, Nov 25-27, 2015 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Always seems to get overshadowed though, yeah.

 

[Stefan9]

It's almost like nobody remembers Morne did this a couple of weeks ago, on a pitch not especially friendly to quicks:
3rd Test: India v South Africa at Nagpur, Nov 25-27, 2015 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

Always seems to get overshadowed though, yeah.

The problem is he open up the door but he didn't batter it down. 3 wicket is nice and all but Steyn used to battered the door down once got a sniff. He wouldn't settle for 3 he would have taken the killing blow.

I used to feel that way too for a while but to be honest, he has been incredible this year, both in India and in this series. No complaints there.

Felt he should have done more on that final morning of the last test. There was an opportunity after we rattled england early. Convinced if we had steyn there he would have landed the killing blow instead of just rattling england.

 

[Dan]

"Morkel isn't as good as Steyn"

No ****.

 

[Black_Warrior]

Morkel has been adequate... I guess we have been spoilt by genuine match winners like Dale and Verne.

I think I expect a lot more from Morkel, but you are right, he has been better this year, but also due to him being mostly disappointing previously in test cricket... Largely because he is extremely highly rated by his team mates and coaching staff.

The problem is he open up the door but he didn't batter it down. 3 wicket is nice and all but Steyn used to battered the door down once got a sniff. He wouldn't settle for 3 he would have taken the killing blow.



Felt he should have done more on that final morning of the last test. There was an opportunity after we rattled england early. Convinced if we had steyn there he would have landed the killing blow instead of just rattling england.

I think it has to do with what a bowler like Morkel is going to give you vs what people expect from him.
I remember in the 2014 series, everyone, perhaps even the SA team to an extent were trying to pit Morkel against Johnson.

Morkel bowled a pretty tough spell against Australia in the third test, without much to show for it whereas Johnson of course destroyed South Africa in that series.

Now here's the thing, Morkel, just because he is tall and quick is not Johnson, and he is not the bowler who will take 7 for 30 and win you the game in a session.

He is not Steyn, or Johnson or Akhtar or any of those bowlers that he is often categorised with. He just does not have a wide range of skills or wicket taking deliveries. Wahab Riaz is a bit similar to him in that regard, they bowl with pace and bounce, manage to create pressure but they only have a limited number of wicket taking options, which is why neither have many 5 fers nor do they run through sides like they are expected to. I used to be critical of Morkel too but having watched the India-SA series and having seen Wahab do this pretty much all year, I observed how similar both of them are, especially in their limited wicket taking options. despite creating the pressure.

Morkel is going to give you a top notch spell of sustained pressure, built upon consistent quick bowling, troubling the batsman repeatedly. If the team is lucky and it's their day, a few wickets will fall, if not, tough luck.

But that's what you're going to get from Morkel which is why he has formed such a successful pair with Steyn because his sustained pressure helps Steyn's extensive repertoire.

Is he going to 'replace' Steyn and give you 6 for 8? No.

You need to find another bowler for that.

I thought he bowled as good as he ever has in the last few games, but the coach has expressed some worry about his workload. One has to factor in exhaustion and fatigue in the last 2 tests as well.

 

[FBU]

When Morkel opened the bowling with Steyn
25.48 s/r 49.6. 3 5fers. Ideal as no 2 bowler.
Not first change 31.97 s/r 61.1

 

[Daemon]

Yeah with the odd blip here and there he's been good for a while now and excellent in the last year or so.

 

[91Jmay]

He hasn't been that good this series though. Not really sure why people keep ignoring it so steadfastly. He bowled one great spell in first test then a load of dreck and one great spell in last test to go with a load of dreck.

 

[Niall]

The real damning statistic for Morkel is no test 5-fers since 2012. Granted, trying to take 5 in the same innings bowling first change with Steyn and Philander would be tough for any bowler. Yet, Finn, Stokes, Moeen, Plunkett and Rashid have taken 5-fers since 2012 playing with Anderson and Broad.

SA need Morkel to break England's back if they want to win the series.

morkel is overrated. He isn't bad, far from it, but in an era where batting line ups are prone to collapses, the fact that he plays his home matches in south Africa where quicks always get plenty of assistance and with Steyn and Philader as support he really should have done so much more especially when you consider he does have all the natural attributes to be a gun bowler.

People always rave about his spell against Clarke a few years ago which I will never understand, so he hurt Clarke? So ****ing what, Clarke went on and scored 150 and Australia scored a lot of runs and got a score which meant they couldn't lose the test. He has had some spells of quality in his career, but looking back, he has underachieved his whole career.

Morkel has underperformed all series, ffs he was outperformed by Chris Morris last test ffs.

 

[Spark]

morkel is overrated. He isn't bad, far from it, but in an era where batting line ups are prone to collapses, the fact that he plays his home matches in south Africa where quicks always get plenty of assistance and with Steyn and Philader as support he really should have done so much more especially when you consider he does have all the natural attributes to be a gun bowler.

People always rave about his spell against Clarke a few years ago which I will never understand, so he hurt Clarke? So ****ing what, Clarke went on and scored 150 and Australia scored a lot of runs and got a score which meant they couldn't lose the test. He has had some spells of quality in his career, but looking back, he has underachieved his whole career.

Morkel has underperformed all series, ffs he was outperformed by Chris Morris last test ffs.

In fairness, it was a pretty brutal spell and Clarke was very, very lucky to survive it but yeah, you felt that if he had put even one delivery on the pegs at the end of that over, that would've been that.

He's a very good support seamer on the basis that he'd be horrible as **** to face and hence helps out the bloke at the other end, but yeah he's not really that good a Test bowler on his own.

EDIT: Just saw B_W's post. He's spot on IMO.

 

[Burgey]

His natural length just seems a little bit too short to be a consistent wicket taker. Given he gets so much bounce, if he bowled a foot or so fuller I reckon he'd pretty much clean up tbh

 

[Black_Warrior]

morkel is overrated. He isn't bad, far from it, but in an era where batting line ups are prone to collapses, the fact that he plays his home matches in south Africa where quicks always get plenty of assistance and with Steyn and Philader as support he really should have done so much more especially when you consider he does have all the natural attributes to be a gun bowler.

People always rave about his spell against Clarke a few years ago which I will never understand, so he hurt Clarke? So ****ing what, Clarke went on and scored 150 and Australia scored a lot of runs and got a score which meant they couldn't lose the test. He has had some spells of quality in his career, but looking back, he has underachieved his whole career.

Morkel has underperformed all series, ffs he was outperformed by Chris Morris last test ffs.

Yeah that's exactly what I was trying to say. On a lucky day, he would have Clarke caught at short leg or down this throat on the way to the keeper. But that's about it.

He doesn't move the ball like Steyn to bring in other modes of dismissal. So if someone someone can survive the spell, you've made it.