*Official* England in South Africa Thread

[twctopcat]

He's going about it the right way thats for sure. Seems to have a few concentration issues.

 

[Barney Rubble]

We're scoring at a Bangladesh-style rate of 1.15 an over at the moment - all ready for a Flintoff barrage of 100 off 40 balls......I wish

 

[Scaly piscine]

He's going about it the right way thats for sure. Seems to have a few concentration issues.

That and playing across straight deliveries, being a bit immobile in the field, throwing his wicket away when he's in, wafting at everything down leg-side and getting a thin edge.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Once he's in, he looks rock solid. The trouble is that it takes ages for him to get his eye in.

It frightens me to think of Dizzy & McGrath bowling to him, it really does.

 

[Loony BoB]

Kind of sad that England didn't go for the win. At least, from what I can see on Cricinfo, they didn't. It should have been easy for them.

 

[wpdavid]

England just doesnt seem to realise the importance of the number three position. After Thorpe in his earlier "avatar' , they have never put their best batsman at number three and this is a suicidal poicy. They will always struggle except against very modest bowling attacks. They must send
Trescothick, Strauss, Vaughan, Thorpe as the first four in that order.

I still feel the day they find a good opener, they should move Strauss to three and move everyone one rung lower.

Only Strauss and Vaughan can fill this slot from the current side.

The next option would have been Thorpe but only in an emergency.

Sending the Keys or the Bells is just a case of the senior player's (in this case the skipper) shirking their responsibility.

Actually, Vaughan dropping to 4 was to allow Strauss and Butcher/key to bat in or close to their preferred positions. Don't forget that Key opens for his county and doesn't enjoy batting down the order, so playing him at 3 was nothing at all to do with others shirking their responsibility. Bell's another matter, and I doubt that Englnd would throw him in at 3 in the tests.

 

[twctopcat]

We're scoring at a Bangladesh-style rate of 1.15 an over at the moment - all ready for a Flintoff barrage of 100 off 40 balls......I wish

What's that i heard?? 10 an over freddy???

 

[twctopcat]

That and playing across straight deliveries, being a bit immobile in the field, throwing his wicket away when he's in, wafting at everything down leg-side and getting a thin edge.

There is that as well, i was just trying to be kind to the lad.

 

[chris.hinton]

What's that i heard?? 10 an over freddy???

I would like that


I think that England are playing well and doing the right thing against a VERY POOR south Africa side

 

[chris.hinton]

Keep Going England

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Kind of sad that England didn't go for the win. At least, from what I can see on Cricinfo, they didn't. It should have been easy for them.

Well you obviously havent seen the fact the ball has rolled along the floor 4 times already this innings in 20 overs. This is only really a day 4 pitch too, if it had gone to 5 days id sudder to think how it would play.
Also losing Struass so early probably put pay to any run chase, not to mention SA have bowled hardly anything wide for England to go after, very straight stuff.

 

[Loony BoB]

If this is a VERY POOR South African side, England must be VERY POOR to not be able to chase down 184 runs at just over four an over. Tsk.

 

[twctopcat]

If this is a VERY POOR South African side, England must be VERY POOR to not be able to chase down 184 runs at just over four an over. Tsk.

Yeah obviously a very poor team that could well secure a series victory, i mean thats plain easy.

 

[wpdavid]

(re Key) That and playing across straight deliveries, being a bit immobile in the field, throwing his wicket away when he's in, wafting at everything down leg-side and getting a thin edge.

... so you're not a fan then?

 

[Marius]

"VERY POOR" South African side

Kallis - best batsman in the world
Pollock - a bit past it, but still one of the top 10 bowlers in the world, and a more than useful batsman
Ntini - would walk into any team in the world right now (except the Aussies)
Smith - having a poor series, but class is permanent, form is temporary
Gibbs - one of the best batsmen in the world
De Villiers - find of the series
Nel - definitely a Test class bowler, would make most Test teams in the world
Hall - if the Poms didn't have Freddy, they would kill to have someone as good as Hall
Boucher - after Gilchrist, best wicketkeeper/batsman in the world
Rudolph - like Smith, poor series, but he is class

Well, if that is a very poor SA side, I would hate to see what a VERY GOOD SA side is like

 

[Scaly piscine]

... so you're not a fan then?

He just doesn't look a secure player when he bats, same with Rudolph and Dippenaar when I saw them bat in England before. He's also been floating around the England team for a few years and has not really improved in that time.

 

[Loony BoB]

Bangladesh can secure a series victory over Zimbabwe. That's VERY POOR beating VERY POOR. I'm not saying England is VERY POOR, I'm saying South Africa is not. If it was a VERY POOR South African side, then that VERY POOR South African side has never really been down and out in any of the games they've played against England. The two teams, in my opinion, are still very closely matched, and people who think otherwise purely on the basis of a series win need to think again.

They're both VERY GOOD sides. I still however think that England should have at least put more effort into the possibility of pushing themselves even closer to Australia, but maybe they're just happy with being second best. Even with two wickets down, I think they had a chance. Three wickets down, I'd say they've got a good case to go for the draw, but at the same time it's not like they were ever going for the win after Strauss was out.

I'll admit that I've thought the up'n'coming Ashes would be awesome, however the fact that Vaughan doesn't go for wins when they're still in his sights (purely on the basis of "Oh well - we won the series, does it matter if we draw this one?") makes me think he's going to be left lacking a fair bit.

Just my opinion, though.

 

[twctopcat]

Bangladesh can secure a series victory over Zimbabwe. That's VERY POOR beating VERY POOR. I'm not saying England is VERY POOR, I'm saying South Africa is not. If it was a VERY POOR South African side, then that VERY POOR South African side has never really been down and out in any of the games they've played against England. The two teams, in my opinion, are still very closely matched, and people who think otherwise purely on the basis of a series win need to think again.

They're both VERY GOOD sides. I still however think that England should have at least put more effort into the possibility of pushing themselves even closer to Australia, but maybe they're just happy with being second best. Even with two wickets down, I think they had a chance. Three wickets down, I'd say they've got a good case to go for the draw, but at the same time it's not like they were ever going for the win after Strauss was out.

I'll admit that I've thought the up'n'coming Ashes would be awesome, however the fact that Vaughan doesn't go for wins when they're still in his sights (purely on the basis of "Oh well - we won the series, does it matter if we draw this one?") makes me think he's going to be left lacking a fair bit.

Just my opinion, though.

Your talking about an aussie side that loses plenty of dead rubbers. I know this isn't the same but is a somewhat comparable situation do you not think?
I'll leave the batting to the 11 guys out there. If they can't chase the runs then that is good enough for me rather than saying "they should've got blah blah". We're not in that situation so how could we possibly know??

 

[wpdavid]

I'll admit that I've thought the up'n'coming Ashes would be awesome, however the fact that Vaughan doesn't go for wins when they're still in his sights (purely on the basis of "Oh well - we won the series, does it matter if we draw this one?") makes me think he's going to be left lacking a fair bit.

Just my opinion, though.

In terms of worrying about the Ashes, not going for the win here must be the least of my concerns. I'm far more worried about Harmison's performances and those of most of the batsmen. Unless those get sorted, we'll have next to no chance in the summer.

 

[Loony BoB]

You're absoloutely right. They know best. I'll never question anything a cricketer or coach does or says ever again. Nobody here should. Not you, not me, not anyone!

So... uh... how's about that weather, guys?



EDIT: That was in reply to twc. In reply to the post above, I definitely agree, but every little point should be looked into. Right now, they aren't the ones chasing the runs, so I'm sticking with the fact that I'm disappointed they didn't even try for the win at all. It's almost as if they lack the belief that they could win - something I admire in captains. They can push for the draw when they think that they can't win, in my opinion. A draw is something Bangladesh can strive for against SA. England is far, far above that and they should be able to at least give it a shot and then lose two wickets instead of losing wickets while blocking.