*Official* England in South Africa Thread

[BoyBrumby]

Dunno. He'd lose a great deal financially, so at least it would be a principled stand. Of course, if our cupboard was fuller, he wouldn't be an automatic pick for the home tests. Whether he should be anyway after being ineffective in 7 of his last 9 tests is maybe questionable. OK, I'm probably overstating it there, and I would start with him against Aus because I know what he can do. But I could name several quicks from years gone by who would love to have had that sort of patience from the selectors.

Would he be picked tho?

I know Thorpey was honest enough to ask to not be considered for one winter tour (last SA tour, possibly?) & he didn't walk straight back in to our side come the summer. Despite him being clearly our best batter.

It's pretty obv Harmy doesn't want to be there tho, to such an extent that Gower hinted at a "difference of opinion" between him & the management over the extent of the injury. I think the clear inference was that Harmy was perceived as swinging the lead.

 

[marc71178]

I think South Africa are once again developing a superb fielding team. Gibbs is still there, and with the inclusion of AB de Villiers and Prince, that inner rings of fielders looks very awesome.

In Prince's case it's a good job he can do something!

 

[marc71178]

I bet marc was happy when Kabir got Smacked?

No, I wasn't. I don't think he should have been left to bowl at the end - IMO there was a case for forcing him through a 10 over stint in one go.

It was poor today we simply cannot raise our game..... Question have to be asked ?

Question is why do you over-react so much?

Solanki should have not been dropped, bell should not be in the team

Solanki shouldn't have been in the squad in the first place. Bell >>>>> Solanki

It time for Batty to get a chance

Erm, why exactly? What does he provide that's better than Giles?

 

[marc71178]

And South Africa are Over rated

Who by?

Certainly not you from your stupid comments of the past week.

 

[marc71178]

Vaughan doesn't seem to have another level

To be fair he's actually been scoring ODI runs up to today.

 

[sledger]

To be fair he's actually been scoring ODI runs up to today.

to bad that when he finally does get a reasonable score the rest of the team tends to fail.

 

[jot1]

Like the man said....

We were poor in both disciplines (KP the admirable exception); SA played well. 292 was a big ask, but not impossible; Pollock & Ntini showed the value of taking early wickets to pressurise the chasing team & we were never really in the race. The better team on the day won.

Hear hear

 

[Langeveldt]

Hear hear

But to be fair, the Capetonians were limp when it came to KP abusing.. NOT going there next summer!

 

[chris.hinton]

Who by?

Certainly not you from your stupid comments of the past week.

I find that funny

 

[marc71178]

to bad that when he finally does get a reasonable score the rest of the team tends to fail.

You mean like in the first 2 ODIs?

 

[Langeveldt]

I find that funny

Yeah, we've been laughing pretty much solidly too..

 

[jot1]

But to be fair, the Capetonians were limp when it came to KP abusing.. NOT going there next summer!

Ah! Give it time. Strauss' first few games were also sensational.

 

[Langeveldt]

Ah! Give it time. Strauss' first few games were also sensational.

And he's continued to be one of SA's greatest exports after Charlerize Theron, Milk Tart and the Heart Bypass.. Im worried man..

 

[Gangster]

And he's continued to be one of SA's greatest exports after Charlerize Theron, Milk Tart and the Heart Bypass.. Im worried man..

Don't forget Kevin Pietersen.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Don't forget Kevin Pietersen.

Don't think there's any danger of that happening.

 

[Zinzan]

good joke....
according to you, the only way to be the number 2 team in the world is to compete against australia, so i guess beating the rest of the teams doesnt matter at all, so why the hell should we even play them?
if england get hammered by the aussies, maybe it suggests that the gap between no 1 and 2 is considerably big?

Good joke too....

If aust do hammer England in the Ashes (and I mean hammer), then how then how do you explain India's excellent recent test results against aust both home and away??

 

[Zinzan]

so we have gone from people saying if England beat SA in SA then England can be considered number 2,to now people saying that doesnt matter, its only if England compete well vs Australia.Why all this goal post moving???(I know not by you, just people in general)

India match up well vs Australia,well better than any other team in the world at the moment.India's stengths go well vs Australia's weaknesses etc.That doesnt mean Team X cant match up well vs India though,and if that happens, that doesnt mean Team X match up well vs Australia.

So just because India have played well vs Australia and no-one else has,it doesnt mean that India have to be considered the number 2 team.England have done better against other teams,home and away for long enough now,and India havnet consistantly done anything in tests for a while now.

India's only away series win (not incl.Bang) recently was vs a not particularly strong Pakistan team 2-1...outside the subcontinent,it was 1986 vs England.That is not the performance of a number two ranked team.

Fair call...but if England get absolutely hammered in their own conditions against Aust, say lose 4-0 or 4-1, and india win over Pakistan in the test series, the ICC ratings will probably have India passing England into 2nd spot. And those rating are supposed to be designed to incorporate both Home and away series.

And that is what i'm predicting over the next 6 months or so....India to beat Pakistan (tests) away and Aust to Hammer Eng in Ashes.

If i'm right, and none of us know yet, will you still maintain England are 2nd best??

 

[Zinzan]

On teams competing with Aust in recent...NZ in 2001-02 (although we are struggling in test cricket now) competed magnificently in that 0-0 test series along with some help from the weather.

 

[Zinzan]

because they;ve beaten SA and WI away from home

Question? Do you ever criticise England or Downplay their wins or do you just do that with every other team in the world??

 

[Dasa]

Question? Do you ever criticise England or Downplay their wins or do you just do that with every other team in the world??

To be fair, I think tec criticises every team equally.