*Official* England in South Africa Thread

[Jono]

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??

He's got plenty of explanations. Pitches, injuries, fluke, dead rubber.

 

[Zinzan]

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

Not from what I've read.

 

[wpdavid]

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.

With Thorpe, it's happened as couple of times. As you say, he made himself unavailable for SA in 1999/2000 and wasn't selected until the 5th test of the following summer. The second time was the 2002/03 ashes series, after which he was eventually picked for the 7th test of our summer, and then only due to Hussain's injury.

I suppose, if this were to happen in the future with Harmy, it would also depend on how well the other bowlers did. Of course, if his form doesn't pick up this summer then no-one's going to care whether he's available to tour Pakistan next winter anyway.

 

[Swervy]

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??

if that happens then no...but I would be surprised if Australia do beat England 4-0..I see an odd match deciding this in Aussies favour

 

[chris.hinton]

I must say thank god for South Africa Stupid Quota System, otherwise England would not have had Pietersen

And Marc how can i be Stupid? you dont agree with ANYTHING i say so it a tad predictable you would think i am stupid?

 

[Mr Casson]

I must say thank god for South Africa Stupid Quota System, otherwise England would not have had Pietersen

Oh hell yeah man, it makes it all worth it.

 

[social]

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.


Exactly, that was **** poor captaincy.

 

[chris.hinton]

Oh hell yeah man, it makes it all worth it.

Only stating my View

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Only stating my View

Are you aware of what the quota system is? If you are, that's a shocking comment!

 

[chris.hinton]

Yes i do know what it is. It the Amount of Non-Whites into the team..... I personally think it rubbish anyway Black and Asian players have talent anyway Like Ntini,Adams,Gibbs ETC and Ntini would be in the team every week but it the Nitty Gritty of it Pietersen was out because of it that not fair? if those 11 players in Natal team played for South Africa then Natal had a point but IMO South Africa Cricket has Talented Players anyway without resorting to a Quota System

 

[Langeveldt]

I must say thank god for South Africa Stupid Quota System, otherwise England would not have had Pietersen

God, yeah, thank god for racial hatred and Apartheid eh Chris? Makes it all worthwhile doesn't it..

I'd be really annoyed if that comment had come from a less stupid person

 

[SpeedKing]

Keep going KP. I am slowly becoming Kevin Pietersen's no.1 fan . He always seems so in control of the situation and he doesn't look to be fazed by pressure- abit like G Kirsten (brilliant player).

Imagine him and Freddie with 10 overs to go and England are 200-4. (with both of them in on 35). I can only imagine the fireworks.

 

[twctopcat]

Keep going KP. I am slowly becoming Kevin Pietersen's no.1 fan .

I am already! He's awesome apart from that weird skunk hair thing going on, but i think i can forgive him for that.

 

[marc71178]

And Marc how can i be Stupid? you dont agree with ANYTHING i say so it a tad predictable you would think i am stupid?

I have never called you stupid.

I have however pointed out that you've said stupid things.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I am already! He's awesome apart from that weird skunk hair thing going on, but i think i can forgive him for that.

Can you both be at the same time?

 

[twctopcat]

Can you both be at the same time?

Suppose so, would result in no number 2 fan though.

 

[Mr Casson]

Keep going KP. I am slowly becoming Kevin Pietersen's no.1 fan . He always seems so in control of the situation and he doesn't look to be fazed by pressure- abit like G Kirsten (brilliant player).

Imagine him and Freddie with 10 overs to go and England are 200-4. (with both of them in on 35). I can only imagine the fireworks.

It's going to be crowded at the front of that list! I'm with you buddy; he looks amazing.. you could tell while he was still there the other day, things didn't look so bad. I really loved the way he took to Boje, but if I had one piece of advice to give him, it would be "Don't play the same shot three balls in a row." When you just keep doing it, and you think that the bowler's put it in the slot for the third time in a row, the chances are you're wrong; bowlers like Boje are wise enough to bait you with something that's a little different.

But yeah, go KP!

 

[tooextracool]

Not a well earnt draw? Oh so we should just throw that game away? They outplayed Australia for 3 of those days, not dominated but they were on top.

yes brilliant achievement that, fabulous. remind me again how many times SL managed to outplay australia in the first innings in the test series at home? so should we say that SL have been competing fairly well against australia too?

They bowled out Australia for just over 200, and in the previous Australian series they bowled them out once for less than 200. This is what is considered a weak bowling line-up. The same great Australian batsman I might add, not 2nd or 3rd choice batsman.

yes they did, but the reason they did that was because they put australia under pressure by matching them with their batting, not because they bowled brilliantly. and i really wonder if india would have chased down that 233 had they been facing an attack of mcgrath,fully fit gillespie, warne and kaspa.

Now once again I'm not claiming that proves they're better than England, and obviously not better than Australia, but to dismiss them as far from #2 in the world is a joke. Especially considering their past few series (in what has been considered a very poor year) have been (ignoring the Bangladesh series)

Australia - Draw (Yes, without McGrath or Warne)
Pakistan - Win
Australia - Loss
South Africa - Win

yes they drew in australia, what a brilliant achievement, and that was against a side that not just lacked mcgrath and warne, but also a fully fit gillespie and lehmann.
i'll remind you that in the ashes series in 2003, england beat australia when they played without warne and mcgrath(and this was with a fully fit gillespie and with half the english side injured). no im not suggesting that that english side was better than india. im simply pointing out that beating australia without warne,mcgrath and gillespie doesnt take much.
and yes they won in pakistan and beat SA(and please as if beating SA at home was such an achievement with their rubbish bowling attack, and dont even start with ntini). all it does is confirm what we've always known about india, that they are extremely capable in the subcontinent. and if you can do me a favour and explain to me how a very similar batting lineup(including sehwag,dravid,tendulkar, ganguly and laxman) and a better bowling lineup(srinath, kumble,nehra and zaheer) managed to more than embarass themselves in SA last time around?
and how hard is it to decide which is the better team, one that beats WI 3-0 IN WI, whitewashes NZ and WI at home and then becomes only the 2nd team to beat SA in SA since readmission and a team that has managed to win a few games here and there in the subcontinent.

Is it impressive? Far from it, but they still managed to play good cricket in some games, and are far from 'laughable' when considered to be challengers to England for 2nd place.

why is it not? have they whitewashed anyone at home recently? no. have they pulled off away victories? no. have they ever beaten SA in SA? no. have they performed better in the WI than the australian side themselves did? no. its easy to denounce the WI as being completely useless, and then you only have to look around to how many teams have managed to thoroughly disgrace them,as england did.

 

[tooextracool]

Great win for South Africa. Kemp really impressed me, but what I think is the best news for SA (other than the win of course) is the form of Kallis and Gibbs. They are both batting beautifully, and I'm starting to really dig Gibbs in the middle order.

i for one find it extremely strange that gibbs whos been successful in tests opening and being aggressive, is better off in the middle order in ODIs.

 

[tooextracool]

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??

because test cricket is more than just about playing against one team.
seriously, there was hardly any doubt as to who the 2nd best team in the mid to late 90s was(i would think that even you would be smart enough to know who that was). but if you stack up their performances against australia as opposed to india and SL, you might just see a similar pattern.