*Official* England in South Africa Thread

[Langeveldt]

every time that thought camoes to my mind i start

Ah, once the expectation starts piling up on him, he is back in England without the abuse to get him going he will crumble under too many shots... If he doesn't, i'll have him as my avatar

I'm honoured he chose to slightly copy my old hairstyle though..

 

[SpeedKing]

Like you, I'd be happy to see Jones play, although I don't think he's picked for many of the Glamorgan oneday games. Johnson, surely, is history.

i have one problem with jones in ODIs, he can't seem to bowl a yorker. however, he seems to be the kind of guy who can get hit but also gets wickets of batsmen [usually on the ropes]trying to get at him on a consistent basis.

 

[SpeedKing]

Ah, once the expectation starts piling up on him, he is back in England without the abuse to get him going he will crumble under too many shots... If he doesn't, i'll have him as my avatar

I'm honoured he chose to slightly copy my old hairstyle though..

if KP cannot cop with pressure piling on him, the no one in the world can from what i have seen of him this series.

i am also happy that he has finally got a standing ovation from the Saffie fans. It touched me so much, i might start clapping when Nel bowls well (you do not understand how much i think his attitude is over the top]. Fair play to Nel though, he seems to have calmed down abit. wat the hell was Jennings doing calming him down.

thinking of Jennings' effect on players, it is interesting that since that shot at Smith's head, Smith has been turnung in some fine perfomances.

 

[SpeedKing]

As I said before I think they'd be quixotic in the extreme if they did.

I have to hold my hand up & say I've never seen KP play an FC innings yet & he does have a couple of potential flaws that may be exposed by an attack of the quality of Oz (plays across line, not always convinced he knows where his off-stump is), but I can't recall being as impressed by an English-qualified batter since, well, a long, long time!

i recall the Micheal Atherton saying that he has a totally different technique in FC cricket where he looks to play straighter without as much of a walk across his stumps as in ODIs.

 

[SpeedKing]

Saw Mascarenhas a few times last summer at the rose bowl and on tv and he is very handy, but whether he is handy enough for a ODI, well i can't really tell.

and apparently, Warnie was really impressed by him when he was his captain at Hamps so that has got to count for something. however, that hat-trick he took must have boosted his reputation. i would rate him as about par with Lewis as a bowler and is a good no.8 batter.

So as an allrounder, not quite Freddie status, but not as low as mediocre.

 

[tooextracool]

Idiot Vaughan hands SA a big over by bringing Collingwood on inside the first 15, is he the only person in the World who doesn't know Collingwood's first over is usually garbage?

because we have such fantastic bowlers in our side that can bowl in the 15 dont we?

 

[Langeveldt]

I think Nel is a really good cricketer now.. i thought his antics in some of his earlier tests were out of order, but he is a genuinely nice guy who bowls his heart out for South Africa.. I don't think we will be seeing much more stupidness out of him.. I hope not at least..

I wasn't surprised when Pietersen got the standing ovation.. While I could never warm to the guy, he has produced one of the best innings I have ever seen on South African soil, and that in itself deserves some praise.. I don't begrudge him the ovation he got today.. I suspect it was partly due to the fact the series was dead anyway, and he would be on the plane home within the week

 

[tooextracool]

Talking of Flintoff, I was wondering what the set up for the England ODI would be wit him in there.

I dont think the G Jones opening experiment has worked...and with Flintoff in, England would have a powerful batting line up. Would England really need the extra batting prowess of Jones in there then,would Chris Read, the better keeper be a better option.

what extra batting prowess? im sitting here scratching my head as to how long its going to take for one of the geniuses amongst the english selectors to use one of their brain cells and drop geraint jones. for me he has to rank as one of the dumbest players ive ever seen.

Maybe a team like this:
1. Tresco
2.Strauss (I think thats where he should be in ODIs)
3.Vaughan
4.Pietersen
5.Flintoff
6.Collingwood
7.Read
8.Giles
9.Wharf
10. Ali
11.Harmison/Hoggard or whoever

hoggard? i said it about 1 million times before and after he got picked, hoggard is not an ODI bowler. and for me having both wharf and ali in the side, both prone to bowling rubbish for about half their overs every game, is not something that i would be confident about. IMO england need to bring in some fresh blood, not pick the same proven failures over and over again.

 

[tooextracool]

quite true..and certainly not in the opening slot anyway

not really, personally i find it hard to believe that anyone can possibly even perceive that a strokemaker like jones would be better off at no 7.

 

[tooextracool]

And why did he make the team in the first placE?

for the same reason that players like irani, blackwell, clarke etc made the team.

 

[tooextracool]

On the face of it, it's tempting to see how Flintoff's presence may have changed a couple of the results. However, it's easily forgotten that if Flintoff had played then Pietersen wouldn't as he only flew out as a replacement for Fred. Overall, I reckon SA have thoroughly deserved it. If nothing else, England have been far too dependant on one batsman, whereas SA have been able to call on several guys to put in the critical innings when needed.

perhaps this series explains thoroughly my claim(before this series) that england are a one man team(led by flintoff) . of course at least now it seems like pieterson will assist him. im worried about flintoff, personally if he does come back in time for the ashes, i doubt he will be anywhere near match fit, and if he struggles the whole world will talk about how hes only good against useless teams. not to mention of course how much englands fortunes depend on him for even competing in the ashes.

 

[shaka]

Well done to South Africa. 4-1 winners

 

[tooextracool]

Trescothick - shocker, really - and for no apparent reason. Lowest average of the batsmen bar Bell, when he really should be topping the averages... oh, well, he's had form-slumps before.

where have you been? tresco has always had form slumps, hes either extremely poor or extremely good, its the story of his career- inconsistency.

 

[Swervy]

hoggard? i said it about 1 million times before and after he got picked, hoggard is not an ODI bowler. and for me having both wharf and ali in the side, both prone to bowling rubbish for about half their overs every game, is not something that i would be confident about. IMO england need to bring in some fresh blood, not pick the same proven failures over and over again.

I agree...but who?

 

[tooextracool]

depends on whos impressing in domestic cricket.

 

[Zinzan]

As predicted ...An easy win for S.A... great effort lads!! (To think they blew that tie ...

That puts England to 7th ranked ODI side now.

To think there were people arguing that they should be 3rd ranked ?

 

[Langeveldt]

As predicted ...An easy win for S.A... great effort lads!! (To think they blew that tie ...

That puts England to 7th ranked ODI side now.

To think there were people arguing that they should be 3rd ranked ?

You need a celebratory avatar.. (If you are that sad)

 

[Zinzan]

You need a celebratory avatar.. (If you are that sad)

No i don't...just congratulating the S.African team and confirming my thoughts that England are about the 7th ranked Oneday side..

Just expressing my opinion - you know, what people do on forums

Sorry if i've upset you

 

[Langeveldt]

No i don't...just congratulating the S.African team and confirming my thoughts that England are about the 7th ranked Oneday side..

Just expressing my opinion - you know, what people do on forums

Sorry if i've upset you

LOL - Calm down my man, totally missed the point! I said people without avatars could do with one celebrating the series win.. Like my new addition

 

[Zinzan]

LOL - Calm down my man, totally missed the point! I said people without avatars could do with one celebrating the series win.. Like my new addition

right you are ...my bad