*Official* England in South Africa Thread

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

If Flintoff is ruled out for the rest of the tour, I can't see England coming back. 2-1 to SA and England to lose ODIs 5-2. Unfortunate really, but with Flintoff gone, there is no balance to the side, especially since so many batsman, and Harmison, are out of form.

Surely England's form last year suggests that it's not a one-man team. If that is the case, they've got more issues than I thought heading into the Ashes.

 

[Dasa]

Surely England's form last year suggests that it's not a one-man team. If that is the case, they've got more issues than I thought heading into the Ashes.

They aren't exactly a one-man team, but Flintoff provides much more flexibility (as an all-rounder naturally would)... I'd say England's chance of winning the series would be down considerably if Flintoff was unavailable for the remainder of the tour.

 

[marc71178]

edit: ok 2nd ball, first ball i watched though.

Don't worry, you only have to see the wicket taking balls to have an opinion nowadays.

 

[marc71178]

A bit of a random point to be thrown into the mix..

Alex Tudor was always getting injured and was out for long periods of times, and was branded a sissy by many on the boards... Mark Butcher has been exactly the same, as well as Andrew Flintoff, no whisper of this from anywhere.. Why the big difference?

Because he got injured far more than Flintoff, and Butcher's is only recent and are all freak off-field incidents.

 

[Richard]

Has there been a single mention of the possibility of the next 2 matches being watery graveyards?

 

[Craig]

Interesting article.. Neil Manthorp has proved himself to be a top class bloke in my eyes.. Thats an interesting viewpoint..

I think Dippenaar could have been so slow, because he still feels like he is playing for his position

Well when you are actually dropped after making a 100 who could blame the guy.

I mean Dippenaar could probably handle being dropped if he isn't making runs but when he does and still gets dropped he must feel 'what on earth I must do to stay in the team, I still get runs and get left out'.

I do ponder if he feels like walking into the South African selection meetings and giving them a close up view of his GM bat.

 

[Craig]

If Flintoff is ruled out for the rest of the tour, I can't see England coming back. 2-1 to SA and England to lose ODIs 5-2. Unfortunate really, but with Flintoff gone, there is no balance to the side, especially since so many batsman, and Harmison, are out of form.

Surely he and Chris Cairns and along with Nuwan Zoysa and Shane bond must surely have the most injury prone bodies going around?

What is it now? Groin, herina, tear, strain, back, wrist?

Maybe not going to Zimbabwe and not playing not a lot of meaningfull cricket is probably the reason why Harmison and Flintoff aren't batting and bowling as well as they like (certainly result wise although) and what also annoyed me as his bowling to Kallis, bowling very wide of the off stump so he can't score.

Who came up with that negative bowling theory?

 

[Tom Halsey]

and did the thought occur to you that we could be better?
yes its the first defeat blah blah blah, vaughans batting has been poor for a long long time now.

If it's helping the team, I couldn't care less.

 

[Tom Halsey]

If Flintoff is ruled out for the rest of the tour, I can't see England coming back. 2-1 to SA and England to lose ODIs 5-2. Unfortunate really, but with Flintoff gone, there is no balance to the side, especially since so many batsman, and Harmison, are out of form.

As Liam said, England is not a one-man team.

 

[Craig]

I too miss the classy Vaughan, Tres should have been given the job in the first place he was the vice captain. It seems like we've lost a batsman

Yes a return to form would be nice, but hey isn't this the same Vaughan as captain of England that went through the whole of 2004 unbeaten?

 

[wpdavid]

Well when you are actually dropped after making a 100 who could blame the guy.

I mean Dippenaar could probably handle being dropped if he isn't making runs but when he does and still gets dropped he must feel 'what on earth I must do to stay in the team, I still get runs and get left out'.

I do ponder if he feels like walking into the South African selection meetings and giving them a close up view of his GM bat.

Wasn't Dippenaar injured for the 2nd test? That's the first I've heard that he was dropped.

 

[Marius]

Yes, he was injured. Not even the SA selectors would drop a guy after he's made a hundred.

 

[shaka]

Thorpe gone as with the hopes of England.

 

[Mister Wright]

of what? jones and thorpe scoring 200s. commone now you know better. has there ever been a team that has had its last 5 wickets bat for 90 overs?

South Australia did it in a Sheffield Shield final once.

 

[wpdavid]

Dudes, put the knives away for god sake.. You haven't lost a test yet, for absolutely ages.. Remember what it was like in 1999 and have a smile

I'll quote that back to you next time SA lose one!

But there are good reasons for the reaction of a lot of us. It isn't just this test - we've played poorly all series, and, unlike SA, have shown no inclination to learn from our mistakes. If anything, the batsmen have been increasingly self-destructive as the series as progressed, which is close to unforgiveable at this level, and just reinforces the impression that they've become complacent after their success against WI & NZ. Three poor tests on the trot also raises some other rather fundamental questions. Is Flintoff genuinely a test number 6 against decent attacks? Is Geraint Jones' batting really good enough to justify his inclusion at the expense of a better keeper? Given Harmison's pre-tour comments (he sounded like he just didn't want to be there) and subsequent performances, has he fallen back into the poor attitude that caused him to underachieve for years?

 

[bugssy]

being an aussie seing england getting done is just common rivalry between the 2 nations, and it is good to see the poms get beat (not that they have lost yet) and i am sure the poms would be first to mention it if australia lost when they where going for the record 16 winning streak anyway, it is good to see england rise to 2nd best test playing nation not being over confident it does get a little boring watching the aussies smash the pants of everyone in saying that i love to watch the aussies win. but i think if england get there balance right the ashes is going to be a very memorable one, and as one of the posts above said, alot of players get shown up when they face quality attacks, not saying sth africa doesnt have a quality attack but up against australia it is very ordinary..........

i have been watching the england tour on fox and i tell ya what jaques kallis is worth more the gold itself, i dont know how many times he has kept there middle order together, he really does need someone to hang around with him though, like the aussies do, its the difference between 350 and 500 1st inningsscores.

 

[Steulen]

Kallis is the man, yes. Taking two very good catches off Boje this morning. Second one was better than very good.

 

[S & G Jones Fan]

this is such a pathetic performance by england

 

[biased indian]

so my prediction of SA wining the series 2-1 can Still Happen

when is the next test starting???

 

[Mr Casson]

so my prediction of SA wining the series 2-1 can Still Happen

when is the next test starting???

The 13th (Thursday?)