Stumpcam
U19 Captain
Indeed.
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**Official** South Africa in England 2012
- Thread starter Marius
- Start date
Biryani Pillow
U19 Vice-Captain
Just heard that Boucher is heading home and is officially out of the test series.
I sometimes see keepers (mainly young ones) wearing something like a hockey face mask rather than a helmet. Lighter, more comfortable and as effective I reckon.
I sometimes see keepers (mainly young ones) wearing something like a hockey face mask rather than a helmet. Lighter, more comfortable and as effective I reckon.
flibbertyjibber
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No surprise he is out of the tour but there are more important things right now than the cricket. Hope the surgery is a success and there are no long term problems.
Viscount Tom
International Debutant
He's retired from international cricket now.
Last edited:
Expressway76
U19 Vice-Captain
Adios Bouch. Good tough cricketer.
Briony
International Debutant
superkingdave
Hall of Fame Member
De Villiers to keep wicket for at least the first test, assume they will play an extra batsman as well which may help as their lower middle order batting is probably the one area they have a weakness in.
Wish Boucher all the best in his recovery.
Wish Boucher all the best in his recovery.
Marius
International Debutant
Yeah, agreed, that is the area where we are weakest. We do have a longish tail
I guess the question is whether AB will be an Alec Stewart or an Adam Gilchrist, will keeping affect his batting or not.
So I guess the team for the first Test will be:
Smith
Petersen
Amla
Kallis
De Villiers
Rudolph
Duminy
Philander
Steyn
Morkel
Tahir
andruid
Cricketer Of The Year
No Tsolekile either !
Whilst I'm in my daft trolling mode might as well pose the question is Philander the new Zondeki?
Marius
International Debutant
What does that even mean?No Tsolekile either !
Heboric
International Debutant
Yes as Marius pointed out what do you mean by thisNo Tsolekile either !
theegyptian
International Vice-Captain
Few minor injuries for england and you never really know how serious given the resting policy. Swann has had a cortizone injection on elbow, bresnan also with elbow problems, Prior achilles problems. Obviously there's always something slightly wrong but who knows whether any of these injuries are serious. Least Prior is back wicketkeeping in this game for Sussex - hopefully he comes through the game well.
Viscount Tom
International Debutant
Bresnan we can afford to lose given the depth we've got Prior and Swann we can't.
LegendaryProtea
School Boy/Girl Captain
The Boucher retirement has seriously messed up our plans and I am no longer as confident as I once was. England have a definite edge - pretty much all their players (maybe except KP and Strauss) are match-fit and have been on a winning roll. The South African boys are still rusty and this will be a definite problem in the first test, only exacerbated by the loss of Boucher..
As much as I like de Villiers, giving him the gloves is a mistake. He is burdened enough as it is and he is arguably our most important batsman. To make him concentrate on keeping for an entire day when the red ball is moving all over the place has to have some impact (presumably a negative one) on his batting. Also, we lose him in the field where he is probably one of the most reliable and skilful fielders in the world. Having said that, it's not like they have too many alternatives. They already screwed up by nationally contracting Tsolekile, who we all know isn't Test standard, which meant they pretty much had to call him up and as England's tail is already better than ours, chucking Thami in up against Prior is just going to be embarrassing for South Africa.
I am also unconvinced by Duminy, who will likely bat at 7. His two main weaknesses are England's biggest strengths. He was reasonably solid against the short ball vs NZ but no doubt the likes of Broad will test him out and I'm not so sure he's had enough exposure to it to come through. Also, his struggles against pretty average off-spin are troubling and when exposed to a high-quality off-spinner who loves bowling to left-handers, I wonder how much of an impact Duminy can have on this series.
Finally, Alviro Petersen's stint at Essex was just horrific and if he carries that form into the series, we're gonna find ourselves 1 down pretty quickly. This guy paired up to Cook is honestly the biggest no-contest of the whole series. Smith, Amla, Kallis and AB are going to all have to average 50 plus and Steyn and Philander have to be at the top of their game. Then I see us winning but otherwise, England are favourites given recent developments.
As much as I like de Villiers, giving him the gloves is a mistake. He is burdened enough as it is and he is arguably our most important batsman. To make him concentrate on keeping for an entire day when the red ball is moving all over the place has to have some impact (presumably a negative one) on his batting. Also, we lose him in the field where he is probably one of the most reliable and skilful fielders in the world. Having said that, it's not like they have too many alternatives. They already screwed up by nationally contracting Tsolekile, who we all know isn't Test standard, which meant they pretty much had to call him up and as England's tail is already better than ours, chucking Thami in up against Prior is just going to be embarrassing for South Africa.
I am also unconvinced by Duminy, who will likely bat at 7. His two main weaknesses are England's biggest strengths. He was reasonably solid against the short ball vs NZ but no doubt the likes of Broad will test him out and I'm not so sure he's had enough exposure to it to come through. Also, his struggles against pretty average off-spin are troubling and when exposed to a high-quality off-spinner who loves bowling to left-handers, I wonder how much of an impact Duminy can have on this series.
Finally, Alviro Petersen's stint at Essex was just horrific and if he carries that form into the series, we're gonna find ourselves 1 down pretty quickly. This guy paired up to Cook is honestly the biggest no-contest of the whole series. Smith, Amla, Kallis and AB are going to all have to average 50 plus and Steyn and Philander have to be at the top of their game. Then I see us winning but otherwise, England are favourites given recent developments.
MW1304
Cricketer Of The Year
Tbf though that last part is a very distinct possibility.
Despite the drawback of losing Boucher, your batting does look a lot stronger. I mean if Philander can actually match up to his average that's a very strong batting lineup indeed, and considering our strength is in the bowling it can't be a bad thing.
Despite the drawback of losing Boucher, your batting does look a lot stronger. I mean if Philander can actually match up to his average that's a very strong batting lineup indeed, and considering our strength is in the bowling it can't be a bad thing.