*Official* South Africa in England Thread

[gibbsnsmith]

ahem

well....i kind of expected this but Jones has impressed with the bat and the bowl and i consider him to be a good talent...

i mean, most of the english players dont have either great FC Oor International records, do they? so basically i really have no idea how the selectors work but jones has been a good un

jones can reach upto 145ks heslides the ball similarly to gough where as harmison bangs it in like caddick and andeson is just a bit of a overratted, expensive freak of nature

 

[Craig]

How can you say that? He has only played one Test innings.

Anyhow,

Batty is out in that he has been realesed from the squad.

 

[Mr. P]

just saw that on the front page, craig. what are everyones views about this?

 

[luckyeddie]

just saw that on the front page, craig. what are everyones views about this?

Guess the effects of the whisky wore off.

 

[gibbsnsmith]

true, jones only had 1 knock at the crease but it was a bloody good attempt albeit it being against a below-par indian attack but anyway he has potential to hit long and i saw uncanny resemblence to a player called lance klusener


batty? hes a decent young off break bowler, i mean hes decent compared to english standards not likely to be the next Saqlain or anything but does have a slight talent with the bat a little reminiscent of Giles.

 

[luckyeddie]

Didn't take England long to pick up where they left off at Lord's.

Very impressed with the South African bowling so far (again) - less than impressed with Trescothick outside off stump (again). Hard hands, pushing out at the ball.

 

[Mr. P]

shocking start by the poms, both openers gone and the score is 2/56

 

[marc71178]

I hope he won't but apart from his extraordinary first innings performance in the first test he didn't look that amazing.

He's only played 1 Test!

Rolled over the top order in the first innings, then just because he didn't in the second, he's not that amazing?

 

[marc71178]

he only took 12 games to take his firsrt 50 wicket and his test century at lords convinced me that he s a quality allrounder

No he's not.

 

[marc71178]

That is correct. Hence that is oneo f my reasons I dont rate Simon Jones but some people here (not listing any names) seem to ignore that.

Averages don't equate to ability at Test level.

Jones was very impressive on debut at home, and got injured when he'd already made an impact in his 2nd game.

Just because he averages 37 in CC, we shouldn't write him off.

Extra pace means the ball can fly off the bat (without the batsman trying to play it)

 

[luckyeddie]

No he's not.

Doesn't stop him being a cricketing god, though.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Mark Butcher.

clap clap clap

Nasser Hussain.

clap clap

England's day thus far...

clap clap clap clap

178 so far between Butcher and Hussain, I for one am surprised at the resillience being shown.

 

[luckyeddie]

Just shows that leaving the ball is an essential part of a batsman's armoury. Usually it's the batsman who cracks first (in England's case).

England have rode their luck a little, though.

 

[luckyeddie]

After being 28-2, it turned out to be an excellent day for England. Not only because of the tons by Butcher and Hussain - Ed Smith's performance was quite admirable too (although no surprise to people other than the England selectors).

I look forward to seeing Flintoff bat some time after tea tomorrow.

 

[Langeveldt]

Bit miffed that SA couldnt capitalize on such a good start..

Anthony McGrath v Ed Smith... No contest for me


Slightly off topic but do you remember André Nel?? Ive just been watching him bowl at Taunton... not bad at all, although not as good as Pretorius...

If you think McGrath and Lee sledge.. you should see this guy, absolutely brilliant stuff if you like that kind of thing, if you think its bad for the game, today at Taunton would have been a sickener... he layed into Blackwell who had 140 odd and then sent his middle stump cartwheeling

 

[Langeveldt]

What?? Are you sure you said that correctly?? Averages do not lie?

Um...Michael Vaughan, Marcus Trescothick, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Fidel Edwards....etc. etc.

On the flip side, Graeme Hick, Stuart Williams, Ajit Agarkar , Nixon McLean...etc. etc.

Of course they dont lie! They arent rigged or tampered with, they are the cold hard facts of how well a player has done, Vaughan and Tres used to be flops in the CC without a doubt...

I think what happens is they dont transfer very well from one format of the game to the other... But i cant for the life of me think how some guy averaging 37 with the ball in CC is going to scare many test class batsmen, although i could well be wrong..

 

[Rik]

But i cant for the life of me think how some guy averaging 37 with the ball in CC is going to scare many test class batsmen, although i could well be wrong..

Because he didn't sort his game out till last year when he averaged 26 in the CC with the ball...

 

[Rik]

Fantastic to see Ed Smith batting, very stylish, very compact, looks a real find

Well done to Butcher and Nass, Butcher is a real treat to watch now, something that could not be said a few years ago.

 

[luckyeddie]

Of course they dont lie!

Oh yes they do.

An average is just that - a reflection of how a player has performed ON AVERAGE during the whole of his career or season at whatever level you are looking at.

It takes into account nothing else - form, standard of opposition, late development, 'going off' etc etc.

Averages are a guideline - and nothing else.

 

[Mr. P]

great to see england do well. same with nasser and butcher, they obviously batted sublimely. but i ant to know what ed smith was like. did he bat well? does he have a good action? what are his weaknesses?