*Official* South Africa in West Indies

[kingkallis]

WOW - that was a fantastic catch by Hash and Bravo surely edged there!

So is this Taufel's worst ever test match as an umpire or what??

 

[Himannv]

I like the sound of Taylor, Edwards and Roach, but at this rate I dont know if we'll ever see that combination together. Personally not a big fan of Benn.

 

[roseboy64]

Only 252 runs left now.

 

[Quaggas]

Missed it - why did Smith finish one of Harris' overs?

 

[Sir Alex]

Spineless stuff from Windies. People are asking should Bangladesh play tests while West Indies' woeful performances of late have largely gone unnoticed.

 

[GotSpin]

Spineless stuff from Windies. People are asking should Bangladesh play tests while West Indies' woeful performances of late have largely gone unnoticed.

They are playing one of the best test teams against one of the pace bowlers in the world atm with a number of injuries and are almost putting up a second string side (again)...

 

[Top_Cat]

If Morkel keeps bowling the way he is, the man's going to be the best bowler of 2011, I reckon. Some seriously rough stuff to be at the other end of from him this Test. Not that the WI did a lot to make him work for his wickets.

The bowling was pretty average too, especially since I doubt they'd have gotten a better pitch for the attack they picked. Benn and Shillingford bowled okay but on that deck, picking two spinners means you expect them to utterly dominate (and they certainly had SA in trouble early). Benn took 5-fer but he paid for them and they were a long time coming. No point in picking two spinners if neither of them are good enough to take advantage of what were prime conditions for them, too much at-the-stumps bowling, etc. Not many positives to come out of this Test for the WI, really.

 

[WindieWeathers]

If Morkel keeps bowling the way he is, the man's going to be the best bowler of 2011, I reckon. Some seriously rough stuff to be at the other end of from him this Test. Not that the WI did a lot to make him work for his wickets.

The bowling was pretty average too, especially since I doubt they'd have gotten a better pitch for the attack they picked. Benn and Shillingford bowled okay but on that deck, picking two spinners means you expect them to utterly dominate (and they certainly had SA in trouble early). Benn took 5-fer but he paid for them and they were a long time coming. No point in picking two spinners if neither of them are good enough to take advantage of what were prime conditions for them, too much at-the-stumps bowling, etc. Not many positives to come out of this Test for the WI, really.

The spinners done their job and put them in huge trouble at 107 for 5, it was garbage bowling from Rampaul and Pascal being totally under used that allowed them to get up to 350, if we had Taylor and Roach i very much doubt they would have made it past 220 at most, so i wouldn't blame the spinners at all, teams like England, India and Australia would have been happy reducing them to 350 because they have the batting power to make South Africa pay for it, our lot on the other hand are totally clueless with the bat which is the only thing that cost us in the end.

 

[GotSpin]

Yeah agreed. The WI spinners had SA in a sticky situation and it was the lack of quality pace options to really hammer home the advantage, rather than an overall failure of the spinners themselves.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Yeah agreed. The WI spinners had SA in a sticky situation and it was the lack of quality pace options to really hammer home the advantage, rather than an overall failure of the spinners themselves.

They were the only shining light for me GS, Shilly had a very good debut and Benn carried on taking wickets, for me they should stay in the side for a while now, the problem is our batting is so bad it's frightening, Gayle is too hit and miss, Chanders can't seem to stay at the crease for extended periods like he used to, Nash is playing stupid shots, and once we get to Bravo it seems only a matter of time before a total collapse ensues, now it's a case of do we play an extra batter and sacrifce a bowler? they've got some hard decisions to make,

I expect Roach to be back, i pray Barath and Sarwan are too but i wouldn't bet on it, if they aren't then Richards will probably replace Dowlin and i'd play Darren Bravo now, i'd also maybe look at Sammy instead of Dwayne Bravo to be honest..

Gayle
Richards
Darren Bravo
Chanders
Deonarine
Nash
Sammy/Bravo
Ramdin
Shillingford
Benn
Roach

Might be the way to go, an extra batter just might make us much more competative, and Sammy/Bravo could back up Roach with the bowling, with Deo and Gayle adding more spin if Benn and Shilly need a rest, i don't want to see Rampaul anywhere near the side ever again, the guy is a total waste of space.

 

[WindieWeathers]

And another point, on other forums people are calling for Marlon Samuels to be rushed back in, having him at five instead of someone like Deonarine would have been brilliant, he's been playing a lot for Jamaica recently so at least he's back in the groove of things, though calling him back so quickly might be too much of a risk, but i guess desperate times call for desperate measures.

 

[GotSpin]

They were the only shining light for me GS, Shilly had a very good debut and Benn carried on taking wickets, for me they should stay in the side for a while now, the problem is our batting is so bad it's frightening, Gayle is too hit and miss, Chanders can't seem to stay at the crease for extended periods like he used to, Nash is playing stupid shots, and once we get to Bravo it seems only a matter of time before a total collapse ensues, now it's a case of do we play an extra batter and sacrifce a bowler? they've got some hard decisions to make,

I expect Roach to be back, i pray Barath and Sarwan are too but i wouldn't bet on it, if they aren't then Richards will probably replace Dowlin and i'd play Darren Bravo now, i'd also maybe look at Sammy instead of Dwayne Bravo to be honest..

Gayle
Richards
Darren Bravo
Chanders
Deonarine
Nash
Sammy/Bravo
Ramdin
Shillingford
Benn
Roach

Might be the way to go, an extra batter just might make us much more competative, and Sammy/Bravo could back up Roach with the bowling, with Deo and Gayle adding more spin if Benn and Shilly need a rest, i don't want to see Rampaul anywhere near the side ever again, the guy is a total waste of space.

Agree with Rampaul. Doesn't seem to offer much.

Don't think Sammy should play instead of Older Bravo. Doesn't offer as much with the ball or bat despite bravo not exactly being at his best.

The only problem with your lineup is that there's no great options for Roach to open the bowling with. What will the pitch me be like for the next test? I won't post my side up until we know about the injuries but that side looks dangerously short on any bowling other than spinning options. How long is Taylor still injured for?

 

[WindieWeathers]

Agree with Rampaul. Doesn't seem to offer much.

Don't think Sammy should play instead of Older Bravo. Doesn't offer as much with the ball or bat despite bravo not exactly being at his best.

The only problem with your lineup is that there's no great options for Roach to open the bowling with. What will the pitch me be like for the next test? I won't post my side up until we know about the injuries but that side looks dangerously short on any bowling other than spinning options. How long is Taylor still injured for?

Don't know how long Taylor is out, apparently it was a hip injury and not the back problems that kept him out earlier this year, i'd guess he might have a chance of making it,

Taylor
Roach
shilly
Benn

Would of course be my first choice bowling unit, my worry though is the top order just can't seem to cope, if we have an extra batsman to push us over 300 then we might be able to at least draw a game, it's gonna be a hard decision to make,

We have a kid named Andre Russell who just took a 5fer against India A the other day (and earlier this summer took a two 4fers and scored a ton against Ireland for Jamaica) who bowls as fast as Roach and has fantastic potential, the added bonus is he can actually bat very well too, someone like him backing up Roach would have been great because he could at least add something to our batting department aswell, but i guess the selectors would think he's "too inexperienced" to get a chance right now.

 

[Xuhaib]

I will get Bravo Jnr for Dowlin and Sammy for Rampaul.

This will be my side

Gayle
Bravo snr
Deo
Shiv
Nash
Bravo jr
Sammy
Ramdhin
Shill
Benn
Roach.

 

[GotSpin]

Don't know how long Taylor is out, apparently it was a hip injury and not the back problems that kept him out earlier this year, i'd guess he might have a chance of making it,

Taylor
Roach
shilly
Benn

Would of course be my first choice bowling unit, my worry though is the top order just can't seem to cope, if we have an extra batsman to push us over 300 then we might be able to at least draw a game, it's gonna be a hard decision to make,

We have a kid named Andre Russell who just took a 5fer against India A the other day who bowls as fast as Roach and has fantastic potential, the added bonus is he can actually bat very well too, someone like him backing up Roach would have been great because he could at least add something to our batting department aswell, but i guess the selectors would think he's "too inexperienced" to get a chance right now.

I guess it depends on the fitness of Taylor/Roach as to how my lineup would change. The batting just needs Barath and Sarwan to return most importantly of all.

I did notice Andre Russell, was having a look at him the other day. He is far too inexperienced though and ultimately, the selectors should be looking to nurture such players for the future, rather than focusing on what will probably be a losing cause in the present. That's why I'd still be hesitant in playing Lil Bravo now. Though he could prove to be extremely successful straight away, I'd prefer to see the next generation of Windies talent being eased into tougher competition, rather than thrust upon one of the best teams in the world. In saying that, I'm not overly against lil bravo playing if both Sarwan and Barath remain injured as a means of bolstering what otherwise looks like a very weak batting line up.

 

[vic_orthdox]

They were the only shining light for me GS, Shilly had a very good debut and Benn carried on taking wickets, for me they should stay in the side for a while now, the problem is our batting is so bad it's frightening, Gayle is too hit and miss, Chanders can't seem to stay at the crease for extended periods like he used to, Nash is playing stupid shots, and once we get to Bravo it seems only a matter of time before a total collapse ensues, now it's a case of do we play an extra batter and sacrifce a bowler? they've got some hard decisions to make,

I expect Roach to be back, i pray Barath and Sarwan are too but i wouldn't bet on it, if they aren't then Richards will probably replace Dowlin and i'd play Darren Bravo now, i'd also maybe look at Sammy instead of Dwayne Bravo to be honest..

Gayle
Richards
Darren Bravo
Chanders
Deonarine
Nash
Sammy/Bravo
Ramdin
Shillingford
Benn
Roach

Might be the way to go, an extra batter just might make us much more competative, and Sammy/Bravo could back up Roach with the bowling, with Deo and Gayle adding more spin if Benn and Shilly need a rest, i don't want to see Rampaul anywhere near the side ever again, the guy is a total waste of space.

Really don't think that can work with only two pace bowlers.

 

[Briony]

Is there such thing as a "more dangerous" bowler than Steyn?

Morkel's probably been their most dangerous this year in terms of taking wickets and roughing up the batsmen. Steyn is fast and moves the ball but Morkel continually unsettles the batsmen. When they toured Australia, Morkel wasn't in his best form but most Aussie batsmen interviewed said they least liked facing him.

 

[Zinzan]

Predictable result tbf, SA were always going to be far too strong for the Windies for mine, even if playing away. Would love nothing more than to see WI bounce back in the 2nd test, but honestly, can't see it.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

West Indies are a poor side and South Africa for me are the best around so this result was always likely.I expect more of the same in the remaining games unless Roach can produce something remarkable.

 

[Furball]

Morkel's probably been their most dangerous this year in terms of taking wickets and roughing up the batsmen. Steyn is fast and moves the ball but Morkel continually unsettles the batsmen. When they toured Australia, Morkel wasn't in his best form but most Aussie batsmen interviewed said they least liked facing him.

Batsmen will always say that, Steyn's style of bowling won't put a batsman in physical danger the way Morkel's can, he'll just take your wicket again and again and again.