South Africa team selection

[StephenZA]

Won't they give Hamza first shot ? Definitely between him and Mulder. If Amla & Faf stick out for England at home next summer I do think they will change between Hamza/Mulder between requirements.

You think they will give Theunis the Wanderers ? I think they will which is probably fair.

I'm unsure about Wanderers, if he scores runs puts selection in a conundrum again. I'm being really harsh here and just saying he has not got it we need to move on.

Tough with Hamza, but Mulder was selected for the squad in the previous series (memory serves) so he would have been given a shot before Hamza. We need the allrounder, Mulder is most likely player to solve that problem of balance when looking to the future. Hamza to replace one of the older stalwarts (likely Amla) when he retires (or after WC).

 

[StephenZA]

Just looking at Bavuma's record; he is avg 45+ in the last year and has consistently got better since the start of his career.... biggest issue is he is just not converting. Needs some more conversions and match defining innings.

 

[Dendarii]

Bavuma's average being what it is without any huge scores to boost it is testament to his consistency, but yeah he does need those conversions.

 

[SeamUp]

Just looking at Bavuma's record; he is avg 45+ in the last year and has consistently got better since the start of his career.... biggest issue is he is just not converting. Needs some more conversions and match defining innings.

He has the temprement and as a batting unit he has been scoring more runs than others in 2018. Right now with our batting he has to stay but until those 100s come he will be looking over his shoulder.

Would you bat him 5 if Mulder came in ?

 

[StephenZA]

Would you bat him 5 if Mulder came in ?

Yep... bat Faf at 4 Bavuma 5... could swap them around but that would be decided by internal team dynamics.

 

[Prince EWS]

He has the temprement and as a batting unit he has been scoring more runs than others in 2018. Right now with our batting he has to stay but until those 100s come he will be looking over his shoulder.

Would you bat him 5 if Mulder came in ?

Faf would probably push Bavuma up to 4 if that happened (he's done it before), but it'd be pretty crazy IMO. Temba works fine as a collapse-rescuer in the lower middle order but you need someone who can go on and make a big one at four. He definitely shouldn't be dropped but batting him ahead of someone like Faf has always been a bit of a silly idea.

 

[Stefan9]

Faf seems to love the nr 5 spot and doesn't want to move.

 

[SeamUp]

Yep... bat Faf at 4 Bavuma 5... could swap them around but that would be decided by internal team dynamics.

Faf would probably push Bavuma up to 4 if that happened (he's done it before), but it'd be pretty crazy IMO. Temba works fine as a collapse-rescuer in the lower middle order but you need someone who can go on and make a big one at four. He definitely shouldn't be dropped but batting him ahead of someone like Faf has always been a bit of a silly idea.

Faf seems to love the nr 5 spot and doesn't want to move.

That's the problem we seem to have.

I agree with how PEWS describes the situation for Temba.

It may lead to them playing Hamza first where he will bat 4.

 

[GRAB]

How serious is Markram's issue? Will he miss Joburg? If so, does that mean Hamza comes in and opens (he hasn't opened, though normally bats 3 or 4), or does Hamza come in and de Kock or de Bruyn (who also has opened, though mostly in white ball cricket) get grafted in? Or does a like for like replacement see someone from left field - Moore/Cloete/Reeza/Either Malan (although J seems to be injured too?) appear...

 

[MediumFast]

How serious is Markram's issue? Will he miss Joburg? If so, does that mean Hamza comes in and opens (he hasn't opened, though normally bats 3 or 4), or does Hamza come in and de Kock or de Bruyn (who also has opened, though mostly in white ball cricket) get grafted in? Or does a like for like replacement see someone from left field - Moore/Cloete/Reeza/Either Malan (although J seems to be injured too?) appear...

It will also be interesting to see if they persist with the 4-man pace attack.

 

[Dendarii]

If Markram's out then I think it has to be a like for like replacement. Hamza may be the back up batsman in the squad, but it doesn't make sense to have him open when he's never done it before and they can call up anybody they like. If they were on tour then obviously they'd need to bring in a makeshift opener, but there's no need to that while at home. So Hendricks because he's already been part of the squad, even if it was for the shorter formats.

And the next test is Joburg, so it'll be four seamers.

 

[GRAB]

I meant to say has opened. Was opening for SAA so they may see him in that position. I think that would be making the same mistake they made with van zyl.

 

[Dendarii]

It's a different scenario than with Van Zyl where the only available spot was as an opener so they tried to convert him into one. This would just be a once-off, but still not the best idea.

 

[TT Boy]

Hendricks makes sense. He is an opener, it’s at Jo’Burg and he is batting well at the moment. Last thing de Bruyn needs is that gig and he did that before in New Zealand with no success.

 

[SeamUp]

The only concern with Reeza Hendricks though is that he really could be as low as the 6th best red-ball opener in domestic cricket at the moment. I would understood the move but Pieter Malan, Janneman Malan, Edward Moore, Gihahn Cloete and Stephen Cook have all scored more runs than him. P.Malan/Cloete were SA A in the winter, J.Malan injured now, Moore leading 4-day series run-scorer and whilst Stephen Cook is old and had his chance he is a better 4-day opener than Reeza has ever been.

 

[StephenZA]

Would have picked J Malan just to show him test level, fantastic current form. With his injury, probably just bring in Reeza.

 

[Bolo]

Dead rubber, so quotas will play a bit of a role. Also in some ways it makes sense to pick someone experienced for a one off

 

[StephenZA]

Have we heard anything regards Amla? If we've lost Faf, Markram and Amla then that could be 3 debuts?

 

[Stefan9]

Read that markram and amla are expected to be fit. Seems markram is only bruising.

If both are fit then guess hamza for faf will be only change.

 

[GRAB]

Wonder if a batsman will replace Faf in the squad in case of a last minute niggle? Would be interesting to get an idea of what the current pecking order is...