TheJediBrah
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Has anyone ever considered Hales at no.3? seems to me that would make more sense with Compton opening.
I could be way off the mark here
I could be way off the mark here
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Your best current test team is..
- Thread starter Pratters
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flibbertyjibber
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Smith and Kallis were in that side so the batting was actually good. They have been replaced by players nowhere near the same standard.
Captain_Cook
U19 12th Man
It crossed my mind too but Hales only has a licence to play the "warner-esque" expansive opener role if Compton is there to back him up at #3. The fact he isn't even batting aggressively with a terrible strike rate shows a huge technical flaw outside off stump. That sort of problem is unacceptable for a test opener (unless he's captain :-P).
NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
And yet with those players they also got skittled. It happens even with good batting. What is less likely is poorer bowlers skittling a side in the manner Broad did and the way Steyn and Philander have done. England may still have won the Test even if SA had them in the side but to say it's irrelevant because the batting failed and they wouldn't have made an impact is wrong imo.
OverratedSanity
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Yeah it's quite possible Steyn and Philander would've cleaned up England's lower order in the first innings and given SA a big lead. They definitely wouldn't have bowled the rubbish these guys bowled to Stokes/Root. I don't think Broad skittling SA out for 83 happens in that situation. Or even if it does, SA are still ahead in the game.
NZTailender
I can't believe I ate the whole thing
Yeah I mean SA also got knocked over cheap in that other game, but they had the guns to do the same to Australia. Both sides scored over 200 in their other innings. In this match, SA didn't have the firepower for such a thing.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
Not that I am overly impressed with Hales, but I still feel it is unfair to write him off after one away series against the number 1 side. Yeah yeah I know they haven't had their best bowlers and are not playing like a number 1 side, but still, this is comfortably one of the top 3 teams today.
Not like England are spoiled for choice here. Give the guy a home series, let's see if he can do something there. If not, then write him of.
Not like England are spoiled for choice here. Give the guy a home series, let's see if he can do something there. If not, then write him of.
TheJediBrah
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I don't know from what I've seen of the games the SA bowling attack is looking very ordinary for International cricket. Not hopeless, but not "top 3" material IMO
Nice pic.I totally missed the news of the crowning of our new overlords today.
theegyptian
International Vice-Captain
I'd agree that England's victory in India has little influence on who the current best team is.
However how much relevance does the Aus win in SA really have on the current best team either? Rogers, Clarke, Watson, Haddin, Johnson and Harris have all retired from test cricket since then.
This thread is too much about dealing about the past. It should be about asking what would happen in the hypothetical situation of all the teams playing each other now.
Black_Warrior
Cricketer Of The Year
It boils down to how far you're willing to go in the past. A single calendar year just won't have enough home and away games for a team to make that judgement. The cricket scheduling just does not work like that. India did not play away this year, so we have to look at their away record from 2014 for example.