England in South Africa

[Will p]

Great to say vaughny batting like he did in australia, hope he gets to his ton

 

[jonah]

What a comeback by England. Its a complete farce that again south africa get the benefit of the light, especially when they are fielding. Just because you cant dismiss steve harmison no need to resort to dirty tricks.

Couldn't have put it better myself, Gas. Unbelievable. Bucknor's happy to allow Ntini to bowl bouncers at Harmy, yet as soon as the wuss Smith moans that his poor fielders can't see the ball being belted to all parts they come off. To add insult, the sun came out 5 minutes after they came off!
Anyway, a great comeback by England, good to see Vaughanie back in the runs.

 

[The_gas]

Very true Jonah, i enjoy Harmsion batting more than Flintoff these days lol

 

[barmyarmy]

Harmison's batting average is now 30 for the tour and his bowling average 65!!!

 

[Stephen Bailey]

We'd have an all-rounder if it was the other way round!

 

[jonah]

Lol . I heard Atherton saying that when Harmison first came into the England side he hardly knew how to hold a cricket bat let alone score runs! The thing is, some of his shots aren't just slogs; he's got some half decent strokes there.
As for today's play, I heard yesterday that there's likely to be more rain around so I reckon let's get as many quick runs as possible and get the SA's in. I just hope our bowlers can put it in the right places.

 

[barmyarmy]

I just hope our bowlers can put it in the right places.

Wow, that first hour has to be the worst bowling performance for a long time. Good to see Hoggard finally getting Smith.

 

[squiz]

Damm it, rain. Looking like Englands advantage is dissapearing quicker than greame smith getting out lbw

heh he was out lbw this innings

 

[ZoraxDoom]

some things never change.........

 

[The_gas]

heh he was out lbw this innings

So far looking good for england. I just want Gibbs out, hes annoying me :

 

[Rangeela]

4th Test Stumps Day 3

England 1st Inning 411/8 declare (Strauss 147, Key 83, Vaughan 82*) (Ntini 4/111)
South Africa 1st Inning 306/6 (Gibbs 136*, Boucher 64) (Hoggard 4/101)

South Africa trail by 105 runs with 4 wickets remaining in the 1st innings

 

[The_gas]

I cant believe jones went for that catch off gibbs off the one but last ball of the day. It was going straight to trescothick. I hope that doesnt cost us a 50 run lead going into our innings.

 

[Stephen Bailey]

I think we should be worried more about the fitness/form of our bowlers. Harmison's injured and bowling utter crap, Hoggard's injured, Flintoff's not 100% but done well, Giles has a thumb injury and Anderson, well, to bowl wides in a test match consistantly is more than form problems, thats technical problems, as has been said on talkSPORT.

So that means our only bowler who is both fit and bowling well, isn't playing in the game! It was tough on Simon Jones anyway, who before this game had 10 wickets @ 27, but now it makes Fletcher, Vaughan, whoever it was who made that final decision on Anderson, look alittle silly. I'm not doubting the ability of Anderson, but the signs weren't good out in Zimbabwe and Namibia and the fact he hasn't played since then shows a HUGE risk in picking him, especially for someone bowling well.

We're seriously going to have to bring out a couple of players for the match. We should bring in Kabir Ali from the one-day side, maybe even fly Richard Johnson out as cover.

I've not even mentioned Geraint Jones getting a blow on the thumb at the end of the day (the ball before the one he dropped).

 

[jonah]

Yeah, with hindsight it seems a strange decision to play Anderson, very, very short of match practise, when it was well known that Freddie had been suffering with an injury. Added to that the consistent lack of form from Harmison, and it's put a hell of a workload on Hoggard. Now Giles gets injured too...

 

[The_gas]

Yep twas tough on simon jones. I do like Anderson he just needs some work on his action because he was a great bowler not to long ago.