England tour to South Africa December 2015/February 2016

[Markkkkk]

Sadly I dont think Rabada is being selected on merit. Yes he has the most potential in the country but he isnt ready for tests. Dane Paterson, Hardus Viljoen and even Chris Morris can feel hard done by as they have been performing well in the domestic competition yet they have been pushed aside by someone who has more potential. Im all for him getting exposure in ODIs and T20s but in Tets you select your best XI...

 

[stefan]

Sadly I dont think Rabada is being selected on merit. Yes he has the most potential in the country but he isnt ready for tests. Dane Paterson, Hardus Viljoen and even Chris Morris can feel hard done by as they have been performing well in the domestic competition yet they have been pushed aside by someone who has more potential. Im all for him getting exposure in ODIs and T20s but in Tets you select your best XI...

Maybe but sometimes great potential leaps frogs others. AB & Steyn were picked when they weren't the next in line, both had hardly done much more then made first class debuts.

 

[War]

Maybe but sometimes great potential leaps frogs others. AB & Steyn were picked when they weren't the next in line, both had hardly done much more then made first class debuts.

Ye happens all the time in international cricket, where especially in team where you have much talent - a exciting young player is pushed forward by selectors of solid more mature performers.

Back when AUS were on fire, you could argue that Brad Hodge, Michael Hussey probably deserved to get a test debut before Michael Clarke did.

 

[bigred]

Combined eleven

1. Cook
2. Elgar
3. Amla
4. Root
5. de Villiers
6. Stokes
7. Ali
8. Broad
9. Steyn
10. Morkel
11. Anderson

I think that the teams are pretty even on paper. Although I think Woakes might get nod as 4th seamer until Finn recovers, I think that they need to pick someone really quick. Footitt is the only man in the squad that can do that.

 

[dp458]

Combined eleven

1. Cook
2. Elgar
3. Amla
4. Root
5. de Villiers
6. Stokes
7. Ali
8. Broad
9. Steyn
10. Morkel
11. Anderson

I think that the teams are pretty even on paper. Although I think Woakes might get nod as 4th seamer until Finn recovers, I think that they need to pick someone really quick. Footitt is the only man in the squad that can do that.

Im pretty sure woakes will play, and be batting at 9, until Finn is fit, Bayliss basically confirmed Hales and Bairstow to be playing, so its Compton or Balance at 3.

I dont think if youre combined 11 has ABD keeping you need ali and stokes, id replace stokes with Faf or James Taylor(who i know isnt test proven, but he is the best batsman ive seen first hand live on numerous occasions

1Cook
2Elgar
3Amla
4Root
5ABD(WK)
6Faf/Taylor
7Ali
8Broad
9Steyn
10Morkel
11Jimmy

 

[bigred]

Im pretty sure woakes will play, and be batting at 9, until Finn is fit, Bayliss basically confirmed Hales and Bairstow to be playing, so its Compton or Balance at 3.

I dont think if youre combined 11 has ABD keeping you need ali and stokes, id replace stokes with Faf or James Taylor(who i know isnt test proven, but he is the best batsman ive seen first hand live on numerous occasions

1Cook
2Elgar
3Amla
4Root
5ABD(WK)
6Faf/Taylor
7Ali
8Broad
9Steyn
10Morkel
11Jimmy

Might Taylor bat at 3? Rumours are that they want to bat Ballance in the same position he bats for Yorkshire, which is 5.

 

[dp458]

Might Taylor bat at 3? Rumours are that they want to bat Ballance in the same position he bats for Yorkshire, which is 5.

Could do, personally id rather they went for compton, and let taylor find his feet at test at 5.
Also cricinfo seem to think Footit is favourite to play, and that finn will be back for the 2nd test

 

[bigred]

Could do, personally id rather they went for compton, and let taylor find his feet at test at 5.
Also cricinfo seem to think Footit is favourite to play, and that finn will be back for the 2nd test

Good news about Footitt. It's not like we need the extra batting of Woakes. We've already got Ali at 8. They should just let Footitt loose and tell him to bowl as fast as he can in 3 over spells. He'll probably go at 4/5 an over, but so did Mitchell Johnson.

 

[MUFC1987]

Good to see Taylor and Stokes amongst the runs. Stokes being fit and hopefully in form is a massive bonus for us. Also good to see Compton getting some runs, you imagine his job will be to obviously score runs, but to also make sure that Root stays away from the new ball. Seems like we've decided to pick Bairstow. Hopefully he can average 30 before he gets cleaned out by that away swinging full ball. Gotta think any of the bowlers will fancy their chances against him.

In terms of our bowling, I think we can be optimistic. Broad and Anderson should be refreshed, so just a case of whether Finn gets the job for most of the series or someone takes their chance in the First Test. We just need to get on top of Amla and AB and the rest should fold quite easily really. I think if we can keep those 2 averaging 40 or less, then we've got a chance of winning the series. I'm expecting a 2-1 defeat on form though.

 

[Markkkkk]

What is annoying is the team we chose. Obviously they are pushing black players but holy crap do it in the next warm up when the best domestic players cant play. I would love a bowling line up of Viljoen, Morris, Paterson and Maharaj with Cook and Puttick opening the batting. Sometimes I get so annoyed with SA cricket...

 

[stefan]

Good from an SA perspective to see Hales get knocked over twice by Junior Dala. While Dala is a decent honest pro wouldn't exactly say he is express or anything special so cleaning bowling the england opener should be a good sign for the SA pace attack. They will also have noticed cook getting out lbw twice.

 

[stefan]

Good to see Taylor and Stokes amongst the runs. Stokes being fit and hopefully in form is a massive bonus for us. Also good to see Compton getting some runs, you imagine his job will be to obviously score runs, but to also make sure that Root stays away from the new ball. Seems like we've decided to pick Bairstow. Hopefully he can average 30 before he gets cleaned out by that away swinging full ball. Gotta think any of the bowlers will fancy their chances against him.

In terms of our bowling, I think we can be optimistic. Broad and Anderson should be refreshed, so just a case of whether Finn gets the job for most of the series or someone takes their chance in the First Test. We just need to get on top of Amla and AB and the rest should fold quite easily really. I think if we can keep those 2 averaging 40 or less, then we've got a chance of winning the series. I'm expecting a 2-1 defeat on form though.

SA could say the same about root and cook. I expect a close series but believe the SA batsman will cope better in the conditions and Steyn ( if fit) will be the difference maker.

 

[bigred]

Good from an SA perspective to see Hales get knocked over twice by Junior Dala. While Dala is a decent honest pro wouldn't exactly say he is express or anything special so cleaning bowling the england opener should be a good sign for the SA pace attack. They will also have noticed cook getting out lbw twice.

To be honest, if Hales has another shocker in the next warmup, they may think about bumping Compton up to open. Especially if Ballance scores some runs.

 

[stefan]

To be honest, if Hales has another shocker in the next warmup, they may think about bumping Compton up to open. Especially if Ballance scores some runs.

Watching balance technique in the ashes wouldn't exactly be losing sleep over him either. England certainly have questions they need to answer in their top 3.

 

[bigred]

Watching balance technique in the ashes wouldn't exactly be losing sleep over him either. England certainly have questions they need to answer in their top 3.

He'd bat at 5, which is where he bats for Yorkshire. I wouldn't be fooled by what you saw in the ashes. The guy averaged 60 in his first year in test cricket, and had by far the best stats in English domestic cricket. He's a player, make no mistake about that.