England tour to South Africa December 2015/February 2016

[MUFC1987]

I just think you know what you're getting with Compton. His strengths are that he's got a good defence and he's very good mentally. That means he won't give his wicket away that often, but also means he doesn't take as many chances, which is why he's deemed as a slow player. I don't see the issue with it in Tests though, you just want the person who's going to get the most runs, no matter how long it takes. Perhaps he's a throw back, but I think if all matches were played on pitches that were good for bowlers, he'd be one of the first people you'd pick, because he will survive, more often than not.

 

[MUFC1987]

Forgot to add too, I think he's the perfect sort of buffer to protect your real stroke makers of Root, Taylor and Stokes from the new ball. That's still an important role in Test cricket for me.

 

[richowebbo]

Root's ball was probably the best, which is strange given the expected conditions. Will probably make Amla feel a lot better though, as he would've be so close to picking 4 seamers.

Although Nick Compton is once again proving that he's a bit limited when it comes to scoring freely, he is displaying what an excellent technique he's got. I know there's been a lot of support for him on this forum, and I must admit that I was against him playing for the same reasons as the selectors. But you can't deny that he's got a bit of fight in him.

I've been advocating Taylor batting at 3, but he's such a good player of spin. Playing Piedt really well here. Perhaps he's better at 5. The dilemma will be if Hales does really badly for 2/3 tests. Then selectors will be very tempted to get Compton up top again. If that happens, they'll probably have to bring in Ballance at 3 again, which I feel is unfair as that's not his position and never has been.

I'll say it again, Ian Bell is likely to be at 3 for first test against Pakistan.

Your pint about Compton not scoring freely is right, but thats what you need from a number three in my opinion. I've been banging on about Compton, Taylor and Woakes for so long, so I'm really pleased that they are in the side and Compton and Taylor are making runs. With Hales, Root and Taylor around him, Compton should be the man that stays there and doesn't give his wicket away.

That being said, I'm really worried about England's in ability to deal with the new Ball.

 

[bigred]

I just think you know what you're getting with Compton. His strengths are that he's got a good defence and he's very good mentally. That means he won't give his wicket away that often, but also means he doesn't take as many chances, which is why he's deemed as a slow player. I don't see the issue with it in Tests though, you just want the person who's going to get the most runs, no matter how long it takes. Perhaps he's a throw back, but I think if all matches were played on pitches that were good for bowlers, he'd be one of the first people you'd pick, because he will survive, more often than not.

Most pitches aren't good for bowlers though, are they?

People like Warner, Smith and McCullum will be the players more likely to succeed these days.

 

[PokerAce]

I have followed this test all day, and no doubt Compton and, especially Taylor have been very good. However does anyone else feel Amla took his foot off the attack pedal a little too quickly. Even now part-timers coming on, not enough attacking players when the seamers are bowling. Eng have not even got 150 yet and are three down. Surely there should be more attacking intent from SA.

 

[bigred]

I have followed this test all day, and no doubt Compton and, especially Taylor have been very good. However does anyone else feel Amla took his foot off the attack pedal a little too quickly. Even now part-timers coming on, not enough attacking players when the seamers are bowling. Eng have not even got 150 yet and are three down. Surely there should be more attacking intent from SA.

I don't rate Amla as a captain. I assume they didn't feel AB could handle ODI and test captaincy plus keeping all at the same time. I think Faf has a good cricket brain also.

 

[PokerAce]

^ Yeah at 150 SA had gone so defensive that one would think England were more like 300/3 and not 150/3. However the crucial breakthrough at the end, could yet prove crucial. I have rated Taylor as a batsman since I saw him in the pre-WC tri-series in Aus, and there is no question he is a fine batsman. Him and Root, are the future for England, and both are very fine batsmen.

As for SA, Steyn was back to near his best. His injury was a big help to India, in the previous series, and had he been fit, there is no doubt SA would have challenged India more, even on those wickets.

However the problem for SA will be the other bowlers. Apart from Steyn no one looked like picking a wicket, and if this is how the rest of the tour is going to play out, then I would say England would love their chances this series. I suspect Rabada would be in for Abbot in the second test. However too early to be thinking so far ahead. I would say a shared day 1.

 

[stefan]

Even first day.

As to the SA bowlers Morkel had a poor day as did abbot. Don't morkel will bowl that badly all series. Think radaba and especially philander will make a difference as the series goes on.

As to the captaincy I though Amla was fine today. He kept three slips in for most of the day for the seamers and the reason why he tried the part timers was cause of morkel & abbot being poor. My first choice for the captain would have been faf he is much better tacticly then either amla or ab.

 

[bigred]

About 50/50 I would say. I feared the worst at 20-2

 

[MUFC1987]

Most pitches aren't good for bowlers though, are they?

People like Warner, Smith and McCullum will be the players more likely to succeed these days.

That still doesn't stop us from collapsing in a heap every now and again though, does it?

It's all well and good praising players who hit a lot of boundaries, but when you consider Warner gave his wicket away against a much weaker attack in the Aus/WI Test, that's not really much use compared to Compton grinding out 50+. We don't have the best line up in the World, so there's still room for improvement and I think Compton can do a good job. I think players getting a decent score when the rest fail, are a lot more useful than players cashing in when everyone else does (Like Bell spent years doing).

 

[CerealKiller]

I think Moeen and Stokes should swap batting positions. Moeen is a much better batsman than a number 8, and Stokes' power hitting capability would be more useful lower down the order.

 

[stefan]

Your pint about Compton not scoring freely is right, but thats what you need from a number three in my opinion.

Disagree. Number three needs to be able to be defensive when necessary but also counter attack or dominate if the opportunity presents itself. Best number 3's in recent times have been able to do this the likes of amla,ponting,sangakarra,dravid and now williamson.

While compton played well today there was a period where he and taylor where on the top but SA would never have felt the game was slipping away from them because of the scoring rate. Because of compton scoring at a very slow rate it meant SA would have always felt they are just two quick wickets away from being right on top.

 

[bigred]

Disagree. Number three needs to be able to be defensive when necessary but also counter attack or dominate if the opportunity presents itself. Best number 3's in recent times have been able to do this the likes of amla,ponting,sangakarra,dravid and now williamson.

While compton played well today there was a period where he and taylor where on the top but SA would never have felt the game was slipping away from them because of the scoring rate. Because of compton scoring at a very slow rate it meant SA would have always felt they are just two quick wickets away from being right on top.

Completely agree with this. If Compton is going to bat anywhere, I think it'll have to be 1 or 2. I reckon he'll be doing that by Johannesburg anyway.

 

[blockerdave]

Completely agree with this. If Compton is going to bat anywhere, I think it'll have to be 1 or 2. I reckon he'll be doing that by Johannesburg anyway.

i think that'd be harsh on Hales. He looked pretty good, and the rain break buggered his rhythm. admittedly he was facing abbot rather than Steyn most of it, but I was impressed.

gutted Taylor didn't manage to get to the end of the day and be set for tomorrow, but he played well. he and Compton were treated appallingly in the past, be good to see them stick a finger up to Flower.

 

[_Sam_]

Completely agree with this. If Compton is going to bat anywhere, I think it'll have to be 1 or 2. I reckon he'll be doing that by Johannesburg anyway.

Wonder how he'll feel about that though given he's openly stated he much prefers the number 3 position and hasn't opened for over a year now.