South Africa in England July-Sept 2012

[War]

Would love this XI to play India:

Cook
Trott
Bell
Pietersen
Taylor
Bairstow
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Finn/Panesar

Ye possibly. Although maybe if Trott is seen as being not suitable for opening, i think Nick Compton would be another option.

Also i'd definitely pick 3 quick in India. Pace wins in India since they became a force at home as Windies of the 80s, S Africa 2000 and Australia 2004 showed. Even though as i mentioned, some of India's home aura has dipped a bit.

 

[Epic]

Think India will be preparing Dust bowls this winter, they didn't seem too happy with all the green tops you guys prepared last summer.

 

[Auwais]

Dream on....

3-0.

Philander was excellent in this test. Two handy knocks down the lower order to keep the initiative with the Saffers and finished off England with the new ball.

 

[puddleduck]

Think India will be preparing Dust bowls this winter, they didn't seem too happy with all the green tops you guys prepared last summer.

Except we prepared a load of roads with some bounce to them rather than green tops. This was demonstrated by the fact England piled on 600+ in nearly every innings

 

[Epic]

Except we prepared a load of roads with some bounce to them rather than green tops. This was demonstrated by the fact England piled on 600+ in nearly every innings

My bad, we just made it look like a green top, still, they mad.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Except we prepared a load of roads with some bounce to them rather than green tops. This was demonstrated by the fact England piled on 600+ in nearly every innings

Yeah, those weren't green tops. Our batsmen failed miserably, English bowlers bowled well. And, England piling up all those runs could also mean our bowlers were shite in addition to England batsmen batting the way they did.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

Ignoring what the faulty ranking system says, which incorrectly prompted India and England to # 1 in the last few years.

S Africa on the basis of performances based on an in-depth series by series analysis since the decline of Australia after the 2006/07 ashes, are the first proper # 1 on merit. Shall expand on this in another thread.

not sure I agree with this. it's great to have the impressive away record south africa has but really, their home record is appalling.

since the 2007 series against west indies the only teams they've beaten at home are bangladesh and sri lanka recently, and even the sri lanka series contained a hiccup. my feeling is that south africa look the best team on paper, and have for a while, but they've still to show they're more deserving no.1s than india or england.

I think if a batsman had an average of 50 but built it on his away record that would be more impressive than building it on his home record but not sure that logic can be applied to overall team performance.

 

[Haarithan]

Got to love how England and South Africa are dominating cricket in all three formats now:

Tests:

1. South Africa 120
2. England 117

ODIs:

1. England 121
2. South Africa 121

T20s:

1. South Africa 130
2. England 129

 

[Dennis Mennis]

my feeling is that south africa look the best team on paper, and have for a while, but they've still to show they're more deserving no.1s than india or england.

The SA bashing continues unabated. I think we've just accomplished task number 2!

 

[puddleduck]

My bad, we just made it look like a green top, still, they mad.

Indeed... although when do India not prepare low and slow dust bowls? As per usual another awesome test series in England/South Africa/Australia that has excellent pitches for cricket. India's wickets are dire, a pitch should always offer something to a fast bowler. It doesn't have to be movement either, just some carry.

 

[SaiSrini]

Indeed... although when do India not prepare low and slow dust bowls? As per usual another awesome test series in England/South Africa/Australia that has excellent pitches for cricket. India's wickets are dire, a pitch should always offer something to a fast bowler. It doesn't have to be movement either, just some carry.

Not necessarily. A pitch should offer bowlers from both teams a decent chance of picking up 20 wickets within the 5 days of the game. If a pitch can offer spinners good turn and bite, but not much carry to the fast bowlers, it is still a sporting enough wicket.

 

[War]

not sure I agree with this. it's great to have the impressive away record south africa has but really, their home record is appalling.

since the 2007 series against west indies the only teams they've beaten at home are bangladesh and sri lanka recently, and even the sri lanka series contained a hiccup. my feeling is that south africa look the best team on paper, and have for a while, but they've still to show they're more deserving no.1s than india or england.

I think if a batsman had an average of 50 but built it on his away record that would be more impressive than building it on his home record but not sure that logic can be applied to overall team performance.

Appalling is a bit of an over exaggerated term don't you think? Yes they have slipped up by drawing at home vs England and India and losing to Australia. But its not as if they were white-washed at home or anything.

However i just assessed that issue in this thread - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/cricket-discussion/state-test-cricket-post-australias-1995-2006-07-decline-77860.html

----------

Thanks to War for a positive comment re SA. What thread will this be on please?

Here - http://www.planetcricket.org/forums/cricket-discussion/state-test-cricket-post-australias-1995-2006-07-decline-77860.html

 

[puddleduck]

If you're going to try and argue that a pitch shouldn't always have some carry in it, then you're part of the problem with test cricket. Amazing how people always lavish praise on the pinnacle of the game when the pitch offers some carry. A good pitch shouldn't favour any of the bowlers, or the batsman. You'll notice I didn't say the pitch needs to seam in every direction, but merely offer some carry so that any genuine edges carry to the keeper and a seam bowler can still bowl a good ball on all three lengths.

A pitch offering bite and turn from day 1 is invariably a poor pitch as the bounce will remain inconsistent throughout (helping the seamers as well). So bored of Indian pitches being so terrible for test cricket. A test match wicket where a fast bowler can't bowl a bouncer because it won't even trouble a tail-ender if aimed correctly is not a good pitch.

It's no surprise that the most interesting series of the last few years have all happened when the pitches have had a bit of carry.

 

[badvintage]

Got to love how England and South Africa are dominating cricket in all three formats now:

Tests:

1. South Africa 120
2. England 117

ODIs:

1. England 121
2. South Africa 121

T20s:

1. South Africa 130
2. England 129

And the Aussies must be #3 in Test and ODI's.

 

[shravi]

If you're going to try and argue that a pitch shouldn't always have some carry in it, then you're part of the problem with test cricket. Amazing how people always lavish praise on the pinnacle of the game when the pitch offers some carry. A good pitch shouldn't favour any of the bowlers, or the batsman. You'll notice I didn't say the pitch needs to seam in every direction, but merely offer some carry so that any genuine edges carry to the keeper and a seam bowler can still bowl a good ball on all three lengths.

A pitch offering bite and turn from day 1 is invariably a poor pitch as the bounce will remain inconsistent throughout (helping the seamers as well). So bored of Indian pitches being so terrible for test cricket. A test match wicket where a fast bowler can't bowl a bouncer because it won't even trouble a tail-ender if aimed correctly is not a good pitch.

It's no surprise that the most interesting series of the last few years have all happened when the pitches have had a bit of carry.

He isn't the problem with test cricket. The problem is finding result oriented pitches that aren't too batsman friendly. In an era where spinners are becoming more irrelevant or are just not good enough to be relevant in the first place, it is a refreshing change to see them getting at least some help somewhere in the world. My gripe with Indian pitches recently has been that they have been too flat. In fact, the Day 1 Dustbowls you mentioned have actually been fairly rare and when they have happened, they've produced exciting cricket.

The beauty of test cricket, in my opinion, is that different countries are able to offer different experiences that are in some cases, whole worlds apart. It makes cricket exciting, and gives further meaning to away tours.