South Africa in England

[King Pietersen]

Come on Boys. Hit the bloody thing. Ian Bell's played pretty poorly so far, the pitch doesn't have anything in it for the bowlers. Bell's not tried anything, he looked far more confident in the NZ Series, especially the Twenty20 game against them. Either start playing some strokes or get out and let Shah and Pietersen have a whack. I'm sure we'll give these two a chance at the top, but if they continually fail to attack the powerplays, then we need someone new in. I'd go for Denly or Key as a straight replacement for Bell. If Bell doesn't open, he doesn't get in the team for me, Shah and Bopara are better OD players, he's under pressure in this series.

 

[Simbazz]

Denly would probably be the better option for opener! As he's young and Key hasn't proved himself just yet that he's a good enough OD player. I've not worries about his FC record, he's unlucky he hasn't had another go yet.

 

[Vcassano]

I wouldn't be too worried about this slow-ish start. Building a platform is in vogue nowadays as Twenty20 has shown what can be scored in the last few overs. Of course being able to score quickly at the start and the end would be magnificent but let's take it one step at a time.

Oh and Bopara has flattered to deceive for England so far. He really needs to string a few scores together. Playing him down the order doesn't help this though.

 

[Tusku]

Ya, Luke Wright is much changed now. His bowling quality has changed dramatically over last few months. Captain can now actually rely on him.

 

[King Pietersen]

Bell's gone. Waste of an innings. Used up far too much time, got his eye in and then in typical Bell style gave his wicket away. He's done it far too often in ODi cricket. I'm not sure he's good enough, will have to wait and see how he goes in the whole series though.

 

[Simbazz]

Least it brings in Shah, if he fails now, i'm gunna go kill him! I've talked him up, and really believe in him as an opener/no.3!

It might hurry the innings along as i can see a nice balance of Prior/Shah!

 

[King Pietersen]

I still think Shah would be better off at 4 with Pietersen in at 3. The best player should be at 3, look around the world, Kallis, Ponting, Chanderpaul, Sangakkara, etc etc. The best player should be given the most time and should be at 3. Shah's a brilliant player, but I don't think he's better than Pietersen. We'll just have to see how he goes though.

 

[Simbazz]

Shah slightly watchful at the moment, but I think its just the infection that is T20 that makes you want players at a strike rate of 500+!

Shah, if he wants to stay in the top orders, needs to start playing a few soon. As Dan says, KP would!

 

[Sureshot]

Swann has the grit to stay in with the likes of Flintoff upwards. He's proved that, he may not be the worlds best allrounder but he is an allrounder all the same. Obviously i'm only rooting for Swann as i've not seen much of Patel.

Patel is a far better batsman than Swann is. But it is down to the ground for today's selection. Headingley, with the recent weather, is going to favour seam more than spin. Patel has a pretty good one day record with the ball. His batting is good too. Something like a mix of Owais Shah and Trescothick. Quite a punchy player.

I wish Beefy would shut up about this start. Yes, England may not be perfect in ODI powerplays but our biggest problem has been taking wickets first up.

Prior hits a 6 then goes for 42. I think Bell has made a poor impact on the game. He had a S/R of 50 and just took too much strike away from Prior. Still 42 from 52 isn't too bad. I certainly don't think 86-2 from 21 and a bit overs is as bad as the commentators seem to think it is. You'd have thought we were 50-4! Our best player is out now. We still have Ravi, Flintoff, Patel, Wright and even Broad to come!

Poor shot by Prior. This pitch, this ground, under lights. 250 should be ample.

 

[Simbazz]

Hopefully Harmison can get the top order shuck up with a mixture of bouncers/yorkers, and then let the slightly slower Anderson bring in the swing. On paper, Harmison and Anderson will look like a good opening partnership and should by all means manage atleast 2-3 wickets from thier opening spell together. Broad needs atleast 2 wicket to still be in the forefront of the selectors minds.

I'd like to see Patel aiding the bowlers as well, Sureshot, is he more of an attacking bowler like Panesar or is he a much more holding player who goes for barely any runs?

 

[manee]

Dale Steyn's opening spell shows that he continues to be a liability in ODI cricket. He leaks runs and does not take many wickets and interestingly enough, he tends to bowl slower in ODI cricket than in Tests. I do wonder why he doesn't used the yorker oriented style that he used in the T20 against West Indies.

England's bowling attack seems extremely strong and I expect it to take England to victory. Broad, Anderson, Harmison and Flintoff in England must be one of the most potent ODI forces around. Wright over Swann really is a baffling move though, as Swann is the better bowler, who offers variety and Wright's batting is likely wasted at eight.

The combination and contrast of Bell and Prior just doesn't make sense, imo. What are England going for? 50/1 off 10 overs?

manee added 0 Minutes and 44 Seconds later...

Broad needs atleast 2 wicket to still be in the forefront of the selectors minds.

I don't think he does, he is currently England's best ODI bowler by far, imo.

 

[King Pietersen]

It'll be Broad and Anderson opening the bowling, with Freddie and Harmison first change. Looks better that way I think, Broad's an excellent ODi bowler.

 

[Sureshot]

Hopefully Harmison can get the top order shuck up with a mixture of bouncers/yorkers, and then let the slightly slower Anderson bring in the swing. On paper, Harmison and Anderson will look like a good opening partnership and should by all means manage atleast 2-3 wickets from thier opening spell together. Broad needs atleast 2 wicket to still be in the forefront of the selectors minds.

I'd like to see Patel aiding the bowlers as well, Sureshot, is he more of an attacking bowler like Panesar or is he a much more holding player who goes for barely any runs?

From what I've seen he tends to always bowl around the wicket to right handers. Not a big spinner of the ball. Very accurate, change of pace. Has quite a good slider.

 

[Simbazz]

Then thats what we need definately. I can see an advantage for Patel over Swann against the right handers, as if we need a spinner who doesn't leak, and also can change pace/flight etc. Swann was accurate, but i'd still not have dropped Swann.

 

[The_gas]

I think we have a good team playing, however i don't think the opening partnership went to the plan. Coupled that with a slow outfield and good bowling from the saffies. I hope this x11 is given a few games to prove itself.