South Africa in England

[evertonfan]

Allow me to speak for all of England when I say;

Freddie!
Freddie!
Freddie!
Freddie!

etc.

 

[RoboRocks]

England tried their best on a flat pitch against a good batting line-up but look how the batting line-up, if they applied themselves then SA could save it. Hopefully Headingley will have a much better cricket pitch and I think Mick Hunt, the groundsman should prepare a new pitch since the last 6 matches have been drawn.

I still feel that Flintoff should be included instead of Collingwood giving England a five man attack despite the fact I don't think even Freddie would have bowled out South Africa on this feather bed of a pitch. You need 20 wickets to win test matches and I think that's more important than Collingwood's share of runs. We just have to hold our breath and hope he can get some runs and get through the test unscathed.

 

[Arunava]

Nice resilience shown, finally getting a draw. Now i want a crushing victory , i hope SA have warmed up well enough after break and this was an eye opener. I would like to bombard England in the next match with Nel instead of Harris. and give Kallis some rest to allow him bat instead of bowling.

 

[Sureshot]

England tried their best on a flat pitch against a good batting line-up but look how the batting line-up, if they applied themselves then SA could save it. Hopefully Headingley will have a much better cricket pitch and I think Mick Hunt, the groundsman should prepare a new pitch since the last 6 matches have been drawn.

He only does what he is told to do. Can't have them not playing cricket on the last day!

England's bowling was a mixture of good, lively bowling with unnerving stamina, especially from Anderson and Sidebottom, fighting through some back stiffness to regain some good form in the bowling action despite obvious discomfort, and some sloppy and thoughtless bowling from Broad and Monty respectively. Broad, once more, showed his inadequacies as a Test bowler by going for 3.00 runs per over without picking up a wicket. He let the pressure go far too often by bowling straight long hops rather than the outswinging, rising length ball which will be his main tool of destruction if he is to one day spearhead the Test attack. The Skysports commentators were all too keen to praise the superb intelligence of Broad for using the cross seam rather than the thoughtlessness of not sticking to a threatening line and lengths. Speaking of thoughtless bowling, I think Monty was highly disappointing on a track on which he should have been a potent wicket taking threat. It was not good thinking to bowl at his usual 55-57mph speed when it became obvious early that good ol' fashion 'f and g' (flight and guile) was the more intelligent path on a slow pitch which aided spin and batsmen not willing to take undue risks such as play a cut shot to a bouncing delivery or lunge either forward or back. The excuse that 'he is learning' cannot be used forever and Monty needs to become a bowler who could write novels about his thinking at the crease, not just his quirky appeals, celebrations and personality.

Broad did not bowl with "sloppiness and thoughtless bowling", he bowled well in the first innings, in the 2nd innings he encountered decent batsman fighting for tooth and nail, and a flat deck. His pitch map would prove that he wasn't bowling thoughtlessly. I think he has a lot to learn, but you are being a bit harsh on his efforts.

Monty was bowling to right handers most of the time in the 2nd innings, he had nothing to work with, it wasn't turning off the normal pitch, there was only rough for the left handers, and when Prince came out he caused him much trouble.

On to the next Test at Headingley, I think that England should, perhaps controversially, drop Stuart Broad for Andrew Flintoff. Broad's batting has been an asset for England as of late and his swing will no doubt be useful, but I simply think that a good performance from Flintoff with the ball > one from Broad, with the former also more likely. I also think that the runs which Broad leaks in Test cricket could prove vital in what I predict to be quite a low scoring contest in which each innings only has a couple of top order partnerships of note. I think that Simon Jones needs to be given notification by the ECB that his performances have not gone unnnoticed, lest he loses motivation, as he did at Glamorgan. All else aside, 29 wickets at 13.27 is worthy of selection for someone who has proved himself at Test level in England and I hope he keeps it up. Perhaps he should be brought to train with the team, if Worcestershire don't have a game, as with Flintoff before this Test.

It's not controversial, Flintoff is a better bowler than Broad. Though at the moment Broad is a better batter than Colly. Take from that, what you will.

I don't think the ECB have missed his performances, Manee. He wouldn't be in the Champions Trophy preliminary squad otherwise Though quite why his first squad back is a One Day squad, I'm not sure.


I was very impressed by Anderson actually, he is often criticised about bowling on flat decks. He was very good today.

 

[evertonfan]

Yeah, I agree about Anderson. I don't want to jinx anything but maybe he's finally turned a corner in Test cricket? I certainly hope so.

I have to say I think it will be Broad that will get the chop come Friday. He hasn't put a foot wrong but I just don't think the selectors will risk dropping Collingwood just yet.

 

[m_vaughan]

I hope that doesnt happen and Collingwood is the one who is dropped because I dont want Freddie to bowl too much just yet and in the absence of Broad he will have to. And Broad deserves to be in the team.

 

[Leicester Fox]

As of right now Broad is a better batsmen and bowler than Colly.

 

[manee]

Broad did not bowl with "sloppiness and thoughtless bowling", he bowled well in the first innings, in the 2nd innings he encountered decent batsman fighting for tooth and nail, and a flat deck. His pitch map would prove that he wasn't bowling thoughtlessly. I think he has a lot to learn, but you are being a bit harsh on his efforts.

Perhaps I am, but I think that a talent is going wasted for the aforementioned reasons.

Monty was bowling to right handers most of the time in the 2nd innings, he had nothing to work with, it wasn't turning off the normal pitch, there was only rough for the left handers, and when Prince came out he caused him much trouble.

Indeed, he did trouble the left handers, because quick spin into a batsman is troubling. However, to the right handers, he should have looked to flight the ball a lot more than he did. He also wasted a lot of time by bowling far outside the leg stump - a useless tactic when the opposition do not intend to score any undue runs.

It's not controversial, Flintoff is a better bowler than Broad. Though at the moment Broad is a better batter than Colly. Take from that, what you will.

Shaky ground to call Broad a better batter than Colly. Collingwood is and will always be more capable of a century or very large fifty, which is what is expected from a batter. Broad is currently batting better than Collingwood - Collingwood is looking uncomfortable at the crease currently - but this is not unchartered territory for Collingwood and it is just a matter of time before he somehow churns out a big score, as he has been doing for the duration of his career.

I don't think the ECB have missed his performances, Manee. He wouldn't be in the Champions Trophy preliminary squad otherwise Though quite why his first squad back is a One Day squad, I'm not sure.

If the recognition for his 4 day performances are a place in the ODI squad, than the ECB are even more ignorant than I thought.

I was very impressed by Anderson actually, he is often criticised about bowling on flat decks. He was very good today.

I've always rated him, tbh, a fine bowler and is maturing well into the England spearhead. With Sidebottom in the role of Caddick as goofy sidekick. Did you happen to catch the high motion of Anderson's action? Unreal!

manee added 9 Minutes and 37 Seconds later...

He hasn't put a foot wrong

Except his Test bowling.

 

[Collingwood50]

funnily enough, i'm rather against colly being dropped

1.) best fielder in the world

2.) if he hadn't of been given out by bowden he would of cruised to a magical double century - and certainly woudln't of got out on 199 like some less expierieced scoundrels

3.) his blistering bowling which dibbles and dabbles in the air and nibbles of the seam and fizzes into the stumps as we hear the crash of ash as off stump goes cartwheeling down to long leg, is allright

On a more serious note THREE CHEERS FOR COOK'S GENTLE OFF SPIN :happy:happy:happy

 

[aussie_ben91]

As of right now Broad is a better batsmen and bowler than Colly.

Broad hasn't even made a first-class 100 yet whilst Collingwood has shown capabilities of scoring large totals against quality opposition in the past.

I don't think it's logical to drop a batsman averaging over 40 in Test Cricket for a bowler averaging over 40 with the ball. Especially in bowler friendly conditions.

At the end of the day, Collingwood can win England matches but Broad probably can't as of yet.

 

[irottev]

At the end of the day, the pitch was the winner. No one could crack it. Whilst it was rainy and stuff before the game, I agree with the comments Holding and Botham were making in particular. Pitches are becoming too flat. There's not enough pace in them any more. Money is driving the game at the moment which sucks.

Headingly should be a better match anyway.

And on the Flintoff thing, if Flintoff has proven himself at domestic enough then i'd add him for Broad over Collingwood. Broad's in the side as a bowler and he takes a few wickets here and there, but he's not doing enough damage with the ball. 45 average is unacceptable. He doesn't move the ball much, he may get a bit of extra bounce, but he has no real weapons. He's very average. His batting is good, yes, but he needs to improve his bowling. If you drop Collingwood, you're dropping a Batsman for a bowler. Maybe England don't mind doing that? That's their decision, but it's worked well for them in the past having 4 front line bowlers. Collingwood is also England's best fielder, which most people are forgetting. Flintoff can bat too. Whether he's in good form or not at the moment, he has done is before. I wouldn't have him in th top 6 however, another reason Broad is a better guy to drop.

If Sidebottom is injured, i'd rest him.

 

[Arunava]

england can't win as long as collingwood is in the squad. it is not that he is not good player rather he has been cursed

 

[mattfb]

What a biazzare end to the test!!

Great bowling cook!

 

[Sureshot]

I think Cook was summed up by the Sky Sports graphic when he came on to bowl.

"Right Arm Bowler"

 

[Collingwood50]

I think Cook was summed up by the Sky Sports graphic when he came on to bowl.

"Right Arm Bowler"

totaly agree

but what a right arm bowler he is. To be fair he did turn it a bit, will be intresting to see if he ever bowls again

looking on cricinfo, i can see that strauss has has a bowl in ODI's any news on whether we wil see him bowl in a test?