South Africa in England

[Will_NA]

Vaughan is horribly out of nick and if he wasn't captain, Shah would have got his chance by now.

 

[Sureshot]

I understand Read is in danger of never playing for England again because of his involvement with the ICL. That is ridiculous, though. The Indian Cricket League never started to rebel against the status quo, nor is it likely to be successful. It was started to nurture young Indian cricketers and to give low key and retiring cricketers a pay day. In an ideal world, this negativity towards ICL players would be stopped and players would be picked on merit once more.

I have read the same article on England's wicket keepers as you have in The Wisden Cricketer, and based on that, Read is the best statistically since Alec Stewart. In 12 Tests since 2001-02 Read costs England just 3.25 runs per match, on average. His keeping abilities are a given, his batting is a bonus. As the editor says, that is how it should be. We need to pick the best players, politics aside.

Not possible, politics is a big part of Cricket. If we picked Read (or any ICL player), you can bet your bottom dollar/rupee that our India tour would be cancelled. I think there are far better choices than Read anyway.

 

[Left_Hander]

Is it not the same? A wicket keeper is a wicket keeper, not a batsman. Wicket keepers should be selected on their wicket keeping ability. Batting is a bonus.

And that is why Adam Gilchrist has changed the face of wicket-keeping. How old is Paul Nixon? I assume he is out of the question of being picked again.

 

[Themer]

Vaughan is horribly out of nick and would be out the team by now if he wasn't captain. Owais Shah deserves a chance in the number three berth or perhaps a return for Prior as a batsman only. He proved hes a capable batsman at test level even if his wicket keeping was dodgy. Prior at 4 with Pietersen at 3 or Bell up there.

 

[Valaskjalf]

My apologies for quoting out of context didnt mean to cause a stir....I guess i was ranting on about credit not given to SA for playing well for a change :P anyway back to the topic....

Tomorrow (later this morning) is going to be interesting, dont think everything is dead and burried for England. Most of England's in-form batsmen are still to bat and you have Broad at 8 who is showing a lot of resilience and skill with the bat. Still terrified of Pietersen, but luckily cricket is a game of partnerships and if we dont get him removed hopefully the rest wont bat along with him for a great length of time.

Glad to see Ntini back on track, dont know what happened but seems that his change of angle has done the trick. Not sure why he's been bowling closer to the stumps because hes managed great success bowling from wide. Hopefully SA wont have to toil away like the English did and end up settling for a draw, then we're in the same boat they are with tired and disheartened bowlers for the 3rd test. But as always Pietersen holds the key I feel...I guess Anderson wont stick around too long then its Bell and Piet (cant make my mind up about Cook yet).

Just something i wondered about....what are Pietersen's feelings towards SA now? Does he really loathe us / country or would he somewhere deep inside wish he could play for his country of birth? I mean he did only leave here while he was already an adult, so yeah...just a bit of nonsensical thinking out loud haha.

 

[shravi]

Glad to see Ntini back on track, dont know what happened

Yeah, I thought the same thing until I read this. Pretty interesting read.

 

[aussie_ben91]

I knew England would get pollacked in this Test if they didn't captialize on their opportunity of winning the 1st Test.

Deju Vu with India last year, methinks.

 

[Valaskjalf]

Yeah, I thought the same thing until I read this. Pretty interesting read.

Wow thats insane....especially the last graph showing the bolwers most consistent in first / second tests. Warne's averages are just about identical in first/second tests of series. His second test average is only 0.04 runs/wk worse than his first tests. Best proof that consistency = greatness

 

[Arunava]

Yeah, I thought the same thing until I read this. Pretty interesting read.

very nice find shravi. Ntini becomes godly in the 2nd test 3rd graph listing greats of all time and exactly why :cool:

 

[w3lshrugby]

South Africa all over England! Exactly what I was expecting to be honest, we aren't a good enough team to compete with the likes of SA/Ind/Aus at the moment.

Although if we hold out over the next two days (cmon Belly & KP) then I might change my mind!

 

[evertonfan]

Vaughan won't be dropped. He'll have to resign from the captaincy before they do that. That's not gonna happen anytime soon though.

I'm not too disheartened by this performance to be honest. It's probably a 90/10 split of us getting beat but as long as we at least fight for a bit and at least try to make them bat again i'll be happy. I'm still optimistic of winning the series though. I said we'd win 2-1 and there's still two Tests left with which to do that. Come on England.

 

[Themer]

Seeing Anderson able to bat like this has given me some hope England can pull it off. Especailly as we bat down to 8 with Broad in this match. Alot of hard work to go though. Its gonna depend on Pietersen and Bell in my opnion.
Lol at the two beautiful shot by Anderson against Harris then like a proper batsman.

 

[evertonfan]

This is why i've been annoyed when Panesar's been batting above him. He's a handy little batsman is our James.

 

[BigCrickNan]

Vaughan won't be dropped. He'll have to resign from the captaincy before they do that. That's not gonna happen anytime soon though.

I'm not too disheartened by this performance to be honest. It's probably a 90/10 split of us getting beat but as long as we at least fight for a bit and at least try to make them bat again i'll be happy. I'm still optimistic of winning the series though. I said we'd win 2-1 and there's still two Tests left with which to do that. Come on England.

JIMMEEHH

Decent hour and a half so far, Cook solid and Anderson being the bonus. If they bat the session then confidence boost, and a bit of a downer for SA not removing Anderson. Mentality is key to England staying in the fight.

 

[evertonfan]

Where the hell have you been Drew? I desperately wanted to see your views on that little cheat Asif testing positive again?

Anyway, if Anderson goes to 50 here then i'll be jumping on air for weeks. Go Jimmeh!