Paxter Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Pretty incredible unraveling for South Africa. Obviously Kallis, Smith and Boucher were big names to lose, but on paper they still have a very talented side (AB, Amla, Steyn, Morkel, Philander...). Is this the start of a protracted slide for the Proteas? Or is it a momentary blip caused by injury, Indian pitches and a resurgent England under Bayliss? An aside: Go Scorchers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Well Steyn has hardly been available, but the batting is not performing to their reputation. Making AB wicket keep is also not a smart idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Yeah they've ended that experiment now. AB shouldn't keep again in test cricket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Wow, India looks on track to fuck up what was set up to be cruise mode chase by their top order..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 12 hours ago, Paxter said: Pretty incredible unraveling for South Africa. Obviously Kallis, Smith and Boucher were big names to lose, but on paper they still have a very talented side (AB, Amla, Steyn, Morkel, Philander...). Is this the start of a protracted slide for the Proteas? Or is it a momentary blip caused by injury, Indian pitches and a resurgent England under Bayliss? An aside: Go Scorchers! I'd say it is a momentary blip but I fully expect England to win the 4th Test as well. This English side is certainly better than their 5th place ranking and after series wins against both SA and Australia, they are definitely amongst the top 3 sides in Test cricket at the moment. The retirements of Kallis, Smith and Boucher has certainly been a big loss and the poor form of AB, Faf and Amla as well as injuries to Steyn, Philander and Abbott has exacerbated the issue. Morkel too looks a bit burnt-out as he has had to do alot of bowling in the absence of Steyn and Philander. AB, Faf and Amla are high quality players and their poor run of form will end sooner rather than later and, hopefully, our key bowlers return to fitness as well. Some good news is that both AB and Steyn have made it clear that they have no intention of retiring anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Wth happened to England? Back to collapsing? India looks on track to win the first T20. Great batting from Kohli for set up quite a big chase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 9 hours ago, The Winged Shadow said: Wth happened to England? Back to collapsing? I don't think that England have ever really lost the ability to collapse at a moment's notice. They also seem to have developed a tendency to play badly in dead rubbers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Some silver lining for SA in that series: the emergence of Rabada, Cook and Bavuma, plus Amla and de Kock's return to form. Their performance in the fourth test certainly supports Consigliere's view that this series does not foreshadow a long-term decline in South African test cricket. England will be very pleased with the series win, especially on the back of performances from some of their younger players. But questions remain over the batting line-up (especially the top three, who managed just three fifties in 24 innings). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 58 minutes ago, Paxter said: England will be very pleased with the series win, especially on the back of performances from some of their younger players. But questions remain over the batting line-up (especially the top three, who managed just three fifties in 24 innings). I don't really know what's going to happen next in the latest instalment in the long-running epic that is trying to find an opening partner for Alastair Cook. They might give Hales a couple more chances in the home series against Sri Lanka but based on his performances so far he's not really looking like the solution. Compton could be moved back to open, but he didn't really impress that much at number 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Hales doesn't look like a test player to me. Has Sam Robson totally fallen off the radar? He looked like a promising player, though was maybe a little overwhelmed a couple of seasons ago. Or maybe Ian Bell should be handed a lifeline as an opener? :-P Fortunately for England, they have plenty of all-round talent (Bairstow, Stokes, Ali, Broad, Woakes) to make-up for the top order woes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 Lol, there goes my prediction for the 4th Test. I really suck at predicting results. Although, had England hung onto their catches in the 1st innings it could have been a very different story. Great to see Cook, Bavuma, Rabada and De Kock perform well. Amla was the bedrock though. When he plays well our entire batting lineup looks so much more solid. AB getting a pair is a little concerning though - hope he hasn't caught the captaincy curse. I still maintain my position that this England side is among the top 3 Test sides in the world at the moment. The opening partnership remains a concern but otherwise the batting lineup looks solid. The bowling unit is quality and will be able to pick up 20 wickets on most surfaces. Ben Stokes has the potential to become a world class allrounder and with Moeen Ali in there as well, this gives England the option of playing an extra specialist batsmen or two. One thing that really disappoints me is that we are only scheduled to play seven Tests this year and we have played three of them already! Our remaining Test fixtures for 2016 are two Tests v. New Zealand in August and two against Sri Lanka in December. Seems like money has become more important than competition so this situation is unlikely to change anytime soon and we are not the only ones in this predicament. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted January 29, 2016 Share Posted January 29, 2016 Are you sure that's right? Was under the impression that SA were touring Australia in Nov/Dec 2016... Otherwise not sure who Australia is playing next summer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arya_underfoot Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 The ICC website says that South Africa is touring Australia for 4 tests in Oct-Dec 2016. Not sure how reliable the ICC is... Has anyone else been watching the Aus-Ind limited overs matches? I think it's fascinating that both teams have batted pretty well throughout, but the bowling has been poles apart in each format. The Australian bowlers made the most of wretched bowling conditions in the ODI's and restricted India superbly. But over 20 overs, they proved ineffective in both containing and wicket-taking. The Indian bowlers, on the other hand, flailed about helplessly in the ODI's. However, perhaps aided by the IPL experience, they were brilliant in the t20's. Even in batting-friendly conditions, the Indian spinners were highly effective. They'll be difficult to overcome in the upcoming t20 world cup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted January 30, 2016 Share Posted January 30, 2016 On 2016/01/29 at 2:23 AM, Paxter said: Are you sure that's right? Was under the impression that SA were touring Australia in Nov/Dec 2016... Otherwise not sure who Australia is playing next summer! The CSA website has 5 ODI's scheduled against Australia in September-October. The only Tests listed for this year are two apiece against NZ and SL. The website is not always up-to-date though so there might be a Test series before we play Sri Lanka. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desire Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 However Harris believes all this fuss is over a tournament that lacks true context. “Personally I think it’s a waste of time having a Twenty20 World Cup,” Harris told SEN Radio. YAY finally someone said it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Shadow Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 On 1/30/2016 at 3:24 PM, arya_underfoot said: The ICC website says that South Africa is touring Australia for 4 tests in Oct-Dec 2016. Not sure how reliable the ICC is... Has anyone else been watching the Aus-Ind limited overs matches? I think it's fascinating that both teams have batted pretty well throughout, but the bowling has been poles apart in each format. The Australian bowlers made the most of wretched bowling conditions in the ODI's and restricted India superbly. But over 20 overs, they proved ineffective in both containing and wicket-taking. The Indian bowlers, on the other hand, flailed about helplessly in the ODI's. However, perhaps aided by the IPL experience, they were brilliant in the t20's. Even in batting-friendly conditions, the Indian spinners were highly effective. They'll be difficult to overcome in the upcoming t20 world cup. India's top 3 batsmen were very impressive. Rohit and Kohli in particular made it look so easy and risk free. Excellent series from those two. Wade continues to be a waste of oxygen. Average keeper, shit house batsmen. Is he seriously the best keeper we've got for ODIs and T20s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ants Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 1 hour ago, desire said: However Harris believes all this fuss is over a tournament that lacks true context. “Personally I think it’s a waste of time having a Twenty20 World Cup,” Harris told SEN Radio. YAY finally someone said it. In my view 50 over cricket will be gone in ten years. The crowds for the international T20's AND big bash T20's were both higher. I suspect most people would have preferred to have seen the top players playing Big Bash for those games (or additional international T20's) than the 50 over matches. The idea the T20 world cup won't be relevant is a little short sighted in my view, and shows some Australian cricketers haven't yet realised how important it is. 10 minutes ago, The Winged Shadow said: India's top 3 batsmen were very impressive. Rohit and Kohli in particular made it look so easy and risk free. Excellent series from those two. Wade continues to be a waste of oxygen. Average keeper, shit house batsmen. Is he seriously the best keeper we've got for ODIs and T20s? I saw some terrible keeping in the Big Bash, so very possibly. Selections were also crazy. For example, in Melbourne they played Lyon. He got bowled for one over. There is no point having a specialist bowler who will be given a single over, especially when you have seven bowlers anyway. It was either crap captaincy because they really wanted to see how Lyon would go, or terrible selection policy. We could have really done with an extra specialist batsman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 6 hours ago, ants said: In my view 50 over cricket will be gone in ten years. The crowds for the international T20's AND big bash T20's were both higher. I suspect most people would have preferred to have seen the top players playing Big Bash for those games (or additional international T20's) than the 50 over matches. The idea the T20 world cup won't be relevant is a little short sighted in my view, and shows some Australian cricketers haven't yet realised how important it is. I don't think that the 50 over game will fall away but I can see the T20 WC gaining in prestige in the coming years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 I think there's more point to having a T20 World Cup than the other T20 Internationals where there generally seem to be one or two matches randomly stuck onto the ends of tours. It usually seems to be the case that there are more ODIs played than T20Is on a tour, it might make more sense for the numbers to be more even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted February 2, 2016 Share Posted February 2, 2016 Controversy in the U19 world cup - Windies beat Zimbabwe by two runs after Mankading the last man http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/35470796 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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