England Vs South Africa - Cricket Tour 2012
- Thread starter Red Astaire
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More often he has got out playing daft shots when we needed a big innings from him. I think the ECB must be thinking of dropping Pietersen from the test team. Despite his tattoos, I think his primarly loyalty is to K. Pietersen and not to England. The way he batted yesterday seemed to suggest he didn't give a toss about the result. He recently announced he wasn't going to play in ODI's any more because he wants to concentrate on the IPL.
It might seem that way but thats just the way he bats imo mate. Like KJ said there are a number of batsman who given the same match situation would of come out and played in a similar fashion. The likes of Gilly, KP, Shewag, Gayle, Iqbal and Slater are/were all very good test match batsman, but they were half the players when they simply tried to bat time. I'd also add that he averages all but 50, so he can't be letting down England all that often.
I don't agree with him, but i can understand his decision to want to get involved in the IPL. He's 32 and maybe has 2-3 years left as a top draw earner in that competition via the auction process, i don't blame him for wanting to cash in like all the other top cricketers have been able to do. He clearly wanted to continue playing 20/20 cricket for England, so he probably thought he'd only miss out on 'possibly' one ODI world cup at the most. It must have come as a shock to him when the ECB held firm and made him quit both of the shorter formats of the game, again a decision that i agree with.
I don't agree with him, but i can understand his decision to want to get involved in the IPL. He's 32 and maybe has 2-3 years left as a top draw earner in that competition via the auction process, i don't blame him for wanting to cash in like all the other top cricketers have been able to do. He clearly wanted to continue playing 20/20 cricket for England, so he probably thought he'd only miss out on 'possibly' one ODI world cup at the most. It must have come as a shock to him when the ECB held firm and made him quit both of the shorter formats of the game, again a decision that i agree with.
I would go for Eoin Morgan - he had a run of poor form but I think he still has a lot to offer and more commitment than Pietersen.
OK he would come in lower down the order, but I think Pietersen should also play lower down with his cavalier approach.
Ravi is gone.
My gut is this plays out into a draw - Bell is Trotting really well.
My gut is this plays out into a draw - Bell is Trotting really well.
That should be him done from the test side now in my opinion. Yes, go away and score a bucket loads of runs in the ODI side and a few decent knocks for Essex reconsider but right now he's a poor number 6 batsman and a buffet bowler, least in Tests he is a buffet bowler. Top class batsman will dream of seeing Ravi trundling in bowling his medium paced half volleys.
problem is Morgan has not proved himself and Bairstow will be bounced by the Saffa's all day
As I said, draw written all over this game ... Great job so far by Bell, really really batting intelligently and patiently.
Does it?
Meh... 1-0 down but £200 better off.
I had a tenner on South Africa at 3/1 too - although I managed to avoid that affecting my support for England to win.
Without taking anything away from the batting performances of Amla, Kallis and Smith, I think England would have made a big score in their first innings if the ball hadn't started to swing on the morning of the second day . . . . . . which it stubbornly refused to do for England!
Without taking anything away from the batting performances of Amla, Kallis and Smith, I think England would have made a big score in their first innings if the ball hadn't started to swing on the morning of the second day . . . . . . which it stubbornly refused to do for England!
Oh well - Fair play to SA. A great day at the cricket today though. The crowd were really up for it as well. At one point I thought they might actually do it. Shame really. Bopara is a clueless muppet who got himself out fishing around his off stump. Stupid shot selection but then the same could be said for a few of the English batmen.
I would go for Eoin Morgan - he had a run of poor form but I think he still has a lot to offer and more commitment than Pietersen.
OK he would come in lower down the order, but I think Pietersen should also play lower down with his cavalier approach.
I quite like Morgan as well but i'm still to be convinced he's a test match player. Sooner or later we're going to have to start blooding a few more batsman anyway, there are quite a few of the current line-up who are no spring chickens anymore (cricketing wise
).Like Dave said Taylor is quite the prospect and there is also young lads such as Vince and Buttler to keep an eye out for.
Steyn, Philander and Anderson tend to get swing in almost any conditions.
Philander is actually a really really good bowler.
Tahir is slowly proving that he is a capable bowler at this level, which bodes well for SA.
Morkel is twice thw bowler that Broad is....
Philander is actually a really really good bowler.
Tahir is slowly proving that he is a capable bowler at this level, which bodes well for SA.
Morkel is twice thw bowler that Broad is....
1. Agree about Philander. He's very very consistent, and will only get better with more test experience.
2. Not sure - he's good, but not that good
3. Morkel had a good test. He's been very inconsistent lately. If anything, Broad shades it.
Great team effort by Smith and the boys. I'll take one bad day and four good days.
Smith just loves playing against England. More often than not he produces the goods against the.. There's no more superlatives left to describe Kallis and Amla.
The bowling unit is improvving and spreading the wickets around. Morkel needs more consistency but Tahir is starting to blossom at Test level. Steyn and Philander are a great spearhead and get the wickets when most needed.
Time to up the intensity in the next test. Go Boys!
Smith just loves playing against England. More often than not he produces the goods against the.. There's no more superlatives left to describe Kallis and Amla.
The bowling unit is improvving and spreading the wickets around. Morkel needs more consistency but Tahir is starting to blossom at Test level. Steyn and Philander are a great spearhead and get the wickets when most needed.
Time to up the intensity in the next test. Go Boys!
Some post-mortem stats. Link
- Dale Steyn's second-innings haul of 5 for 56 is his first five-for in a Test in England. It improves his career record against England to 38 wickets in nine Tests at an average of 32.05. Of his 18 five-wicket hauls, 14 have led to victories, while three have come in draws and one in a defeat.
- South Africa's win is their 12th in England, but their first at The Oval in 14 attempts. It's also their sixth by an innings against England, and the second such result in that country.
- Hashim Amla won his fourth Man-of-the-Match award, and his first against England. His previous three had been against Pakistan and India (twice).
- This was the first taste of a Test defeat for Tim Bresnan, after 13 wins and a draw in his 14 previous Tests
Hmmmm Taylor. - I'm all for blooding in new talent. Is he better than Bairstow do you think?
I've got a yorkie mate who rates him massively. I know what you mean about his performance against the windies. He reminds me a little of the Aussie opener - Hughes. Hopefully he'll come good anyway. A quick check and Taylor has a 1st class average of 48 so the talent is defers there.
