zuluroyal Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 SA need a lead of around 100 and the game is as good as done. We're so far ahead of England in every department it's embarrassing. Flintoff is brilliant though, what a spell to get Kallis out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted July 31, 2008 Share Posted July 31, 2008 Stuart Board should a standing dish in the Team.I appreciate that he is suffering from exhaustion and that is why he was excluded for this test but he's got the makings of being a world class all rounder. Other than a bowling average pushing 50 Their main problem is the lack of a keeper who can bat which combined with Flintoff and possibly Broad would let them play 5 bowlers. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuluroyal Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Other than a bowling average pushing 50 Their main problem is the lack of a keeper who can bat which combined with Flintoff and possibly Broad would let them play 5 bowlers. The English keep saying that..."we need a keeper who can bat at 6/7".....what about the five fannies before that in the order who keep making an arse of it? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Ghost of Ron Burgundy Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I watched with interest the discussion on slip catches they had last night.....looking at how tv angles can confuse the third umpire about whether it's a catch or not......it was extremely difficult even when they did it on tv to see what was a good catch and which was grounded. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuluroyal Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 easy...if it's an English fielder, it's not out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Wouldnt buy a ticket for the 5th day of a test these days. Game over. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Wouldnt buy a ticket for the 5th day of a test these days. Game over. You get a refund though. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 (edited) Other than a bowling average pushing 50 Broad is a better batsman than Flintoff. Shame he can't bowl though. Broad at 7, Flintoff at 8. Bring back Prior to bat at 6 and keep wicket. Bring in Mark Pettini from Essex instead of Vaughan. Edited August 1, 2008 by H_B 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btb Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 (edited) Wouldnt buy a ticket for the 5th day of a test these days. Game over. Interesting article by Ian Botham on this topic a couple of weeks back Sir Ian Botham has lashed out at pitches at Lord's and The Oval in the light of the drawn first Test. In his column in the Daily Mirror Botham was highly critical of the domination of London, which has two Test venues, on touring itineraries. "Out of 25 Test matches since 2005, London has played host to 11 and the rest of the country has had 14. Of those 11 we have won just once, drawing nine and losing the other. Of the 14 games that have been allowed to be played elsewhere in the country, we have actually won 11 of those, drawn one and lost two. What is better for English cricket?" He accused the authorities of preparing pluperfect surfaces so the games go the distance, with the commercial benefits that brings. "For me English cricket is about winning matches. If you continue to play on surfaces like this that are designed to last five days then you are going to kill the enthusiasm that exciting and result driven cricket creates. "Lets put cricket before the coffers and if the powers that be haven't got the vision to see that an England winning side is going bring in more attention and more revenue than a side drawing matches and slipping down the rankings then we're in big trouble." Botham's tirade is about scheduling, however, likely to fall on deaf ears, even if there will be behind-the-scenes discussions about the pitch. Lord's and The Oval, with capacities of 28,000 and 23,000, are the biggest grounds in the country and are usually sold out, or close to being so, for the first four days. The income they generate for the ECB dwarfs that from other grounds. Cardiff, which has a capacity of only 15,000, was controversially awarded the first Test of the 2009 Ashes series, but that was because of financial guarantees received by the ECB which meant that it was able to outbid more established venues. That highlighted that cash is king. Edited August 1, 2008 by btb 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 Broad is a better batsman than Flintoff. Shame he can't bowl though. Broad at 7, Flintoff at 8. Bring back Prior to bat at 6 and keep wicket. Bring in Mark Pettini from Essex instead of Vaughan. Priors Keeping's what cost him, I'd be inclined to give Foster a run ahead of him, though neither fills me with confidence at number 6. The only other option is young Davies, but he's having a poor season with the bat (albiet he's 99* right now). I'd also be wary of batting Broad at 7 just yet, at the moment he's a bowler(usually bats 8 for Notts) and any runs he gets are a bonus, if you play him as an all-rounder you add a lot more pressure to his batting, and pressure does funny things to people. I'd say Vaughan, Strauss and Collingwood are the 3 under pressure oif the batsmen, Vaughen will be give till the end of the series at the very earliest as he's a very good skipper and their are no other obvious candidates (asides from Strauss who's place must be in doubt). The main problem is the lack of English qualified county players scoring runs, Shah is the only one I've seen that I'd fancy to go well. I'm not sure Pettini's the man for the job, and his season average suggests I'm right. If I had to make a change I'd go with a top order of Cook Vaughan Bell Pieterson Shah Collingwood 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H_B Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 I'm not sure Pettini's the man for the job, and his season average suggests I'm right. I could be wrong, but I think Strauss, Atherton and Hussein all had fairly poor county records relative to others, yet had the tools to be good test players. I just think there is something about Pettini that means he would thrive in a test arena. Shah fills me with zero confidence, as does Bopara. I'd give Key another shot before either of them. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted August 1, 2008 Share Posted August 1, 2008 (edited) I don't rate Bopara as a bowler or a bat at test level, but I think Shah has some of ther arrogance that would let him convert his talent to runs. Other than Atherton I think they all averaged over 40, whereas Pettini has a FC average of 33, albiet he's only 23 and has plenty of time to improve on it. He certainly won't get the call in the middle of such a poor season though. Maybe they'll get Pettini to keep Edited August 1, 2008 by kullibino 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuluroyal Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 England gave themselves a chance with their second innings but I reckon they needed 350 to win. So long as fat arse Smith keeps his head..and his wicket...we'll take the series. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btb Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 (edited) Well with Collingwood (135n.o. at present) producing runs when required he's probably secured his place for a forseeable future. The problem with the England Top six is that while they all average over 40 (KP over 50) generally the benchmark for a good test batsman (Mike Atherton played 115 Tests yet averaged on 37.31) the feeling is that they tend to get them when the going is good (high scoring draws like the first Test at Lords) and are fragile when the pressure is on (Ooops Anderson out - that just leaves Panesar and Collingwood is out 2 balls later for 135 leaving SA 281 to win). 281 not an easy target but unless Panesar is on form I fancy SA. **************************************************** The team for the next Test obviously depends whether the series is tied at 1-1 or over with SA leading 2-0. If it's 1-1 I'd drop Strauss and bring back Harmison (not without reservations). If it's 2-0 to SA I'd be hoping for a bit of a shake up at the top perhaps even ditching Vaughan as well! Edited August 2, 2008 by btb 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
minijc Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 Jack Bannister was on talksport this morning having a proper go at KP for giving his wicket away cheaply, he basically said he must either be dropped or given the captaincy, one extreme to another there but i do think KP as captain would do England a good turn. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zuluroyal Posted August 2, 2008 Share Posted August 2, 2008 what a performance from Smith...almost makes me feel bad for calling him fat arse...almost. Nkosi sikelele iAfrika. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Wonder who the next skipper will be. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mighdee Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 Rob Key. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kullibino Posted August 3, 2008 Share Posted August 3, 2008 I imagine it'll be Strauss (In crap nick), KP ( a brave choice) or Fat Boab (Is he worth a place?). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted August 4, 2008 Share Posted August 4, 2008 If they make a descion today for the long term then they will go for Struass or Peterson. Im not sure if Key is in with a shout he hasnt played for England for a while. I think they shoud give the Oval test to Struass and then take there time in coming to a final choice. There is no rush 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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