Test Squad for South African Tour - predictions & discussion

[bennymacca]

Speaking of pommy commentators, Vaughn does a really good job. But yeah botham is really bad

[stan]

Speaking of pommy commentators, Vaughn does a really good job. But yeah botham is really bad

Vaughn is good I would agree with you there. But geez he gets stuck into his own country a bit.

[The Dark Knight]

Speaking of pommy commentators, Vaughn does a really good job. But yeah botham is really bad

Vaughn is good I would agree with you there. But geez he gets stuck into his own country a bit.

Yep he loves piling shit on them it hilarious!

[Rik E Boy]

Since taking over the captaincy Clarke has seen his batting average increase on the back of a golden 12/13 summer and now he has developed into one of the best captains (IMO) that we have seen.

Clearly he now has "his team" with very few of Pontings men left and a new coach with Lehmann, creating a relaxed yet very aggressive atmosphere.

On the back of that we have Johnson who is in, as REB notes, in the form of his life and nothing like we have seen from an Aussie quick for years.

I also think Warner needs a mention. Not only the way he has plundered runs recently but I reakon the little bloke would be as good on the lip as Warne and Healy were in the days of "metal disintegration" under Steve Waugh. I think he has a lot to do with the attitude of the Australian side at the moment.

i certainly disagree with you there, but that's my opinion...

Waugh, border and Taylor all better captains i reckon...

Tacticly, Border was very conservative and too often let the game drift. He had a tough job to do in a very tough period for Australian Cricket but the teapot was not a good look. As for Waugh in particular, I often felt that the all out aggression needed a back up plan when things didn't go your own way.

Clarke in my view is for more experimental than those captains and he is much better at staying ahead of the game than the three players mentioned.

regards,

REB

[tigerpie]

I often felt that the all out aggression needed a back up plan when things didn't go your own way.

Correct in that he had the cattle for all out aggression. Things didnt NOT go our way too many times.

[bennymacca]

I often felt that the all out aggression needed a back up plan when things didn't go your own way.

Correct in that he had the cattle for all out aggression. Things didnt NOT go our way too many times.

yep, he didnt need plan B too often. hard to really assess steve waugh as a captain.

the same criticism was levelled at john buchanan too, that he did SFA but because of the cattle was made to look good.

hard to transplant the rest of the players and put them under clarke and see what clarke would do. if you are rolling teams for <200 just by setting a standard field and bowling warne and mcgrath until they take all the wickets not reallly any inventiveness needed

[heater31]

I often felt that the all out aggression needed a back up plan when things didn't go your own way.

Correct in that he had the cattle for all out aggression. Things didnt NOT go our way too many times.

the same criticism was levelled at john buchanan too, that he did SFA but because of the cattle was made to look good.

He took the concept of opposition analysis to new heights, allowing the once per generation bowlers to exploit their talents even further....

[Grahaml]

Hard to judge Waugh. I never liked him tactically but he instilled a ruthlessness that was probably more suited. Border captained as all captains did in that era in terms of being defensive. I'd definitely say Clarke has so far done the best job though all things considered. I think Buchanan gets a raw deal because Warne's ego meant he could never give him any credit but what more could you ask of the bloke?

[Grahaml]

Going to be interesting to see what SA do with their side. I hope they leave it as is, I like their tail starting at 6. To me having Duminy and R Petersen in the same side is a waste. They do basically the same thing, so either go with the slightly better bowler or the slightly better batsman and play them at 7 or 8. McLaren is pointless. Batting not good enough and bowling not good enough. If Philander and Morkel can't do enough when Steyn isn't bowling what good is McLaren going to be? Bring in the best 2 batsmen, bat them at 6 and 7 and back Steyn/Morkel/Philander to do the job.

[The Sleeping Giant]

All captains look like geniuses when winning. Clarke didn't look to good in India.

[Squids]

All captains look like geniuses when winning. Clarke didn't look to good in India.

Ponting.

[Panther Pack]

Just read South Africa adding no new players to their squad, as I have previously stated 3 nil to the Aussies easily.

South Africa in massive denial not adding any players proves this.

They keep picking duminy what exactly is his role take no wickets and score 20 runs lol.

philander is useless, robin Peterson is a joke thanks South Africa for the hand outs!!!!!

[Squids]

Did Philander root your missus or something panther pack?

[bennymacca]

Did Philander root your missus or something panther pack?

lol!

philander is useless

honestly, how can you keep saying this unless you just dont care about facts?

Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 21 41 4371 1988 106 6/44 10/102 18.75 2.72 41.2 4 9 2

[Panther Pack]

Did Philander root your missus or something panther pack?

lol!

philander is useless

honestly, how can you keep saying this unless you just dont care about facts?

Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 4w 5w 10
Tests 21 41 4371 1988 106 6/44 10/102 18.75 2.72 41.2 4 9 2

I guess stats don't tell the whole story otherwise he is a better bowler than Warne, McGrath, Lillee, Steyn, Akram, Ambrose ect if we are going by stats.

Just my opinion

[bennymacca]

give him a few more years...

he is also ranked as the best bowler in the world too

mitchell johnson is heading north with a bullett too. if he keeps this up philander wont be number one for long

ID Rat. Name Nat. Career Best Rating
1 901 D.W. Steyn SA 908 v Pakistan, 01/02/2013
2 898 V.D. Philander SA 912 v India, 18/12/2013
3 852 R.J. Harris AUS 866 v England, 03/01/2014
4 819 M.G. Johnson AUS 825 v England, 08/07/2009
5 787 Saeed Ajmal PAK 855 v Zimbabwe, 03/09/2013
6 779 P.M. Siddle AUS 816 v England, 01/08/2013
7 774 H.M.R.K.B. Herath SL 838 v New Zealand, 25/11/2012
8 767 T.A. Boult NZ 767 v India, 14/02/2014
9 757 T.G. Southee NZ 757 v India, 14/02/2014
10 744 R. Ashwin IND 808 v West Indies, 14/11/2013

[Panther Pack]

What would be most concerning for South Africa is they have the 2 highest ranked bowlers in the world and in their backyard and conditions they could not take 20 wickets with us fielding an inexperienced batting lineup.

Now they want to give lip to Doolan lol hope they keep they same bowling lineup Peterson and Duminy really had they zinging of the pitch!!!!!!

[bennymacca]

i dont think it was philander and steyn's fault, but duminy and petersen were really bad imo.

[Spargo]

Steyn leaves Philander for dead.

[tigerpie]

We may be getting a little ahead of ourselves here fellas....the saffers will come at us next test. Well thats what i'm expecting anyhow.
I dont think any of our batters got nailed at all did they?

There batsman on the other hand got peppered.

I dont think it will be that friendly by their top 3 bowlers next test. But i also thought england would fight back to and we all saw how they piked it.