Johan Botha instead of Paul Harris?

[SlyFly]

Looking at the Warriors/Titans game...

Wouldnt it be a better option to play Johan Botha in the test squad aswell? With the tail being so long and Harris not really being that a great spinner, Johan isnt really great either, but atleast Johan Botha can bat aswell?

Prince wasted the Protea bowlers... Morkels cant even get out domestic players :/

I'd like to see Johan Botha taking over from Harris, Daryn Smit taking over from Boucher... Then we have 2 more batsmen (Or better once) One of the things that South Africa has always had was a long batting attack, but now we basically have 5 or 6 (Personally I dont think Boucher performs good enough with the bat and being a wicketkeeper isnt enough...)

I mean Gibbs wasnt kept in the team just because he was an awesome fielder? If you cant do 2 things good... You shouldnt be in the team, there are better players out there...

 

[stefan9]

Imran Tahir is better than both Harris and Botha. The best spinner in the country by a long way. Will qualify for SA on 1 April. Tahir will be available for the english test series come end of the year, its our next test.

Botha is not a better first class spinner than harris. Harris is better than him. So till Tahir qualifies Harris should play.

Gibbs was dropped because he wasn't doing his primary job which is batting.

 

[SlyFly]

Agree.

Leaving Tahir out of the picture... Wouldnt you have an okay'ish spinner and an okay batsman, rather than an okay spinner and a crap batsman?

Thats the point I was making with Gibbs, he was dropped because he didnt perform with the bat, but he was still VERY good in the field? But just being good in the field isnt enough, so why should just being a good wicketkeeper be enough?

Fielding is just as important as any other role in cricket... Gibbs saved LOTS of runs and made a lot of catches...

My point is in todays cricket, you should be good in more than just ONE thing... A wicketkeeper should be awesome with the bat aswell...

 

[stefan9]

Agree.

Leaving Tahir out of the picture... Wouldnt you have an okay'ish spinner and an okay batsman, rather than an okay spinner and a crap batsman?

Thats the point I was making with Gibbs, he was dropped because he didnt perform with the bat, but he was still VERY good in the field? But just being good in the field isnt enough, so why should just being a good wicketkeeper be enough?

Fielding is just as important as any other role in cricket... Gibbs saved LOTS of runs and made a lot of catches...

My point is in todays cricket, you should be good in more than just ONE thing... A wicketkeeper should be awesome with the bat aswell...

Harris is doing his job as a spinner, I also don't remember him dropping any catches. He is not a crap spinner he is a good defensive spinner. He fullfills his role. Besides if you at the super sport series charts botha is nowhere while he has played all 6 games meanwhile harris took 14 wickets in the 3 games he played.

Gibbs's fielding is bonus but its irrelevant when he doesn't do his primary job.

Wicket keeping is different since it has now become a wicketkeeper/batsmen's role and not a pure keeper. Bowlers and batsmen on the other hand are still specialist and you pick your best specialist and for spinners role currently that's harris, at least till tahir qualifies for SA.

 

[Kilgore_Trout_Redux]

Haris is becoming an extremely useful bowler. He hass the habit of taking important wickets at the right time as well as being very economical. The more we bowl him the better he is going to get.

Boucher is past his sell by date. In modern cricket your wicket keeper needs to average at least 30. I can't remember when last Boucher did that.

I also agree with dropping Morkel. He is a liability. His confidence issues and inconsistencies have no place in international cricket. The Aussies ate him for breakfast here and in Australia.

Botha should be an option on spinner friendly wickets. We need to play him and Harris on the subcontinent in test matches.

 

[stefan9]

Haris is becoming an extremely useful bowler. He hass the habit of taking important wickets at the right time as well as being very economical. The more we bowl him the better he is going to get.

Boucher is past his sell by date. In modern cricket your wicket keeper needs to average at least 30. I can't remember when last Boucher did that.

I also agree with dropping Morkel. He is a liability. His confidence issues and inconsistencies have no place in international cricket. The Aussies ate him for breakfast here and in Australia.

Botha should be an option on spinner friendly wickets. We need to play him and Harris on the subcontinent in test matches.

I disagree on botha and harris. They are both finger spinners. Its a much better option to have one finger spinner and one wirst spinner. Tahir and Harris for me on the subcontinent.

Boucher is finished as a batsmen but we all know he won't be dropped till he retires after wc 2010 so its pointless discussing him. Also in the modern era 30 isn't enough. Your keeper needs to average 35 or more. In the past boucher got away with averaging 30 because he had shaun pollock,klusenar,boje,ect coming behind him.

 

[silkman]

+1