Proteas vs West Indies: 2014/15

[Mike Hoxbig]

Of course not, but it would be great if he makes a good comeback. I have a good feeling about our WC chances. World cup games has a lot more pressure than normal games and the good thing is we have fresh players who wont carry the "choke" burden from prior failures.

I used to think that too, but somehow the new guys always find a way to carry the baton from their predecessors...

 

[Creag]

On condition that he types out the following in his first post coming back: "Abraham Benjamin De Villiers is undoubtedly one of the best if not the best cricketer of the modern era, across all formats. He also keeps wicket better than Thami multiplied by Van Wyk."

Bwhahahaha! I love this ^ especially the equation at the end!

Thanks Mickey! Lament you break my heart , at least sand_man missed me . OGroteKoning gave me benefit of the doubt...I think the rand will be 8:1 against the $ next week.

Well done, McD. As if your rating for me on this forum couldn't be higher.

Long way away form that ....

There is always hope. In the words of a Coldplay title, "Help is round the corner!"

I still think Heineken and Dingo must be canned. Proteas order and personnel not quite right. Would be a miracle to go past QFs. Only two players are certain of their positions in the XV Eben&Vermeulen, Heyneke was on the verge of a breakdown, I don't feel confident about the Boks beating Samoa (gave Boks a scare in 2011) or Scotland (should be a handful "at home") so the groupd phase might just end with the Boks flying back home like Bafana at AFCON.

And yes none of that is trolling. All very possible .... especially when you think about the last FA Cup weekend.

And you get off to a flying start?! Tread carefully when you make flagrant statements about the national team

 

[ZCFOutkast]

The only one being critical is outkast.

The Amla/de Kock partnership is one of our strengths.

Secretly I think most people here agree this ooening pair is doomed. Please don't pillory me or accuse me of being unpatriotic when it inevitably happens and I comment "accordingly". @Agent_Smith all the more reason why advance planning&changes should've been implemented to avoid having to deal with the likelihood of failure.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Bwhahahaha! I love this ^ especially the equation at the end!

Lol but if you've seen Thami keep wicket, he's twice as good as Tatenda Taibu, the last really good keeper international cricket witnessed. MvW nowhere near as god as Boucher. His keeping just as good as part-timer Ingram. On that point, one wonders why Ingram was never tried as a keeper when he first appeared. Afterall QdK's was scratchy, to be fair he was technically a part-time keeper too. Ingram missed the trick there.

 

[MickeyD]

one wonders why Ingram was never tried as a keeper when he first appeared. Ingram missed the trick there.

When I was a youngster (13-16) his dad was my skipper and one of the best glovemen in PE. I also found it strange that he did not take the gloves.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

When I was a youngster (13-16) his dad was my skipper and one of the best glovemen in PE. I also found it strange that he did not take the gloves.

Boucher protection by the mafia.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Secretly I think most people here agree this ooening pair is doomed. Please don't pillory me or accuse me of being unpatriotic when it inevitably happens and I comment "accordingly". @Agent_Smith all the more reason why advance planning&changes should've been implemented to avoid having to deal with the likelihood of failure.

What do you suggest? A couple of Momentum Cup games? That might not be a bad idea.

 

[MickeyD]

What do you suggest? A couple of Momentum Cup games? That might not be a bad idea.

If you think about it then our domestic season schedule is wrong. There should be 50 over games in January to give players an opportunity to stay in form. What will happen if we get a late withdrawal?

 

[Wall]

Raining in Johannesburg, How's the centurion area looking atm?

 

[phoneJunky]

Raining in Johannesburg, How's the centurion area looking atm?

It is raining here in Centurion. Not as much as an hour ago though. Hopefully it clears up. I am about 5km away from the stadium now.

 

[Noob-Noob]

Secretly I think most people here agree this ooening pair is doomed. Please don't pillory me or accuse me of being unpatriotic when it inevitably happens and I comment "accordingly". @Agent_Smith all the more reason why advance planning&changes should've been implemented to avoid having to deal with the likelihood of failure.

Besides yourself (and possibly Rusty), name 1?

Ooo, you said secretly, in that case, Im pretty sure its just yourself

 

[Noob-Noob]

Lol but if you've seen Thami keep wicket, he's twice as good as Tatenda Taibu, the last really good keeper international cricket witnessed. MvW nowhere near as god as Boucher. His keeping just as good as part-timer Ingram. On that point, one wonders why Ingram was never tried as a keeper when he first appeared. Afterall QdK's was scratchy, to be fair he was technically a part-time keeper too. Ingram missed the trick there.

Sometimes I just dont know where you gets this from, Yes MvW is not as good as boucher, no one in SA is (including Thami). But saying MvW is on par with part timer Colin Ingram, that's a laugh man, honestly, how can you say BS like that on a public forum?
MvW is on par, if not a better keeper than De Villiers and QDK

PS. Not saying Ingram is a bad keeper, but he literally just started out, he might become a real great. But at this stage, there is no way he is on par with MvW.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

What do you suggest? A couple of Momentum Cup games? That might not be a bad idea.

Too late now. I just think we have enough guys who would be comfortable opening (AB, Faf&Miller) so no need to bat QdK high at all.

One guy said do you watch cricket or stats? But the point is QdK played two 5 match series recently and he literally had zero impact in how the Proteas fared. He's a kid yes, but this is professional sport and he must deliver.

 

[Badprop_za]

Too late now. I just think we have enough guys who would be comfortable opening (AB, Faf&Miller) so no need to bat QdK high at all.

One guy said do you watch cricket or stats? But the point is QdK played two 5 match series recently and he literally had zero impact in how the Proteas fared. He's a kid yes, but this is professional sport and he must deliver.

Where do you draw the line of dumping someone when they do not deliver? Personally, I also don't know the answer. Bigger problem is when it is an established player. I.e. Boucher or Ntini. How many games do we allow them to play before dropping them.

Do you give someone 10 / 15 / 20 games? If you don't meet your KPIs by then you are gone. Imagine we dropped Kallis after 10 tests. He was a good enough player that would have made it back, no doubt.

I feel for selectors. Does not matter which players they pick, there will always the balance of meeting certain requirements, crowd favourites, etc.

 

[Kornhub]

How is the weather in Centurion?

 

[poffle]

If anything like joburg. We got no cricket happening today. Forecast says 80%

 

[phoneJunky]

How is the weather in Centurion?

Overcast but no rain anymore. I just walked on the grass outside and it was still wet.

 

[stefan9]

If it stops raining it will dry as centurion like wanderers has good drainage unlike our coastal venues...

 

[Kornhub]

Meant to go to the game today

/crosses fingers.

 

[ZCFOutkast]

Where do you draw the line of dumping someone when they do not deliver? Personally, I also don't know the answer. Bigger problem is when it is an established player. I.e. Boucher or Ntini. How many games do we allow them to play before dropping them.

Do you give someone 10 / 15 / 20 games? If you don't meet your KPIs by then you are gone. Imagine we dropped Kallis after 10 tests. He was a good enough player that would have made it back, no doubt.

I feel for selectors. Does not matter which players they pick, there will always the balance of meeting certain requirements, crowd favourites, etc.

Look QdK was picked and he really struggled over several games before he came right, just like Abbott & Rilee now. But QdK at least managed to look like a world top 15 batsmen after that patience was extended.

Certain things also come into the mix which is why players don't get groomed consistently enough. Player similarities. Abbott had a great start to his Test career but couldn;t build on it. Why? He's a bit like Tsotsobe&Philander. Medium pace, relies on swing. His only disadvantage is Philander swings it more, while Tsotsobe has height advantage on release, left handed and like Philander swings it more than him. If he had continued bowling in Tests who knows if he wouldn't have done well. Marchant being a tall, express pace strike bowler liek Morkel meant you could only have one at a time not both.

So you have to blame the selectors in many ways. Philander was consistently dropped form T20s&ODIs for the same reasons Abbott is struggling yet they still picked Abbott. Morris & Rory were dropped for the same reasons, and recently McLaren. At no point has Abbott look significantly better than them so why did he get the nod?

Same applies to Marchant. Great start to his career standing in for Philander when he was injured. At the time Steyn&Philander were by far and away the best. He should've continued but he didn't because no one had the gonads to drop Morkel. The 2nd time Marchant got a chance Philander had already destroyed NZ after Alviro had led to setup a huge score. NZ were set to chase an impossible target with no time left, and lo and behold a Morkel fighting for his place was given the new ball, marchant wasn't. Rest is history.

For other it's just downright bad luck. Viljoen go many chances for the A side probably more than a lot of seamers. He never delivered in any of them. Who knows if other like Abbott had also played similarly or more would they not have been found out at that level an dnot allowed to go further?

The only thing I ask of the selectors - as well fans - is that the same patience shown to the like of Abbott, QdK, Ingram&RR be given to EVERY other player. 15 game shas clearly been the average.