South Africa tour of England, May - Aug 2017

[WaxLyrical]

One year kolpak contract but Essex offered to extend it to 3 years.

Which im sure he'll take making him not eligible for SA.
Another loss and we need a quality spinner.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Gilly vs QdK

Interesting how parallel their careers are running. QdK will go on to greater things than Gilly ever did but only because he is so much younger. Gilly was stuck behind Ian Healy for so many years.

Adam Gilchrist is one of my favourite all time players. I loved watching him bat. Even that one match against SA when he blazed a double ton at Centurion. He was hitting the much vaunted SA attack with consumate ease, at times just toying with them.

 

[DanDango]

South African batsmen in Tests since Jan 2016

Player	Tests	Runs	Average	100s
Quinton de Kock	13	1069	59.38	3
Faf du Plessis	13	860	53.75	2
Hashim Amla	14	1045	45.43	3
Dean Elgar	13	879	39.95	3
JP Duminy	12	708	35.40	2
Temba Bavuma	14	704	35.20	1

 

[DanDango]

South Africa 121/1 (35.1 ov)
England Lions

Hashim Amla 45 not out
Heino Kuhn 63 not out

 

[Creag]

South Africa 121/1 (35.1 ov)
England Lions

Hashim Amla 45 not out
Heino Kuhn 63 not out

Some good runs and practice for these two. Nice.

Let's hope the weather holds.

 

[WaxLyrical]

Interesting how parallel their careers are running. QdK will go on to greater things than Gilly ever did but only because he is so much younger. Gilly was stuck behind Ian Healy for so many years.

Adam Gilchrist is one of my favourite all time players. I loved watching him bat. Even that one match against SA when he blazed a double ton at Centurion. He was hitting the much vaunted SA attack with consumate ease, at times just toying with them.

Not necessarily given that less and less attention is being given to Tests and players are retiring from the longer format earlier to focus on hit and hope cricket.

ABs retirement imminent.

 

[sox63]

Kuhn retired hurt??? No man, it would be heart breaking if he can not make his debut next week

Edit: never mind, CSA tweet reporting its actually retired out and not hurt

 

[Creag]

Kuhn retired hurt??? No man, it would be heart breaking if he can not make his debut next week

Edit: never mind, CSA tweet reporting its actually retired out and not hurt

Whew! Thanks for that. Just started to feel miserable for him.

As for de Bruyn, a 5-ball duck

 

[stefan9]

De bruyn is terrible form would be picking markram ahead of him. Theunis couldn't buy a run for the a team and it's continuing.

 

[Dan C]

Guess we will bowl tomorrow if the weather permits. Some nice 50's in this warm-up game.

 

[DanDango]

'Difficult birth' of child puts du Plessis in doubt for Lord's
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-south-africa-2017/content/story/1107592.html

South Africa's captain Faf du Plessis remains in doubt for the Lord's Test, which starts next Thursday, after he returned home for the birth of his first child. Though the baby was born a week before the start of the series, a CSA spokesperson said it was a "difficult birth" and du Plessis will only travel to the UK once the baby and his wife Imari are "settled."

Should du Plessis be unavailable for the Test, Dean Elgar will lead in his absence. Elgar is currently in charge of the South Africans in a tour match against England Lions in Worcester, where Theunis de Bruyn was preferred over Aiden Markram in the batting line-up. Markram was included in the squad as cover for du Plessis but de Bruyn, who debuted in Hamilton in March, may play ahead of him if du Plessis can't take the field.

South Africa's other concern is the fitness of Vernon Philander. He had to sit out the tour match as he recovers from an ankle injury but the team management is hopeful that he will be available for Lord's. Chris Morris and Andile Phehlukwayo are in the squad as cover.

In better news for South Africa, coach Russell Domingo had returned to the camp after leaving on a family emergency. His mother was involved in a serious accident and has been discharged from the hospital though she remains fragile.

 

[Dan C]

'Difficult birth' of child puts du Plessis in doubt for Lord's
http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-south-africa-2017/content/story/1107592.html

Ah no problem 50% of the match will be rained out in anycase

 

[DanDango]

Fans at Chelmsford witnessed a remarkable finish under the lights, as Middlesex collapsed from 252-5 to 262 all out, leaving Simon Harmer with figures of 9-95. The South African spinner now has now taken a stunning 28 wickets in two games. Superb batting from Alaistair Cook and Nick Browne set up victory for Essex, as they put on 373 run for the opening partnership, scoring 193 and 221 respectively. Essex are now 29 points clear at the top of the table

[video=youtube;gfbWpYkZbis]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfbWpYkZbis[/video]

 

[DanDango]

Alaistair Cook hit 193, he in good form for the Lords test.

 

[WaxLyrical]

Better if Faf sits it out. No use going out when his mind is on the missus and baby.

 

[Dan C]

Faf du Plessis will miss the opening Test against England at Lord's to remain with his wife after the "difficult" birth of their first child. Dean Elgar will stand in as captain, leading South Africa for the first time.

Du Plessis will rejoin the squad later in the week to prepare for the second Test at Trent Bridge which begins on July 14.

In du Plessis' absence, South Africa will have to choose between replacement batsmen Theunis de Bruyn and Aiden Markram, who was included in the squad as cover for du Plessis. Markram, who captained the South Africa A side in their four-day matches in the UK this summer, did not play in the warm-up match against England Lions at New Road, where de Bruyn was preferred but bagged a duck.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-south-africa-2017/content/story/1108264.html

 

[sox63]

So its Markram vs De Bruyn. De Bruyn is first in line though, however has had a very lean run recently...

 

[Agent_Smith]

Crap! England will fancy their chances here. Get through through one of the openers and Amla, and the middle order is exposed. I really don't want QdK coming in at 100/5. I wonder if a case can be made for moving him up the order...

 

[WaxLyrical]

So its Markram vs De Bruyn. De Bruyn is first in line though, however has had a very lean run recently...

His bowling in the warm up game should give him an advantage.

 

[pinball wizard]

So its Markram vs De Bruyn. De Bruyn is first in line though, however has had a very lean run recently...

They're supposed to be grooming markram to take over the captaincy one day, so he should get the nod.