@Denny re Markram and Mulder ... and the next prediction

Hi Flash, Denny seems MIA ATM. Zubyr Hamza is certainly a mouthful, hope he'll be a handful too.

I like your enthusiasm but beware....SAFFEX will be here shortly with a list of his own

Predicting a future for a cricketer is like predicting a future for a Golfer...….it's hard yakka.

I hear you and wish those youngsters well, the team definitely needs a good Allrounder in the shape of Kluesner or better but besides him they also need a machine as an opener and a reliable middle order now that the great Amla is showing a downward spiral.

No team can win an ODI WC without a decent Allrounder.

GL with your spotting.

Den, i was referring to our conversations over the years over future talent, and commenting on their progress thus far .

thats all.

Sure - but there was another 17 year old bowler/batsman in the Under 19 WC - who at that age already bowl at over 140 kmh.   I cannot remember his name - but he hit sixes like it was nobody's business.    He really was on par with Nortje.   If you check you may find his name in the Under 19 WC squad in New Zealand.   

By the way Nortje was the player of the Under 19 WC tournament this year - so he is the real future deal.    

And then there is that guy Botha whom Steyn apparently regards as his real successor.    

Well done Flash', at this rate you might have to sacrifice your daytime job and become a selector

I haven't seen Hamza in action and I need to check his stats but I'll take your word that he is a quality bat. I'm not convinced of your other pick though, Wiaam Mulder, he seems pretty ordinary at the highest level and would not make my Test or ODI side.

Think the current attack is world class, arguably the best since readmission with three world-class quicks and a world-class spinner in Maharaj. And with Nortje breaking the door down to get into the side the Proteas are definitely solid in stock insofar as their attack. But then there's the lingering problem of a world-class Allrounder, until that happens you can forget them winning an ODI WC. Also think they need to firm up on their batting, the quicker the better, Amla is aged and in decline, De Kock is a huge disappointment, the hard-hitting Morris suffers mind games and Duminy....well he's just Duminy, I wouldn't hang my shirt on him. The iffy Foolookquela seems to be the best bet as an Allrounder going forward.

Still, I could be wrong, cricket as we know is a funny game.

Denny

I desperately try to think about the 17 year old I mentioned - I think it was Frazer Jones or Hemann Rolfe  I referred to. Jones is a very fast bowler  and a good batsman as well while Rolfe is a medium pacer .  We will have to see how they develop.    I think very much  players in the Lance Klusener style.

I cannot understand what went wrong with De Kock - in one game he is excellent in the next one useless.   Always a class wicketkeeper - but his batting is a mixed bag,   I think it is a matter of carelessness on his part and not a question of ability.   I think he is still young enough to get out of the problem.   The bugger makes too much money and think all he has to do is to hit every ball for a boundary.   I think it is psychological.

I can see the squad develop well enough in future.     . 

Denny

I desperately try to think about the 17 year old I mentioned - I think it was Frazer Jones or Hemann Rolfe  I referred to. Jones is a very fast bowler  and a good batsman as well while Rolfe is a medium pacer .  We will have to see how they develop.    I think very much  players in the Lance Klusener style.

I cannot understand what went wrong with De Kock - in one game he is excellent in the next one useless.   Always a class wicketkeeper - but his batting is a mixed bag,   I think it is a matter of carelessness on his part and not a question of ability.   I think he is still young enough to get out of the problem.   The bugger makes too much money and think all he has to do is to hit every ball for a boundary.   I think it is psychological.

I can see the squad develop well enough in future.     . 

Sorry

I mixed up the item  or appeared to have been in part of the comments I made,  It was Van Tonder who were capta in of the under 19 WC this year and was player of the tournament.

This ii where the mix-up came:- 

"By the way Nortje was the player of the Under 19 WC tournament this year - so he is the real future deal."

Sorry the player I should have referred to is Van Tonder - not Nortje.        

Mozart

Thanks for the help - but it is totally up to maggots again.   Players like Graeme Smith had a terrible technique problem - De Kock has not.    If it was why is he often still the top scorer in the teams he played for?   Even in the Aussie ODI's he was top SA scorer in the Perth ODI.  

You first started writing about him in 2013  - when your claim was he would not be able to score to face the Aussie quick bowlers - and that claim flopped.  The next claim was he  could not play spin bowling - which also flopped.

His present problems  have nothing to do with technique and everything to do with concentration lapses - which he should overcome and I am sure he will.    Most of his dismissals are catches in the deep of balls he tried to hit for boundaries - that means he ii negligent in deciding which balls to hit and which not. 

Sorry.

I tend to agree with Clever here...

Technique has very little to do with de Kocks slump, but more to do with lack of brains.

Players like Gilchrist, Sewag, Gibbs, G Smith, Waugh, who were all world beaters, had incredibly average techniques.

1. Sewag played from the crease most of the time
2. Gibbs very rarely got to the pitch of the ball
3. Gilly opened himself up on the front foot to make room for himself
4. Smith had a horrendous bottom hand, but averaged 50 whilst opening the batting
5. Waugh could not play off the back foot on the on side

So there you have it.

The best in the world... with kak techniques.

He was and still is always a better batsman than Smith was in ODI's.    Ever since Smith was forced out of ODI's  in 2013 you have attacked De Kock endlessly and always wrote crap about him.   So what else is new?       

I wrote about ODI's  where both players were openers.   Tests are impossible to assess because Smith batted as opener and De Kock was either no 7 or a few times no 6.   Your case is built on nothing - so case not closed, especially since De Kock rarely played T20 games anyway. .  

Maaik, Graeme was the best test opener we ever had...best test captain too.