2nd test vs Pakistan

I never said Nortje is to be dropped - neither  have I ever said Rabada is not a top class bowler.

My problem has in the main been with the batsmen,   Elgar and Du Plessis are cases in point - both suffer from the 6/1 problem  and that has been the case since he WC disaster on 2019.    If they were younger they could  have gotten over the problem over a period of time with time being not the problem with the 36 year old Faf and the 33 year old Elgar,   I have  never seen a player that old with performance problems overcoming the problem.

I think that there needs to be a better replacement program  in place,   England, India and  Australia regularly replace players in their teams with younger players.   IN SA there is no spac for younger players to develop on international level.     In some cases they brought in even older players than the ones to be replaced.   For a 20 to 25 year old player their is NO chane that he would be selected as a Protea player before he is past 25 years of age,  

As to players like Bavuma and Van der Dussen - batsmen with the following averages and strike rates are not acceptable amnd will never play for any test team in their countries of origin:-

Bavuma

Batting average                             =     31,12

Strike rate                                     =     48,18

Van der Dussen

 Batting average                             =     36,41

Strike rate                                     =      43,71

The problem  with all four batsmen mentioned is that their provincial averages is not really  higher than what the achieve on international level.

In fact my comment on the test thus far are as follows:-

So Nortje was too much for the Pakistani's to swallow and took 5 wickets in the first innings of the test while giving away only 56 runs in 24,3 overs bowled.    The second best bowler was not surprisingly  by Maharaj who took 3 wickets giving away 90 runs from 45 overs bowled.    The third best bowler was Mulder - who took 1 wicket and gave away 40 runs in 17 overs bowled.   The bowling performance of Rabada was disappointing - he took no wickets and gave away more runs than any of the other bowlers used.

In a way the bowlers were sabotaged by poor fielding - especially by Bavuma who missed three catches in the game.    Two were plain and simply poor catching and the third he made no effort to try and make a catch.    Any decent fielder would have taken the third catch, The other two misses really had a mayor impact on the  Pakistani scorecard,   Elgar used to be the miossed catch specialist in the team - so Bavuma now jmned him in ther ace for being th worst fielder in the team.  

Then we have the first SA innings  - Elgar out for 15 runs and Van der Dussen was  first ball duck any without any Pakistani spinners used.   Not that i am surprised at all about Elgar and Van der Dussen - they have not played any cricket in the   sub-continent before and their failure was an absolute certainty,   Faf is out for 17 runs scored and he also fell victim to medium fast bowling.   Time for their replacement in the team is long overdue,.

Bavuma is now batting and he is also useless with an average of 31 in test cricket - must be the wort specialist batsmen   any international team could have.    

Meanwhile, England are teaching the flat-track bullies the error of their ways.

Not bad going...260/3. 

Remember when we could do that?

Plum

Most of the English team played in the IPL  and are familiar  what to expect from  Indian pitches,   

Can't wait to see Gill batting against England. 

Saffex, have a look if you can. 

The guy is something else. 

...Root has passed 150 now. Nice see him getting some runs.

Root closing in a double -ton.

Proteas still 80 behind with 3 wickets remaining...are we surprised at all?

Bavuma fighting hard. Always find myself rooting for the lad. Probably because he's so tiny and one can't help cheering on an underdog.

And SA all out in leaving Pakistan with a 71 run lead.

Lovely innings by Root. Don't like the guy but damn that was a fantastic innings. 

@Chippo ref Gill --> We've probably cursed him now but I think he's gonna surpass some of the greats. Seriously, when last did this level of beast enter frame? 

And kudos to India for not waiting to get him in the team. Already probably the best off-site player in the world. Very happy for India and the state of their cricket atm. 

And Linde takes three wickets with an injured hand....useless bastard.

Not if it depends on fielding by Bavuma and Elgar - four missed catches in two innings are four to many.    The worst fielding I have seen from any SA team for decades,.   Reason - the reflections of the two are way to slow.   Markham's  fielding id top class.     

Well tomorrow will be the test....we will likely be chasing a gettable total. Which of these guys will show some some mental strength.

My problem with both Bavuma and Elgar is that they are missing catches and that adds hige number of ruins to opposition batting.

Let face facts - the two at home tests  against SriLamka  ahould not be a norm for batting evaluation at all.  Elgar played regularly over the last two years and was nothing special at all,  But for the two SL tests he was in some cases poor.    

Like Du Plessis, Van der Linde and Bavuma Elgar is NOT an interrnational level batsman at all anymore and when their  fielding also fails then a time for change is overdue,   De Kock is talented and will go through a bad patch from time to time - there is not a test player in the world where it does not happen,     But two years of rubbish batting did not happen to him at all.   In any event - I really think that he is playing in a batting team of LOSERS  and effects him badly,    He is much younger and hos return to form is inevitable  - the others are out off form and will remain out of form,

If we ever wants a decent team - we should do what England, India and Autralia regularly do and clear the deck and start with rebuilding the team.    That means that all of the abpve 4 mentioned should be replaced and team rebuilding really would have tos tart sooner rather than later,  

By the way in this test Markram made the same number of  runs than Elgar, Van der Dussen and Du Plessis made together did in the first innings and Mulder made more rins than the three losers I mentioned.

I said that the selected  has no chance to win in the two Pakistan tests and that remains the case as well,   They will inevitable lose the present test as well.       Inevitably the  poor performance as to missed catches adds to it, 

     .              

Again, the bowlers doing the job but poor and fragile batting letting the side down. 

Quintie's first innings dismissal bordering on unacceptable. 

There aren't proper demons in the pitch but the odd ball is keeping very low. That's just as bad as any demon.

Again, we' ll need a century from one bat or two sixty plus scores.

220 is probably as much as we'll manage. 

Hate losing to Pakistan.

And indeed, Chippo, we put the mockers on Gill.

Is there another sport on earth that validates Murphy's law more than cricket does?

Looking good so far. 

Markham and Rassie, not for the first time, batting with nice maturity.

@saf. Just worth mentioning that Linde is bowling with a badly injured bowling hand. But yes, is doesnt look like he turns it much... but could be a good second spinner option.

COME ON PROTEAS!

Fight boys. 270 odd runs on the final day on a pitch that doesnt look too bad.

Markram now needs to stand up and fuck their bowling up all day long. He needs to now fulfill his potential.

Rassie, du Plessis, QDK and Maharaj all need to contribute.... and Bavuma needs to score another world class 40!

Mozart

In the Pakistani tests what is the comparison between Markram and Elgar, thus far:- 

Elgar all four innings ruins scored    -     105 runs   - average  per innings 25

Markram thus  in the four innings  -        171 runs - average  per innings 52,75   

One should ignore the SL tests - the came to SA with a very weak bowling attack and among their better bowlers three of them was injured as well.   I somebody failed against them they do not deserve to play provincial cricket in SA,

Aside from the fact that  Elgar with two missed catches in the Pakistani tests  0 he is a lousy fielder and because of deficient reactions balls often goes past him where real defenders would have prevented runs.    

Elgar is over the age where improvement in batting can be expected.   Other than the two SL tests his performance through the past to year was insufficient  and he is no investment if the  Proteas has to rebuild a competitive team in future,    The problem is that Du Plerssis is even worse than him.

Dave 

I believe that  Markram  is  a real option as captain and the only other player suitable for the role would be Van Tonder,   

Agree Saf.

de Kock is pretty stupid when it comes to using his strategic brain.. but incredibly gifted with bat in hand.

Kinda like Gibbs. Super talents, but also super slow.

I don't see him as the kind of player that sits for hours and hours before a test series starts and analyses opposition.

He looks more like a guy who simply plays the situation... which has its merits... but not most of the time.

I'd love nothing more than for Markram to step up.

Dave I have to remind you of this interchange just over a week ago.....stick with moz.

‘The way that he plays he needs good surfaces says the commentator.’

‘That first innings shot is not what you would expect of a batsmen of his caliber, that type of shot goes through the changing room’.

So the challenge is clear and familiar. A great innings from Ock probably wins the test....failure likely  loses it. And Ock tentatively prods forward and loses his wicket. 

In the first innings one could accuse him of a Dud error, mental failure. But in the second he  clearly feels the responsibility and doesn’t deliver. Has he ever when he isn’t swinging the bat?

Ock remains technically vulnerable. The gap between bat and pad.....the pushing of hands at the ball means any movement is a problem. On nice flat surfaces with an even bounce he is Roy McClean. But even then very often he is Dud as he was in the first innings.

He will have many big innings on flat wickets when it doesn’t count.....when defense and attack are required Ock is not your man. A classic number 7 bat you hope comes off, but can’t count on.

Hall Of Fame

19573 posts

Your take on de Kock is about as accurate as it is with de Allende and PSDT 

de Kock is not vulnerable at all other than in his head. One of the top most gifted bats in the game but has no brains