I completely agree with your comment Denny.
Never posted my view on the two bowlers because I would be accused of bias by the Woke squad but some of my earlier posting did refer to the two as not the best we could select.
Yes Coetzee did amaze us all by being selected in the WC team and it was a refreshing change in our attack finally.
Light at the end of the tunnel I hope with selecting the BEST and not the REST.
Both Ngidi and Rabada peaked fairly young…..year by year Ramada’s pace dropped from the high 140s to mostly in the mid 130s. These three new lads are promising.
What a delightful innings by de Zorzi though. A pity he is 26 and not 22. Why has it taken so long for him to emerge I wonder.
Well AJ, we might agree to disagree about Rabada, he served us well, held the world ODI No1 spot and was a world top ten bowler for quite a stretch, our best after Dale Steyn's forced retirement. Ngidi though was never your front line bowler like Rabada, he was next best. Can't think of anyone better than those two in their time. Rabada now looks pedestrian I believe he's suffering burnout and has been for quite some time.
But here some quotes from over the years which tells us a little bit about the man himself. BTW his father is a Doctor and his mother is a lawyer...... he chose cricket.
? “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does.”
? “The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is an opportunity for growth.”
? “Champions keep playing until they get it right.”
? “If you’re not at the front, you’re not in the race.”
? “The harder you work the luckier you get.”
He’s clearly a man who’s passionate, powerful and has worked incredibly hard for his success!
Footnote
Kagiso Rabada (born 25 May 1995) is a South African international cricketer who plays all formats of the game. He is a right arm fast bowler. He made his international debut in November 2014 in limited-overs cricket before going on to make his Test debut in November 2015. By January 2018, he had topped both the ICC ODI bowler rankings and the ICC Test bowler rankings aged 22. In July 2018, he became the youngest bowler to take 150 wickets in Tests (23 years and 50 days).[1]
In July 2016, Rabada became the first cricketer to win six awards at Cricket South Africa's (CSA) annual dinner, including the prize for Cricketer of the Year.[2] In June 2018, he again won six awards at CSA's annual dinner, including Cricketer of the Year, Test Cricketer and ODI Cricketer of the Year.[3] In August 2018, Wisden named him the best young player in the world.[4] He has taken a hat-trick in all three formats of cricket.
What a delightful innings by de Zorzi though. A pity he is 26 and not 22. Why has it taken so long for him to emerge I wonder.
Not convinced about de Zorzi even though I'm happy to take his innings. Don't think he's the most talented batsman I've seen but hey in cricket we know they come in all shapes. All it takes is a desire to occupy the crease for as long as possible and to score some runs while you're there no matter how. I remind myself of Steve Waugh who unlike he's brother made up for his lack of talent with a steely resolve not to toss his wicket. I hope de Zorzi is cut from the same cloth.
This was only the second time I’ve seen him bat…what impressed me is he had grit to go on and construct a big innings, not just settle for a quick fifty. He also has quick hands, his innings was full of late flicks. But how he’d do against the Aussie attack is a different issue.
...well, Burger got his first 2 test wickets.
...and there the captain injures himself...
All the bowlers are impressive, nice to see Rabada bowling well and picking up a wicket. Burger taking Gill's scalp is something special.
Rabada doing well with some good support bowling from his team mates...
Rabada sure is having agreat game ........finally.
Jansen having problems and pleased to see Burger in action at this level.
Tough bowling to a top team in your first test but he is performing well.
But now for our batting....I wait with bated breath as our top six is put through the grinder.
we already lost Bavuma...
I'm very interested to see how the ex expat David Bedingham shapes up, he could well be the rock we need in the middle order.
The Proteas needed Markram to stand up.....starting to lose faith in him big time.
Unfortunately Bedingham is 29 and Burger is 28 - hardly spring chickens
Denny
Hall Of Fame
10821 posts
from the puff powder attack of the last couple of years. Rabada has lost his mojo and Ngidi is ordinary. The new partnership of Burger, Coetzee and Marco Jansen is the real deal going forward just wish the same could be said of some of the batsmen who offer little hope of a way forward.