They showed the test averages of our top 6 bats and not one averages 40 which sums up how wrong the make up of the side is.

Markram is young and dipped in form but is super talented so is worth investing in

de Kock down at 6 or 7 has always had to bat with the tail so one would expect his average to be around 40 which it is.

For the rest - Elgar, Rassie, Faf and Bavuma there is no excuse given all are 30 years of age and above

They need to be dumped and soon

Bavuma might be worth a little investment as his curve is on the up and the talent is there but if he dips again he to has to go

There is enough young talent about to bring some young bats in

Janneman Malan

Bird

Richards

Rickelton

Roelofsen

van Tonder

Verreynne

Hamza

Marques Ackerman

Breedtske

de Swardt

Saffex

From what you’ve seen, how good is de Swardt?

Also, what are your thoughts on Breedtske’s difficulty against the white ball?

I also worry about Rickeltons temperament. Since school days he tends to get off to amazing starts but battles to convert.

I’m glad I’m not the only one that keeps watch and tabs on these youngsters.

de Swardt is a technically great looking leftie with an average to back it. Looks the real deal

Breedtske is such a talent but is a Gibbs - has to dominate the attack.

He would be better served building an innings and will be interesting to see if that comes with age

Rickelton is another gifted leftie but with his open square stance he clearly favours the leg side which makes him susceptible on the off

He looks technically good enough to play well on the off side so not sure why he sets himself up to play to leg

Yes. Breedske does remind one of Gibbs. His limited overs strike rate is 79. He’s a big hitter.

Where have you seen de swardt batting?

Since local TV does not really show domestic cricket the only way we really can see some highlight packages of  especially  the youngsters sometimes posted on the internet, such was the  case with for instance Swiel.

Otherwise one has to look at their stats - but that could also be misleading.   For instance  Van Tonder's game stats are extremely high for the longer version of the game - but in shorter versions  of the game not so,   In the Under 19 WC  he was one of the top batsmen and also made captain of the Dream team  compiled by the ICC, so he does have the talent and temperament.

 Verreinne is another very interesting player = he broke all the batting records previously held by Kallis on school level and had a much higher strike rate than  Kallis ever had.    In the 3   ODI's he played in his strike rate was 84.17 - as against Kallis career ODI strike rate of 71 

Those are the two most impressive young batsmen mentioned by Dave.   The other youngsters mentioned by Dave is statistically  sound  and they have the potential to develop further looking at their stats;   I have seen too little of there batting to make any other comment,  

The player not mentioned by Dave is Mulder - whose batting stats were amazing after his return  from injury and his bowling in the first SriLanka test was very good,   Cheap and difficult to read - I rate him as a batting allrounder.  He also did not mention Migael Pretorius - who is statistically really a bowling all-rounder.   In the shorter versions of the game allrounders are very important and we were rather short of those in recent years,   The stats  of De Swardt also indicates him as a batting all=rounder,  

The problem in SA cricket  for years were stagnation in  player selection,   Whenever new players were selected they were near or already over the age of 30 years and there were no opportunities for younger players to built  careers - the only exception being  De Kock,  The decline from being no 1 rated for a number of years to the present no 8 ranking was really the result of that selection deficiency,

It is always wise to look at younger players and bring them into the team gradually - we have not done that in SA and as a result lost players like David Malan and even Labuschagne,           ,           

Ive seen some domestic cricket on live stream mostly 50 over stuff so you get an idea of what these bats are about. Also Sky here used to show some of the SA domestic cricket. Like rugby I tend to look out for young players to see what they have to offer and whether there is potential there. All these young bats mostly have good techniques and average around 50 which is a good start and a measure of potential I guess. But obviously there is more to it

For me it starts with technically looking the part which the likes of v Tonder, Bird etc do

Then others like Verreynne and Hamza look less fluid but have records to prove that like Faf or Graeme Smith, technique is not everything

I’ve not included Mulder here as I’m looking at bats alone. Mulder looks good but has failed at the highest level so far hence me not being convinced he is better than Andile

I’m a big fan of Andile, has ability and BMT - the jury is still out on Mulder for me

Dave

I am not a fan of Andile for the simple reason he is a poor batsman and more of a bowler than a batsman.   Andile played in four tests and  scored in total 19 runs in the tests for an average of 9,5.  He is a bowler that can bat a bit on test level.

On ODI level he is the same - when it comes to ODI's he has played in 48 matches against the 10 of Mulder and I rate  Mulder far ahead of him in any event,   I mentioned Mulder because his batting average is higher than any of the other batsmen who played recently - but still regard him as a rookie with huge potential in both batting and bowling.

In any event - while I agree with you about the rest your take on Verreinne is BS - there is nothing wrong with either his technique noir his strike rate in the few matches he played thus far.     If  anybody could beat all the betting records of Kallis at school level there is ZERO wrong with his technique.         

Bullshit he has won us some ODI games with the bat

He has a great technique and good striker of the ball

He looks a better bat than bowler to me. He does a job with the ball like Mulder does but has made more of an impression at international level with the bat than Mulder has

Andile has the potential to develop into a handy batting first bowling second all rounder and I like the fight in the lad

He is a better bat than Mulder for me at this stage

Your take on Verreynne technique confirms you know fuck all about cricket. The guy has a very average technique

As per usual Mike you are speaking utter shit re Mulder vs Andile

Mulder has a test average of 16, Andile 9

Mulder has a ODI average of 14, Andile 28

The better bat right now is Andile

Case closed

Dave

You are really suffering from delusion.   Andile played in four tests making in total only 19 runs, while in the two tests Mulder played he made  twice as many runs as Andile did.  

Andile played in 48 ODI's - some against very weak teams like Zimbabwe - and had a chance to improve his stats - give the same opportunities to Mulder and he would show how much better a player than Andile is.  

You have no case - but keep on thinking you have one.   Mulder is on the way up - and Andile is a not.   I prefer Andile to D Pretorius though. 

You are too fucking stupid to understand the obvious

I can’t be bothered discussing cricket with an idiot

No Dave

Stick to facts and not unfounded perceptions and I would normally agree with you.     

You have no facts at all

I know it's almost impossible to believe, but it seems ou Maaik knows less about cricket than he knows about rugby.

Lol did you watch the WC, Mike?

Andile pretty much showed the rest of the guys what lengths they should bowl on those pitches. 

And he did it at about 10 clicks slower than ou r specialist bowlers.

Very true Rooi

You mean the WC where the Proteas lost 7 of the ten matches played,  They were  all totally substandard players  and in the land of the blind cockeye was king,    Anyway Andile may play in ODI's and T20I games - but he is no star,   He is not a test players backside or perhaps he is.     

As Rooi correctly points out you know fuck all about cricket

So the proteas did well in the 2019 WC and did not disgrace the country and themselves the process?    

That has nothing to do with Andile you ignorant fool

I did not say anything - bit the truth.   In a horrible performing team he looked  better in a bad crowd.    I watched all the games and saw what a mess they made of squad selection.   The squad basically was the so-called squad basically comprised of the team that achieved a great disaster - the first time the SL team beat the lot in SA.   

The  SL loss was not a bad as Meyer's Japan Disaster - but came very close to infamy,

So lets face facts - 

*    the  Springbok squad for the 2015 Rugby WC was the worst ever representing SA and -

*    the 2019 Cricket World Cup Protea squad was the worst ever since cricket started om SA.

Amongst that lot the bar to look better than the others is set very low.    

"Posted by: Rooinek (11139 posts)

I know it's almost impossible to believe, but it seems ou Maaik knows less about cricket than he knows about rugby."

Says the one with nothing but contempt for off spinners...the backstabber who betrayed Ou Maaik and embraced a decade-long foe just because of Trump...you can't make up this stuff.