Agree with you 100%

The Proteas were very succesful, both home and away, when they went with spin heavy attacks.

For T20s   Spin > Pace

"Reeza Hendricks instead of Brevis??? " Well, Reeza is World Class, so I don' t mind the selection at all.

Shamsi is a surprise, I would also have thought that Brevis would be in the side.

But it appears to be a strong side now we need the selected players to deliver.

I honestly feel that there's not much point picking specialist bowlers in T20.

I'd rather bat down to 11, with a couple of bowling all-rounders and 4-5 batting all-rounders.

Markram - ave 30.60 - eco 8.27 - SR 22.2

Shamsi - ave 22.20 - eco 7.38 - SR 18.0

Is there enough of a difference between these two to warrant picking a the specialist bowler when he can he barely hold a bat? Particularly when average means far less than strike rate and economy in T20. So a specialist bowler gives you roughly a 10% better position...but now compare their batting averages...I'm sure Markram's is close to 3x that of Shamsi's. In terms of straight over all value, it's pretty clear which offers more, so logic says have more of that in your side.

I dunno, but it's strange to me that we want to select different players for the shorter format but still believe in balancing teams the same way. Leaving well in T20s isn't nearly as valuable as it is in 50s or Tests. Power is far more valuable in T20s than it is in 50s or tests. The list of pretty start differences is very long.

...and yet all the cricket world has come up with is to basically put a few more adventurous batters into sides.

Spot on Plum

That is my view as well.

T20 is a slog contest and to include an additional spinner in a aquad of 15 to a WC is amaturest at best.

Besides Markham and Brevis are both good bats, both can spin as per Denny's posting so why add an additional spinner at a cos t of a batter/spinner being overlooked.

Color code numbers must have been the reason I guess.

Shamsi is a surprise, I would also have thought that Brevis would be in the side.

No not really, I've been saying this for years, Shamsi is an average spin bowler and so is Bjorn Fortuin but they are typical of selections made by South Africa......colour trumps mediocrity. Here, some facts, both are white ball specialists and if any good they would be playing in the worlds premier white ball competition.....the IPL.....would you not agree? Well, ask why not? Perhaps the brains trust of the various Indian franchises is missing something..... I doubt it. Truth be told the Proteas lose nothing by omitting them from the squad and going with Markram and Brevis to share 4 overs between them. And with that Brevis adds to our batting potency. Exactly the same can be said of white ball specialist Reeza Hendicks.....why can't he land a contract in the IPL?

There's one other thing that bothers me and that's our top order. At a guess Rickelton and Quinton will open the innings outside of the pool games but then who bats at first change? I'm of the opinion that the bulk of the runs should come from the top order, Quinton let's be honest has never been a World Cup performer and Rickelton will be a rookie in his first world cup. The role of first drop is to straighten up the order in the event of a failure amongst the openers....who in the squad will fill the role? Or perhaps I should ask who in the squad is a solid enough batsman to fulfil the role? At the end of the day no matter the format of play nothing changes the fact that the role of the top order is to lay an innings foundation. Our top order looks flaky....hope I'm proven wrong.

Look forward to posting alongside of you AJ, appreciate your input and tx for making the ladies WC a most enjoyable experience. I also hope Rooi, Dave and Mike join in with us as I value their opinions even though we might not always agree hahaha.

You forget me off you list full-o-Dentsie.

How will I ever recover from this deepest cut.

I will try to respond and apologise once I stop crying.

Sniff sniff

Thanks Denny, with you on the top order batsman setting a good total.

I trust that this will be the WC that they perform and that the bowlers can restrict the opponents batsman.

To many wides and No Balls delivered in a game are give aways.

Stay tuned this might just be our teams year.

Plum your comments and knowledge on rugby and cricket are always appreciated.

Well all I can say is that we had a poor opening game against the WI' side.

Quinton once more failed to deliver as did the rest besides Hendricks.

I think we all have high hopes for Dewald Brevis and there's no question he looks the part . . . but to be brutally honest, so far it's all still hype rather than actual performance. The batsman who can feel a bit aggrieved based on actual performance is Rilee Rossouw. 

C'mon Proteas!

https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/west-indies-vs-south-africa-2024-1433350/west-indies-vs-south-africa-1st-t20i-1433362/match-report

2nd test underway..........

https://livetv787.me/enx/eventinfo/209670890_west_indies_south_africa/#webplayer_alieztv|222927|209670890|2397551|261|41|en

Well another day and yet another loss.

Getting comfortable with the losing game from the squad thus far.

Cannot see this squad making any progress in this WC series.

A dismal performance from all except in this last game Quinton at least showed some promise with the bat.

Simply put this quad is outclassed and a poor example of the talent that RSA does have in the game of cricket.

Not blaming the players but obviously the biggest issue is with the SAC board and the selection criteria introduced by the powers that be.

Same old story over and over.

Wake up and get real if it is at all possible.

South Africa slumped to a second successive T20I series defeat to West Indies. They have not won a T20I series out of the four they have played under white-ball coach Rob Walter and kept "making the same mistakes," van der Dussen said.

Rob Walter is clueless, so also is CSA  director of cricket, Nkwe. To make matters worse some key players are carrying niggling injuries, one is Ottniel Baartman who interests me, I think he could play a role. Nortje's lack of form continues and I would drop him for Baartman providing he's fit. The top order is a joke, leaving out Faf was stupid. A fit Rabada is our main bowling hope. On paper our batting strength is in the middle order with Klaasen, Stubbs, Miller and to a lesser extent out of form Markram and Jansen.

I'm afraid to say the team and the two clowns don't inspire a lot of confidence, there has to be a quick smart U Turn starting with Sri Lanka. The Proteas must beat Sri Lanka, it's an absolute must .