Anyone brave enough...

t o watch the Proteas 3rd ODI?

I lost interest a while ago, when Amla was still captain
Just didn't see anything worthwhile watching
Still don't  

 Root canal surgery seems a lot more attractive in comparison.

Absolutely slaughtering us today
Another 350 plus score I reckon 

 Going @ 6 per over....

269/5
Still 7 overs to go

 now going @ 7+ per over....foot soldiers up against professionals

 What was much more interesting was the Nkandla Constitutional Court Case and what Zuma now has to do and how Parliament made a serious judicial error by trying to nullify the report of the Public Protector.  
It was fun to see how the Constitutional Court judges asked some searching questions - they were seemingly not very impressed as to the way the Public Protector Report was handled initially and one wonders what they are going to find.  
What is clear is that a decision is required whether Parliament has the right to nullify remedial actions recommended by the Public Protector in the way it did and what the legal status of the remedial actions recommended by the Public Protector is.

S18 will be worse.

Not as bad as the Springboks were last year.   The Sharks already looked a much better team without Fat Fransie to bugger up their backline play.  

 De Kock reminding me more of GS by the day. Keeping his wits about him while chashing big scores....great knock by the lad under huge pressure. Amla also seems to be the pillar of strength we got used to in the past....still doesn't mean all is well,  but a bit less doom and gloom than expected. GO BOYS!!!!

 AB lost his nerve? Sends Wiese in at 3 with the score at 240/1 with 13 overs left?

 Wiese goes for 7, so a flop decision. 

 Faf next. AB is chicken. ..end of. A captain should lead from the front and this is the situation AB should thrive in. Poor captaincy.

 Draad 
There is a huge difference between GS and  De Kock.  The latter has all the shots and it is very difficult to contain him.  Smith was rather limited in hitting shots amd he was easily bottled up in innings though field placing.
That is why De Kock in two years made more centuries in ODI's than Smith did in his whole career.
What is amazing is his conversion rate - when he made 50 he would convert it to a century 66,7% of the time.    Other players normally has a string of fifties with about a third the number of centuries.   Amla's conversion rate is below 40 and so is the one of AB.     
   

 Mike, you are wrong about Smith, captaincy included he is our best cricketer since readmission  (my not so subjective opinion )

Hansie was our best cricketer and captain since admission. 

Kallas by a mile. The only Protea that has a certain place in any world team. 

 Hansie has broken cricket in SA. Kallis was our greatest allrounder AND bat. GS gave us an competitive edge by shear will.

 What nonsense, Kallis was a world class cricketer, a class act, arguably one of the alltime great allrounders and by far our best batsman and cricketer. There is daylight between him and any other South African cricketer.

Kallis is arguably the greatest all rounder ever, a phenomenal batsmen, great slip fielder and good bowler. Whilst I think he is our best cricketer since readmission, I think that Steyn runs him mighty close, the guy is one of the best fast bowlers ever...if you look and compare his statistics to the other greats, you could seriously make a case for him being the greatest. 

I hope we get to see one last frightening fast bowling session by Dale in his career....I fear that with injuries this might be curtains for him though

 Denny, I  said he was/is our greatest Bat and alrounder. I just happen to weigh more value to what GS brought to the table AND conceded that it might be a bit subjective. GS btaught something to the team that put us on top of world cricket. Something not measured in personal stats, but something that is clear when one take full stock of the achievements of the team with him at the front and without him. Go ask Kallis, Bouch and Polly.

 PS, its easy to back Kallis as our greatest ever. His stats speak for themselves.  I chose to be a bit nonconforming and think a bit wider than just obvious stats. Cricket is a wonderful team sport that rewards individual performances as well. Smith's legacy leans more towards the team than to his individual contribution.  Just as important,  but much more difficult to measure empirically. A much more refined look at the pure stats would be needed for that, but nonconformist that I am, I would rather go with my gut, than take the easy provable route. I might be wrong, but it would be just as difficult to prove as the alternative. 

 The greatest allrounder is Sir Garfield Sobers...end of.


Then there is a string including Imran Khan and Richard Hadlee.
Draad, I hear you, Smithy has to be respected for what he brought to the table as far as South African cricket is concerned and let's not forget he took control at a very young age and at a very difficult period. But like you say, it won't and cannot be recorded in the stats. To suggest Hansie as our best cricketer is laughable.

 Lets face facts - there is a difference between ODI's and tests.  Kallis was a great player in tests, the best allrounder ever and definitely a cricket great.   He was a better player than any other SA cricketer since 1992.
But in ODI's he had too slow a strike rate of 72,89 to be regarded as a great ODI batter - while he was a must in the team because of his bowling,  I would never rate him as a real top class ODI player - he was solid and that was about it when it comes to batting.  17 centuries in ODI's in his full career is not indicative of a great ODI player.
In ODI's the greatest ODI player since 1992 was AB de Villiers - with De Kock at an early stage of his career is showing massive promise.    In this regard a strike rate of 90+ shows greatness.
   

 ODI's? Lance Klusener without a doubt, especially if you see his heroics in match context....as for Sir Garfield vs Kallis? Different times and different opposition, but I would wager that Sobers played in a more dominant team and hence would have less pressure. ..but that's debatable.  As for Kallis, he was so consistent and made it look so easy, he did not look as impressive as he actually was. If you look at the stats in context, Sobers is second, and not as close as some would like to have us believe...I say again, different era's. 

Actually I forgot about Sir Garry when I mentioned Kallis as the best all rounder

Kallis is a close second, which is no shame when you consider how much of a superstar Sir Garry was

 I beg to differ, Kallis isn't a close second.....you have that wrong as well.

 Mike...what do you mean when you say "the best allrounder ever".....do you mean the best ever South African allrounder and that is possibly correct but it's an absolute nonsense to suggest he was the best allrounder on an international scale.

Who do you have ahead of him denny?

Lance Klusener?   Draad are you talking about the guy who lost the semi in the 1999 WC by taking a run that was never on?  He was a good all rounder - but nothing special in ODI's - a reputation player - nothing more.  he played in 175 ODI's and made 2 centuries and 19 fifties - even though he opened the batting in a substantial ODI's as well.   His strike rate was 89 - not as High as AB and De Kock.
A player playing 175 should on average have between 35 and 45 fifties and centuries - Klusener did not get anywhere near, 

 Draad you're quite right about different era's.......by that I mean, these days they play on smaller grounds with bigger and better bats. These days they learn their trade at cricketing academies, have coaches, and the benefit of what's gone before. As for Sobers playing in a better team......well, when you're out there facing up to the gazoonka's spitting out of Lillee and Thommo's fist like Sobers had to, and dispatching those two to all parts of the boundary then you do so without your team.

 Arguably Imran Khan or Sir Richard Hadlee. That said, I have both ahead of JK.

I'd be silly to try and argue that Kallis was better bowlers than the two, but he was a much better batsmen than both. 

Plus, his slip fielding is often looked over but he's been one of the safest and best slip fielders ever. 

I suppose it's horses for courses depending on who you are, but if I had a choice of the three I'd be having Kallis in my team all day. 

The way I see it

1. Sir Garry Sobers
2. Jacques Kallis
3. Khan/Hadlee
4. Botham
------------

Then the likes of Flintoff, Pollock

 One day cricket shouldn't enter the equation when choosing the best cricketer ..... Sevens wouldn't if we were choosing the best ever rugby player . Kallis is my no.1 .

Hansie was a lovable rogue .

 The difference is that Kallis was a slow batsman, Smithy had to pull him aside to sort it out and from thereon he played relatively quicker. Like Mike pointed out he was dreadfully slow in ODI's. The other difference is that Imran Khan captained his side to a WC ODI victory on foreign soil and as for Richard Hadlee, he played alongside of plodders, probably ahead of his time but showed his class by carrying his team.  The major difference with those two was that they had the ability to determine the outcome of a game......they brought a dynamic to a game. And hey, they fielded equally as good as Kallis but whether ball or bat in hand they had an awe inspiring presence whereas JK was rock solid and again....awfully slow in the ODI version of the game.

Okay Denny, I see your point. And actually, you're right maybe in a ODI game you wouldn't pick Kallis over them, despite Kallis being a ridiculously useful player to have. 

Although in Tests Kallis trumps them, he was the glue with which the rest of the line-up was built.  

So in limited over cricket, Hadlee/Khan edge Kallis

But in tests, Kallis edges Hadlee/khan

In my opinion anyway

Sounds like some are clinging to the hope that a South African is the best cricketer in the world and while we all agree that Kallis is a great I certainly don't believe he was the greatest......not while there was a gentleman by the name of Garfield Sobers....and now I'm  strictly speaking test cricket.

 Daddy, we are blessed that we've witnessed many good and great cricketers....few though had an awe about them.....I'm speaking the type of awe that made batsmen and bowlers crap themselves.....they're the ones I most admire and respect. They're the ones I've paid to watch.

It's hardly surprising, am I biased when talking about Kallis? damn right! Are Aussies biased when talking about the Don? of course, are Indians biased when talking about Sachin? definitely

I've already conceded that Garry Sobers was better than Kallis, but in my opinion not the other two, inevitably my views are molded by the fact Kallis produced many of the best sporting moments for me growing up