who do you think will be JK's replacement...any ideas? ....or who do you think it should be? With regards toTahir, I reckon he's out of the side for good after his last poor show and RP's outstanding achievments with both bat and ball in his latest effort.
Denny
First of all it must be borne in mind that none of the pitches where they are going to play the Aussies are really spin bowler friendly. My idea is that we need not have a spinner in the tests and can replace him with a bowler - with Duminy to ne used for spin bowling.
We also need to strengthen our batting- so I would say there eed to be two replacements, namely-
* De Kock to open the batting and take over Wicket keeping duties and
* bring in Elgar or Abbott to replace the spinner,
In the T20 matches Kallis is not involved at all and we are playing only ODI's in July and then Kallis may still be an option.
Mozart
That does not answer Denny's question. Peterson is already in the team and as you rightly point out - he is not a spinner at all. For me the spin ball issue is dead when pitches are not spin friendly and none of the pitches where the Aussie tests will be played are spinner - friendly.
I know you want to avoid the issue of De Kock at all costs - so you would rather not see reason and suggest no option and carry on about De Villiers as WK. It really have nothing to do with the issue. De Villiers is a class batter and keeper - but De Kock is a very good batter and keeper. In the longer term he has better prospects as a keeper than De Villiers and I would not waste a position by keeping De Villiers as WK purely for the sake of getting in another batter ahead of De Kock .
Denny
The problem is not so obvious in the case of the ODI"s. Since March 2013 Kallis played in only 4 ODI's for SA. His record was as follows:-
Runs - 76
Balls faced - 137
Overs bowled - 19 (In 3 ODI's - he di not bowl in 1)
Wickets Taken - 1
Runs given away - 117
The above is not particularly good statistics and it was evident that Kallis was not the key he used to be in the ODI's. Matter of fact of the 76 runs Kallis made - 50 was in one ODI - where he took 90 balls to make the 50 runs.
The above indicates that his impact on ODI games over the past year was minimal and his replacement in ODI's has already been achieved.
That was the reason why I was unhappy with having both Kallis and Graeme Smith in the ODI squad. The latter's stats were even wore than Kallis's
I hope Amla hasn't fallen off his perch.....he had three very strange dismissals against the Indian fast/medium bowlers. As for de Kock I have no problem playing him as a number four bat. Based on his brilliant one day record, he is the obvious choice.The question then is, do we have enough bowling. I think we have to assume our fourth and fifth bowlers are going to bowl a great deal to Haddin. Without Kallis that could be a disaster.
Aside to the Oom, you have been running off at the mouth about me not wishing to play de Kock. Based on what? Cricket is more of an individual game.....like tennis or golf. Young super talents can be succesful very early, witness Graeme Pollock or B arry Richards. Rugby is a team game where you contribute to a pattern of activities....and it's a game of strength.....most youngsters are on a steep upslope that has them much more ready at 23. Hope that helps.
Mozart
Thanks for the explanation. I am also of the same opinion as you as to rugby - I normally do not over punt youngsters and said repeatedly in the past that the prime performance period of players are from 25 to 29 years of age.
There are specially gifted players younger than 25 that can and should be considered, but they are rare and not to replace experienced players with high performance levels.
Where I differ from you is your insistence of over 30 players who are on a steep downward slope insofar as performance is concerned. I do not pretend like you do that they still perform adequately when the opposite is the case and that fact hits you in the face. There are rare exceptions here too - but the rule is that 90% of the over-30's should be replaced asap.
Some good points there guys.
Dave
I'm a huge fan of Marchant de Lange by the same token Abbott doesn't appear to be a world class bowler....hope I'm wrong on that one. And yes I also agree with JP Duminy filling the allrounder role which will mean there are 4 genuine quicks and 1 part time spinner come allrounder. I'm also a huge fan of Dave Millar, a big hitter down the order in the mould of Klusener but I don't see him as a test bat...not yet anyway.
Mike
I think the selectors are faced with the nice dilemna of choosing between Elgar and De Kock.....I would choose QDK without any hesitation bearing in mind his wk duties is a bonus. I also take on board your point that we're doing alright in ODI without an allrounder, that's if you don't regard Ryan McLaren as an allrounder.
Moz
Amla, I agree has found strange ways of getting himself out, I like you hope that he hasn't fallen off his perch, if he has then we are in serious shyte if one thinks in terms of the always reliable JK is no longer there.
