England [400 & 248] beat South Africa [183 & 274] by 191 runs in the 4th Test, win series 3-1

[Manunited18]

I think [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] makes an emotional decision on whether he likes a player (Buttler) or not (Moeen) and then argues exhaustively.



He will be a young 32. He hasn't played that many matches.

Can't wait to see him flying in with Archer.

I'm sure majority of the England fans like me do appreciate what buttler has brought to the England set up over the years in the limited overs teams, hes been a revelation.
But test cricket is tough and there's always players who are made for different formats, I hope foakes gets a long run in the side he's definitely very much made for test cricket.

 

[Robert]

England is facing a sweet problem, come summer - selecting pacers. Too many choices and I believe Jimmy will come back for one last time. We might see an all pace attack for whole summer - whatever spin is required, Root can manage.

1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Vince/Moeen/Woakes
7. Fokes+
8. Curren
9. Archer
10. Wood
11. Jimmy/Broad

I think, they should play Woakes instead of 6th batsman as Stokes is almost a specialist bat these days. Woakes can bat and can be effective seemer.

First time in history, England might win all Six Tests in summer, unless it rains heavily or ECB implement their plan of 4 day Test. This is actually quite a good Test team and the inclusion of Pope & Sibley has changed the combination completely.

Woakes is not a test #6 and doesn't bowl incisively overseas. Sam Curran will be #6 eventually. But I would get Foakes in as the #6.

For SL:

1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Foakes+
7. Moeen
8. Curran
9. Archer
10. Wood
11. Leach

 

[Robert]

Lead past 400 now, but with oodles of time left Root may keep batting, see what Wasam Acurran can do with the bat.

 

[sindhiboy]

Woakes is not a test #6 and doesn't bowl incisively overseas. Sam Curran will be #6 eventually. But I would get Foakes in as the #6.

For SL:

1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Foakes+
7. Moeen
8. Curran
9. Archer
10. Wood
11. Leach

matt parkinson may make his debut in sri lanka

 

[James]

Bit of a lazy effort with the bat from England here, just tossing it off for the most part. Hopefully the English bowlers are able to show superior application in the final innings.

 

[sindhiboy]

eng's best all rounder has now come to the crease

 

[HitWicket]

Woakes is not a test #6 and doesn't bowl incisively overseas. Sam Curran will be #6 eventually. But I would get Foakes in as the #6.

For SL:

1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Foakes+
7. Moeen
8. Curran
9. Archer
10. Wood
11. Leach

Burns won't be fit for SL. Crawley in for Burns, Denly back in for Moeen and batting 3 (Pope back to 6), Bess in for Curran or Archer and possibly Broad in for the other one for me.

 

[MenInG]

RSA 183
ENG 400, 248-all out (61.3) CRR: 4.03
Day 3: 3rd Session - England lead by 465 runs

 

[MenInG]

HENDRICKS AND DE KOCK HELP RESTORE PROTEAS PRIDE



Sunday, 26 January 2020

BEURAN HENDRICKS claimed a maiden five-wicket haul on debut and Quinton de Kock claimed a world record for the quickest wicketkeeper to 200 dismissals as the Standard Bank Proteas regained their fighting spirit and pride on the third day of the final Test match against England at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.

England nevertheless continue to hold the trump cards as they have set the Proteas to make 466 for victory in the remaining two days.

It was a heroic performance by the Proteas seamers who were deprived of the services of Vernon Philander’s final Test match bowling effort as he was ruled out by a hamstring strain after sending down only 9 deliveries.

Admittedly, some of the England batsmen gave their wickets away in the chase for quick runs but it was still a notable effort to bowl them out in little more than 60 overs.

It must also have left the South Africans wondering how much better their position could have been had they not had two bad periods of play when they first allowed England to get away with a century stand on the opening morning when bowling conditions were favourable and then when they allowed the England tail-enders to smash 82 in 10 overs and then lost 6/88 in reply.

Be that as it may, the Proteas may have put in some useful building blocks for the future even if the immediate present has some dark clouds.

Hendricks took 5/64 in an effort from which he will have learned a great deal and there were also good performances from Dwaine Pretorius who had earlier scored valuable runs in partnership with De Kock and Dane Paterson (a remarkable 1/18 in 13.3 overs).

Anrich Nortje completed an admirable quartet with two wickets to give him 7 in the match. He is the leading wicket-taker with 18 in the series and Stuart Broad is the only realistic person to have a chance to overtake him and to do that he will have to run through the Proteas as he did in his previous Test match at this venue.

It is, in fact, one of the ironies of the series that the Proteas could have the leading runs scorer in the series as well in De Kock whose first innings 76 is the top score in the match to date.

De Kock achieved his 200th dismissal in only his 43rd Test match as wicketkeeper. Overall this was his 47th Test match but he was not the designated keeper in two of those matches and did not keep in two others because of injury when AB de Villiers deputized.

The third day was a triumph for England fast bowler Mark Wood who completed a five-wicket haul to go with the valuable runs he had made the previous day.

Joe Root made the only half-century when England batted a second time, but they had useful partnerships down the order, the most important probably being the 56 for the first wicket between Zak Crawley and Dom Sibley that made sure that the South Africans would not bowl themselves back into the match following their first innings deficit of 213.

 

[Manunited18]

Bit of a lazy effort with the bat from England here, just tossing it off for the most part. Hopefully the English bowlers are able to show superior application in the final innings.

Agree completely, to think a few of these bats had a oppurtunity to score hundreds with little or no pressure given England's position and they just played care free, going forward against a India or Australia it's gonna be tough, it's imperative once you get in make sure you cash in big.

 

[Mamoon]

Need South Africa to show some fight and save some dignity. Would be great to see Faf score one final hundred with South Africa scoring between 300-350.

Won’t happen though. A 200+ runs defeat coming up with de Kock playing a lone hand again.

 

[Manunited18]

England need to show no mercy and grind em with the dirt, so far they have shown the same application when they played India 2018 at home and crushed em like a juggernaut, this time south Africa are feeling the force of it.

 

[Ab Fan]

Good series win for England after successive losses to Kiwis and Australia.

 

[James]

Good series win for England after successive losses to Kiwis and Australia.

The Ashes series was tied.

 

[tyron_woodley]

We always do well in South Africa any way, they have declined but I'm not sure there that bad.
As for woods he's the quickest bowler in the world on a consistent bases and no matter who you are no one likes 95 mph tjunderbolts coming at you, I just hope he's fit for next 2 years as he could be pivotal in Australia IF FIT

nhaa south africa isn't bad at all. Just inexperienced. A good win for England no doubt.

I still don't think any Asian team apart from india would win away in south africa.

also England did win all 3 tosses in the last 3 games. wonder if that affected the result. faf has the worst record when it comes to losing tosses and the game consequently.

his record whilst winning tosses is actually quite good. Either way no excuse to lose by a lopsided margin. toss factor should only be applicable if it's an away team consistently losing the toss. home team have no excuses to not win regardless of the toss factor.

 

[tyron_woodley]

England need to show no mercy and grind em with the dirt, so far they have shown the same application when they played India 2018 at home and crushed em like a juggernaut, this time south Africa are feeling the force of it.

india wasn't current india when they played them last. no bhuvi who is India's best exponent of swing. Besides it wasn't even crushing if you watched the game.

Apart from game 2 and 3, every other game was a closely contested match.

 

[rollingstoned]

Yea but I am saying even with all the advantages of batting first stacked against India, India still could have won had they picked the right players. The opening pair now plus middle order is far better.

England have impressed me. I am actually shocked they destroyed South Africa in this series. Andy is probably done but he can still pull out a few tricks.

Broad, archer, wood, Woakes, Curran. They should play with all 5 of them for depth. Put foakes as number 6 or Buttler.

Top 5 will be sibley, burns, crawly, root, stokes.

Pope or Curran/Woakes will Be a difficult conundrum. I personally would drop Denny and then move Pope to 6 move Buttler to 5.

if you remember before the series i had said for the first time SAF are going into a home summer series as underdogs. It isn't because England are some juggernaut but just that the Saf side is just that bad and going through a few issues on the administrative side while also attempting to get their cricket team to better reflect their demography. England are not a great team but they know how to keep circling the drain without disappearing as their home summers show and have a long batting, something that has saved them a few times the last few years.

 

[Robert]

nhaa south africa isn't bad at all. Just inexperienced. A good win for England no doubt.

I still don't think any Asian team apart from india would win away in south africa.

also England did win all 3 tosses in the last 3 games. wonder if that affected the result. faf has the worst record when it comes to losing tosses and the game consequently.

his record whilst winning tosses is actually quite good. Either way no excuse to lose by a lopsided margin. toss factor should only be applicable if it's an away team consistently losing the toss. home team have no excuses to not win regardless of the toss factor.

du Plessis said he would have inserted England had he won the toss. Sometimes it is not clear what the right option is.

 

[Robert]

The Ashes series was tied.

I think he means that England did not regain the Ashes.

Which was annoying, but not as much as the first Ashes series loss at home since 2001 would have been.

If only Jimmy hadn’t broken down after four overs, and the rain had held off in the second test....

 

[Ozymandiasza]

Pulling off anything other than a loss would be a great achievement. Batting for 2 days? Hmm...

 

[andy0204]

I think he means that England did not regain the Ashes.

Which was annoying, but not as much as the first Ashes series loss at home since 2001 would have been.

If only Jimmy hadn’t broken down after four overs, and the rain had held off in the second test....

Stokes was plumb lbw at Headlingley but umpire didn't gave lbw and also Australia didn't have a review,So Australia was also robbed in third test,it's better to accept both the teams played well.
Stop being a hypocrite.
You keep mentioning this many times but ignore the other side.

 

[tyron_woodley]

du Plessis said he would have inserted England had he won the toss. Sometimes it is not clear what the right option is.

nah in australia and south africa. Even in England key is to bat first. Always bat first. Especially in Australian and south african conditions.

Anyway your boys are looking solid actually.
burns
sibley
crawley or denly?
root
stokes
pope
foakes
woakes
curran
archer
broad

I think England with this team could trouble australia in australia. I believe this team could beat australia in England.

backups obviously will be denly, buttler. England's batting depth will help then in SENA countries.


stokes woakes foakes. c'mon you got to play all three. it rhymes.

 

[jnaveen1980]

Come on SA. Show some spine for once.

 

[Abdullah719]

Rassie going after Root!

 

[sindhiboy]

nah in australia and south africa. Even in England key is to bat first. Always bat first. Especially in Australian and south african conditions.

Anyway your boys are looking solid actually.
burns
sibley
crawley or denly?
root
stokes
pope
foakes
woakes
curran
archer
broad

I think England with this team could trouble australia in australia. I believe this team could beat australia in England.

backups obviously will be denly, buttler. England's batting depth will help then in SENA countries.


stokes woakes foakes. c'mon you got to play all three. it rhymes.

No wood?Wood may be engs most important bowler in aus
Woakes should only play at home, he has been smashed at aus

 

[Robert]

Stokes was plumb lbw at Headlingley but umpire didn't gave lbw and also Australia didn't have a review,So Australia was also robbed in third test,it's better to accept both the teams played well.
Stop being a hypocrite.
You keep mentioning this many times but ignore the other side.

Many times? Twice perhaps.

It was Leach not Stokes, and if the Aussie skipper had not got every single review call wrong over five tests, Australia would have won the series. But he did, and they didn't.

 

[Robert]

nah in australia and south africa. Even in England key is to bat first. Always bat first. Especially in Australian and south african conditions.

Anyway your boys are looking solid actually.
burns
sibley
crawley or denly?
root
stokes
pope
foakes
woakes
curran
archer
broad

I think England with this team could trouble australia in australia. I believe this team could beat australia in England.

backups obviously will be denly, buttler. England's batting depth will help then in SENA countries.


stokes woakes foakes. c'mon you got to play all three. it rhymes.

That's what Bradman said. In England it can be a bit iffy - the forecast might be overcast on day one but belting sunshine for the next two days. So you might want to risk inserting the oppo in the hope that they are out for under 200, then bat on the sunny days.

 

[Manunited18]

Whilst woods is eye-catching when he performs but also you have to be realistic, hes got a long history of injuries and he rarely completes a series, also 2 years down line he will be 32 with 2 years of hard grind behind him, id be hoping to get olly stone fit, even though not as quick as wood but not far off, also a fit Jamie Overton with a s3ason of county cricket behind him could be a ace, I'm not totally convinced with woods for ashes in Australia in 2 years time

 

[tyron_woodley]

No wood?Wood may be engs most important bowler in aus
Woakes should only play at home, he has been smashed at aus

oh yea wood. man his action terrifies me. Hope he doesn't get Injured.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Whilst woods is eye-catching when he performs but also you have to be realistic, hes got a long history of injuries and he rarely completes a series, also 2 years down line he will be 32 with 2 years of hard grind behind him, id be hoping to get olly stone fit, even though not as quick as wood but not far off, also a fit Jamie Overton with a s3ason of county cricket behind him could be a ace, I'm not totally convinced with woods for ashes in Australia in 2 years time

mate these days players look after their bodies better. top players can play til 37 38 if they are fit enough. Their strength and conditioning should be top notch though.

 

[Manunited18]

mate these days players look after their bodies better. top players can play til 37 38 if they are fit enough. Their strength and conditioning should be top notch though.

Yes but mark wood isn't your normal fast medium bowler, hes a tear away quick who is relentless all day, add his history of injuries and that ashes is 2 years down the line in not totally convinced

 

[MenInG]

ENG 400, 248
RSA 183, 118/2 (40.1) CRR: 2.94
Day 4: 2nd Session - South Africa need 348 runs

 

[sindhiboy]

mate these days players look after their bodies better. top players can play til 37 38 if they are fit enough. Their strength and conditioning should be top notch though.

Don't think there is a fast bowler in history who has maintained his pace at 36.

Only swing bowlers like Anderson can maintain their pace.

Neil Wagner is the only one I know, who at 33, is still bowling quick in his mid thirties

 

[Manunited18]

Wagner is basically a aggressive fast medium bowler, against the Aussies it was mainly his angle that was troubling them rather than his speed which was around 135 k

 

[tyron_woodley]

Wagner is basically a aggressive fast medium bowler, against the Aussies it was mainly his angle that was troubling them rather than his speed which was around 135 k

135 is a bit generous lol. I saw him trundling at 128 lol. but his 128 - 135 seemed more potent than say your average trundler. Good seam position maybe.

 

[imshally81]

Uneven bounce ....

 

[sindhiboy]

Would be a very interesting 4 day test.

Safrica would be looking for a draw

 

[imshally81]

Would be a very interesting 4 day test.

Safrica would be looking for a draw

only 140 overs remaining....

 

[imshally81]

Lucky Boundary....

 

[sindhiboy]

Feel jofra would've been handy on this pitch

 

[MMHS]

Woakes is not a test #6 and doesn't bowl incisively overseas. Sam Curran will be #6 eventually. But I would get Foakes in as the #6.

For SL:

1. Burns
2. Sibley
3. Pope
4. Root
5. Stokes
6. Foakes+
7. Moeen
8. Curran
9. Archer
10. Wood
11. Leach

Didn’t think about SRL series, but I think Burns won’t be fit for that, neither Jimmy, Archer might not be either. Also, they’ll need two spinners probably.

It was about English summer squad and yes, Woakes is too high for 6. But, I kept his name there as an alternative option for 6th batsman - obviously Foakes will bat higher than both Woakes & Curran.

I think, in English summer, only player that should come ahead of these two all rounders is Moeen, for his combined contribution of batting & a bit of spin; otherwise both Woakes & Curran are quality for English conditions. They can average 2.5 wickets/Test and may be 35 runs as well - that’s probably better contribution than any specialist batsman available for No. 6.

 

[sindhiboy]

Spinners have been hammered.

No wonder no team picks a spinner at the wanderers

 

[Manunited18]

135 is a bit generous lol. I saw him trundling at 128 lol. but his 128 - 135 seemed more potent than say your average trundler. Good seam position maybe.

I meant fastest 135k, so theory he's a quick bowler is not true

 

[MMHS]

great fight back by SAF - if they can take it to day 5 lunch, it’ll be an achievement. They are indeed struggling for on & off the field issues, and ban of Rabada didn’t help, but a fight back here will restore pride, confidence among players. Even in this tough time, they are showing the difference in class with the lower half of Test teams.

I do think SAF would have competed much better had they won all four tosses instead of losing all fours. Last thing for a struggling batting unit is to face quality Test attack every time from behind.

 

[Robert]

Faf falls. Stokes coming in fast again, close to Wood speed.

Good partnership that.

 

[Titan24]

Clutch knock from Van Der Dussen.

 

[Robert]

Clutch knock from Van Der Dussen.

Oh dear, he deserved a ton there. Brave and determined in the face of England pace, chasing infinity.

 

[sweep_shot]

South Africa could've pulled this off 5 years ago but not sure about now.

3-1 for England is very likely.

 

[MMHS]

Won’t go to day 5 then, I guess. Still 37 overs left and light permitting, they can add 8 more. Also new ball is due in 19 overs time.

Van Dussen should have resisted till Tea - he tried to reach there before Tea and paid the penalty; this is probably what T20 has brought into cricket - players can’t play out for sessions. There are so many wickets falling these days with in last 15 minutes of a session or just either side of a milestone (100) actually tells about the mental endurance of a batsman these days. He was on top of his game and playing mighty well - just needed to survive two overs and could have seen through the new ball today.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Won’t go to day 5 then, I guess. Still 37 overs left and light permitting, they can add 8 more. Also new ball is due in 19 overs time.

Van Dussen should have resisted till Tea - he tried to reach there before Tea and paid the penalty; this is probably what T20 has brought into cricket - players can’t play out for sessions. There are so many wickets falling these days with in last 15 minutes of a session or just either side of a milestone (100) actually tells about the mental endurance of a batsman these days. He was on top of his game and playing mighty well - just needed to survive two overs and could have seen through the new ball today.

maybe but du plesis wicket was just a brilliant ball. stokes with his GOAT stuff again.

 

[MenInG]

ENG 400, 248
RSA 183, 188/4 (61.4) CRR: 3.05
Day 4: 3rd Session - South Africa need 278 runs

 

[James]

It’s been a respectable scrap this time from SA - to bowl England out for under 250 and then get to 200-4 in reply - but 466 to win was always impossible and it now looks like this will be over either late tonight or perhaps tomorrow morning.

 

[sindhiboy]

England players are sledging alot, even quiet guys like woakes and root.
Not normal for them, to act like aussies.

The world cup win has gotten into their heads .
Wonder why they didnt sledge the aussies during the ashes.

 

[Robert]

England players are sledging alot, even quiet guys like woakes and root.
Not normal for them, to act like aussies.

The world cup win has gotten into their heads .
Wonder why they didnt sledge the aussies during the ashes.

You would wonder that, given that Aussies are unable to take any stick and would lose it!

 

[Robert]

It’s been a respectable scrap this time from SA - to bowl England out for under 250 and then get to 200-4 in reply - but 466 to win was always impossible and it now looks like this will be over either late tonight or perhaps tomorrow morning.

260-7 - could be two more hours left so it should be wrapped up by COP.

 

[jnaveen1980]

How will the test championship table look like after this England's win? Since England vs NZ series was not part of the Test championship they didn't lose anything there.

 

[Robert]

Another for Woody. Can he get ten in this match? Surely he is Player of the Match.

 

[Robert]

Oh dear, a run-out. No ten for Woody.

 

[sindhiboy]

wood averaged 13 with the ball.

run out denied him a 10 fer this match

 

[Robert]

3-1 to the Ingerlund, 3-1 to the Ingerlund!

Great job by Roooooot and the boys. They have a great team spirit and are all working for each other. Root is handling the bowlers well. The young batsmen are stepping up. Stokes had a good series with the bat and appears to be at full capability with the ball again with fast aggressive spells. Wood has been a revelation. When Archer comes back we could have a three-pronged pace attack going forward.

 

[MenInG]

WOOD TAKES ANOTHER FOUR TO WRAP UP SERIES WIN FOR ENGLAND



Monday, 27 January 2020

MARK WOOD followed up his five wickets in the first innings with four in the second to bowl England to a 191-run victory and a 3-1 series success in the fourth Test match against the Standard Bank Proteas at the Imperial Wanderers Stadium on Monday.

Having already contributed to a significant 10th-wicket partnership in the first innings he was the obvious choice for Man of the Match while Ben Stokes who excelled with bat, ball and in the field was named Man of the Series.

The Proteas looked as though they might take the game into a fifth day on the back of a stand of 92 for the third wicket between Rassie van der Dussen (98 off 138 balls, 15 fours and 2 sixes) and Faf du Plessis but England made a critical breakthrough just before the tea interval to dismiss both batsmen.

The last six wickets fell for just 39 runs, three of them falling to Wood who had earlier dismissed Van der Dussen.

Van der Dussen’s performance was the biggest plus point from a South African point of view and he showed himself to be a quick learner after the struggles he had had in Port Elizabeth. He has made most of his runs in this series on the quicker highveld surfaces but he is growing quickly and the way he played the spinners today showed that he is taking his experiences on board and benefiting from the international experience provided to the dressing room by the coaching staff.

The battle between himself and Du Plessis for the Proteas and Stokes and Wood for England in the hour after lunch was as intense a session of Test cricket as he is ever likely to have to endure.

The tour to the West Indies in the middle of the year should give him the opportunity to develop his game further on slow pitches.

The series marked the end of an outstanding international career for Vernon Philander who has joined some of the other legends of the past who had previously headed into retirement.

The two teams now turn their attention to the three-match Momentum One-Day International Series starting next week.

 

[andy0204]

2nd overseas series victory for Root as a captain,
Iam worried for South Africa since they are going through West Indies route.

 

[Robert]

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/averages/batting_bowling_by_team.html?id=13057;team=1;type=series

England averages....

Pope averaged 86, Sibley 54, Root and Stokes 45

Wood has 12 wickets @ average 13 from two tests, Broad 14 @ 19 in four, Stokes 10 @ 22 from four.

Stokes also took 12 catches (more if he hadn't dropped 5 in the third test) while Buttler took 14.

Remarkable figures by any standards.

 

[Robert]

Broad has 45 wickets in SA from 12 test matches, average 24.

Stokes averages 54 with the bat and 26 with the ball in SA from eight tests.

Seems that they like playing there!

 

[Manunited18]

Fantastic and a ruthless performance by England and particularly by the pacemen

 

[Amjid Javed]

Good series win by england against worst SA team since readmission.

Lets see how england fare in summer when they play their bogey team pakistan.

 

[Robert]

Good series win by england against worst SA team since readmission.

Lets see how england fare in summer when they play their bogey team pakistan.

Nice damning with faint praise there.

 

[The Viper]

Whilst this SA team is weak, England comprehensively dismantled them.

Finally the selectors have selected Pope and Sibley and they both showed their quality.

 

[sindhiboy]

Good series win by england against worst SA team since readmission.

Lets see how england fare in summer when they play their bogey team pakistan.

Amir was really effective, his absence will weaken paks bowling.

Pak batting barring babar is weak. Azhar and asad are in horrible form.

Think eng will win, with Shaheen and Naseem showing a bit of fight back

 

[tyron_woodley]

Amir was really effective, his absence will weaken paks bowling.

Pak batting barring babar is weak. Azhar and asad are in horrible form.

Think eng will win, with Shaheen and Naseem showing a bit of fight back

shaheen naseem will cause England serious problems. I think it will be a close series. pak can win.

This England team sure does look good though for SENA conditons.

broad archer and wood would be ideal imo.
then you can have curran plus a spinner.

 

[tyron_woodley]

anderson is done. should be anyway. still has a few bag of tricks. but he should retire soon.

broad will be there for 3 more years.
archer
wood


backups;

stone
coad
tongue


backups are all very SENA specific type bowlers. stone maybe has potential but all I remember is him getting belted in odi. odi isn't test though.

 

[jnaveen1980]

shaheen naseem will cause England serious problems. I think it will be a close series. pak can win.

This England team sure does look good though for SENA conditons.

broad archer and wood would be ideal imo.
then you can have curran plus a spinner.

No. England will win. You have to realize England despite not having these outstanding world-dominating batsmen (at least not in form) they have the deepest batting line up in the world. Each and everyone will scratch around 30, 40 runs and put up a total of 300 to 400 plus minimum every time. This is an inexperienced attack. They face guys like Markwood, Broad, Archer in the nets. What are the odds these guys are going to trouble their batsmen?

 

[tyron_woodley]

No. England will win. You have to realize England despite not having these outstanding world-dominating batsmen (at least not in form) they have the deepest batting line up in the world. Each and everyone will scratch around 30, 40 runs and put up a total of 300 to 400 plus minimum every time. This is an inexperienced attack. They face guys like Markwood, Broad, Archer in the nets. What are the odds these guys are going to trouble their batsmen?

shaheen can move the bowl both ways at pace and he is better than all 3 in my opinion.
naseem has raw pace and has a mean bouncer. He will trouble plenty.
I think it will be a draw again.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Nice damning with faint praise there.

He is right though. This is easily the weakest SA lineup and are even weaker than they were last year. England's real tests will be when they tour the likes of Australia, India, Pakistan and even NZ again .

 

[MenInG]

Despite the crushing 3-1 loss to England in the Test series, South Africa Test captain Faf du Plessis believes that over time his young side will only emerge stronger from this rebuilding phase.

South Africa, who were clinical in the first Test at Centurion, winning by 107 runs, suffered consecutive defeats in the next three game as England overpowered them.

After a huge 191-run loss in the final Test at the Wanderers, du Plessis, whose own form has come under scrutiny, acknowledged the lack of experience of his largely untested side.

"That's the reality of where we sit. We've put some good things in place with the strong, experienced coaching team. We know that, through time, they will guide players," he said. "But the experience we are lacking now will also take time."

Despite former greats Mark Boucher (head coach), Jacques Kallis, and Graeme Smith (director of cricket) at the helm, retirements of regular players has left the team unbalanced. The Proteas fielded as many five debutants in the four-match series with a new-look bowling attack. Their batting was poor and the lack of solid first-innings scores hurt them in every game.

Yet du Plessis remains confident that his team has shown glimpses of greatness and, given time, will bounce back stronger.

"There is still a gap in terms of the next tier of bowlers and where they need to get to [compared to] Rabada, Morkel, Philander, Steyn," he said. "Anrich Nortje had a fantastic series and we always knew he had pace, but to be able to adjust lengths on different pitches and conditions is exactly what we need now.

Faf du Plessis' scores in this Test series: 21, 20, 1, 19, 8, 36, 3 and 35Faf du Plessis' scores in this Test series: 21, 20, 1, 19, 8, 36, 3 and 35
"We need guys to come into Test cricket and just shine. I think we've had nine debutants in eight Test matches ... and it just shows where we are. We're a team that will take time."

Du Plessis, whose scores in the series read 21, 20, 1, 19, 8, 36, 3 and 35, does not want to dwell too much on his personal form. "I'm sitting here extremely disappointed and I know the coaching staff is disappointed and you guys and the fans should be disappointed, but every team goes through this," he said.

"It can look and feel quite bad, but there is a lot of talent and I think you've seen that a lot of people are trying to get the system right so that in two years' time we will be the team that we need to be again."

The white-ball leg of the tour begins next week, with the first ODI in Cape Town on 4 February.

https://www.icc-cricket.com/news/1590806

 

[Robert]

He is right though. This is easily the weakest SA lineup and are even weaker than they were last year. England's real tests will be when they tour the likes of Australia, India, Pakistan and even NZ again .

Consider how Sibley and Pope have come on, playing away against a very good attack.

Obviously tougher tests await, but I think Wood will do well anywhere now as long as he stays fit. I can’t wait to see him take the new ball with Archer. It’s fifteen years since England have brought heat like that.

 

[jnaveen1980]

shaheen can move the bowl both ways at pace and he is better than all 3 in my opinion.
naseem has raw pace and has a mean bouncer. He will trouble plenty.
I think it will be a draw again.

Barely 4 months back Naseem shah couldn't break through Indian under-19 batting line up. He picked up some lower order wickets. Two India under-19 batsmen made 100s against his bowling. We shouldn't get carried away. Raw pace means zilch these days. Priyank Garg Indian under-19 captain stands a couple of feet outside to face Bhuvaneswar kumar.

 

[tyron_woodley]

Barely 4 months back Naseem shah couldn't break through Indian under-19 batting line up. He picked up some lower order wickets. Two India under-19 batsmen made 100s against his bowling. We shouldn't get carried away. Raw pace means zilch these days. Priyank Garg Indian under-19 captain stands a couple of feet outside to face Bhuvaneswar kumar.

indian under 19 batting is top quality though. paddikal, jaiswal would demolish fast bowling easily. I am not even surprised about that.
Not getting carried away. shaheen in particular has shown massive improvement. He showed his quality in the world cup and he also stood out vs australia and in the u.a.e. His support cast let him down. Don't forget abbas is very good in swing conditons. Naseem is a bit raw but he has potential to be devastating.
Pakistam also don't have a mental block vs England.

 

[Nikhil_cric]

Consider how Sibley and Pope have come on, playing away against a very good attack.

Obviously tougher tests await, but I think Wood will do well anywhere now as long as he stays fit. I can’t wait to see him take the new ball with Archer. It’s fifteen years since England have brought heat like that.

This a better test team and has a lot of potential for sure. I just don't think England can gauge how good they are by these performances against a very weak SA team. Nortje was playing his second series, philander was well past it and Rabada has not had the same pace and venom that he had before his stress fracture. Not to mention their batting which barely looks international standard these days. I think the tour of India will be this team's true litmus test . If England can hold their own over here , that would quite an achievement.

 

[sindhiboy]

This a better test team and has a lot of potential for sure. I just don't think England can gauge how good they are by these performances against a very weak SA team. Nortje was playing his second series, philander was well past it and Rabada has not had the same pace and venom that he had before his stress fracture. Not to mention their batting which barely looks international standard these days. I think the tour of India will be this team's true litmus test . If England can hold their own over here , that would quite an achievement.

rabada was not that brilliant against india at home 2 years ago to be frank.

eng's batting is not world class but just good enough to survive in difficult conditions. openers and middle order has shown immense potential, once foakes coming for jos butler(limited test batter), batting line up will be much better

if eng manage to win 2 tests in india this year, that would be remarkable