State of SA

Thoughts on the SA test side right now..

- No balance due to quota selection.

- De Kock is the worst pick as a captain since Chibhabha

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There needs to be some clarity in my opinion for the blokes coming into this side.

The players they took on this tour are some of the most talented they've included for ages.

Vereyne, Mulder, Peterson and George Linde are guys I've wanted in and around the squad for months, but they never seem to be able to get in.

For me, they need to do away with Faf and Bavuma.

Du Plessis is 37 in July and he's not doing it enough for somebody of his experience. Yes, he scored 199 against Sri Lanka but it seems to be every blue moon now. Bavuma doesn't score hundreds, and that's simply not good enough for a test cricketer. For 44 games to have only just passed 2000 runs is appalling and shows he isn't good enough. I know he scored 62 in this game but it's another example of poor mental strength. He simply needs to score more hundreds.

Bring in Keegan Peterson for Bavuma, he's a stupidly good batter and Kallis has said on record he's the best black African batter in the country and one of the best currently on the domestic circuit. Get him in!

Why am I seeing Beurin Hendricks in the squad, again?! The epitome of a quota selection. Simply not good enough and never will be. Left arm donkey drops when you have other, genuinely fast left arm quicks in the locker: Nandre Burger, Marco Jansen and Stefan Tait. I hate this quota selection. Players like Bavuma, Shamsi and Hendricks are getting selected when they shouldn't be.

Drop Du Plessis, bring in Vereyyne, drop Bavuma, bring in Peterson, drop Shamsi from the squad. Over rated and self indulged self believing myth of a spin bowler!

There's been some really really bad shots played as well.

I'm glad they didn't drop Nortje for Ngidi. Another over rated bowler who's been given the red carpet treatment.

George Linde wouldn't have played had Shamsi been fit apparently.

You also have young Marco Jansen there and Daryn Dupavillion who i don't think will play for South Africa for some time. While Rabada is there and Nortje, they have to select Sipamla or Ngidi to keep up with their quota of coloured cricketers. They should look at NZ as an option 😂

sloandog wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 2:43 pm

There's been some really really bad shots played as well.

I'm glad they didn't drop Nortje for Ngidi. Another over rated bowler who's been given the red carpet treatment.

George Linde wouldn't have played had Shamsi been fit apparently.

You also have young Marco Jansen there and Daryn Dupavillion who i don't think will play for South Africa for some time. While Rabada is there and Nortje, they have to select Sipamla or Ngidi to keep up with their quota of coloured cricketers. They should look at NZ as an option 😂

I am not sure about Linde, could he do a job on non turning tacks, is he a good enough batter to bat in the top 6. It strikes me that he would be competing with Mulder for the number 7 spot and outside Asia I feel that he would get edged out.

I don't rate Ngidi at all, Nortje has been outstanding in the last couple of tours.

I rate Linde more than Shamsi and Maharaj mate. He's tall and get a lot of bounce and turns it more than both the other options.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_Etdy_o2xA

Watch Jannaman Malan bat on this clip. He should be opening the batting in LOI's at the very least. What a talent.

There's a bit of Gibbs in the way he bats

And for those wondering for a left arm quick bowler, look at Nandre Burger in that clip. Pace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HyEfh30R-c

2:10 look at that for pace and carry. Yet SA keep picking the likes of Hendricks. It's pathetic

Couple of very good names mentioned there Kyle Verryene and Janneman Malan, also Wiaan Mulder. South Africa have some really good young prospects, they need to be brought in and persist with. Results will eventually come.

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:12 pm

Couple of very good names mentioned there Kyle Verryene and Janneman Malan, also Wiaan Mulder. South Africa have some really good young prospects, they need to be brought in and persist with. Results will eventually come.

Mate they won't get a look in, that's the issue.

If South Africa want to get a player of colour into the ODI side or the test side, look no further than Tony De Zorzi: https://www.espncricinfo.com/southafric ... 97183.html

His FC stats aren't great at the moment but his LOI stats are improving constantly and he's a gun. Bavuma himself should be used more in ODI cricket because he's naturally quite gifted, but he is NOT a test match batter. He doesn't score hundreds.

Verryene, J.Malan, Van Tonder and Keegan Peterson are 4 boys that should be seriously looked at in the next 2 years to be the bedrock of the batting.

In Van Der Dussen they've found an absolute gun. He's mentally and technically very strong and only 31. His FC stats are excellent and he's been throuhg the grin of playing hard cricket.

They need to get rid of Du Plessis now and drop Bavuma from the test side, and get rid of Shamsi.

Bryce Parsons is a name to remember as well, wow. Talented kid!

Marco Jansen, Nandre Burger, Sipamla, Stefan Tait and Lasipo Rasupme are 5 boys who will have a major impact if they get some exposure in some T20's and the odd ODI's. They are young, tall and fast, three of which are left arm! Jansen is going to be a ridiculous talent. Think of Shaheen Afridi but taller.

I said it years ago when everyone was creaming their jeans about Bavuma that he wouldn't cut it at Test level for South Africa, what's that now 44 Tests and only one century with an average in the low 30's ? As Sloan said that's not good enough and is simply embarrassing that a country like South Africa who are supposed to be competing with the big 3 carry a guy like this for political reasons.

None of the serious established test nations would give a player so much time and so many chances, it's embarrassing.

I agree QDK shouldn't be test captain, can anyone explain why Elgar isn't captain? He's the logical choice from where I'm standing

I've heard rumours the captaincy is between Markam and Bavuma. Neither would be my first choice at the moment. Markram they are looking at because of the success Graeme Smith has when he was a young bloke, but I think it's too big a risk right now.

Bavuma shouldn't be anywhere near captaincy conversations. He needs to go back to FC cricket and do what Van Tonder has done, score big daddy hundreds and double hundreds.

sloandog wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:16 pm

sam_ahm wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 5:12 pm

Couple of very good names mentioned there Kyle Verryene and Janneman Malan, also Wiaan Mulder. South Africa have some really good young prospects, they need to be brought in and persist with. Results will eventually come.

Mate they won't get a look in, that's the issue.

If South Africa want to get a player of colour into the ODI side or the test side, look no further than Tony De Zorzi: https://www.espncricinfo.com/southafric ... 97183.html

His FC stats aren't great at the moment but his LOI stats are improving constantly and he's a gun. Bavuma himself should be used more in ODI cricket because he's naturally quite gifted, but he is NOT a test match batter. He doesn't score hundreds.

Verryene, J.Malan, Van Tonder and Keegan Peterson are 4 boys that should be seriously looked at in the next 2 years to be the bedrock of the batting.

That's the problem, they have to abide by the transformation rules. Verryene can still come in for Faf eventually but I note they are playing only 4 colored players in tests, will probably compensate by playing more in T20s.

This is why Hashim, Philander and JP were massive losses, they were world class players and also helped in filling up the transformation numbers.

Duminy wasn't world class mate come on, look at his test numbers- as bad as Bavuma.

But yea, they need to include players of colour but just use the T20 side for that s**t, test matches demand your best players are included.

Keegan Peterston will be the next batter to debut in the middle order, of that I have no doubt. But I still want to see Vereyne or Van Tonder in there somewhere. Du Plessis needs to go.

Give Janaman Malan an opening slot for a year and let him acclimatise. He's already scored 129* against Australia in an ODI.

Be savvy SA, for the first time in ages there's a lot of good prospects at the right age coming through and they need blooding.

Still think Marco Jansen should be in the T20 squad for the upcoming games against Pakistan

Haha.. Duminy was still better than the likes of Bavuma, Ashwell Prince and Alviro Peterson mate. Played some really good Knocks, he faded away in the 2nd half of his career.

I'll agree he was much better than Bavuma.

Ashwell Prince should have done a lot better than he did given the amount of talent he had. Some batters thrive on the pressure like Graeme Smith did and others simply flounder.

I'm glad Muelder is being given opportunities but I thought he was much quicker than that. When he debuted in 2018 during an ODI against Sri Lanka he clocked up to 140kph, so not sure where that's disappeared to.

I think South Africa are destined to go the way of the West Indies, notch a few impressive victories here and there but ultimately not be competitive with the big boys.

Yea they have regressed dramatically. They probably peaked as a team around 2008, in my opinion. They were most talented during the mid 90's and have only been close to that when Amla, De Villiers, Smith and Ntini were around. Since then there's been bursts of excitement but overall they have been poor. They will never replace Kallis