Talking Sports like gals do shopping

When looking at an ODI batting line up comprising of: Smith, Amla, Ingram, de Villiers, Duminy, du Plessis & Miller / Behardien, the first thoughts that pop in my head is solid & attacking. I think at first glance any Protea supporter will feel that these guys can get the job done on the batting front. However at 2^nd glance most Saffers will notice that one name isn’t on the list: Jacques Kallis. In my previous blog I said that if JK was match-tested , available And on form, I’d definitely play him, however I think we all can agree he’s none of the three if you consider: he didn’t play in the 5 game series against Pakistan, he made himself unavailable for the championship and he’s not exactly playing Hussey like innings there in India. So lets move on the 3^rd glance.Feel free to correct me, but of those 8 batsmen mentioned, AB & Miller are the form batsmen & are the only 2 that’s actively batting for their respective IPL clubs. Faf (even though back with CSK) & JP are coming back from long injuries, Biff (apart from a lovely 70odd he scored) is struggling with the bat in Surrey, Ingram & Behardien aren’t playing any professional cricket at the moment and Hash dropped (probably willingly) off the cricket world radar since the Pakistan series. Worried yet? I know I am when I see countries like India, Sri Lanka, Australia, West India & England (through county cricket) playing their players regularly in world class & very competitive leagues & tournaments while building up for the ICC Championship.

Lets go the bowling department. Of the 7 bowlers in 15men squad it’s safe to say Steyn has been the pick of the bunch if current form is anything to go by. In the IPL Morkel has been inconsistent & McClaren has only played one game so far. Phangiso last played in the T20 finals for the Lions and Rory, Tsotsi & Robby P hasn’t played cricket since the Pakistan series. Ok now I’m really worried considering we’re only playing one warm up game against minnows Netherlands before we kick off our championship against world cup champs India. 

What I’m not worried about is that the coaching staff of Kirsten, Upton and others will make sure that the team will be as best prepared as they can be in this short amount of time.  In fact I just read that Kirsten will once again make use of adventurist & motivational speaker Mike Horn to give the squad some oomph prior to the championship. The coach also mentioned that because of the short preparation time he’ll be a little bit more consistent in selection which is pleasing to hear pending he picks a starting 11 based not only on consistency but form (Miller) & experience (JP & Faf) as well. The latter being on very thin ice in my book, much to the disagreement of one of my best buds. My friend is one of those guys that when he likes a player, blindly believes that player is the best in the world, can walk on water & turn pepsi into coke. He also suggested that Faf should open which according to him will improve that stinking average of 27 of his but I really doubt Kirsten would do that.

But like my friend, I too have my favorite players & obviously love it when they’re doing well but cricket is a team sport & when I pick my starting 11, I do it based on whether I’m confident enough that those guys can do the job . But I’m not the coach and It will be interesting to see who Kirsten picks for that middle order. Miller just played the innings of his life, Ingram did just about enough to validate his place in the team, Behardien began to find his feet in that Pakistan series, Faf’s struggling with form as well as coming back from an injury & so is JP even though the last 2 are the more experienced of the 5.

Who would I pick for that 1^st game against India? We’ll after giving it some thought; my first 11 batting order would look like this:

Smith, Amla, Ingram, de Villiers, Duminy, du Plessis, Miller, McClaren, Petersen, Steyn, Morkel.

I have to say that I’m not over the moon about just having 4 bowlers with JP being the 5^th bowler and considering how comfortable India is against spin bowling, I was tempted to go with Tsotsi instead of Robby P but all in all, I think the 11 above will be able to beat them. Look, luckily for us (or unluckily depending on how you look at it), that irritating ‘C’ word is as reputable for the Proteas as the word ‘great’ is in Naas Botha rugby’s vocab, so we shouldn’t have as much pressure to win as say host England or other favourites like India or even Sri Lanka. My expectations is therefore not so high however I do have the confidence that we’ve as good a chance as any team to win the ‘ship a second time around.

I’m outy

Even though the Proteas’ middle order finally came to the party in the 1^st ODI last Sunday, they still have to do a lot more and do it more consistently to convince me that they can go into the upcoming ICC Championship tournament with at least 1 less thing to worry about (the other being death bowling but more on that later).

I’m very happy for Colin Ingram adding another ton to his name to go with that 70-odd he got against NZ but he will know that he’s not out of the woods yet when it comes to cementing a place in the 1^st eleven. The same could be said about Behardien who also showed what he’s capable of doing when in the mood. Their biggest obstacles (in my opinion) is one of South Africa’s greatest sports legends as well as a middle order stalwart with a 2 part name but known by his team mates simply as ‘Koppe’. I’m ofcoz talking about Kallis & JP Duminy. Luckily for the 2 incumbent middle order batsmen, it’s not that cut & dry. Kirsten mentioned earlier in the year that he’d like Kallis to stop playing the shorter formats of the game & concentrate only on test cricket which I guess is a reasonable request. But surely he’s got one (MAYBE even 2) high profile ODI tournaments in him. Yes, he did win the inaugural ICC Championship Trophy back in ‘98/99 & got 2 man of the match awards (1 in the semis & then in the final) but that was so long ago & given the Proteas’ reputation in major tournaments I’m sure he’ll want to win one again. So if Kirsten is in fact going to use him for the upcoming tournament, JK should at least get 2 – 3 matches under his belt which could spell trouble for Ingram… Or maybe not. A Biff, Hash, Kallis, Ingram, AB & Faf top 6 doesn’t look that bad does it. But the trouble comes in when/if JP’s fit to participate in the tourney. 

With the emergence of Faf du Plessis (especially in Test cricket), many fans forgot about Koppe & what an important role he plays in the team with his steady batting in the middle order (40+ average) & his spin bowling. What saddens this blogger is that it kind of looks like Faf has surpassed JP in the squad with naming him captain of the T20 squad & if I’m not mistaken vice-captain of the ODI squad while sporting a poor 27 batting average. I don’t want to come across like I’m bad mouthing Faf but stats don’t lie & all I’m saying is that if JP was fit, I’d pick him over Faf, Ingram, Behardien any day of the week because he has proved himself & the latter hasn’t… well not yet anyways. Would I pick JP for this ICC event if he hasn’t played any matches prior to the tournament, I don’t think so but I’ll definitely consider it.

So below I’ve illustrated my ideal 1^st eleven & the eleven I’ll pick for the championship considering injured or ‘dropped’ players

So in my ICC championship team I still chose Ingram coz I think he has done just about enough to be in my team regardless if Kallis plays or not. With regards to my ideal team, we all know that Johan Botha isn’t exactly mr. popular with CSA at the moment but that doesn’t deny the fact that he’s very good at building pressure by keeping the opposition’s run rate in check with his offies & he’s also got a very good cricket brain but whether he’ll be selected, I’m not so sure or in fact I sincerely doubt it. I couldn’t decide who I want at 7 coz lets be honest, ever since post-Klusener, we haven’t had a guy who could up the ante in those last 10 – 15 overs on a consistent basis. However, come the 2015 CWC, I really hope that de Kock would’ve cemented his place in the squad by then & taken over the keeping duties from AB.

The bowling or more specifically, death bowling has always been a bit of a weakness for us & that’s why I’ve got so many names at 10 & 11. Steyn & Morkel are at least familiar with the conditions in England but having said that, their performances in ODI’s are a distant second when compared to their test careers. No one has really put their hand up but if I was forced to pick 2 guys, I’d probably lean towards Steyn & Morkel. Having said that, I can’t understand why our pace bowlers don’t make use of the yorker more often. Who can forget during the T20 CWC when Albie Morkel was being dispatched to boundary time after time by Umar Gul coz he was bowling length ball after length ball. However the bowlers can’t take all the blame as they’re only doing what their captain asked them to do & the captain is only following a plan discussed by the team & coaching staff.

Speaking of plans, I also hope that Kirsten is done with rotating the middle order. Yes guys like AB, Faf, JP & Ingram can bat anywhere between 4 – 6 but as in the words of Kumar in Harold & Kumar goes to white castle ‘just coz you’re hung like horse, doesn’t mean you have to do porn’. And I’m especially referring to AB de Villiers coz he’s not just an exciting, talented cricketer anymore but now also the permanent captain of the side.  If you look at all the reasonably successful ODI captains (that was naturally attacking) like your Pontings, Gangulys, Flemmings, Smiths etc. they all had a preferred position & played that position most of their careers & I think it’s about damn time that AB should be allowed to follow that trend.

I’m outy

Even though Siddle & Co. huffed & puffed with all their might till the very last ball, they just couldn’t get past their opponents’ resilience & fight lead by debutant hero Faf du Plessis.

Honourable mentions should go to AB & Kallis for hanging in there with the Titans batsman & kudos to Rory & Morkel for providing much needed stubbornness in those last 10 pressurized overs. So instead of being 1-0 down in the series with the 3^rd & final test match coming up, the series is still drawn meaning we can still win it but unfortunately, so can Australia.

Just like during the last day & a half in the 1^st test match, this was their game to lose & I for one was a bit surprised when the ever-attacking Oz captain Michael Clarke gave us so many runs to get. Didn’t he have enough faith in his bowlers to bowl us out under say, 300 – 350 runs instead of the 430 he set for us to win? Sure there was still a lot of time left to go for a score of over 400 runs but the same could be said about getting 10 2^nd innings wickets right?

Onto the 3^rd one we Go!!

I’m very proud of the way our fighting spirit has come to the fore especially on Day 2 & 5 but the Proteas will know that we’ll have to improve in almost all facets of our game if we want to win this last test match. Let’s look at the bowling first:

As harsh as it may sound, the bowling has been poor when you consider the high standard these guys have set for themselves in the previous 2 or 3 test series. There has been some brilliant individual spells by some but we need that to become more frequent & for longer periods.

The biggest strength of our bowling department has been how soundly each bowler compliments the other guys & how well the back-up & 1^st change bowlers followed up the usually strong opening partners’ performances. With that being said it’s obvious that we not only missed Big Vern’s wicket taking prowess but the fact that he doesn’t go for a lot of runs as well. Ryan McLaren (no slouch with bat or ball) has been called up as cover for Philander & Kallis but I hope that he won’t be needed.  Kleinveldt’s minor improvement has shown us that he can mix it up with boys on the test level & I hope we give him another shot (pending Philander’s availability). Tahir, ai tog.. Look as terrible as he’s been in the last test match, he does offer something different & gives our bowling team some variety so I’ll play him in the 3^rd test. Now for the batting:

Please, please, please drop Jacques Rudolph!! You know I really hoped that he would provide at least one innings of substance, instead a rookie upstaged him (& some others) with TWO brilliant, veteran-like outings, something you’d expect from the likes of Rudolph. I hope that Kirsten doesn’t go all Heynecke Meyer on us & keep a player that’s clearly out of form. Hell, he couldn’t even repay Kirsten’s faith in him by moving him up the order to prove that he belongs in the team, that in itself should be enough to cut him from the starting 11. Dropping Rudolph also creates the perfect opportunity to bring in Thami Tsolekile which could help AB de Villiers to solely concentrate on his batting which (coz of his keeping duties or not) has also dipped in form. If that’s not the route the selectors want to go, then giving Dean Elgar a shot is also an option when you consider that like Faf, he also provides a spin option. I understand that we’ve been hit by some unlucky injuries (JP, Vern & Kallis), guys that have been heavily instrumental in our success of late & the well-balance of the team and consistency in selection certainly helped with that but some changes will have to be made whether it’s strategic or forced.

Keys to winning the series:

• We can’t allow Oz to go about their batting at 4 – 6 runs an over: Our bowlers will have to start building pressure batting situations for longer periods & frustrate their Ozzy counterparts who can get a bit antsy if the runs aren’t coming easily for them.
• Build more partnerships: More so on the bowling front, we can’t have say a Steyn go for 1’s & 2’s on the one end & the other bowler go for 8 or 10 on the other end.
• Remove Clarke & key batsmen early: Yes, Clarke is in the form of his life but just like our very own form batter (Amla), he does give us chances to get him out, especially early his innings. The Ozzies really depended on their middle order to get them out of some tough situations so we need to get to Wade & the tail a.s.a.p if we want a chance.
• Be more aggressive: It’s not in their nature to be as hostile & aggressive as the Ozzies but for the guy on the fence, it would like the they want to win more badly than the Proteas. Kirsten & Biif has no need to motivate their troops because everyone knows what’s at stake here but an aggressive mindset wouldn’t hurt.

Final word

I’m still confident that we can win the last match & with that the series because as below par as we’ve been AND to a certain extent, as dominating as Australia has been, they still couldn’t beat us in the 2 successive tries. Clarke even admitted that they ‘did their best’ & I’m sure Biff can’t say the same. Well they have one more chance, one last bite at the cherry & if they can step up a gear, I have no doubt that we can beat the Ozzies once again. And here’s the team I’d love to see doing would look like this:

Biff, Viro, Hash, JK, AB, Faf, Dean / Thami, Vern / Rory, Dale, Morne & Immy.  Feel free to let me know what you think.

Go Proteas!!!

I’m outy

First they had to battle the Poms off their nr.1 ranking in England & in a couple of days’ time, they have to defend that nr. 1 ranking against Ozzies in Australia. It just doesn’t get any easier for the South African Test team does it? They have the team to do it, of that I have no doubt but not so long ago playing Australia in Australia was one of test cricket’s most daunting tasks & by the looks of the Ozzies last 2 series’ there, it can be again. So with a few days to go, I decided to take a closer look at the 2 teams, how they compare to each other, what team got the upper hand and where etc. And this is what I came up with:

The Captains:

Whenever I read about Clarke’s captaincy, the words attacking & innovative are regularly mentioned & to a certain degree that is true but (with a bit of tongue in the cheek) what former Ozzie captain do you know wasn’t like that?? Clarke no doubt has the potential to become a great captain & it seems that the added responsibility has also helped his batting. He will definitely be tested in this series & so will his ‘attacking’ mentality because there are going to be lotsa times when he’ll have to be conservative against a formidable opponent.

Many cricket experts feel that Biff is a bit too conservative when captaining his side & sometimes the SA captain gives them a legitimate reason to feel that way but I’m not so sure. Yes, I do feel that there were times when he should’ve declared earlier than he did in a couple of matches but when I look at his approach when he’s batting I don’t see any of that conservativeness he’s been labelled as. He always to try to make his presence felt, always try to attack & dominate the bowler. So why wouldn’t  he do that when he’s on the field then? He will always have his critics (hell, I’m one of them from time to time) but he’s worst critic cannot deny that there are very few captains in the test arena that can match Smith’s leadership & captaincy at the moment.

The Top order:

I’m sorry to ask this Ozzy fans but is your opening batsmen combination settled yet coz I’m not so sure. We all know the too-quickly-labelled-great Phil Hughes is out & Watson moved down a spot to 3 in your last test series against the Windies where he averaged 32 odd. The openers of Cowan & Warner didn’t fare any better with the bat with averages of 25 & 28 respectively. Throw in a Ponting that’s far from the player once feared in the cricket world & surely this should be an area where the South African bowling attack should be licking their lips for.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves; we’re still talking about Watto, Warner & Punter here, 3 batsmen that can be your worst nightmare on their day.

On the other hand Darren, we have a South African top order that’s settled & spearheaded by run scoring freak, Hashim Amla. Smith always makes sure he provides some noteworthy performances against the Ozzies & I don’t think this time will be any different. And for those guys that’s still not convinced that Petersen is a capable opener on this level, a 42 average is very good. It just looks a bit bleh when it’s put around his top order partners that average almost 50.

The Middle order:

The 2 Michaels Clarke & Hussey will probably head the middle order of the Ozzies with Wade or Haddin at 7 & I see this as a bit of a soft spot that SA can target. (Wow, just had a flashback where someone like Gilchrist was batting at 7 for the Ozzies. At 7!!) I read earlier in the week that Mr. Cricket doesn’t have that great of a record against the Proteas so long may it continue. According to the test rankings, Clarke is Australia’s best batsman as he’s shown that in the last series against us, so getting him out asap should be top priority.

The Proteas middle order is led by the already legendary Kallis & the Ozzies would like to see his way back to the pavilion very early in his innings. This could be his last tour in Oz & I’m sure he would want to go out with a bang. Maybe another double ton ey JK? But when Kallis goes (or we lose our 3^rd wicket) AB de Villiers will come out to bat, another world class player in his own right. AB’s campaign in England was a bit frustrating for his fans & I’m sure for him too as he kept on getting starts but never converted them into big scores.

I don’t believe that keeping wicket has influenced his batting in a negative way & I think it will show in Oz. One guy that needs a big tour I think is Rudolph. JP had a lovely tour in England & Faf is a potential candidate for the 6^th spot so Rudolph will know that his.. rare is on the line & he’s not getting any younger either. JP & Faf also offer a little bit of spin which will definitely help their cases. Speaking of JP, it was in Aus where he made a name for himself in the test arena & his play in England has shown that maybe he’s come full circle as a batsman after a couple of disappointing seasons.

The Bowlers:

If you like pace, if you like to see ball whistling past the batsman’s ear, stumps flying & if you like the death-wish stare only a fast bowler can give then you’re in for a treat!! Not that these guys will need any help but Australian pitches tend to bounce & assist with pace which will make the battle between bat & ball even more intriguing. Even though Australia has more options in the pace department, they will still heavily rely on ‘old heads’ Siddle, Hilfenhaus & Harris to take the pressure off exciting youngters Starc & Cummins.

I’ve read somewhere that Cummins might not play in this series but I can’t wait to see how we’re going to handle Starc.

While the Ozzies will keep us guessing with who they’re going to play, they know that chances are very good that they’ll face a bowling trio some are already calling South Africa’s greatest. It was against Australia that Philander made the cricket world sit up & take notice so he’ll be raring to have another go at them. Morkel will certainly love the bounce he’ll be able to generate on the ozzy pitches and Steyn, well I think we all know we’ll see pace, swing & wickets from world’s nr. 1. But it’s not just the pacers that will play an integral part in the outcome of the test matches: Spin bowling will also have a say in this series.

There was this leggy that loved bowling at the Gabba & he was pretty damn good at. Uhm what’s his name again?? I’m sure it will come to me… Anyways many pundits have called on Tahir to start repaying the faith selectors have shown in him by delivering match winning performances like that other guy. Ofcoz I would love to see that too but Tahir actually hasn’t been that bad & he is getting better. Maybe it will happen Australia for him? Australian’s offy Nathan Lyon actually took the most wickets for his side in their last test series so they will definitely be looking at him to target the lefties like Biff, JP & Rudolph.

Mentality & Home advantage:

The Ozzies have always been a mentally tough side & they’re the masters of getting into their opponent heads ‘ with by use of chirps & breaking their concentration but South Africa has shown against England that not only can they handle the big moments of a match, they can grab it by scruff of the neck and ride it. The Proteas has also shown that playing away doesn’t bother them too much but playing the baggy greens in Australia is a whole nother beast on its own.

Final thought:

I honestly can’t pick a favourite coming into this test series. South Africa will come in with a lot of confidence after their triumph in England & Australia is on a bit of a roll with back to back series victories. I do think however that the winner of the 1^st test will definitely have their tails up for the rest of the series so we can expect a real humdinger at the Gabba.

And after writing this blog, I’ve done what I’ve promised myself not to do: Get excited!! Coz now I have to wait days to watch these 2 rivals have a go at each other. I remember during the last series in Australia where Morne Morkel gave Ponting such a nasty bouncer that the batsman had to gather himself while sitting on the ground. An inexperienced Morkel was well on in his way to check if he was okay only to be screamed upon & chased back to his run up by Biff, Bouch & even Kallis. I got goosebumps when I saw that & I know there are going to be more moments like that in the next couple weeks. It’s going to be a classic folks!! I for one can’t wait & I Know I’m not the only one.

Hopefully this could happen again..

I’m outy

What a test match!! What a series!! The boys did it again & this time got a title as the nr.1 test side in the world to boot!! What an amazing achievement to go up to England & almost whitewashing them in their own backyard to the 2^nd spot on the ICC Test rankings.

But the celebrations (though thoroughly deserved) are done (hopefully) & now we turn our attention to the ODI’s. Most of us Proteas’ followers will remember that after our ’08 test series victory, England beat us 4 – zip in the 5 match ODI series that left a bit of a sour taste in our mouths & brought the SA side & their fans down from their high they experienced a couple of weeks before.

WE CANNOT LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!! Mind you, the English ODI side has been pretty unstoppable the last couple of months (just ask the ozzies) & add the fact that they will be hurting from their test series defeat, they are definitely going to be tough nut to crack, maybe even more so than in the test series.

AB de Villiers & his men will have to come down from that series victory high & start from scratch again, something I’m sure Gary Kirsten & his coaching staff would be able to assist them with. Speaking of the captain, I saw on twitter that he & his test captain went to the movies to relax a bit & AB himself also tweeted that he’s spending a relaxing day with Biff while also catching some tips from a guy who just became the most capped test captain in the history of cricket. Marinade on that last part just for a bit.. Wow!!

I hope he won’t catch too many tips though because his own young captaincy is much like his batting: Exciting, innovative & successful as he’s shown against Sri Lanka & New Zealand. He’s obviously got the backing of his colleagues (young & old), his coaches as well as the country which is fantastic for any young leader of a national team. His batting form in England is a bit of a concern though coming into the one-day series but AB is a positive person & player and the shorter format of the game is tailor made for his playing style. I have the utmost confidence in him & this team to carry on from their form in New Zealand & either give the Poms a run for their money or better yet, beat them in a series again.

Our ODI team is not as settled as our test side with basically just nr. 6  & wickey a bit of a head scratcher with the latter side. I thought that our middle order batting were superb against NZ with Kirsten very cleverly rotating AB, Faf & JP when the situation required for it. This is not to say that our top order spearheaded by ODI’s nr.1 batsman, the Hash, wasn’t good but I just really impressed with 4,5 & 6. I thought that our bowling attack was even better than our batting in our last series & with luxuries like Steyn, Petersen, Tsotsi (nr.1 ODI bowler by the way), the Morkel bro’s, Tahir, McLaren, Ontong, Parnell & a part timers like JP & Faf to choose from, AB will have an abundance of options to choose from to stick it to the English.

There’s been word that Kallis will be rested for this series so the team I would like to see facing England would be:

Amla, Biff, Dean Elgar, AB, JP, Faf, Albie, Petersen, Morne, Steyn & Tsotsi.

It’s a team that can bat very deep especially since Morkel & Steyn has shown that they are very capable of playing a couple shots, we have 3 world class seamers with Albie no slouch as a 4^th one either & (basically) 3 slow bowling options that can take wickets, slow the run rate or simply just offer an alternative & ofcoz go through their overs very quickly. Throw in our world class fielding & you have a world class team that should trouble England and then some. If the warm-up game played against Gloucestershire is anything to go by, outsiders looking in like McLaren, Ontong, Parnell & Tsolekile might also get some game time but I really hope we get to see if Elgar can come to the party on the big stage. The guy (in my book) he replaced in the squad, Colin Ingram, has been too inconsistent & a little bit disappointing as well. I really hope Elgar comes through, Kallis (even though it may look that way) is not going to play forever you know.

I’m really excited about this series!!! It’s a bit weird for me coz usually I’d be more interested in the  current rugby tournaments going on but with the Stormers disappointing me (again) & the Boks currently playing a team they should win (by some distance), I feel myself more interested in the cricket than the ruggas. Maybe when we play the AB’s & Wobblies, it will change. But with England’s ODI form, the fact that they’re hurting AND the fact that we would wanna right the wrong that happened 4 years ago, this series will be just as exciting or even more so than the test series. So once again Go Proteas!!

I’m outy