SA v England Test Series

[International]

I am yet to test the water with the better half about spending some time in J'burg for work aroung the time of England's first Champions Trophy game there. The only problem being that she will be 3 weeks away from her due date :S

 

[zyderman]

Got to take Monty surely

Why?! I'd be more of a threat than him at the moment.

In his last two games rashid has taken more wickets than panesar has all season (10) and scored two tons.

 

[The mighty Grecian]

Nah, on form it's Rashid above Monty, and the chances of a match needing two spinners in SA are very slim.

Zyderman - Nah, Mahmood is still very much the same "I'll bowl it up the other end and hope for the best" type of bowler. Hasn't got a clue what he's doing.

I actually think we'll do OK in SA. Call it some kind of mad feeling if you will but I suspect they might be vulnerable. EDIT: We won there last time...

Can never forget the fourth test match of that series

One of the best ever Batting innings by an England player and one of the most devastating bowling spell took place in that match

The test series are about 4 months away hence no point in predicting a line up however just for England sake they stick with Anderson, Broad and Onions

 

[Strongbow]

Pretty surprised that nobody has suggested a wicket keeper other than MJ Cant-catch. Personally I'd have Foster, Ambrose, Davies, Jones, a blind sloth and Batty above him.

 

[glos_grecian]

I hope nobody pounces on the person who starts a thread on this topic nearer the time. *Sigh*, Threads merged etc etc.

 

[The mighty Grecian]

Pretty surprised that nobody has suggested a wicket keeper other than MJ Cant-catch. Personally I'd have Foster, Ambrose, Davies, Jones, a blind sloth and Batty above him.

thats because Prior had a decent series with both gloves and bat in the ashes

only complaint is that he didnt convert any of his starts into big 100s

with Stuey Broad potentially batting at number 7 its important that Prior plays

 

[zyderman]

Pretty surprised that nobody has suggested a wicket keeper other than MJ Cant-catch. Personally I'd have Foster, Ambrose, Davies, Jones, a blind sloth and Batty above him.

What! did you see any of the ashes. Priors glovework was immaculate, far better than haddin. He's clearly put a lot of work in and is now a quality keeper & batsman. Geraint jones would be #2 for me as his batting is so much stronger than the other candidates,bar maybe phil mustard. Foster and read are quality glovemen who can't hack it with the bat in test cricket.

 

[Jason H]

Geraint Jones better with the bat? Maybe in 2004 he was. His F-C average now is 32, which is lower than Read and Foster, and has been on a downward slide for years. Heck, even the best keeper in the country (Scott) is close to matching Jones with the bat despite an awful season.

Not sure where Strongbow is coming from re: Prior. I'm not his biggest fan when it comes to keeping, and would rather we had our best keeper (Foster or Scott) there, but he has matured into someone who no longer costs the team, indeed he is now more than competent. With England needing to pick 5 bowlers and not having genuine all-rounder who can bat at 6 - at least not yet with Broad still developing - the keeper/batsman is the way to go, and Prior is a more than capable #6.

 

[Red Nose]

So anyone planning a visit to SA this winter then? The Durban and Cape Town tests are very tempting...

 

[zyderman]

Geraint Jones better with the bat? Maybe in 2004 he was. His F-C average now is 32, which is lower than Read and Foster, and has been on a downward slide for years. Heck, even the best keeper in the country (Scott) is close to matching Jones with the bat despite an awful season.

Not sure where Strongbow is coming from re: Prior. I'm not his biggest fan when it comes to keeping, and would rather we had our best keeper (Foster or Scott) there, but he has matured into someone who no longer costs the team, indeed he is now more than competent. With England needing to pick 5 bowlers and not having genuine all-rounder who can bat at 6 - at least not yet with Broad still developing - the keeper/batsman is the way to go, and Prior is a more than capable #6.

Thought Jonesy had been batting well this year. Just checked his averages, he ahs scored 1247 runs @ 51 this summer, with 5 tons. He's a quality player.

Read and Foster are the two best keepers, Jones and Prior the two best keeper-batsmen.

Prior is quite rightly in the slot at the moment as the best batsman and a very very good keeper.