South Africa v WI, 2nd Test, Cape Town, 2-6 Jan

Patrick Patterson
I still remember guys like Manjrekar desperate to run away merely at the sight of this giant hurtling towards them.

Henry wrote:Since Re-Admission, South Africa's batting was at it's strongest around 99-00 when Cullinan was world class, Kallis was world class, Kirsten was world class, Gibbs was coming of age, and Cronje was making useful contributions.

Bit players like McMillan and Symcox also contributed with the bat during that period.

McMillan usually went in up the order though; Symcox was a lower order thorn in many sides. He'd be a better bat than all bar Kallis of the current day mob.

Every batsman knew exactly how many studs Patterson had on his left boot.

Re Smith- He's pretty aggressive. It's a bit harsh to say he hasn't got any shots when his strike rate in ODI's is around 80 and in tests around 60. He just doesn't stay in that long these days.....

No doubt he'll score a pile of runs against England this summer, though.....

Patterson allegedly made some disparaging remarks to Bradman, along the lines that he'd be his bunny.

Smith won't make a run against the poms - the ball swings in England and his technique doesn't cater well for the swinging ball.

He somehow fluked a quick 80 odd against you in the World Cup though. Must have been a mirage.

I always felt that Cronje's batting suffered because of the captaincy. He seemed to put so much energy into the captaincy that he hardly seemed to have any left for batting. On his day, he was as good and destructive as anyone, and most who saw him bat against Aus in 1994 thought that he would become South Africa's next great batsman.

Actually Henry with most of their players out of form you could be facing a very new line-up in England after mass omissions.

And there's no depth in the RSA. I think cricket is in a moribund state there and may struggle to survive with the non-white players not coming through in big enough numbers and most of the whites having emigrated.

KP was easily their most talented player and he chose to be seduced by England, including its women.

Seems SA doesn't even have enough decent looking women to satisfy its blokes.

the new improved hoggard should get the better of smith this time around.

Certainly i can't see england feeding him legside like last time.

He'll be dropped by then PDY.

Another interesting thing is that the Aussie players (and English for that matter) tend to look in great shape while some of the Saffas aren't sportsmen. Kallis somehow carries off his excess weight but Smith would have one of the worst physiques I have ever seen on a cricketer.

Would you really say Kallis is fat?

I don't think they will drop smith because of his batting.

He would have been dropped if they had lost to India at home, and he will be dumped if they lose to the WI but if they(SA) win i think he will be kept on no matter how he does with the bat.

If SA loose this series and Smith doesn't make runs then he'll be dropped. The question is, who becomes captain? They'll probably be worried about over burdening Kallis, Prince's spot in the team isn't a certainty, Boucher is reluctant to captain.....

Step up Shaun Pollock?

Pollock should have never been dumped as test skipper in the first place.

You don't dump a test skipper with a great record because he duffed up a one day game.

Rally round the West Indies

Edwards, Powell and Taylor to cause even more damage hopefully.

Must admit that our batting lineup does worry me:

Gayle - good, but could be more consistent to say the least
Ganga - Not good enough
Morton - Not good enough
Samuels - Immensely talented but doesn't average only 30 by chance
Shiv - Only truly World class batsman we have
Bravo - Very talented, but gives his wicket away after 30/40 runs with regularity.
Ramdin - Again extremely young and talented but is in a form slump.
Sammy - Solid lower order batsman

They played above themselves in the first test but Sarwan needs to come back asap, and we need a new opener with a decent FC record.

Sammy has impressed me, more because of his character than anything else. Not the most talented of players, but seems to give his all every time.

Henry wrote:If SA loose this series and Smith doesn't make runs then he'll be dropped. The question is, who becomes captain? They'll probably be worried about over burdening Kallis, Prince's spot in the team isn't a certainty, Boucher is reluctant to captain.....

Step up Shaun Pollock?

Well, now Fleming appears to be out of the running, I really thought that, as Smith is still only 26, he was a serious contender for being the first person to captain his team 100 times.

Fleming? Wtf? Stay off that Cornish weed woman!

Fleming has been captain for 80 test matches.

Oh, I get ya. You're talking captains in WORLD cricket. *Sheepishly withdraws his previous statement and smokes some of his OWN weed.*

Just for your info

I find it ironic that someone can deride Smith for having no technique and then two seconds later sing Chris Gayle's praises. There are three batsmen who I have never been able to understand how they ever made Test careers for themselves - Trescothick, Sehwag and Gayle. Obviously they have phenomenal hand-eye coordination, but I've always been flummoxed as to how their complete lack of any sort of footwork could've allowed them to play at the highest level with any sort of success. Gayle has a mediocre Test record at best though, and may have survived only due to the lack of options available.

Smith, Gibbs and Prince are our biggest batting concerns. Amla doesn't have textbook technique, but I haven't got my finger so far up my nose as to think that technique is the be all and end all of an international cricket career. He has plenty of talent and aptitude and I feel we should stick with him for a while. McKenzie is a good replacement for Gibbs though, although making him open is pretty stupid. He's never succeeded as an opener, as anyone who watched his first stint in international cricket could testify to. De Villiers should open again and McKenzie should bat at 5. And how long is it going to be before they let JP Duminy start his international career?

Of course, this highlights another one of our major problems - a complete lack of brains amongst the decision makers. The Windies went into the 1st Test with more match practice than SA did, as the powers-that-be didn't allow any of the Test squad to play in the domestic FC compettion. So they came in cold and the Windies came in warm.

I shall now resume drinking.

How about that Jaques Rudolph?

His season is over, thanks to a Dale Steyn bouncer.