South Africa v Australia, 2nd Test, Port Elizabeth, 20-24 February, 2014

No longer under-cooked, and with a bit of tweaking, Saffies seem likely to take revenge.

Tone not set.

Australia unlikely to make changes unless forced to do so by injury.

Saffies likely to bring in de Kock, Parnell, and Abbott for the useless Peterson and McLaren, and injured Morkel. There's no point in choosing a specialist spinner if Peterson is their best ... may as well use Duminy.

lardbucket wrote:No longer under-cooked, and with a bit of tweaking, Saffies seem likely to take revenge.

Tone not set.

Australia unlikely to make changes unless forced to do so by injury.

Saffies likely to bring in de Kock, Parnell, and Abbott for the useless Peterson and McLaren, and injured Morkel. There's no point in choosing a specialist spinner if Peterson is their best ... may as well use Duminy.

...unless they bring back the pea hearted Twatto to give them another bowling option in which case you'd expect Doolan to be the unlucky stiff.

Big Dog wrote:

lardbucket wrote:No longer under-cooked, and with a bit of tweaking, Saffies seem likely to take revenge.

Tone not set.

Australia unlikely to make changes unless forced to do so by injury.

Saffies likely to bring in de Kock, Parnell, and Abbott for the useless Peterson and McLaren, and injured Morkel. There's no point in choosing a specialist spinner if Peterson is their best ... may as well use Duminy.

...unless they bring back the pea hearted Twatto to give them another bowling option in which case you'd expect Doolan to be the unlucky stiff.

itll probably depend on the strip they serve up at port elisabeth. we can manage well enough on a greentop with harris johnson and siddle but it makes a sick sort of sense to give them a bit of support on a flatter pitch
just wish it didnt have to be watson

Moody was on the wireless this morning suggesting that they wouldn't risk Watto for T2 given is it only a couple more days away.

Thankfully none of the quicks bowled a stack of overs in T1 so workload shouldn't be an issue.

Can't see Watson coming in for T2 unless Harris needs resting; even then they would probably prefer Pattinson.

Harris doesn't need resting. If anything, he looked like he needed a gallop. His last couple of spells in the match were his best.

It'll be a disgrace if Twatson is brought back at the expense of Doolan. And it would only be to stop him dragging his fat bottom lip around the dressing room.

A conundrum for the Yarp curators. Now that Midge has shown that his fantastic form is still very much a current thing, a green seamer might be out of the question.

skully wrote:A conundrum for the Yarp curators. Now that Midge has shown that his fantastic form is still very much a current thing, a green seamer might be out of the question.

You'd think so though they seem to prefer this because it would bring Steyn and Philander into the picture unlike at Centurion when it was up and down. Of course Harris wouldn't mind a seamer either.  I heard the SA commentators say that PE tends to be flatter and more spin conducive.  It's Parnell's home patch so you would think they might play him ahead of McLaren who tries hard but doesn't look like a test cricketer. Okay in shorter forms though.

Hope we are unchanged.

BTW the AB keeping scenario is even weirder given their fielding woes. Their best fielder has the gloves.  

From the cricinfo headlines:

Australia in South Africa 2013-14

Watson unlikely for Port Elizabeth

'Hard to fit him in when you're winning' - Lehmann

So basically he is the kind of bloke you want in a losing team...

No doubt we will now hear rumours of Twatto's discontent.

still he thinks he should be captain...still thinks he should open the batting...still thinks he should never have to bowl unless he wants to...sounds like a non starter

OP Tipping wrote:
From the cricinfo headlines:

Australia in South Africa 2013-14

Watson unlikely for Port Elizabeth

'Hard to fit him in when you're winning' - Lehmann

So basically he is the kind of bloke you want in a losing team...

desperation selection. always was always will be

I am not loving all the Watson hate on this thread.

OP Tipping wrote:
From the cricinfo headlines:

Australia in South Africa 2013-14

Watson unlikely for Port Elizabeth

'Hard to fit him in when you're winning' - Lehmann

So basically he is the kind of bloke you want in a losing team...

Good news.

PeterCS wrote:I am not loving all the Watson hate on this thread.

not really right there petey...the guy is just not good enough for test cricket as his record shows but has an enormous sense of entitlement....

horace wrote:

PeterCS wrote:I am not loving all the Watson hate on this thread.

not really right there petey...the guy is just not good enough for test cricket as his record shows but has an enormous sense of entitlement....

Agree but is sounding more and more like Lehmann won't change a winning team.

Red wrote:

horace wrote:

PeterCS wrote:I am not loving all the Watson hate on this thread.

not really right there petey...the guy is just not good enough for test cricket as his record shows but has an enormous sense of entitlement....

Agree but is sounding more and more like Lehmann won't change a winning team.

Nor should he. Watsons batting has been as brittle as his body lately. Our bowlers have had an extra day to recover so Watsons bowling should'nt be needed.

Well Lehmann said that 'Watson is hard to fit in when we're winning.'

BTW can't believe Petersen keeps retaining his place; he's averaged 23 over the past year.

Big Dog wrote:

Red wrote:

horace wrote:

PeterCS wrote:I am not loving all the Watson hate on this thread.

not really right there petey...the guy is just not good enough for test cricket as his record shows but has an enormous sense of entitlement....

Agree but is sounding more and more like Lehmann won't change a winning team.

Nor should he. Watsons batting has been as brittle as his body lately. Our bowlers have had an extra day to recover so Watsons bowling should'nt be needed.

Seconded. Twat might grab the odd wicket but it's usually at the expense of a heart...er...calf muscle.

Kat lost his spot in 2004, next match after scoring 200 runs for once out and playing the major role in saving game and series after India made 700 plus at the SCG - from memory the guy who replaced him was some nobody called Warne.

You'd wear that. But Doolan or Rogers making way for Watson FFS?  You can NOT be serious!

Fred Nerk wrote:Kat lost his spot in 2004, next match after scoring 200 runs for once out and playing the major role in saving game and series after India made 700 plus at the SCG - from memory the guy who replaced him was some nobody called Warne.

You'd wear that. But Doolan or Rogers making way for Watson FFS?  You can NOT be serious!

I think it was Symonds who played for Kat in one of the more disgraceful selections in recent years.

Shit, even I did make a change in this team, it would not be for Watson

Having wiped the unfortunate Flynn off the face of the cricketing world, what manner of complaint has Sniffy in store to remove Midge from test cricket?

Meanwhile, could Sniffy himself be replaced by Hansie's ashes as the next saffie cap if the unlikely happens and Oz win or escape with a draw in the 2nd test