SA v Eng, T20 WC, Cape Town, 16th September

Ok, so that's Solanki for Wright. Anyone in favour of swapping Shah and prior in the order?

We were a batsman light tonight. We brought in Snape for Maddy and then Snape only goes and bowls 1 over. Silly selection. Just like Kirtley in the last match.

Ok, we havent played all that well on the field, but our selections have been pretty poor as well. And now it just feels like we're lacking a lot of quality in the squad. Too many county hacks. I was a big advocate of Luke Wright's selection in the last month or so, but at the moment he's way off the boil. I wont write him off completely, but we dont want to damage a young lads confidence so much that he doesnt recover.

To be honest, im missing Ian Bell. At least he has genuine class and looks like a proper cricketer. Oh yeah, and how much do we miss Trescothick.

He's the next KP....

Such a pity they bought in Snape before Mascarenhas.

Snape was selected in favour of a batsman. That was just crazy. It gave us 5 bowlers plus another two who are competent at limited overs bowling (Colly & Dimmi) plus another three who could be called upon if desired (Wright, KP & Shah).

By all means play two spinners as part of an attack strategy, but FFS let's remember that we need batsmen to hit the bleedin' runs.

This should have been our team:
Maddy
Flintoff
Shah
Pietersen
Collingwood
Solanki (or Wright)
Mascarenhas
Prior
Broad
Schofield
Anderson (or Snape)

Team, shmeem....

We actually have close to zilch idea of how to construct a one day/T20 innings, thats oor biggest problem

Wahay - I'm up to third in the Fantasy Cricket thing. Been a cracking few days for my boys.

They haven't updated the England/SA points yet, though, so Luke Wright's going to lose me a few....

Demelza wrote:Such a pity they bought in Snape before Mascarenhas.

How much did he cost?

And did they keep the receipt?

Dello wrote:And did they keep the receipt?

"Sold As Seen. No Warranty, No Return"

Is Gibbs out for the tournement or something?

Augustus wrote:Luke Wright - shit.

The rest of the batsman bar Pietersen - very poor.

You can't conduct a chase scoring at two runs less per over than the required run rate.

It equals defeat you stupid ******.

And don't bowl a full-toss/long-hop merchant during one of the slog overs. It equals carnage you twats - did Collingwood fall asleep when Yuvraj was being mullered by Dimi?

I know it's only Twenty20, but I'm pissed off 'cause we are firmly a laughing stock in one-day cricket once more. Order is restored.

:D

Only match I've seen so far - on GEO TV, turned commentary off (some Pak chap with Moin Khan). Felt score was low from SA, can't believe England lost it. As Ash wrote earlier, seems we will see the same four semi-finalists that made it to the CWC '07 semis.

Edit: this match and Indo/Pak one have been the best encounters so far (was out and couldn't follow NZ vs India)

Anyone got anything to add about THAT run out? Colville in Sky's studio was getting his knickers in a twist, but if KP hadn't dawdled the first eight or nine yards he would have made it comfortably.

And I didn't see any deliberate obstruction by Pollock either. He might have put his arm out which could be interpreted as obstruction, but on all the replays I saw he was focussing on the ball and I doubt if he knew where KP was in relation to him.

Bless, don't you just love the English, play by the book good things in all men attitude?

Thing is Bas, when you dawdle, the last thing you expect when given the hurry up is to be body checked and taken out of the game. Had KP known Pollack was going to cheat and assault him maybes he would have made more of an effort early doors?

The replays might well have shown Pillock focussing on the ball, but when I played, in that situation with a run out in the offing my first objective was to get behind the stumps and hopefully take the ball cleanly and run the batsman out, something Pillock wasn't interested in doing. Instead, clever bloke that he is, Pillock assessed the situation and cannily took Pietersen out of the game. And for Nick Knight and Nasser Hussein to suggest otherwise is tantamount to treason and as such they should be blindfolded and shot at dawn.

Saw the game and there is only one word to describe the English loss . . .


. . . Snape!

tac wrote:Saw the game and there is only one word to describe the English loss . . . Snape!

Aye, the poor bloke had a shocker. But was it his fault? By the time he went into bat the scoring rate required was upto 84 an over. So rather than send in a bloke that had creamed 30 off the last over of an innings in a ODI against the Indians we sent in a bloke that can't play off the back foot.

Way to go Moores, ya mug!

You're right about the batting. Collingwood should never have sent him in above Dimi.

So has Wright been stamped "never to play for England again"?

Nath wrote:So has Wright been stamped "never to play for England again"?

I live in hope. But then again he plays for Sussex..

Wright shouldnt be written off, but lets allow him some time at the Academy, followed by a solid season with Sussex next year to try and improve on his first class batting average of 25.

On what basis does he deserve to play for the Academy, let alone the full England team?

He has barely scored a run in FC-Cricket all season. His slog-a-thon efforts in domestic one-day cricket and Twenty20 have been proven as a fluke/flat-track bullying of county trundlers.

Against top-class and not-so-top-class international bowling, he has been humiliated. He cannot bowl, not properly anyway, and as a batsman is technically deficient. He cannot build an innings, and gets out in numerous ways, rather than having one technical problem that might be ironed out.

What is the point of taking him on an England Academy tour when he does not have a chance of being good enough to play for the full England side at Test level (and realistically isn't good enough for ODIs either).

Hopefully, the selectors have the sense to play real batsman like James Hildreth and Samit Patel in the Academy, though I expect this is unlikely when Moores can find room for Sussex favourites such as Michael Yardy and Luke Wright.

He was smashing the ball all over the place for Sussex just at the same time as England were looking for batsmen who give the ball a whack in the powerplays. Hardly his fault that he was selected. And lets not forget, he scored a 50 in his first match down at 7 for England.

Nath wrote:So has Wright been stamped "never to play for England again"?

Not yet, he's in the ODI squad for Sri Lanka - definitely not the finished article, but worth persevering with IMO.

Is Augustus Samit Patel?

Merely a Notts. fan and thus admirer of one of our promising talents, Doc.