JP Duminy

One word- Class. He seems to have the silken touch that in the past was reserved for the likes of Gower, Lara, and Mark Waugh. He could be anything.

The future is looking good for the Saffie middle order with Amla, DeVilliers, and Duminy in the ranks.

And Prince on the sidelines.

It will be interesting to see what they do if Prince is declared fit for Melbourne. Duminy thoroughly deserves to hold his spot after Perth, but on the other hand, Prince doesn't deserve to lose his spot despite being fit.

Long term, Duminy will probably become the better player, but right now, Prince deserves to come back, and JP will have to wait again. His time will come.

Can Prince open instead of MacKenzie?

JGK wrote:Can Prince open instead of MacKenzie?

Maybe, but AB is more naturally suited to opening than Prince. I doubt they'll risk a big change like that anyway. A lot of SA's success in recent times has been built around stability in selection. They'll stick with McKenzie through this series.

Will probably be a long time, might have to wait for another injury: there's no one in the batting line up who is looking like they might be dumped or retire soon.

OP Tipping wrote:Will probably be a long time, might have to wait for another injury: there's no one in the batting line up who is looking like they might be dumped or retire soon.

Well, if McKenzie doesn't make runs for the rest of the series, then he'll be under pressure. But i'm pretty sure he will get the whole series at the top of the order. AB opened the batting for quite a long time 2-3 years ago, so he's more than capable of going back up to the top with Smith, with Duminy slotting in at six.

Yeah, Duminy looked class. Apart from against Krejza at times.

McKenzie appears to be the odd one out in terms of potential etc, he seems to be a stopgap measure but in the second innings he absorbed a number of balls for them to tire our bowlers. He's a crab but has a role to play. If AB returned to opening it may weaken their batting if he receives a few good balls early. Currently he is handy for them down the order with his strokeplay and his opening experience helped him repel Lee and MJ on Saturday evening when it was the best, most lethal spell from a pair of bowlers for the whole match.

Yeah its only 1 bad match for McKenzie. He's been in good form through the year. You have to remember he's not a natural opener either.

But if he doesnt perform during the next 2 tests; Amla opens the batting in the ODI's and is surely capable of doing so in tests.

Smith
Amla
Duminy
Kallis
AB
Prince

Sound good?

"Yeah its only 1 bad match for McKenzie. He's been in good form through the year. You have to remember he's not a natural opener either."

I can imagine the scene:

Selector 1: We have to at least try and keep JP in the side after that Perth effort. He showed he'd ready. The only guy that failed twice is McKenzie. So if 'Young John Paul' plays, Neil misses out.

Selector 2: Bit hard on Macca. He's only filling a hole as opener.

Selector 1: So what's the hassle swapping one 'not a natural opener' with another, especially one that's younger and better equipped to grow into the role?

'Georgian Ringo' batted very well on debut.

taipan - found the problem

John Paul had no chance after this ^^^ Trevving.