Official Cricket Thread

[harsha]

*this can be merged with the old thread when all the threads get back

until then

update from India

Ganguly looks set to make his comeback after scoring an 83 in a match where all the indian batsmen with the exception of Irfan Pathan(=batsmen ) failed against the South African Reserve side,i dunno how good that side is but i wouldn't rate that bowling a lot considering that Pathan got a 100 and 40 odd unbeaten runs...

right now the Indian press is too busy baying for Chappel's blood,funny how things can change in a couple of months....3-4 months ago,we were hailing Chappel/Dravid Combo as the saviours of Indian Cricket.....

anyway,the way i see it,India can only go up as they can't sink to lower depths than they have already........

[Viv]

Rest of SA is a decent side but if the batting fails like this then I'm afraid the test matches will be over in 4 days at most. I do think Ganguly will make a comeback but he has to avoid mistakes like the one in the second innings coz this is most definitely his last chance.

[555-04Q2]

Rest of SA is a decent side but if the batting fails like this then I'm afraid the test matches will be over in 4 days at most. I do think Ganguly will make a comeback but he has to avoid mistakes like the one in the second innings coz this is most definitely his last chance.

I actually rate our Rest Of South Africa side as a better outfit than our National team are.

[Viv]

I actually rate our Rest Of South Africa side as a better outfit than our National team are.

And why is that??consistency?

[Schultz]

I bet it has something to do with the quota system the South African's have. So they have a certain amount of black people in the national team.

[555-04Q2]

I bet it has something to do with the quota system the South African's have. So they have a certain amount of black people in the national team.

Yes and no. Ntini is one of the best players in South Africa so he belongs there for sure

I have a problem though with guys like Telemacus and Prince as they are average players filling the colour quota Our politicians said we have to learn to be a nation of losers for a while until we can win again hock: Politics and sport are not good things to mix

[555-04Q2]

And why is that??consistency?

Consistency is one thing, but also the players are younger generally and hungrier than the "top" guys who are "comfortable" with their positions in the top team.

We have a number of world class players who get poached by other countries before they get to our national and provincial setup due to poor player management relations. In short, we do not care about our assets in South African cricket.

Smith our captain should have been dropped ages ago and have to play his way back into the team but he is the love child of our selectors and hence he stays.

Incidently, Pollock is our most successful captain ever (bar the 2003 world cup fiasco) and he was given the boot because he was not the right person in the selectors eyes. He was thrown into the captaincy after the Hansie scandal and had a 70% win rate in ODI's. What more do our selectors want than that

South African sport has always been about politics but after 1994 it has become a joke with winning no longer important to the politicians. Pre 1994 politicians got involved to ensure South African rugby and cricket teams were strong, today it is all about political will and using players as pawns in the greater scheme of things.

[Viv]

Consistency is one thing, but also the players are younger generally and hungrier than the "top" guys who are "comfortable" with their positions in the top team.

We have a number of world class players who get poached by other countries before they get to our national and provincial setup due to poor player management relations. In short, we do not care about our assets in South African cricket.

I know only Kevin Pieterson..can u tell me a few more names?

Smith our captain should have been dropped ages ago and have to play his way back into the team but he is the love child of our selectors and hence he stays.

Well Smith isn't playing well in the ODI's, except in that world record chase..and the last one dayer against us but I think he's done well in the Test matches, though I don't remember his recent record. I did feel that he should be dropped from the one day side...but I think he's good enough to retain his place in the test side.

Incidently, Pollock is our most successful captain ever (bar the 2003 world cup fiasco) and he was given the boot because he was not the right person in the selectors eyes. He was thrown into the captaincy after the Hansie scandal and had a 70% win rate in ODI's. What more do our selectors want than that

I agree with you on this. The world cup was just a mistake and that shouldn't have cost Pollock the captaincy. I remember being angry that he was dropped, but, like u said the selectors(or politicians) probably wanted an excuse to fire him because of his support to Hansie even after that scandal, and hence put Smith as he was from a totally new era, even though he was not a regular in the side at that time.

[555-04Q2]

I know only Kevin Pieterson..can u tell me a few more names?


Well Smith isn't playing well in the ODI's, except in that world record chase..and the last one dayer against us but I think he's done well in the Test matches, though I don't remember his recent record. I did feel that he should be dropped from the one day side...but I think he's good enough to retain his place in the test side.


I agree with you on this. The world cup was just a mistake and that shouldn't have cost Pollock the captaincy. I remember being angry that he was dropped, but, like u said the selectors(or politicians) probably wanted an excuse to fire him because of his support to Hansie even after that scandal, and hence put Smith as he was from a totally new era, even though he was not a regular in the side at that time.

1. Andrew Strauss is another one playing for England. He's also a South African Boetjie. We have recently lost a few good club players to Australia. Dont know their names. Two years ago, one of my teammates (Ant) was drafted to play for an English County side and he may yet make it all the way to play for England some day. He is far better than Kevin Pietersen was at the same age.

2. Smiths average has plumeted from 46 odd to 35. He needs a kick up the backside and some time away from the first team and captaincy to concentrate on his game.

3. Yeah. Polly was the scapegoat for the South African Selectors. In order to save their jobs, they fired Polly and hired Smith for the job. Polly was treated like a second class citizen and a lot of fans (including myself) were not happy about the whole situation. Our new era needs a wake up call. Smith needs to start firing or we could end up with a new leader for the World Cup, or an opening bat/captain who is a liability.

[555-04Q2]

P.S. Viv, whats the story about Ganguly. I keep on hearing that he is on his way out of the team and captaincy hock: Is this true