Cricket

[Les Zeffelin]

Priceless

[Yozza]

Shocking....

[Liverpool]

Bob Willis has died

[Maxiedge]

I’m not a big cricket fan but I loved listening to this guy
RIP

[Norbs]

RIP Bob

[Yozza]

Yeah, I was genuinely gutted when I heard that. I loved him on The Debate on Sky. So dry....

[Zapater]

Some good news for SA ahead of the boxing day test, Graeme Smith was named interim director of cricket and Boucher the coach. It's probably too little too late for this series, but at least the right people are getting involved and the madness can stop. Only redeeming truth is that England have been pretty indifferent too and SA will still field a strong team on paper regardless of what happens behind the scenes.

Squad: Faf du Plessis (capt), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock, Dean Elgar, Beuran Hendricks, Keshav Maharaj, Pieter Malan, Aiden Markram, Zubayr Hamza, Anrich Nortje, Dane Paterson, Andile Phehlukwayo, Vernon Philander, Dwaine Pretorius, Kagiso Rabada, Rudi Second, Rassie van der Dussen

Some fresh faces in squad, would go for this XI for the first test

1. Malan
2. Elgar
3. Markram*
4. Hamza
5. Faf
6. van der Dussen
7. de Kock
8. Philander
9. Maharaj
10. Rabada
11. Nortje

* If Markram isn't ready then I'd let Rudi Second keep and push De Kock up the order to bat at 3 or 4. Bavuma must go, the guy is ****ing useless, not sure how many more chances he's going to get.

Seeing that Pretorius and Phehlukwayo have been selected I can see them going with an allrounder option, not sure either of them are cut out for test cricket though. Those 4 bowlers should be enough and it's of vital importance to have a solid batting unit.

[ChesterDave]

Jimmy Anderson

How we missed him in the Ashes

[Zapater]

Disastrous session and a half from SA. Wickets donated, Pretorius looks all at sea (as predicted). Hamza looked solid, think he'll be a good player. The rest need to work harder, upto de Kock to get us to something almost respectable.

[Zapater]

Not sure if anyone else is watching but the mic is turned way up, love Mikey giving Mark Nicholas some when they thought they were off air.

Can't believe Philander is retiring after the series. One of SA's best, irreplaceable. Possibly will be one of the best batsmen who will never score a ton (assuming he doesn't get one in this series).

[Zapater]

Markram injured, think it's a blessing in disguise. He needs some time away from the spotlight to get his game back in order, he's had an awful last 10 tests. Looks like Pieter Malan will replace him, look forward to seeing what he can do.

The article below encapsulates everything that is wrong with this country. No one can be happy with the win, everything is about ticking nonsensical political boxes. This whole 'black African' thing must be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Rabada is a world class player that any team in the world would love to have, but it's like we don't acknowledge him as anything more than a Black African. It's sad really. Would be lovely if the best team on merit played and players of colour didn't have to wonder if they are good enough or not.

Pieter Malan backed for Cape Town debut despite transformation pressures

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/_/id/28394555/pieter-malan-backed-cape-town-debut-transformation-pressures

Pieter Malan is set to become South Africa's eighth Test debutant in five matches during the New Year's Test. Malan will replace the injured Aiden Markram, who has been ruled out of the series with a fractured finger, according to South Africa's head coach Mark Boucher, who is on the selection panel.

Boucher, assistant coach Enoch Nkwe, captain Faf du Plessis and independent selector Linda Zondi pick the starting XI and, speaking in the wake of South Africa's 107-run win in the first Test at Centurion, Boucher indicated Malan is the favourite to step into Markram's role in Cape Town next week.

"Pieter Malan was selected in the squad. For us to go messing around with the opening position wouldn't be clever," Boucher said. "Pieter Malan has done a lot of good work over a long period of time. It's his home ground. At the moment, we are swinging towards having a straight swap for the opening batsman."

Malan has a first-class average of 45.16, has scored a century for the Cobras and two for Western Province this summer, and was included in the original 16-man squad for the first two Tests against England. He did not play the opening match but when Markram was injured, he was considered the next man in.

However, after South Africa fielded a team that included only one black African and three other players of colour in the first Test, missing their transformation target by two, the apparent straightforwardness of Malan's selection became more complicated.

More so, now that Keegan Petersen, a No.3 and a player of colour, has been added to the squad. There was some suggestion that Rassie van der Dussen would be promoted to open the batting to make room for Temba Bavuma lower down the order, as a way for South Africa to get closer to the target of two black African players and four other players of colour. But Boucher suggested that they may fall short again because Bavuma, who is recovering from a hip injury, may not be fit.

"There are challenges because we have got a few injuries," Boucher said. "Temba still felt pain in his side yesterday, otherwise we were thinking about using him as a catcher because Temba is a very good fielder." Instead, Rudi Second stepped in for Markram in the field, and came close to running out Rory Burns with some sharp reactions at short leg.

Even if Bavuma was fit, Boucher hinted that he would not have a free pass back into the XI, because of van der Dussen's debut performance. He scored a half-century in South Africa's second innings and was part of a match-winning fifth-wicket stand of 91 with Anrich Nortje. "It will be tough to leave a guy like Rassie out," Boucher said.

However, Boucher also threw his support behind Bavuma and acknowledged that he will need to be nurtured as he makes his way back from injury.

"I understand Temba has been under pressure. I don't want to throw him to the wolves. Temba is very good and we will work with him," Boucher said.

Without Bavuma in the side, South Africa's new management will come under even more pressure for their missed targets, especially after accusations in recent days, from the Black African Cricket Clubs (BACC), that the structure is controlled by white men.

Boucher acknowledged that there is work to be done in that department and reaffirmed his commitment to change.

"We understand transformation and we understand we need to do a lot of hard work on a lot of players, especially allrounders," Boucher said. "That's why Andile [Phehlukwayo] is in the squad."

Both Boucher and du Plessis have made it clear that Phehlukwayo is being mentored to fill an allrounders' role in the future, though he will have to bide his time behind Pretorius for now.

All that said, Boucher will be relieved that the regular black African player in the squad, Kagiso Rabada, has found form after a year in which he struggled.

Rabada's seven wickets at Centurion, including four on the final afternoon, added up to his best haul of the year and was the result of giving him the freedom to cut loose.

"It's just about getting him into the game," said Boucher. "Sometimes as an individual you worry about your action, where are you putting the ball. Sometimes you just need to forget about your technique or where you are putting the ball and get into a bit of a fight out there. The goal was to try and get him into the game and get his natural instincts to take over."

[RichC]

Looking like a decent lead for when we out SA back into bat.

[Shaggy]

Declared with a lead of 437.

Looks like we've found a proper opener in Sibley - at last!

[Shaggy]

Trying to think of openers who've tried and failed since Strauss retired.

Lyth, Compton, Robson, Jennings, Stoneman, Duckett, Hameed, Hales, Denly....any more?

[Zapater]

Looks like we've found a proper opener in Sibley - at last!

Not trying to be funny, but I think he looks ****, don't see him sticking around for too long at this level based on NZ and SA tests. Awful technique, Burns might be the only worse looking test player. Very unorthodox with lots of moving parts will make it difficult for him to be successful against the new ball. Did really well yesterday though, ground it out, England played really well. Unspectacular but necessary for test cricket. Think Denly's knock may be one of the better 30s I've seen in some years.

Don't think we have the players to see it out or score the runs. I just want to avoid an embarrassing defeat. Our batsmen, like England are low on confidence and some runs will make a difference. Hamza and Faf are due a score for Malan would do him well too. I fully expect to lose, but if we can get over 300 it will say a lot about the teams character.

Dropping Bavuma despite being the right move from a sporting perspective has caused huge backlash in SA and basically started WW3. Apparently the set up is racist. I like it how England can drop Bairstow and there's not even an article on it. We drop a player with 1 century in 40 matches and it starts an apocalypse. I've lost a lot of faith in this country to move forward on any level if so many people are so primitive.