SA vs Aus - 2nd Test match

Looks like a green mamba in PE....

www.sport24.co.za/Cricket/AustraliaTourS...-PE-PICTURE-20140219

Gona be a draw

i have not seen the pitch,but i wonder what team our selectors are going to pick.do they play an extra batsman or do they drop the spinner(robin p) or do they pick an extra fast bowler and if they do then who?
one thing is for sure, they cant play as bad as in the 1st test.

where about in Australia do you come from Heinrich?

Hamla must open the batting and Smith to be a aggressive captain with decisions on the field , otherwise we have to rely on the brass band to pull us through

Amla got problems at the moment in that he is not picking line of ball and nicking out or balled or LBW...so opening is out even though he comes in early enough with our openers not lasting long...

If aim is to win the test, must have 5 bowlers to take 20 wickets...and I will not have a spinner...luxury we have carried for too long when they are not going to take sufficient wickets to win you a match or slow the scoring...save for Imraan Tahir against Pakistan in UAE, when last did a spinner run through an opposition's batting ?? Out strength is pace bowling...we must stick to it...

I've posted before as to how I see team composition but I don't see much being done as I expected what the team mgmt, captain and players (current and ex) have said...great team...done it before...will bounce back...etc....etc...things will stay the same just long enough for some-one to make a score or some-one to take 3-4 wickets to prolong their and our agony...and in a year's time we will question why we didn't make changes sooner...we will then have the same problem that WI and Aus great teams of the past had...4-5 will need to be replaced at the same time and it will take 3-4 years to start to win consistently or compete again...England are going to have the same pain in the next 3 years (starting with the current purge they are undergoing...)

Well...we'll see how tomorrow and the rest of the series pans out...want SA to clap the Aussies but cannot see it unless we make changes to 2 batsmen and 2 bowlers...and no spinner...

the first objective is to win the toss and not send in the opposition. Peterson will score big in this match as will Amla. Philander cant bowl as poorly as he did in the first test and Morkel will get his share of wickets as well. Keep Johnson quite and SA win the match

I have stated in the past that we have been at the top for a while, but unfortunately (as TNaicker says) we do not have enough younger guys coming through to stop the downward trend - on SA pitches, the only place where I would consider playing a pinner is at Newlands (used to be PE as well, but that pitch looks tailor-made for our fast bowlers)

Peterson (the opener) must surely show up on this game, otherwise I think maybe the selectors should take the plunge (especially of we lose this test as well) and go for somebody younger like Rossouw or Hendricks ? from the Knights. I do not think Parnell is the answer for the test squad, I would rather have Abbott

I would also try to bring in de Kock, so that AB can concentrate on his batting alone, but I would bat him (de Kock) down the order at 6 or 7 - otherwise we could end up with the same situation as we have now with AB, where he spent 90% of the first test on the field.

As far as I now de Kock is not in the test squad, but I would pick the following if he were:

Smith
Petersen (last chance saloon)
Amla
De Villiers
Du Plessis (really got two snorters at Centurion)
Duminy / Elgar (a spinning option if the Aussies stay in for 2 days)
De Kock
Philander
Steyn
Abbott
Morkel

But without de Kock, we will probably end up with both Duminy and Elgar or Parnell :S

And you have a massive problem if you bring in anyone other than Tsolekile to keep wicket...the selectors and CSA execs will probably be called before a parliamentary committee (with Fikile Mbalula as chair so that he can have all the cameras on himself) to explain his omission if some-else takes the gloves...

Our selectors are not brave as there are no consequences...there will be calls for Russell Domingo's head (he was appointed before he even had a speech ready to deliver at the press conference...it was so sudden and he was so shocked when Gary Kirsten resigned) should we lose the series but the fault lies with the captain (winning toss and fielding when champion bowler unwell so that he doesn't have to face a bowler that has pinged him a few times...) and the selectors (for not dropping players that are out of form for an extended period now)...in the absence of consequence, everyone thinks they are king or queen and that attitude is permeating most aspects of life in this country with the result that progress is at snail-mail pace...

We will probably see Elgar and Parnell come in for Duminy and McClaren...safe decisions but expected...I would want Abbott in the team but can't see it as there is a certain pecking order and he is not at the front of it...can we take 20 wickets to win the match with 3 of Steyn, Philander, Morkel, Parnell (don't consider Elgar's "spin" to be bowling...would not be good enough at club level but we want him or JP to do the job at test level...:S)...why 3 of them ??? Because it is unlikely that all 4 will fire at the same time and that's why you need a specialist 5th bowler...if one fails or is injured, etc, you can still potentially take the 20 wickets...

Will be working from home tomorrow so will get to watch a lot of the match...hope I don't have to switch to a kiddies channel by tea...

McLaren definitely out with concussion - maybe we can lure Ntini out of retirement - to solve the 'colour' problem ()

I agree with Chicken that we will put up a better show - but strangely enough, the worst thing that could happen in terms of the 'longer' view, is that we demolish them by an innings or 200 runs or 7 wickets :

Agree...will just prolong the pain when it eventually arrives...and it will arrive...can just hear the selectors and captain...had faith in this team...knew they will come good...have been in this situation before and responded...etc...etc...

And Smith is gone in a year / two at the most...he's unlikely to get back into the T20 / ODI team...rather than planning for it, we will hear something along the lines of...he has earned the right to make the decision on his own terms...can't believe that leaders in all aspects of this country believe the things they say...worse if they believe the things the say and expect intelligent people to also believe it...

Get rid of Smith now...do the clean-out now and allow people to build things afresh...we are being constrained by legacies...the core of a great team is there...use as a base and build around that...and get in 5 fast bowlers that can take 20 wickets so that we can WIN test matches...

heinrich Wrote:

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> Gona be a draw

I see the weather forecasters (Weather 24 on DSTV) predict 4 of the 5 days there will be rain:(. Second day overcast but no rain. It will be quite interesting to see what the captain who wins the toss will choose to do. When there is cloud cover about, the ball tends to nip about, coupled with the green top. Who knows, both teams could be all out first innings after two days play.