SA v Australia 3rd Test

My team in batting order would be

Smith, Peterson, Amla, Elgar, Du Plessis, AB, Duminy, Philander, Steyn, Abbott and Morkel

If SA manage the win then they will be assured to still be top when the West Indies go there in December

Chicken, me thinks rather open with Elgar and allow Alvaro to come inlower down to regain some confidence

Give QDK another match.

QDK must be kept in the side....he is the future.....leave Elgar to open.......will they play Abbott or mcLaren?

agree elgar should stay as well as qdk would choose abott as replacement

When is Biff gonna retire at least kallis went out gracefully biff no want too leave must chase him away, he past his best now !!!!!!!!

I agree that QDK must stay.... give him at least three or four tests...

chicken 'n chips Wrote:

---

> My team in batting order would be
>
> Smith, Peterson, Amla, Elgar, Du Plessis, AB,
> Duminy, Philander, Steyn, Abbott and Morkel
>
> If SA manage the win then they will be assured to
> still be top when the West Indies go there in
> December


I agree that's about the best team we can put together, but AB needs to be at 5 at the lowest - also depending on the pitch, we might see Robin P in place of Abbott.

Alviro was selected for the PE test, so chances are the selectors may want to give him another chance; Elgar has to play after his gutsy display in PE; de Kock will get his chance in the future (tu)

Agree with Frodo re de Kock ... he's just turned 21 and is already a shoo-in for limited overs ... give him another year or two before getting into the Test side.

Having said that, I'd love to see him get just one more gallop in Cape Town! He's not just a strong boundary hitter, he's got fine classical technique and is good to watch.

AB at #6? That's the one guy whose stood up to the Aussies when they were ramping with their spiked boots all over the Protea flowerbed in Centurion, (you should pardon the mixed metaphor.) If they do the same at Newlands, he is well capable of stopping them and, to use that highly original expression beloved by cricket commentators and writers alike, "steadying the ship". If he is too far down the batting order, the ship may well be beyond steadying, just about to glug it's last and slip beneath the waves.

SA selectors will keep to form to make following changes...Peterson in for de Kock and McClaren in for Parnell...apparently there is a "policy" of bringing back a player when recovered if he missed solely because of injury...that was the reason Abbott only played the one test as the person he replaced had recovered by the next match...only exception to this "policy" is when Ashwell Prince had his finger broken by Ntini in Aus...JP came in, had a great match and they didn't want to drop him even though Prince was fine for next match...

We still have problems at 2, 4 and 6 with the result that Amla (still having trouble picking line of ball...in second innings, the Aussies bowled too wide or on legs...nothing on off stump of just outside...) and de Villiers (carrying too much of a load...)...the contributions by Elgar, du Plessis and Duminy will only mask the problems we have...some will say that Elgar was gritty, du Plessis was "unlucky" and Duminy (still averages in low 30's in tests) magnificent for the hundred scored but Aus bowlers didn't swing / seam anything so our batsmen (Amla included) looked better than they are currently playing...

Smith is either disinterested or the eyes / reflexes are going...yes, he will grit out the odd score to prolong being in the team and some will say that his captaincy was great in timing the declaration...I haven't played cricket beyond club / league cricket but suggested in a post that declaration needed to be max 1 hour either side of day 4 lunch...so how great was Smith's timing of the declaration when I, with little / no knowledge of the game, was in the ballpark ??

Bowlers win test matches as they are the one's who take the 20 wickets and, I re-iterate, our strength is fast bowling...we had two part-time spinners (with Duminy as first choice) and they bowled 27 overs taking 3 for 82...contribution to win was marginal and a luxury we cannot afford...some may argue that Duminy got the crucial breakthrough in second innings...my take is that Aus openers would have been dismissed by any of the bowlers considering chances they offered...the pitch seemed abrasive and I thought that reverse-swing would play a part at some stage in the match...

I see Abbott called up for 3rd test but McClaren and Kleinveldt ahead in order even though Abbott form bowler in SA four-day cricket currently...and since it's Cape Town, more likely they will play Kleinveldt if McClaren still unwell...

De Kock shouldn't be in test team based on limited overs form...plays away from body and cannot be fixed by playing test cricket...gets away with it at T20 / ODI level as field settings are different and bowlers limited to bowling in narrow range which doesn't have de Kock chasing the ball...

Anyway, looking forward to watching the match...we should win...have momentum and the fast bowlers...remember that this Aus team went almost a year without winning a test before beating an England team that was showing signs of wear and tear and were not helped by Fowler's ego / head-masterly attitude / psycho mumbo-jumbo team of back-room "specialists"...so winning in Aus has hidden the frailties in their batting which have now shown up...remember also that Clarke (their best batsmen) is going through a very lean patch (even against England he struggled...)

Enjoy...

QDK came in as cover for McLaren and didn't do enough to keep McLaren out of the side. Would like to see him play more 4 day cricket to get some more experience. He is a serious talent and once he matures will be a regular in all formats of the game.

If McLaren plays then we can only play Peterson or Elgar and my vote would go to Elgar. I feel that with Steyn, Morkel, Philander and Abbott we have enough pace and would rather play both Peterson and Elgar.

My starting XI would be similar to CnC but have AB coming in at 5. You don't want the number 1 batsmen in the World coming ina s low as 6.

Agree mostly with Tnaicker - but would suggest that 3 wickets out of 19 (1 run-out as I remember) is not 'marginal' and that a 'specialist' (in addition to Duminy and Elgar) spinner should be considered depending on the nature of the pitch. As it is Newlands, we will probably see either Robin P or Kleinveldt and Abbott might miss out again.

Not a Dolphins supporter, but imo Abbott must feel slightly aggrieved at not being given another chance after taking 9 wickets in your test debut :S