Time for Robin to go

I hate criticising individual cricketers but the continued selection of Robin Peterson for the Proteas absolutely baffles me. I understand the concept that he brings some variety to the attack being a left arm spinner, who supposedly can bat a bit and not a bad fielder but the stats don't lie - he doesn't fulfil these roles in the national side.

Batting:
T20 - 6 games, 43 runs, average of 14
ODIS - 38 games - 153 runs - average of 12 (Booster by 4 not outs)

Bowling:
T20 - 8 wickets at an average of 15 and an economy of 15.25 from 6 games
ODIS - 21 wickets, 53.19 and an economy of 4.76 from 38 games.

He has taken 11 catches in those 44 games.

England proved a few years back that you actually need some specialists - genuine allrounders not bit players who might get lucky on the occasional day. As Peterson has shown 44 games into his career that he is not getting lucky!

If you want somebody to fill that role then stick JP Duminy in at 7 or 8 and push another batter into the side like Andrew Puttick. A number 7 or 8 in ODI / T20 cricket still needs to be able to bat and at the moment we don't seem to be rushing to find somebody to fill that role.

We need to work hard at balancing our ODI side ahead of the world cup because as it stands, we can't expect people beyond number 6 to carry us through the tight games

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Does Mickey Arthur have a plan?

I know that coach-bashing is a popular past-time in South African sports, but the more I look at the selections and planning around our national cricket team, the more I wonder whether or not Mickey Arthur really has a clue about where he’s taking this team?

The openers crisis
Our inability to find a decent opening pair is a starting point. Yes Ashwell Prince has had some success there but he’s indicated that he doesn’t want to play there on a regular basis and it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the team when he gets out cheap.

Yes these may be our six best batters, but why are we trying to make an opener out of somebody out of a middle-order batter?

We have the Andrew Putticks and Stephen Cooks of the world who are chalking up the runs, but whenever the mess hits the fan we draft Herschelle Gibbs back in or try and invent an opener.

Friedel de Wet
De Wet at the age of 29 has come out of nowhere to represent the test squad and somehow is now the first choice back up to Dale Steyn. With Ntini’s retirement this makes him part of the first-choice attack. Where did he come from? He was never given a run in the ODI or T20 side before he suddenly got a surprise call-up.

Wayne Parnell, Lonwaba Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt, Johan van der Wath, Yussuf Abdullah, Ryan Mclaren and Albie Morkel have all been given a crack in the ODI side. Somehow De Wet leapfrogs over all of these guys and Johan Botha into the first test team?

Imran Tahir
The Pakistani / we think South African spinner was out of the blue included in the fourth test match squad at the Wanderers.

Then he was dropped when questions around his eligibility were raised.

All of a sudden he has jumped ahead of all the other bowlers – including the very successful and experienced Johan Botha as a test candidate?

For sure it is easy to be an armchair fan and criticise Arthur and the selectors for the makeup of the team, but there doesn’t look like there is any real process happening here to develop and build a sustainable long-term team.

That's better!

Ah a MUCH more satisfying day in the cricket. My only grumble is that World Sports Betting didn't have any bets up for a top SA batter in the second innings as I was trying to lay down some moola on Graeme Smith.

I actually thought that Hashim Amla batted particularly well today and while Smith got the really big score, it was Amla who looked more fluent - surely it makes more sense for Amla to move up to partner Smith and drop Prince in the middle order if the selectors want to stick with this top 6?!

Otherwise it is time to give either Andrew Puttick or Stephen Cook a crack at the opening berth... unfortunately the selectors don't appear to have given much thought to building squad depth and haven't really given them much t of a run in the ODI side so its a bit difficult to know how they fit into this side.

While the Prior / Onions partnership for the last wicket was a little frustrating, I thought that we actually bowled really well. Morne Morkel finally looked like he wanted to show the world what he can do and Dale Steyn looked fast and scary. While Friedel de Wet didn't pick up any wickets I thought he played his role well and his figures were respectable (16 3 36 0).

I have to say that I am a little surprised that Steyn didn't pick up the original new ball - will be interesting to see what happens in the second innings.

Very satisfying to see the Poms being belted around "Fortress Newlands".

Two tests down and its not looking good

By: Marc Ashton

So South Africa and England have squared up against one another in two test matches:

• Result one was a hard-fought draw with the poms hanging on for dear life.
  
• Result two - the English steam-roller the home team at Kingsmead

Before the first test match started, I had concerns that the South African attack was lacking sufficient penetration and variety in their attack. They managed to take 19 wickets but for big parts of that final day it looked like their attack was going to let them down.

The second test match was a disaster with the English team only needing to bat once and the South African bowlers chasing leather.

In both test matches spinners Paul Harris and Graeme Swann have proven their worth. The second test match, Harris was not his usual tidy self and the lack of variety in the attack was shown up for what it is worth.

Where to from here?
This is the question on all the South African fans lips at the moment.

Let's look at the weaknesses at the moment:

• Ashwell Prince has been short-changed being forced up into the openers berth. He' s a middle-order batter and is worth his weight in gold when he holds an innings together. He has said he doesn't like opening but will take one for the team. I am not totally sure that this is the most appropriate treatment for one of your most senior players?
  
• We need a genuine opener and if he has to come in for either JP Duminy or Prince then we need to bite the bullet and bring somebody who is used to the new ball. A bold selection would the decision to include Andrew Puttick but I doubt that the selectors will make that move and will instead plug away with the team that they have.
  
• Wayne Parnells exclusion is completely baffling. Neither Makhaya Ntini nor Morne Morkel have fired in the last two test matches and both Parnell and Friedel de Wet are chomping at the bit and on song.
  

Graeme Smith has said that wholesale changes are not needed but you have to ask how hungry this South African side really looks at the moment. You can see that the English have come to fight - that has been their attitude from the time they touched down in the country.

De Wet - a selection I admittedly didn't think had merit - and he showed how hungry he was in the first test and got rewarded with wickets. Two or three fringe players being given the chance to create a bit of competition for places isn't the worst thing in the world. Look how hungry Duminy was when he finally cracked the nod last year against Australia - he piled on the runs.

I am pretty sure that the South African selectors won't make any real changes for the third test. There may be consideration to either a swap with Morkel or Duminy, but nothing in the past has shown that Micky Arthurs selection policies are likely to be particularly bold.

T20 Champions League - Saturday Picks

Another day in the T20 Champions League competition today and now that a couple of teams have had a chance to stretch their legs punters will be able to make some more informed decisions.

Deccan vs. Somerset
It is hard to look beyond the Deccan Chargers for this fixture - too many big guns for the Somerset side and I would expect them to romp home.

Preditions

• Deccan to win
• Top Deccan batsman - Adam Gilchrist
• Top Somerset batsman - Justin Langer

Cape Cobras vs Otago
The Cobras were good in their last fixture and even minus Charl Langeveldt I'd expect them to win here.

Money on Andrew Puttick to top score for the Cape Cobras with Brendan McCullum top scoring for Otago.

In mourning

I'm in mourning... a test match loss and two losses in the T20 format of the game...

Ok not really but I guess all the South African fans have felt a little disappointed having been on the losing side after the success of the test series.

JP Duminy (pictured) was again brilliant but didn't really get much in the way of support from the rest of the lineup.

While T20 is a bit of hit and giggle format of the game. I guess I am also a little confuzzled about how the South African management have approached these games and a couple of my questions come back to the Kenya and Bangladeshi warm up series.

1. We know that Dale Steyn and Makhaya Ntini are world class bowlers capable of bowling in either format of the game against the best in the world.

2. We DON'T however know whether Parnell and Tsotsobe are good enough yet and how successful left arm seamers are as part of the SA make-up - so why not give them a consistent role in the ODI format.

3. We DON'T know who the backup to Boucher is and whether or not he could do with a break. Maybe a few games off to recharge the batteries.

4. Mckenzie is picked for the side and then as wickets started falling yesterday he gets shunted down the order. He is a known quantity - Why not give somebody like Andrew Puttick a run? And while you're at it, why not shove Van Jaarsveld to the top of the order so we can test out an alternative opener?

I appreciate that not much can be read into T20 cricket but still I wonder a bit about the "bigger picture" planning here. I've gotten the sense that this is a big shortfall of Mickey Arthur and hopefully management keeps his eye on the ball...