What disaster?

I have been thinking quite a lot about this whole T20 World Cup "disaster" for the South African side and reading all the negative comments that have been going around in the various media channels.

Everyone is dragging up the whole "chokers" tag again and wandering around with the whole "I told you so attitude".

Game 1 - we played India - lost by 14 runs
Game 2 - we played Afghanistan - won 59 runs
Game 3 - we played New Zealand - won by 13 runs
Game 4 - we played England - got thumped by 39 runs
Game 5 - we played Pakistan - lost by 11 runs

We had 1 bad game against England and then two average games against India and Pakistan. The difference between the two sides was effectively one over.

Yes it irritates the shit out of me that Morne Morkel bowls no-balls in ODI or T20 cricket. Yes it irritates the shit out of me that we battle to pace ourselves to score at 10 an over from the word go. It also irritates the shit out of me that somebody would dare to double step Dale Steyn and slug him 90 metres for a six... but these things happen and in T20 it is going to happen on a regular basis.

With due respect if we took on any of those sides in a test or full 50 over ODI match up, our win ratio would be 75% or higher if playing at home and probably 60% or higher playing away from home.

We need to take a look at what we take away from this event:

• Morne Morkel is not an ODI / T20 bowler - let's not treat him as such. Let him mature as a test bowler
• There is a serious argument to let Johan Botha become the dedicated ODI / T20 captain. He has shown he understands the format of the game - let's use his knowledge
• In T20 cricket, where are we going to use JP Duminy? He's a great middle order batter but is he the big hitter that we need with four overs to go?
• I'm a Herschelle Gibbs fan but at some point he needs to deliver the goods

We have to be a little realistic about what this tournament says about SA cricket. It's not the end of the world - hell it is hardly a black mark on our record - its just that we need to understand what we want to do with this T20 side.

Some odd SA selections to say the least!

Earlier this week South Africa named a number of its shortlists for touring teams to do duty in some up-coming tours:

ICC World Twenty20 Squad (prov)
Graeme Smith (Cape Cobras, captain)
Jacques Kallis (Warriors, vice-captain)
Loots Bosman (Dolphins)
Johan Botha (Warriors)
Mark Boucher (Warriors)
AB de Villiers (Titans)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Herschelle Gibbs (Cape Cobras)
Justin Kemp (Cape Cobras)
Charl Langeveldt (Cape Cobras)
Ryan McLaren (Diamond Eagles)
Albie Morkel (Titans)
Morne Morkel (Titans)
Wayne Parnell (Warriors)
Vernon Philander (Cape Cobras)
Dale Steyn (Titans)
Rusty Theron (Warriors)
Roelof van der Merwe (Titans)

I'd be a little surprised if either Kemp or Morne Morkel made the final cut here... Kemp's 33 now and while age shouldn't be grounds for exclusion I'm not sure he adds much. Why not take somebody like Thami Tsolekile and an up and coming "skiddy" type bowler like Francois Plaatjies along?

ODI Squad for West Indies Tour
Graeme Smith (Cape Cobras, captain)
Jacques Kallis (Warriors, vice-captain)
Hashim Amla (Dolphins)
Loots Bosman (Dolphins)
Johan Botha (Warriors)
Mark Boucher (Warriors)
AB de Villiers (Titans)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Charl Langeveldt (Cape Cobras)
Ryan McLaren (Diamond Eagles)
Morne Morkel (Titans)
Wayne Parnell (Warriors)
Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions)
Dale Steyn (Titans)
Lonwabo Tsotsobe (Warriors)
Roelof van der Merwe (Titans)

Not much more you could have done with this side although I'm surprised that they are not giving more game time to a Mark Boucher backup of some description. I suspect the West Indies are going to get rolled again pretty much irrespective of what side we roll out - why not let some of the youngsters have a run? Should Duminy be there over a performing young batter like Vaughn van Jaarsveld or Steven Cook?

Test Squad for West Indies Tour
Graeme Smith (Cape Cobras, capt)
Jacques Kallis (Warriors, vice-capt)
Hashim Amla (Dolphins)
Johan Botha (Warriors)
Mark Boucher (Warriors)
AB de Villiers (Titans)
JP Duminy (Cape Cobras)
Paul Harris (Titans)
Ryan McLaren (Diamond Eagles)
Morne Morkel (Titans)
Wayne Parnell (Warriors)
Alviro Petersen (Highveld Lions)
Ashwell Prince (Warriors)
Dale Steyn (Titans)
Lonwabo Tsotsobe (Warriors)

Again a similar question about whether or not Duminy should be there (on current form). I don't like Ryan Mclaren as a test cricketer but I seem to be in the minority here so I'll just mumble quietly under my breath...

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.

Uninspired first test

The first test match between England and South Africa at Centurion Park has been an uninspirational affair.

The home team has set a first innings score of 418 thanks to a Jacques Kallis century and some nice contributions from Prince, Duminy, Boucher and some stubborn contributions from Paul Harris and Friedel De Wet at the bottom of the order.

De Wet then managed to get Alastair Cook out to leave the poms at 88/1 at the end of the second day.

The things that stood out for me:

• A scoring rate of 2.73 per over is really slow for the Proteas and while it might be enough runs to put pressure on the English its not exactly setting the world alight... especially considering that Centurion Park is supposed to be a good batting strip
• The English bowled aggressively - no shortage of bouncers from their quicks
• I like this scrapping spirit - maybe it could be an interesting test match series after all
  
• De Wet hasn't exactly looked on song on his debut - why didn't Morkel take the new ball?
• I still think we are going to regret that we didn't play Parnell
• Graeme Swann bowled well - will be interesting to see how Harris does on this track

Anyway we will keep on watching to see how it all plays out

Parnell travesty

Wayne Parnell not playing in the first test against England at Centurion Park is an absolute travesty of justice and in my opinion a really short-sighted decision that the SA management will regret.

We are going into this test match with three right arm seamers (Steyn, Ntini and presumably Morne Morkel) and we have Paul Harris holding up one end as a spinner.

South Africa are almost certainly going to be without Jacques Kallis from a bowling perspective and we have battled to take 20 wickets in a test match for a while.

Despite this we choose not to include the left-arm seamer who has been a brilliant addition to our ODI setup over the last 12 months? Bizarre...

For sure Steyn is still the premier fast bowler in the side and Ntini has 99 caps to his name but if you have to toss-up Morkel vs Parnell on current form and what they bring to the side, you'd be hard pushed to say that Parnell deserves to draw the short-straw.

There are plenty of reasons not to rush a young fast bowler and not put too much pressure on him, but Parnell has proven he has what it takes to play at international level and by not including him we have robbed ourselves of some much needed variety in our attack.

In Paul Harris you have a great spinner who can plug up one end so you won't have a case where a young fast bowler is going to be toiling for hours on end in the sun and taking its toll on his body. But you lose some of your effectiveness if you are going to tie up one end and then charge in with three right-arm quicks for two and a half days.

Don't get me wrong, I am a big Morne Morkel fan and think he has plenty to offer SA cricket, I am just concerned that the balance of the side is not exactly there if he is given preference over Parnell.

Cricket Strategist reviews the SA tourists

A 4-1 victory over Australia in the One Day Internationals (ODIs) wraps up the away leg of the tour. We look at some of the cricketers whose reputations were advanced and who went backward on the tour.

Advanced

JP Duminy: Without question the find of the tour. Runs, wickets and a reputation for being a tough and nuggety player under pressure. (10/10)

Graeme Smith: Love him or hate him, Smithy led from the front with runs and a tough as nails attitude that was apparent in the spirit shown by the entire side. (9/10)

Johan Botha: Following in the footsteps of Graeme Smith was always going to be tough. His bowling in the ODI's was tight and played his role to perfection. His stock definately advanced in world cricket ratings. (8/10)

AB Devilliers: A match winning innings that will probably never be forgotten. Devilliers has answered any doubts about his ability as a middle order batter in both forms of the game. (8/10)

Dale Steyn: The worlds premier fast bowler again showed his class and that partnership with Duminy which buried the Aussies will probably be the stuff of bar legends for MANY years to come (8/10)

Hashim Amla: I battled to judge Amla's performance. Without question he's proven he can play the game at this level and get runs in both the Test and ODI arena but I thought he got out at some bad times in the series. Answered any questions about his technique. (7/10)

Morne Morkel: Morkel came into the test series with a few questions hanging over his head. Plenty of fire and more importantly BRAINS in his bowling. (7/10)

Jacques Kallis: Bowled his heart out and made some important breakthroughs when they were needed. A little disappointed in his batting over the series though.... (7/10)

Makhaya Ntini: I reckon Ntini impressed this series. I think there were some concerns that he had grown a little long in the tooth but he delivered a solid performance (7/10)

Paul Harris: Harris played his role to perfection. Personal opinion - the Aussies didn't hold him in particularly high regard - but his hard work and scrapper spirit earned a few more fans. (7/10)

Albie Morkel - I'll confess I was a little surprised to see him named man of the series in the ODI's but he weighed in with some nice little contributions. Needs a bit of work on his bowling but a brave performance all in all. (7/10)

Unchanged / Too little to judge

Mark Boucher: I have to be honest and say Boucher didn't do much to advance his reputation in the series. Kept wicket solidly and chipped in with a few runs but really expected a bit more from him. (6/10)

Lonwabo Tsotsobe: A surprise inclusion for the tour he spent a lot of time on the sidelines. Four wickets on debut shows some ability, but he needs more game time. (6/10)

Wayne Parnell: A good opportunity for a youngster - can't say we had enough time to judge him. (6/10)

Ashwell Prince: Injury ruled him out early on. Without the injury the tour would not have belonged to Duminy though... makes you think.... (5/10)

Went backwards

Neil Mckenzie: He had such a vital role to play in the side and yet he never really got going. A few scratchy contributions but never seemed to stamp his authority on the game at any time. (5/10)

Herschelle Gibbs: Flashes of his true ability and one innings where he really got going. Going to have to work harder to deliver the runs to keep his place (5/10)

What a tour though... Can't wait till the Aussies hit our shores.

Hhhhmmmm

It was something I warned about at the start of the tour and it looks like its my concerns were justified...

Injuries are mounting in the SA camp - although surprisingly it seems to be the batters and not the bowlers who are picking up the knocks at the moment - and this poses a problem over the next three months.

Graeme Smith and Mark Boucher have now had their tours cut short while Jacques Kallis and Vaughn Van Jaarsveld are nursing strains. AB DeVilliers is also probably still feeling a little tender after the blow he took recently.

There's a lot of HARD cricket still to be played and squad depth is going to become increasingly important - which was why I argued that Makhaya Ntini and Dale Steyn shouldn't be bowling in all these games and Kallis shouldering a major batting and bowling role for EVERY game...

The last thing SA can afford is to see the likes of Ntini, Steyn, Kallis or Morne Morkel not available for the home leg of the test series....

Morne Morkel opening

What the hell was Mickey Arthur thinking when he decided to open with Morne Morkel?!

Don't get me wrong - there's nothing to be faulted with a bit of experimentation from time to time, but seriously Morkel coming in with such a big total to chase doesn't make sense.

A pinch hitter from time to time might work, but not in this case - he should rather have stuck with the tried and tested and let them work their way through...

Dunno - thoughts? Comments? Criticisms?

SA ODI squad announced

South Africa has announced a couple of new faces for the One Day International (ODI) team to take on Australia over the summer.

South African Standard Bank squad:
Graeme Smith
Johan Botha
Hashim Amla
Mark Boucher
AB de Villiers
JP Duminy
Herschelle Gibbs
Jacques Kallis
Albie Morkel
Morne Morkel
Makhaya Ntini
Wayne Parnell
Dale Steyn
Lonwabo Tsotsobe
Vaughn van Jaarsveld

Have to admit I'm a little surprised that Amla is in this lineup while Ashwell Prince and Neil Mckenzie. But otherwise a good solid lineup with Herschelle Gibbs being thrown a lifeline.

Inconsistency
I do however have a bone to pick with the selectors - Kleinveldt, Zondeki, Louw all got games for SA six weeks ago when we were playing Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Now suddenly you have Parnell, Tsotsobe and Van Jaarsveld in the lineup - where's the consistency?!

These guys needed the game time and exposure to the squad setup if they were going to be part of the Aussie series - so why did they not get involved early on?

The new boys
If I slated the selectors in the last paragraph then I need to praise them for a bit of progressiveness with their selections here.

For the Australians who haven't seen much of Van Jaarsveld (pictured left) - he's a super aggressive young left handed batter who has been a great success in the domestic one day game. If he could get his head screwed on right he might even be knocking on the test squad door. Good selection.

Parnell (pictured right) and Tsotsobe we don't know much about. They're two young left arm seamers with some solid performances in the local game. If these two can get some good performances under their belt, they could contribute some nice variety to the SA attack which has often been accused of being a bit one dimensional.



Word of warning
Graeme Smith is already battling with his old elbow injury and Dale Steyn, Makhaya Ntini and Morne Morkel have a long season of hard test cricket in front of them - we don't want to be running them into the ground chasing a couple of ODI victories at the expense of our premium strike bowlers....

Test team reviewed

It is pretty tough to find fault when your side has just chased down the mighty Australians score and recorded the second highest run chase in Test cricket history.... but I thought I'd use this opportunity to touch on a couple of observations from the sidelines.

Batting lineup
Two failures from Mckenzie asks the obvious question about whether he is the right guy to be at the top of the order - the same questions are being asked of his counterpart Matthew Hayden who has hinted at retirement. Sure batters are there to get runs, but the value these guys bring in terms of steel, brains and intelligence is valuable and shouldn't be discounted too quickly.

Of concern for us is the brittleness and length of our 'tail'. Traditionally South Africa has always enjoyed an 8, 9, 10 who would guts it out for a 10, 20 or 30 but when your number 8 looks shaky then you have to worry. Morne Morkel doesn't look like offering any solidity here so we're going to have to be aware of where our batting starts and ends.

Lots of talk about the quality of AB Devilliers century - which was top notch - but lets not forget the role that JP Duminy played. Unlucky in the 1st innings, he came back well and proved that like Ashwell Prince he's a man for a crisis situation. I reckon this innings proved Duminy has the makings of a top test batsman - Herschelle Gibbs with a brain!?

Bowling
We bowled the Aussies out twice - not much more needs to be said, although I think Paul Harris needs to crack special mention for his contribution - he was awesome.

A balanced and capable bowling attack.

From the Aussie perspective, I don't think that the same can be said. Krezja looked ordinary and Peter Siddle looks like he has no idea how to bowl quality batters out.

The South Africans looked a little sucseptible to the left arm seam of Johnston but I reckon Ponting has to be a little careful about bowling him into the ground. 60 overs in a test match is a surefire way to wear out your premium strike bowler.

All in all - a great performance from SA typifying the new mental strength that the side has acquired and next up we've got the Boxing Day test...

SA fast bowlers

On Friday the South African cricket side took on Kenya in a One Day International fixture which they easily cantered home in. The side looked very short of match practice (particularly the bowlers) and this is something that needs to be addressed without blowing them out ahead of the Aussie tour at the end of the year.

Monde Zondeki was particularly off song and didn’t find any real rhythm.

Morne Morkel’s figures weren’t that bad and apart from one over where he went for 12 runs, he was efficient.

But let’s bear in mind that they were bowling, against a very average Kenyan batting line-up, one couldn’t help but think he’d have been in trouble bowling to the Indian or Australian batters.

For the record their bowling figures were as below:
M Zondeki 8 0 50 1
M Morkel 9 0 32 0

Morkel at the moment is definitely in the picture for a first team test bowling spot and a fit Zondeki backing up the first line strike bowlers will be invaluable over the coming summer, but splashing it around is not going to get you where you want to be.

Games against the likes of Kenya and Bangladesh should be aimed at having your strike bowlers proving they can control the ball under lights and bowl 6 balls in the same area of the pitch.

My suggestion would be to the South African fast bowlers that if that they should remember that the Kenyan side wasn’t intimidated with their blast ‘em out mentality so the bigger name sides probably won’t be – disciplined fast bowling is what is needed from these guys now…

M&F Cricketers of the year awards

This evening Mutual & Federal held its annual awards dinner celebrating its "Cricketer of the Year" awards.

This years winners were dominated by bowlers. Tell us what you think about these South African cricketers and the role they can be expected to play when SA takes on Australia later this year....

Johan Botha
Dillon Du Preez
Albie Morkel
Morne Morkel
Monde Zondeki

Well done to all these cricketers and well done to Mutual & Federal and Colin Bryden for putting on a great evening....

SA attack this morning

I thought the South African cricket side bowled curiously this morning when they had Collingwood and Sidebottom together.

Collingwood didn't score a single run straight on and milked the bowlers the moment they bowled short and wide. Yet for some obscure reason, we insisted on bowling short and wide to him? The one delivery that Morkel pitched full and straight nailed him front on and should have been out.

I thought Morkel bowled particularly well to Sidebottom when he got stuck in, but it proved the point that you have to vary your lines for batters. Collingwood was happy with the short stuff where Sidebottom struggled.

Obviously sitting on the sidelines, it is easy to criticise, but the South Africans (in my opinion) but themselves under pressure by not being disciplined and bowling at Collingwoods weaknesses.

On a side note - good call by the 3rd umpired - Ian Gould (??), I also didn't think Devilliers made a clean catch this time around....

How valuable is variety?

The South African national bowling attack is probably the one world class attack that I can use to highlight in this post.

Prior to Paul Harris (Left arm spinner) coming into the side, the attack comprised of a bunch of right arm seamers who stormed in at at the 140km/h mark who maybe moved it a little off the pitch on a good day.

Unfortunately there have been a couple of Test matches where these 4 seamers have had little to do except run in and their fielders ended up chasing leather the whole day. Not a lot of fun.

This lack of variety has been something that has plagued them for the better part of a decade, and if it hadn't been for the quality of fast bowler they were producing, South Africa would be a far less potent bowling force.

The debate has long been asked - would South Africa be better served by having a slightly weaker bowler, but one who turns the ball a bit or comes in from a different angle or swings the ball in the air?

On their day, any of Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Charl Langeveldt, Andre Nel, Jacques Kallis or Morne Morkel will pick you up a 5 wicket haul. But on a day where the opposition is sending you
to all corners of the park and you are craving something different, would you want a left arm seamer or a finger spinner to take advantage of some rough in the pitch.

Harris has added a big part of the variety that the South African attack has needed, but the demand for a left arm quick bowler is obvious. Just that slightly different angle to worry the batsman or provide some wear and tear outside the batters off stump.

Logically you wont give up quality for variety on most days, but if you don't have some variety to fall back on, then you can spend some very long days in the field...