South Africa in England July-Sept 2012

[barmyarmy]

KP won't play again sadly.

 

[Haarithan]

Sorry, but have I missed anything? Why would you say so?

 

[barmyarmy]

When it was just about the press conference and lack of availability he had a chance but not now the contents of the text messages has leaked.

 

[Haarithan]

Hmm just saw that.

Kevin Pietersen text to Andrew Strauss: What it said | Mail Online

'If he refuses to show the contents of the texts then he's finished and if he does show the texts then he's probably finished anyway.'

Sad but true.

 

[Dennis Mennis]

I'm not defending him, I personally don't like him, but the word he used is not necessarily "obscene". The literal translation is box, and is sometimes used to refer to female genitalia. If said with particular venom it can be interpretted as c..t, but more often it just means stupid or idiot, and usually in a joking manner. I use the term often when talking to my best friends and don't have a problem if they call me the same thing. Just don't call your wife a doos!

The way he meant it will depend on the rest of the message. Strauss should be able to make up his own mind about it but i would think he'll be far more annoyed at the bowling advice given.

 

[fk915]

KP should cancel his contract with ECB & then available himself for South African selection.

 

[barmyarmy]

Not sure they would want him.

 

[fk915]

They will, for the next England - SA series

 

[War]

They will, for the next England - SA series

Ha well if he was to take the drastic decision, the 4 year qualification period would not be up in time though.

The next ENG vs SA series is december/January 2015/16.

However i don't even want to think about that, just hope he comes back.

 

[Themer]

I hope he doesn't come back. He's thrown it all away as far as I'm concerned couldn't care less how good a cricketer he is now to be honest.

 

[War]

Fair enough, thats your view. However I disagree.

Cricinfo's editor Sambit Bal is back with a lovely assessment on the KP saga:

Sambit Bal : Sambit Bal: The case for flexibility in the Pietersen saga | Cricinfo Magazine | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[Owzat]

KP won't play again sadly.

The ECB have taken fairly drastic measures with him, they would struggle to bring him back in without completely losing face. I think we're better off without him, like some Liverpool fans are slowly coming to grips with the team being better (off) perhaps without Gerrard



As for England's approach, at suggestion we should just 'go for it'. IF there is a way for England to win it is is in losing 0-1 wickets per session for the next two session, getting up to maybe 200/3 or 4 by tea, and having a dart. Yes there is the SERIES at stake, do wish the media including that article would recognise that the series is 0-1 and not just go on about the world ranking like it's worth a dog turd in a paper bag

Losing this Test won't help the ranking any, what England need to do is show resolve which they have occaisionally but not often enough. England will point at matches in safferland, or "Cardiff" which is what too often people suggest England need to do to save a match, but I can point at collapses in UAE, West Indies, and probably other places all over where the fight was not there.

The problem is that with the policy of continually picking Strauss, Cook, Trott, KP and Bell as has gone on in the past, the players vying to get in the team have few chances so we have no reserves. Sure the batsmen in situ sustain decent averages, with the number of weak sides we play and consistent selection they're bound to, but when we need someone to come in they're ill prepared and certainly we have a lack of clear options for tours like of India.

Going back briefly to the rankings, can anyone see us keeping them in light of our winter tour.................?!?!? Focus on the task in hand, winning the Test to draw the series, and prepare for a tough winter. The batsmen will have to show more resolve than's been shown too little of in the past 12-18 months.

Despite Trott's reputation and record, he averages a modest 31.82 vs South Africa. Strauss averages 38.38, but over half those runs came in 04/05, he's scored just 457 runs in 20 innings since at 22.85 against them.

In the series since and including UAE :

Strauss 697 runs @ 33.19
Cook 687 runs @ 36.16
Trott 590 runs @ 34.71
Bell 500 runs @ 33.33

In four series the only side Bell has averaged above 40 against is West Indies (222 runs @ 111.00), Trott only struggled against Pakistan (161 runs @ 26.83), Cook had a couple of good series, a couple of poor ones including this, and 326 of Strauss' 697 runs came against West Indies while he has averaged under 29 in the others.

Time for Strauss to go? Quite probably. In SEVEN of his last 12 series he has averaged below 30. He averaged 43.86 and 52.67 in the last two Ashes series respectively, 62.00 and 65.20 against Bangladesh and West Indies, and a modest 38.17 against India in 2011 when we won 4-0. So if we were playing weak sides or the Ashes every other series he might justify selection. That's 2301 runs for 65 times out at an average of 35.40 in the past 12 series, worse if you take out West Indies and Bangladesh series to make it 1733 runs @ 31.51 against anyone decent. He certainly can't carry on with a series contribution of 107 runs @ 17.83 with a HS of 37 in a key series like this one.

 

[angryangy]

The question comes if we play two spinners in India, which we probably should and will do. Have the selectors got it in them to drop say Broad, to allow Finn to play? That's the issue for me.

Two spinners and two seamers is not a strategy that has a high probability of winning in India, unless your opponent is not India.

 

[barmyarmy]

For all those of you who thought "oh no, not another Planetcricket View article" and didn't realise it was written by me...

http://www.planetcricket.org/forums...le-saves-strauss-awkward-questions-81188.html

 

[shravi]

Another poor shot from Bell to get out. Both of his dismissals in this match have been needless.

Trott isn't looking especially comfortable against Morkel either.