South Africa test series

[essexfan548]

My memories are him hitting an enormous 6 out of the old ground at Hastings into South Terrace [the road on the north of the ground].  It was a televised JPL match, Kenny got a 100 but we lost ... I have this on video tape somewhere.

Crikey - I remember that Hastings game! He also got a 100 against Middlesex at Chelmsford in the JPL in 1981 - a classy hundred in a tight but crucial run chase with some sixes at the end.

I was there as I lived locally at the time

[Andy]

A great win by England today & the argument for 5 day Tests was greatly strengthened today. Alec Stewart , who I have a lot of time for, has come out strongly in favour of 5 day Tests continuing, good for him, just think this finish today wouldn't have happened under new proposals.

TBH I suspect that this 4-day idea was a ruse to justify having countries clearly not able to play 'proper' Test cricket especially those struggling to generate enough interest from sponsors or broadcasters - as happened recently.

[bwildered]

Good win for England , to go two one up with one to play, so now cannot lose the series . Contributions from Sibley, Crawley, Pope , Curran and Bess bode well for the future .
Blotted there copybook though by bowling rubbish for the last wicket . Capt Root bowled three/ four overs to many in search for a five wicket haul and Wood bowled fast, but not in the right places.
Although not selected , Foakes behind the stumps and leave Buttler for the white ball stuff please Mr Silverwood ..

[Andy]

Good win for England , to go two one up with one to play, so now cannot lose the series . Contributions from Sibley, Crawley, Pope , Curran and Bess bode well for the future .
Blotted there copybook though by bowling rubbish for the last wicket . Capt Root bowled three/ four overs to many in search for a five wicket haul and Wood bowled fast, but not in the right places.
Although not selected , Foakes behind the stumps and leave Buttler for the white ball stuff please Mr Silverwood ..

Yep.  Foakes ought to be tried out - whilst this is a poor Saffer side, it is sometimes useful to bed in youngsters against weaker opposition.  Whilst they don't help themselves by clearing off to T20 franchises, I think there's a need to rest the core players who have looked out of sorts this winter.  Buttler et al could benefit by specialising on white ball, whilst Root just needs a vacation. 

[LeedsExile]

Quite, they need a rest. That is why they will soon be off to Sri Lanka for another meaningless series. Three tours in one winter is unnecessary and I for one have hardly bothered to follow any of it.

[Andy]

Quite, they need a rest. That is why they will soon be off to Sri Lanka for another meaningless series. Three tours in one winter is unnecessary and I for one have hardly bothered to follow any of it.

To be fair, there's often been multiple series (or mini-series) ever since England teams sailed instead of flew.  However, it made more sense when we used to stop off in New Zealand after an Ashes series or Sri Lanka after India. Now it's just random: "it's Thursday, so it must be Chennai or Wellington".

[jwb2]

Sailed instead of flew? Senior moment?

[Andy]

Sailed instead of flew? Senior moment?

Eh? If you're going to be pedantic, it was "ever since" that was the problem in that sentence. 

You try writing coherently after marking assignments with virtually no punctuation.

[jwb2]

Well that told me.

[bobw]

Am I being premature, or is the England team starting to look like a test team rather than white ball players playing at test cricket?

[nat]

Am I being premature, or is the England team starting to look like a test team rather than white ball players playing at test cricket?

Still miles behind Aus, India...even NZ. Of course the hype will begin again. 

[IlfordEagle]

Very promising looking team now, bodes well for the future, Pope looks set to become a fixture for years, some good performances from other youngsters & newbies.

[Bath Hammer]

They have made some great strides during this tour. They have bedded in a number of youngsters who seem to have a much better attitude which may be something to do with Silverwood. It is too early to be sure whether any or all of them are destined for a successful career but we look a lot better off than after the first test. It isn’t relevant whether we aren’t better than Australia, India & New Zealand. I was thinking we would pick up the wooden spoon but I’m now far more optimistic for the future.

[Bath Hammer]

I have to say, though, that I am concerned about the way Root handles fast bowlers. In the cases of both Archer & Wood he has over bowled them & got them to bowl short for long periods. As well as being ineffective this is physically demanding. Archer has gone lame & Wood is cricket”# Andy Carroll so needs careful handling.

[bobw]

Am I being premature, or is the England team starting to look like a test team rather than white ball players playing at test cricket?

Still miles behind Aus, India...even NZ. Of course the hype will begin again.

I was not saying we are world beaters. Just that after years of chasing the white ball gold, we now seam to be forming an attitude that is needed for test cricket. Hopefully winning the 50 over world cup has now put the white ball fixation to bed for a few years and we can consentrate on real cricket.

I agree we need a better captain. But how do you learn captaincy and hold down a central contract at the same time? Nobody gets county experience as they do not play CC any more. No county would not appoint an central contract player as captain as they would never play. So we are left with the selecting a captain from the players rather than selecting a captain and then the team.