Does anyone have any idea why the team has already been announced? Are they playing some mind games with Graeme Smith? Will Steve Harmison be on the sheet which the captains exchange just before the toss tomorrow? Somehow, I doubt it. But I don't understand why the team has been announced in advance - it just gives the opposition more time to dig out the correct videos. Strange tactics indeed.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
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Yeah, I think it's a strange idea. Tell the team who's in but keep it under wraps for the opposition to be distracted by and worry about. Anyway, I'd have been tempted to bat Fred at 6 and play Harmison, and still know our tail is better than theirs, but I vastly prefer the look of that side (Broad's omission included, he's a heck of a talent but just can't take wickets yet) to the last one. Let's hope it was just a one-test moment of madness from Miller, Moores and Vaughan.

I'm staggered by Vaughan's denial about his long term batting abilities though:

Blips? I used to defend him on the basis of the Ashes 2002/03 and the India series around then (Vaughan vs Dravid), but even I've seen the light that the 'blips' are the norm. The scores above 40 are the real blips! I'd agree with others, Strauss as captain (KP - no, Bell needs more time) and Vaughan to go before the Ashes and even the India series. Let's let Bell make number 3 his own, or even open with Cook at 3 long term, and build the batting on that.

Still, I remain inherently optimistic, here we go!

To me the side England picked depends on winning the toss and having Monty bowl as the pitch wares. So if SA win the toss it will be a huge boost.
They must have real worries about Flintoff at number 6 because personally I would bat him there. Maybe its to do with the way he batted in Australia and has been batting snice. But there is obvious concern about using him as batsmen.
The advantages of batting him at 6 are obvious. Bringing in an extra bowler.

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I cant see how England can win.

We haven't got the fire power to bowl SA out. Flintoff isn't a big wicket taker, Siders hasn't shown he can take wickets against decent bats and Anderson has bowled well but you are then placing a massive burden on him and Panesar. Panesar now has to bowl really well to take the pressure from England's 3 quicks baring in mind the overs they have had to bowl recently and all three aren't exactly coming into the game full of fitness.

Will Collingwood at 6 make that much of a difference? Its not as if he's in great form


I really hope I'm wrong though...

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Mark.

From reading Cricinfo, it seems it's to make up for the 'fiasco' that surrounded the Pattinson selection, which was widely criticised in the media. Not because of who it was, but how it was handled, with Vaughan saying that it destablised the 'team harmony'.

If you read the groundsmans report -

"Steve Rouse, the Warwickshire groundsman, pre-empted the omission of Harmison when he suggested that this would not be a surface for the hit-the-deck bowlers, and should Smith choose to bowl first for the third match running, Sidebottom and Anderson will be hopeful of exploiting the lateral movement that England failed to locate under clear blue skies at Headingley last week. "

Source: Cricinfo - Smith targets England's insecurities

It's obvious they wouldn't be playing Harmison or Broad, both hit the deck bowlers and that Sidebottom would come back in, probably with Collingwood.

So they clearly felt it wouldn't be giving Smith much of an advantage knowing what side they were playing, although it may help him decide whether to bat or bowl first, should he win the toss, by looking at the weather conditions.

It'll be fascinating to see what he does if he does win the toss, although winning it 3 times in a row would be getting a little tiresome and simply makes Englands job that much harder. Although it's interesting to note in the stats that winning the toss doesn't seem to favour the side that's wins it in terms of winning or losing.

They can win if they get their 'beloved' swing, although it's a sad indictment on Englands bowling resources that they have to rely on swing to win a Test Match.

But it seems they're totally incapable of taking regular wickets against South Africa's increasingly disciplined batsmen unless they get some lateral movement assistance. Englands batsmen however, get themselves out to some pretty average bowling it has to be said, although Steyn has been a notch above everyone so far and his loss is key I think to giving Englands batsmen an easier time.

They can win this game, but they'll have to play a lot better than they did at Headingly and the batsmen really do need to help the bowlers with some first innings runs. The bowlers need to make the batsmen play a whole lot more than they did at Headingly where they were allowed to leave a shocking number of deliveries.

I have a sneaking feeling that Panesar holds the key to the outcome of this Test Match.

Not sure I see the connection, and surely the ECB is not worried about what the media think? I'd still leave the announcement to the last minute. But then what do I know?

Anything which helps the captain of the side which is 1-0 up, no matter how small the help might be, is surely a bad thing? Of course, Smith will have the team sheet anyway before the coin is tossed, but giving him ten seconds to think rather than 24 hours would still be my approach.

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Money won't buy you friends. But it gets you a better class of enemy.
Spike Milligan

I just hope the weather forecast is wrong as it is meant to be poor over the next 5 days in the midlands so i doubt we will get a result unless it is a poor pitch.

Looks like Morkels getting a bit of bounce with the new ball. Have England read the pitch wrong??

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Mark.

Morkel got a bit of bounce but fortunately Ntini bowled badly again.

Looks a decent toss to have won at 46-0.