You say there is lots of batting talent and than you produce a lineup with no new names batting wise. So much for all these new names. I am all for playing Rudolp but he hardly a new talent. He hardly set the world alight, he played a number of good innings but has not so far jumped in quality to be reliable Test batsmen. I would welcome him back as an opener but he may not be the answer to our opening problems.
As for Smith being a loud mouth well so what? Thats just the way he is he. Thats his buisness and if people want to critcise for it thats their buisness.

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"Checkout the big brain on Brett" Pulp Fiction

Kemp can be brought in the test side.He is a good player.Although known for his big hits, he is an equal good bet in test cricket too

Firstly John, not once did I mention "new" talent. Secondly, talent does not always need to be young. I can mention young guys, but like Morkel in this test so far and Steyn on debut, they will find it hard without a couple more seasons behind them. That is why I mentioned Rudolph, Ackerman, and Benkenstein. I younsgster needs to be an exceptional talent if he is to perform consistently well from the beginning of his test career. Look, Michael Clarke is one of the most talented youngsters but even he was dropped. He looks twice the player he was now. We can bring in guys like Vaughn van Jaarsveldt, Duminy, Du Plessis or even Philander but it would make more sense to bring in experienced guys.

I disagree about Rudolph. He is not an agressive flashy player, so he would be perfect to open the batting. He has a solid defence and a good head. I agree that he is not going to set the world alight but that is not his role in the team. How many SA batsman could have played that match saving knock against Australia (none IMO). He has never been given the opportunity to open the batting (remember that he is an opening batsman and only never got to open because the Gibbs/Smith pair were reliable). Besides his average is not much worse than AB's, yet nobody criticises AB. Rudolph needs to be given the chance, unless of course, you want Boeta again.

As for Smiths big mouth, well if you are playing a solo sport, then its acceptable. but you forget that he is playing a team sport and what he says is not just his business, its the teams business. He puts unnecessary pressure on the TEAM.

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434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

Hi Tendlya, I have been saying this for quite some time now. I am a big Kemp fan. If you watch him bat, you will see that he plays proper cricket shots and he is no slogger like Klusener. Kemp is a proper batsman and he has a solid defence. He plays spin well too because he gets a good stride in. He is also fearless and is not easily intimidated. I think that these qualities can be useful to our current team.

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434, world record for the shortest period. Whos choking now?

Ya....Jack Rudolph was touted as the next most exciting talent when he was about to make international debut.He is a good player.

Maybe he did not taste success against Australia at home in the last test series.

He did play well against australia last year in australia with a century at melbourne.He had a good AUS tour.

Surprising to note that he wasnt picked for this current test series.History bears a testimony of the fact that INDIAN BOWLING ATTACK over the years holds the distinction for upgrading not bad players to good players,good players to very good players and very good players to great players.Jimmy Adams,Mathew hayden. Rudolph missed the bus

Hey Gibbs fan,

What i liked about kemp was the fashion in which he placed some of his innings. He can slow down things as per the situation and step on the gas when needed.In short, he has a good cricketing brain and an uncanny ability to hit the cricket ball quite a distance.

As i said in one of my previous posts, patience and aggression are required in both test circket and one day cricket. Its absolutely unfair to attach only one of the above 2 virtues to kemp and say he is a one day seacialist when he has both.

Smith dropped sachin when he was on 21.An absolute sitter in the slips.

46 for Tendulkar. He hasnt scored a 50 on the last 13 innings. He would have loved four more runs today. Tomorrow it will be a new beginning. But he did play some very good shots today. And yes, that was a very easy one that Smith dropped. May be an ill-timed lapse of concentration.

I hope to see Sachin go on to score a huge hundred. He is due for one and he is looking in good touch right now.

India is slighly better placed tha SA right now. Laxman, Sachin and Ganguly are all in form. Two more good sessions tomorrow will put India in the driver's seat.

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My computer can beat me at chess.....but its no match for me at kick boxing.

I must of thought you did. Because when you mention the likes of Rudolp I hardly start to think as talented. Because he really hasn't produced that much. I agree he hasn't done really badly either and should be welcomed back. But when you said there was better talent than Smith I wouldn't of thought of Rudolp and Kemp. I thought there were a couple of players making lots of runs at domestic level.

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"Checkout the big brain on Brett" Pulp Fiction

He would have loved four more runs today.
Ya man. That was what i was actually praying for before leavign to work. He being unbeaten on some 70 odd and taking up afresh the next day. Nevertheless am happy that he looks very good

India is slighly better placed tha SA right now.
Too early to say this. Laxman-sachin partnership will decide the fate of the match.At this moment i would still say advantage SA.

Two more good sessions tomorrow will put India in the driver's seat
Lets hope for that. Raring to see such sessions tomorrow