Lions are hopeless

[mojj]

WHy are the lions even playing in the supersport series. Anybody that bats that slowly, 361 runs in two days at just over one run an over should not even be allowed to play cricket, let alone play in the premier division of South African cricket. The Dolphins team havent got the best bowling attack either, and as we well know Sean Pollock and Lance have taken a beating from international class players recently, so the only international class player in the Lions team is Andrew Hall. Hall should be in the South African team without a second thought. Garnett Kruger should also make the team. From the Dolphins, Pollock picks himself, Hashim Amla should fill the no. 3 spot for SA and Mfuneko Ngam should be taken on tour to be nurtured and taught how to use his pace effectively.

AB De Villiers should replace Boucher and Martin Van Jaarsveld should be in the team ahead of any other players including Jacque Kallis. As far as a world class spinner is concernd SA do not have one. Boje or Peterson will have to do, But it does seem that more spinners are coming to the fore.

All the Best
MOJO

[Rachael]

Um.. just been checking out the match at http://www.cricket.co.za/default.asp...persportseries

The day one report has Cook reportedly happy to weigh anchor following the loss of his the opening partner, Bacher, who was playing shots, and then of the no 3, Ontong, who "took the fight to the Dolphins, pulling Pollock for successive boundaries to deep square leg". It seems, then, to have been entirely to the Lions' credit that (faced with a calamatous first innings collapse) they dug in. As the report says: "The pair of Cook and Neil McKenzie took the visitors into lunch, whereafter both men adopted a very cautious approach."

The day two report starts by observing that "Neil McKenzie made his intentions clear early on" and heaps praise on Ackerman for batting solidly in support of his illustrious colleague to take 48 off 179 balls - a knock good enough to set up a first innings declaration (hardly the mark of a weak side). The report concludes "Benkenstein had a good day with the ball as he picked up 3/27 runs off 12 overs, with McKenzie's century stealing the batting limelight on a good day's cricket in Durban": doesn't sound like grounds for inditing the premier division of South African cricket!!!

It's self evident that the current SA team have not had a particular good year to date.. but let's keep this in perspective: Kallis remains one of the top 5 rated batsmen in world cricket (down from the 878 rating he achieved in March, but still at 800+); Gibbs may have lost form but his career high of 828 shows a destructiveness that few batsmen in world cricket ever match; Smith is stil doing irritatingly well; despite the modest returns, Rudolph is STILL being talked about as the classiest bat in the side and the one the rest of the world should most covet; and with Boucher and Pollock being two of the best all-rounders in world cricket.. SA STILL have a batting line up that really shouldn't ever anticipate losing a match.

In terms of winning matches? Pollock's still, for my money, the best seamer in the world on any pitch that's fit for Test cricket: if there's movement to be had, and let's face it there should be, then he'll find it.. and if there's a technical or mental weakness in any batsman he'll taget it as effectively as any I've ever seen. Ntini is supporting him well.. and maturing into a guy who.. without perhaps hitting the highs of Akhtar and Harmison, is one of the few consistently good fast bowlers in world cricket. Then there's Kallis, still giving able support.. remaining marginally ahead of Flintoff as the best supporting bowler in Test cricket.

What worries me about SA is the lack of depth in the bowling. England (with neither Jones nor Anderson really stepping up a gear) are a bit light in that department.. in that Harmison's the only true class and Hoggard, Giles and Flintoff aren't reliable and resillient enough to carry the side unsupported... but SA seem to be in even more dire straights on that front: the good guys are getting over-worked because the rest suck.. so the good guys aren't as effective.. and winning is getting harder.

Strikes me that no change in coach is going to sort out THAT problem in a hurry: for the time being, at least, it seems to me that SA need to take a leaf out of Nasser Hussain's book and just concentrate on being "hard to beat": stack the batting, bat out draws, and hope that once in ever series the oposition will get over-ambitious going for a win and let you sneak through.

World cricket needs sides like that.. and until we see some more impressive bowling displays from the 1st change bowlers I just don't see SA having much alternative.

[Enjoy]

SA may be down but is definitely not out !
Let's hope the new coach instils some direction and confidence in the players.
There are a number of hugely talented young players out there - Duminy, Amla to name a couple of batsmen and Tshabalala as a spinner with potential.
It is a pity Duminy has injured himself and is now out of the Indian tour but I think all SA needs is confidence.
Coach Jennings will hopefully help turn this team around.

For the good of the game, we need a strong and rejuvenated South Africa, pushing Australia and England.

[mojj]

Hi Rachel


Just to reply to your article, I still beleive that The lions were negative in the face of a very good side. I cant see and Australian, English, Indian, Sri Lankan or Pakastini side doing anything similar even in the face of difficult conditions. Taking tewo days to bat to score 348 is certainly not good for the game which needs Results to keep alive, in places like SOuth Africa, who beleive it or not cannot get more than 1000 people to watch a provincial game.If you have wickets in hand like the Lions had then Im sure you can try to be positive, rather than take 144 balls to score 28, 276 balls to score 100 and 179n balls to score 48. Andrew Hall's 64 of 101 balls was a breath of fresh air. No, making excuses and beleiving reports written and supported by Supersport which is a Lions territory sports channel, is not good enough for a proud sporting nation, which to be fair has been disastrous recently.

[Rachael]

I'm wouldn't dream of disputing the detail sof a game so far away, and which I've not realy followed.. but I wil say this: cricket is in danger of becoming a one-dimensional bore if commercial, populist pressures mean that captains and coaches are under constant pressure to play positively.

I've always held that the joy of cricket is the way the toss, the pitches, the conditions, the state of the ball, the match situation and so on open windows of opportunity and tilt the playing field one way or the other. It's true that there are some wonderful times when everything is evenly balanced and both sides are balancing the opportunity for attack against the associated risks... but there are also long periods where one side just has to hang in there and the other has to really go for it.

I don't like the word "nagative" in this context: attacking cricket from both sides, in many situations, just makes for lousy cricket: the spectacle is often VERY much better with one side being negative. Doesnt matter whether its a side that's bowling that's focussed on containment rather than taking wickets (perhaps whilst waiting for the new ball, or for signs of reverse swing) or batting that's focussed on occupation of the crease (perhaps whilst waiting for the opposition to tire or the ball to soften, or for more favourable overhead conditions, or simply in order to establish a scenario where the options are merely draw or us win, rather than us win or them win.

I don't know exactly how the game in question measures up on all those fronts.. but my impression was of a game for purists who like the chess-like side of the game. The baying mods of ODI enthusiasts might not like it.. but I'd argue thats because they are followers of a different (more explosive but less interesting) sport.

[Occasional Fan]

Originally Posted by Rachael

The baying mods of ODI enthusiasts might not like it...

Who are these baying mods of whom you speak, Rachael?

[R W S]

"If the players expect soft drinks, I will make sure there are none. They will go to a tap and get on their knees and drink water until they realise that it is an honour to play for South Africa."
Ray Jennings, the new South African coach, lays down the rules for the team

"The UCBSA put its faith in me to jack up the team ... I think there are a couple of players who need their butts kicked."
South Africa's coach Ray Jennings shows why he has a reputation for not mincing his words

Reminds me of the attitude that led to the Proteas 'boot camp' ahead of the 2003 rugby world cup - and that didnt work either. In pro-sports you need more sophisticated man-management techniques than this.

[Mike Small]

They’ve already got a ‘talk nineteen to the dozen mount’ as captain – and now another jabber mouth as coach worse still he he possesses what seems aparently a Hitlerism strategy - this is not what South Africa need – not in my opinion anyway.