A first choice bowler for a truly unforgiving wicket?

[Mr. Wicket]

After the first few overs of the Pak/SAF test, I honestly pitied the quick men selected for the game. Asif, controversies aside, and Gul are an incredibly talented new ball pair who can find some degree of swing or seam in almost any conditions with their nagging, probing styles of bowling. Even then, they couldn't get a hint of movement on a pitch that was placid - low, even bounce, no pace, no seam and conditions offering negligible swing. Not surprisingly, with those sort of conditions they began to look insipid rather quickly with Asif's pace dropping unless the ball swung a little, and neither looking like taking a wicket. The pitch hasn't become any friendlier towards the pacemen since, but Andre Nel's figures right now are stunning. 11.3 overs, one maiden, 33 runs, 2 wickets. On a pitch offering absolutely nothing, he's been running in with incredible fire, energy and sheer commitment - and whatever you say about the man for his behaviour and occasional loud-mouthedness, you can't doubt the fact that he gives an incredible amount every time he plays for South Africa, regardless of conditions. There's nothing on offer, yet he's banging it in furiously and producing bouncers, clocking the speed gun as high as almost 145 kmh (fastest I saw 144.7) and looking like a genuine threat - one of the few bowlers I've seen who can make the contest between bat and ball worth viewing even on this patta.

[Dhondy]

Yup, that's why I love him. That's why I'd back bowlers like he and Sreesanth ahead of all the fancy ones. All heart, those two. Tantrums, fisticuffs, whatever, but there's no doubting the commitment. A captain's dream.

[King]

Yup agree with that, he is a fantastic trier. I'm sure he wouldn't want to stop bowling at all on any sort of pitch. He gives it everything and never stops trying. He's trying different actions today :D

[Mr. Wicket]

Yup, that's why I love him. That's why I'd back bowlers like he and Sreesanth ahead of all the fancy ones. All heart, those two. Tantrums, fisticuffs, whatever, but there's no doubting the commitment. A captain's dream.

Indeed. Remember some of those similarly flat, dull tracks in the West Indies? Nel ripped through them there. Ran in as if he was bowling to a score of 10/4 at a Wanderers greentop, banged it in and smoked them. And wasn't Sreesanth among our most successful quicks there as well? Two real test bowlers there. They have the talent - swing, seam, pace and aggression, but they've got so much commitment it's hard to not admire them.

[MundaPakistani]

Excellent point Salil. On such a pitch it's imperative to have bowlers like Nel who tries extremely hard and has a bit of ability to back it up. I guess this is one of the reasons why a lot of the Pakistani fans(including myself) as obsessed with pace because we have literally seen 100s of such lifeless pitches and right from the start it becomes clear that unless you have a wealth of bowling experience the 128-132 kph cutters are not going to be good enough

[sm332]

I like Nel a lot ... he is willing to cop the abuse ... he is loud mouthed yet good natured ... he will laugh at himself as well as at you. We need more character like him in cricket

[ludhianvi]

I caught a glimpse of SA on day 2 and the Saffies were making the ball do something. They were probably hitting the deck hard and bowling offcutters especially Nel and Steyn

[Mr. Wicket]

Steyn, from what I saw, was mainly making the ball go wide. And wider. Nel though tried every thing possible and then some. Cutters, yorkers, bouncers, snarls, groans, slower balls, every thing you can think of. His passion for the game is truly amazing. This is a bloke who once postponed his long-planned-in-advance wedding by a few hours to allow him to play a test against the West Indies. And he puts everything into his bowling - right before he got Rehman out yesterday, he had bowled four dot balls to Malik at the other end, and then conceded a single to mid on through a poor piece of fielding. One single, but Nel was absolutely livid - and roared in for the next ball to get Rehman out. I just hope he finds a surface in this series that'll give him a little bit more, for he deserves it with the heart and talent he's got.