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England vs South Africa 2012

Cricket Tragic

By Cricket Tragic
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Crookbond Newbie

Crookbond

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I am a little bit worried for South Africa here and I get a feeling England might just edge past them or the series would be drawn. It's definitely been inauspicious start for the Proteas with Boucher's injury. Now, Marchant De Lange will also fly back home. One more injury (to their bowlers) and we have Albie Morkel coming in which says a lot about the bench strength. I am not to worried about Tahir. He knows these conditions and I guess on more seaming wickets he may be just used as a "stopper" rather than a wicket taking option. He may come into play at Oval but again I don't think it will come down to Tahir versus the England spinner (Swann if fit, or Monty). SA seem to be a bit desperate with what I keep hearing from the interviews including Steyn and AB De Villiers. It's almost like they feel they should be No.1 but are No.2. I'm not sure that's a good way to approach such an important Test Series.

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Rain thwarts South Africa at Kent South Africa are hindered by rain at Kent in their final warm-up before the first Test against England. More... South Africa's warm-up at Kent is washed out Tour match, Canterbury (day two of three) Kent 210 v South Africa 108-2 Match scorecard South Africa batted for just 90 minutes against Kent before rain washed out the middle day of their final warm-up match before the first Test against England. Chasing a target of 210, the tourists moved from 31-1 to 108-2 in 22 overs following a delayed start. Following Alviro Petersen's dismissal, Hashim Amla and Jacques Kallis were unbeaten before a storm broke. But South Africa's assistant coach Russell Domingo said he was "not worried" by the lack of preparation. England v South Africa Tests 19-23 July: First Test, The Oval 2-6 August: Second Test, Headingley 16-20 August: Third Test, Lord's "We had such a good week of preparation in Switzerland - the guys were almost saying 'we're mentally ready to play already'," he said. "They're fired up to go and do this." Petersen was trapped lbw by Simon Cook, adding to Graeme Smith's wicket on the opening day. South Africa face England in the first Test at the Oval next Thursday without injured pair bowler Marchant de Lange and wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.

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Cricket Tragic Newbie

Cricket Tragic

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Batting could be a worry for SA. Petersen has looked totally useless in county cricket recently. Rudolph did alright in NZ but is not someone that Ingerland would fear. Duminy is a sitting duck against even half decent off-spin. Hope he has improved his game. Short ball issues as well. With Boucher out, Ab will keep in the 1st test atleast. Not easy even for specialist overseas keeper in Ingerland. And will it have an impact on his batting? Number 6 is the only real concern for Ingerland going into the series. Ingerland Strauss Cook Trott KP Bell Bopara (?) Prior Bresnan Barbie Swann Pussy Might be tempted to play Finn but Bresnan has done well. SA Petersen Smith Amla Kallis Abcd Rudolph Duminy Steyn Morkel Philander Tahir

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goggi Newbie

goggi

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^^^ Agree, one too many weak links in South African batting line-up. South Africa might be better off calling Ashwell Prince in for either Peterson or Duminy. Prince has at least been in England since April. Prince can provide that much needed stodginess.

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Bopara and Onions in England squad Ravi Bopara is back in the England Test side for the first match against South Africa at The Oval next week after being included in a 13-man squad More... Bopara and Onions in England squad Andrew McGlashan July 15, 2012 146744.2.jpg Steven Finn is making a strong case to be the third quick against South Africa Ravi Bopara is back in the England Test squad for the first match against South Africa at The Oval next week. There are five fast bowlers in the 13-man group, with Graham Onions, Steven Finn and Tim Bresnan competing to form the pace trio with James Anderson and Stuart Broad. Bopara's form in the ODI series against Australia - 182 runs and four useful wickets - confirmed he is primed for a return to the Test side, after a frustrating period during which his opportunities were curtailed by injuries. He was set to make a comeback in Sri Lanka after Eoin Morgan was dropped but picked up a side strain that prevented him from bowling, and so Samit Patel was preferred. Then, at the start of this season, Bopara injured his thigh and was ruled out of the series against West Indies. That opened the door for Yorkshire's Jonny Bairstow, who struggled in the three Tests against West Indies, making 38 runs, and has not had a huge amount of batting since. Bairstow returned to Championship action this week and made a first-ball duck against Hampshire. The only other debate is who will be the third fast bowler behind Anderson and Broad. England's regular new-ball pair was rested for the last Test against West Indies but Anderson and Broad will return to spearhead the attack for the main event of the season. In the first two Tests against West Indies, they were accompanied by Bresnan, who was Man of the Match at Trent Bridge after a destructive spell of reverse swing on the third evening sealed the series for England. He currently has a Test bowling average of 26.09 and a batting average of 40.22 and will be tough to dislodge. Finn, however, made a very strong case for himself with his performances in the Australia ODIs. In four completed matches, Finn took eight wickets at 19.37, including 4 for 37 at Chester-le-Street. He played the final Test against West Indies, when Broad and Anderson were rested, but was out-bowled on that occasion by Onions, who was playing his first Test since January 2010. Geoff Miller, the national selector, said: "Ravi Bopara has worked hard to regain his place in the Test squad following some injury concerns earlier in the season and is the only player included who is yet to play a Test match this summer. "We have played some very good cricket over the last couple of months in all formats to win series against West Indies and Australia and after a month of limited overs cricket, preparations are now underway for what is sure to be a very competitive Test series against South Africa," Miller said. "We know we will need to play excellent cricket to win this three-match series and the squad will be determined to start with a strong performance this week during the first Investec Test and set the tone for the rest of the series." On Saturday, the ICC's annual refresh of the rankings pushed South Africa to third but if they beat England they will replace them at the top of the table. England will retain their spot with a won or drawn series over the three Tests at The Oval, Headingley and Lord's. Squad Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Matt Prior (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Graham Onions.

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South Africa's batsmen show form before England Test series South Africa's batsmen get some time at the crease against Kent in their final warm-up match before the first Test. More... South Africa's batsmen show form before England Test series Tour match, Canterbury (day three of three): Kent 210 & 105-0 drew with South Africa 314 Match scorecard South Africa's main batsmen managed to get some time at the crease against Kent in their final warm-up match before the first Test against England. In a rain-interrupted match which ended in a draw, the tourists started day three on 108-2 and reached 314 all out. Hashim Amla (77) and Jacques Kallis (54) both retired out to allow their team-mates to get in some practice. England v South Africa Tests 19-23 July: First Test, The Oval 2-6 August: Second Test, Headingley 16-20 August: Third Test, Lord's Jacques Rudolph also made 50, although South Africa's bowlers failed to take a wicket as Kent closed on 105-0. "I think it was good preparation, specifically from a batting point of view - everybody got starts, got in," said Rudolph. "It was a little difficult for the bowlers. The wicket didn't really give them any assistance. "But the way we've batted here as a unit was exceptional. "We're pleased with the work we've done, and I can promise you all the boys just want that first Test to start now." Kent openers Sam Northeast (54no) and Daniel Bell-Drummond (48no) negotiated 32 overs without loss. They saw off the new ball attack of Morne Morkel and Vernon Philander, with Dale Steyn, Kallis and spinner Imran Tahir also unable to break the partnership. The first Test against England starts at The Oval next Thursday.

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