Injuries and India soften up Proteas for Australia

It is Dav , Fergus not Dave . Try and "read" properly. Picking on a small error which I posted off the top of the head and then using it to justify an attack on me was pretty uncalled for . You did say that Elgar of late has been mediocre and I simply disagreed with that . How on earth did I read that wrong.

Don't ask the rationale, I feel Aussies are in for a surprise!

Get your facts right Dave it was 86 not out. also maybe read what people write, i know for some people using there brains to think and critically evaluate can be very difficult but do try "Your probably right on Elgar he has had a stellar past two years but his most recent form has been mediocre (very close to good though, he was borderline for me, maybe i was harsh) if you don’t count Bangladesh. Same goes for Markram i guess." Read it and weep Dave.

Elgar mediocre Fergus ? scored 90 plus on a snake pit.

It's not like comparing a chicken and a zebra its like comparing how 2 teams batted without doing an indepth comparison of every wicket. "you’re not factoring in the wickets" so did Steve Smith average 70 odd across the indian series even though 2 of the pitches where mindfields? did Usman Khawaja average over 50 during the SA series? did he average over 86.75 during the first 3 shield matches when only one team score of over 300 was made in Queensland's shield matches? the answer to all the above is yes and the point being that good form can be maintained on difficult batting wickets. i get your point it's easier to score on batting friendly wickets, but that doesn't mean the difference cant be accounted for (you just assume i haven't) With regards to Australia's wickets being flat you neglected to mention that on those flat wickets England got all out 4 times, twice losing by an innings defeat, one on the SCG. Why you said even the SCG i don't know as at times in the past year it's been super flat and it spun considerably on days 4 and 5 this year so it had something for the bowlers latter on. But yes, Australia played on flatter wickets then South Africa. I'd say a good career average is mid 40's and that takes into account playing on both flat wickets and challenging wickets. Furthermore i'd say playing on difficult or good wickets +/-'s 5 runs (not very scientific i know). So when comparing players playing on good wicket to bad that 10 runs. So a 40+ average player for south Africa would be in good form and a 50+ for Australia would also be in good form, 40 v 30 for mediocre and 30v 20 for poor. On that basis Australia would still come out ahead Now if you want to work out a the percentage of team runs batsmen score, then control using team scores in order to work out what the actual difference between playing on flat wickets and juicy wickets is, be my guest but i don't have the time or willpower so rough guesswork is what i used. Keep in mind a batsmen's confidence is going to increase more from scoring a century on a flat track then it is from scoring a half century in difficult conditions.

Fergus, you're not factoring in the wickets when judging the form of their "most recently completed series". One series was played on flat Australian wickets where the ball virtually didn't swing all series. One test match wicket was rated poor because the wicket was so flat. Even the SCG Australia made 650 odd. Now compare that to the South African wickets against India. All 3 tests had plenty of movement off the pitch and in the air. One match was stopped for 20 minutes while discussions were had to cancel the match because the wicket was to dangerous. So you can't compare the form of the 2 batting teams. It's like comparing a chicken to a zebra.

The pitch preparation is certainly the Elephant in the room. What are we going to get ? I am done second guessing as I am inevitably wrong. However who is calling the shots re pitch preparation . Is it The SA Board or is it the senior players?. A few batsmen were really hurt , Elgar in particular took a nasty blow to his visor which injured him . Other players on both sides in The Indian series ended the matches with fingers in particular taking a hammering. Elgar appeared less than pleased in a post match interview with regards the pitch.

Your probably right on Elgar he has had a stellar past two years but his most recent form has been mediocre (very close to good though, he was borderline for me, maybe i was harsh) if you don't count Bangladesh. Same goes for Markram i guess. AB did look great but he didn't perform great, he performed mediocre, the wickets where tough at times but good enough that a good player i.e. kholi could average in the mid 40's and get a century. SA's tour of Australia arguably had wickets of a similar difficulty and players managed to average mid 40's to fifties there. Faf is recovering from an injury so who knows how that will effect his batting, though last i checked broken fingers don't seem to bother him much. Yeah it's a bit of a shame but Amla's not quite the same, whether it's his eye or just a run of mediocre form i don't know.

I probably should have specified that to judge the form of the players i took there most recently completed series. So i wasn't including bangladesh because away from home on non-spinner friendly wickets their attack is cannon fodder attack, basically give me runs. Dave i said on form Australia's batting lineup looks better, there's no doubt south Africa's lineup has a superior record with the bat but it doesn't matter how good you have been it matters how good you are right now.

Barring injuries Paul the team picks itself. Elgar , Markram , Amla , ABDV , Du Plessis , De Kock , Philander , Maharaj , Morkel , Rabada , Ngidi. Thats just off the top of my head . This was the team that beat India and will be again barring injuries the one to play Aus. Even if fit Dale Steyn will not get selected unless one of the other quicks get hurt. . Too risky. Bavuma will be first in if either ABDV or Du Plessis are injured and Klaasen will take the gloves if De Kock is injured.Sounds pretty settled to me. There will be no surprises.

Maybe SA will be battle harden considering the quality opposition they faced? England were very poor in the bowling department and I suspect the Proteas will be a significant step up. On the batting side the Proteas tail should be much more difficult to bounce out. The English really gave little resistants. I was more confident leading into the last series against India than this one against SA.

Which has now turned into a passable five wicket win. As you say Ronan, not great but not awful. And ultimately beneficial, I'd far prefer a real contest warm up game than a few top order players retiring on 102. This sort of game keeps everyone on their toes and we're gonna need that attitude going into the tests.

Why is it gobbing off? Don’t just read the headline, listen to the question and Smith’s full response. He was asked by a reporter will SA’s tail be bounced. He answered honestly and said yes, but said unlike during the ashes our tail with cop the same due to the opposition’s increased bowling pace

Agree on all Dave except your assessment of Temba Bavuma. He has a test average after 27 tests of 34 . Considering that he had a very slow start to his career he appears to be improving all the time. Also a very popular player within the team and brings in a good dressing room vibe . Very important. He is a superb fielder , particularly at short leg. You wont see any of the established stars willing to stand there.

It was reported on Inside Edge , a local Supersporrt discussion programme Ronan . The programme guest was an SA selector Zondi. Agree on Markram. He has been groomed for some years now , right from junior level to assume the captaincy once Faf moves on. I know he did not have the greatest series against India with the bat but apart from Kohli who was also a dash lucky in the amount of lives he was gifted , who did really? When Markram is on song he is one of the most attractive stroke players out there and very watchable.

South Africa’s batting line up is pretty strong. Markram has had a sensational start to his test career. He looks the real deal. Elgar is looking more and more like Justin Langer just with a few less shots. Amla is definitely not the same as he was but he’s going to be good for 1 test ton, Devilliers is an absolute gun and will be up for this. I can hardly remember Duplessis failing against us, and while De-Koch is out of form, for players of his class that can change completely. It wouldn’t surprise either if the wicket has a bit in it SA might just play 4 fast bowlers in Morkel Rabada Philander and either Ngidi or Steyn which allows them to play another batsman. Personally I hope they go with the 4 quicks and Maharaj which will give us a big chance to rip through their lower order

Mitch Marsh is swinging the new ball.7 runs from five overs in the SAA second dig.Every second delivery from Starc is doing something