NZ v SA Test Series
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I think Neesham is a good enough bat to justify selection at number 6 without even thinking about his bowling. At worst he's about as good as any of the alternatives plus is a 4th bowling option. That makes his selection a no brainer for me, at least until we have someone clearly offering more with the bat. Corey Anderson might be a challenger as I think he's closer to being a genuine allrounder than Jimmy.
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@Gunner said in NZ v SA Test Series:
Well after putting the knife into Nicholls yesterday, he did a magnificent job. If he'd gone cheaply - game over.
Yep! Same here. I like nothing more than being proven utterly wrong when I am anti a player.
It wasn't just a century, it was a century under intense pressure where someone had to turn the innings around. Doing that along with getting the 'Century monkey off his back' means that he has test fortitude and I don't mind summing that up after one good innings
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@gollum said in NZ v SA Test Series:
To be honest I'd play Guppy in the middle order ahead of Broom too. 3
But ideally I'd find the guy in NZ cricket with the best leave & best backfoot plaay who is under 25 & pick him. He can learn to play shots, learning to leave is the bit our guys cannot get their head round once they've played domestic for a while.
I'm a little surprised Jesse Ryder hasn't been mentioned. He's a year younger than Broom & bowls well. If we are picking guys in their 30's he's in the frame.
Actually I'd maybe rather him than guppy too. Despite his batting for the last 3 years being shithouse.
@Tim said in NZ v SA Test Series:
Is it so strange to play 6 batsmen, 4 bowlers, and a wicket keeper?
Issue there is we usually only have - at best, 2 strike bowlers. So if we play 4, one is a spinner who is of little use for 3 days on NZ tracks (if then) & the other is a dibbler. So we need a 5th to try vary things. It briefly looked like Boult-Wagner-Southee might give us 3 strike bowlers, one with stamina (Wagner), but Southee is back to being eratic pigshit after an 18 month golden period a couple of years ago.
I think even the biggest Ryder fans ( like me ) have given up hope he'll ever have another go
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Southee gets Rabada early to give us some momentum and, more importantly, to expose Duminy to the new ball. Need one of these two quickly so we can get Faf in against it as well.
Fat Jesse is surely nowhere in the frame. A part of our cricket resurgence has been founded on giving the boot to his many distractions and we are reaping the benefits of a "no dickheads" policy. Added to which, he's not even scoring runs so there's not even a slight temptation to hand out another chance.
I reckon his chances of ever playing for the Black Caps again are only slightly better than the chances of me getting a call-up - and that's only happening if there's a nuclear war and 99.9 percent of the population is wiped out!
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Follow on passed, but another 182 runs to tie it up is a long way away
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The jig music and claims of smiling eyes can fuck right off
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Jeetan takes 0 for 50 off 10 overs. Wagner's been equally expensive with 1 for 75 off 17.
Jaapies with a chance to press on for a decisive advantage - though while I'm typing Wagner takes offense at being likened to Jeets and gets Bavuma.
So we also have a chance to wrap them up conceding only a modest advantage and require them to bat last on a pitch that might offer a small amount of assistance to the fiery and terrifying Jeetan!
