Having watched Rashid in the BB, I thought he had improved massively. His bowling was so much tighter and the amount of turn he was getting on those pitches was considerable.
I think the tournament has done him and Willey a massive favour coming into the WC
England lost the toss and will field - with cloud cover possibly no bad thing.
No changes for England (phew) but SA bring in Dane Vilas for the injured De Kock who was injured in a freak incident - he slipped at home and injured his knee. Vilas has been summoned from Port Elizabeth. Hopefully he will arrive in time to bat!
The other change is Hardus Viljoen for Piedt - by all accounts something of a man mountain - so SA have four quick options but, without Piedt and Duminy in the side, any spin will have to be undertaken by the man with just 11 Test and 45 First Class wickets (at the age of 28), Elgar.
Having watched Rashid in the BB, I thought he had improved massively. His bowling was so much tighter and the amount of turn he was getting on those pitches was considerable.
I think the tournament has done him and Willey a massive favour coming into the WC
And as much as I can't stand the bloke (I know that is a surprise to some people), to be fair to the bloke, it is something that KP advocated years ago with regards to the IPL but the ECB wouldn't let him play in it.
Difference is that it probably wouldn't have improved KP as a player - and certainly not as a person.
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Yes, I'd never thought of the Rashid googly terrorising batsmen...
Then you have to take my word for it because I've watched virtually every ball of this year's BB.
For the record, though, his victims this year are Christian, Wells, Lynn, Cutting, Willey, Tye, Agar, Maddison, Silk, Carters, Carberry, Marsh (M), Wright and Maxwell.
Eleven Internationals in that 14 including one of the world's best one day player in the shape of Maxwell plus Lynn, the top scorer in this year's BB and also tipped to be in Australia's WC squad.
In addition to the googly, he also bowled a "faster" leg break at 65 mph so he does have more than the one variation.
So I think the BB has done him the world of good. And anything less than 8 an over will be totally acceptable in the WC.
Lynn has just hit Hilfenhaus for five consecutive 6's!
Ali has Elgar caught behind off a beauty. This is only Ali's second over and the ball definitely gripped. With the quickies finding little to date, SA's decision not to play a front line spinner might rebound on them.
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Yes, I'd never thought of the Rashid googly terrorising batsmen...
Then you have to take my word for it because I've watched virtually every ball of this year's BB.
For the record, though, his victims this year are Christian, Wells, Lynn, Cutting, Willey, Tye, Agar, Maddison, Silk, Carters, Carberry, Marsh (M), Wright and Maxwell.
Eleven Internationals in that 14 including one of the world's best one day player in the shape of Maxwell plus Lynn, the top scorer in this year's BB and also tipped to be in Australia's WC squad.
In addition to the googly, he also bowled a "faster" leg break at 65 mph so he does have more than the one variation.
So I think the BB has done him the world of good. And anything less than 8 an over will be totally acceptable in the WC.
Lynn has just hit Hilfenhaus for five consecutive 6's!
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Thought i'd spice up the forum as things are quiet at the moment !
3rd Test starts tomorrow at Joburg. England could be without Hales as he has a bug. Steyn is not fit for SA - and they have released Dane Piedt - and likely to go with 4 quicks, with Viljoen (who is almost as big as Morne Morkel) in for his debut.
AS an aside, was watching a bit of Big Bash this morning and the commentators were saying that the player of the tournament so far is Adil Rashid ! - i had to rewind it to make sure i didnt mis-hear.
He has been bowling exceptionally well. Top wicket taker with 14 and his economy rate is only just above six an over.
The biggest aspect of his bowling is that batsmen can't read his googly so either end up defending or getting bowled.
Will definitely be an asset to us in the World Cup in this form.
i bet he gets taken apart in the World Cup and goes for over 8. World class (and sub continent) players can all spot him - ordinary Ozzies cant.
Yes, I'd never thought of the Rashid googly terrorising batsmen...
Then you have to take my word for it because I've watched virtually every ball of this year's BB.
For the record, though, his victims this year are Christian, Wells, Lynn, Cutting, Willey, Tye, Agar, Maddison, Silk, Carters, Carberry, Marsh (M), Wright and Maxwell.
Eleven Internationals in that 14 including one of the world's best one day player in the shape of Maxwell plus Lynn, the top scorer in this year's BB and also tipped to be in Australia's WC squad.
In addition to the googly, he also bowled a "faster" leg break at 65 mph so he does have more than the one variation.
So I think the BB has done him the world of good. And anything less than 8 an over will be totally acceptable in the WC.
Lynn has just hit Hilfenhaus for five consecutive 6's!
And...... ??!!!!!!
It just so happened to be fairly entertaining. Don't often see 30 scored in five balls. Don't see 30 in 5 overs in Test cricket but that's not what the longer form of the game is about.
Great to be able to watch both matches simultaneously though ;-)
Bairstow with four catches has three more to get to equal the world record for catches in one innings. The record in a Test match is 11, held jointly by Jack Russell and one A B de Villiers.
Wouldn't it be great for Bairstow to beat ABV's record knowing that ABV was one of his victims!
It was the shot of a batsman who has forgotten how he got to be a very successful Test batsman. In this and the Test series against India he has scored just 178 runs in 12 innings at less than 15 a time. His career average prior to that run was 53.
Comments
I know he is experienced but I just don't rate him in this format anymore... so its a no from me, wouldn't touch him!
I think the tournament has done him and Willey a massive favour coming into the WC
No changes for England (phew) but SA bring in Dane Vilas for the injured De Kock who was injured in a freak incident - he slipped at home and injured his knee. Vilas has been summoned from Port Elizabeth. Hopefully he will arrive in time to bat!
The other change is Hardus Viljoen for Piedt - by all accounts something of a man mountain - so SA have four quick options but, without Piedt and Duminy in the side, any spin will have to be undertaken by the man with just 11 Test and 45 First Class wickets (at the age of 28), Elgar.
Difference is that it probably wouldn't have improved KP as a player - and certainly not as a person.
53-1
SA's morning
90-1
117-2
Great to be able to watch both matches simultaneously though ;-)
127-3
England's session
161-4
Wouldn't it be great for Bairstow to beat ABV's record knowing that ABV was one of his victims!
185-5
"leave the catch for me! I can equal Haddin's record"
Haddin is the only person to catch the first 5 wickets
212-6 from 117-1
225-7
"England edging in front now.
I would call it more than "edging" because I can't believe we will bat that badly.
I hope anyway.