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Sven Roeder 8:40 Fri Jan 22
4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

8.30am start

South Africa (possible) 1 Dean Elgar, 2 Stephen Cook, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 AB de Villiers (capt), 5 Faf du Plessis, 6 Temba Bavuma, 7 Quinton de Kock (wk), 8 Chris Morris, 9 Dane Piedt, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Morne Morkel

Still no Steyn, deKock fit so takes the gloves from Vilas.
Stephen (son of Jimmy) Cook replaces Van Zyl and the spinner Piedt comes back to replace the lump Viljoen.

England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Alex Hales, 3 Nick Compton, 4 Joe Root, 5 James Taylor, 6 Ben Stokes, 7 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 8 Moeen Ali, 9 Chris Woakes, 10 Stuart Broad, 11 James Anderson

Finn to be replaced by Woakes or maybe Footitt

Northern Sold 6:58 Tue Feb 9
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

.

East Auckland Hammer 10:08 Sat Feb 6
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Talk about embarrassing.

How did we lose to that shithouse rabble?

Hastings should be batting 4.

I reckon we've tanked that to give everyone a decent finish to the series on Monday.

Sven Roeder 5:17 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

I think if CA adopted them for international cricket then that would apply to state cricket and grade cricket etc would follow suit.
Clubs would probably use them subject to cost if it came down to using the 'Test cricket' balls or another.

VirginiaHam 4:47 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Sven Roeder 2:43 Fri Feb 5

Readers made 'A' grade balls for first class cricket in England. They were used for at least a season (same as the Kookaburra).

They were universally hated. The laquer stayed on the ball too long, and the leather had a slightly grainy feel where a Duke is completely smooth. For whatever reason you could not get a proper shine on the ball. On top of that, the seam felt different and went soft. So did the ball, and in the end the batters hated it because it had a different sound and feel on the bat.

Why would Kookaburra go out of business on the back of CA not using them. Surely all clubs across Aus use them?

One thing I did notice was if there was the vaguest amount of juice in a WA pitch you could barely get a bat on the ball. I played a game for North Perth against Fremantle, and their lunatic left arm quick, Boyd launched a ball at me, bang in length that pitched outside leg. I went to play it down to fine leg and nicked it shoulder high past third slips left ear. 4. Boyd, who'd just missed a week for sledging went "nice fucking shot, you pommie cunt" and got another week off, haha. I got 47 in about 3 hours. Didn't score many off the face of the bat.

Sven Roeder 2:47 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

They have supposedly sorted Pattinson out by changing his action a bit and he has now reached 25 which supposedly when the body hardens up to deal with fast bowling.
We shall see.
Would be nice to see Starc, Pattinson, Cummins & Hazlewood on the track at the same time.

Sven Roeder 2:43 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Reader is now owned by Kookaburra I understand. Its a cheap ball for clubs isn't it?

The only thing stopping Kookaburra getting the chop in Australia is tradition and the fact that its an Australian company and will effectively go out of business and will play on the loss of jobs etc.
That said I don't think CA have much of an interest in that sort of thing and are being lobbied by players etc I imagine.
Personally as I said I think a standard world wide ball is a good idea and if Kookaburra did go I think SA , NZ etc would do the same.
India would stay with their SG balls and be one out. AS USUAL

Hazlewood wasn't at his best at the Ashes. I think a lot of these young Aust players would benefit from playing county or lower cricket but with the restrictions and the money they get already its not so common.
Hopefully he has learnt a bit to succeed in NZ .... he was excellent in the Day/Night test when he had to carry the attack after Starc was injured in the first innings.
Was talking about Rod Marsh's errors earlier .... hopefully he has Peter Siddle pencilled in for the NZ Tests this time.

VirginiaHam 2:35 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Sven Roeder 10:58 Fri Feb 5

Who has more glass in their body; AC or Pattinson.

Both can be devastating when fit. I think they'd be good in the same treatment room. Pattinson ripped our tail apart in the ODIs.

VirginiaHam 2:31 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Sven Roeder 9:51 Fri Feb 5

I've played with 3 different balls in England (Dukes, Kooka and Reader) and the Kooka in WA.

In England, the Dukes is head and shoulders over the other two. Even though the size of the seam has been reduced it still has the capacity to do something after 60 overs and it retains its shine and hardness. The Kooka can still be shined but loses its hardness and doesn't have a seam to start with and the Reader is a piece of shit. I can't imagine what Kooka would do if CA used Dukes.........massive slap in the face.

I watched closely during the last Ashes and I was baffled at how poor Hazelwood was with the Duke. I thought he'd be a real threat, but the only guy that had half a clue was Starc, who bowled some unplayable inswingers. I know you won two tests, but the pitch at Lord's was no use to anyone trying to do something with the ball.

Grumpster 2:17 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Legendary innings by Sehwag in the latest masters game, with 134 off of 67 balls and now Santokie has just taken 4 wickets in 4 balls!!

Sven Roeder 10:58 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

He bowled 13.3 overs in the first innings and had bowled 8 in the second when he was withdrawn at stumps on Day 2 I think.
He didn't play in the Big Bash so hadn't played since the New Year Test in Sydney which was all but washed out.
I think they wanted him to have a bit of a workout before heading over to join training in NZ (he wont play in the ODI's) but it seems a strange way to do it. Slightly forced by the lack of build up time of course but you'd think HE would be in the loop.
That said Victoria beat Tasmania by 7 wickets after having him AND Stoinos removed mid-match.

The game was at the MCG so I don't imagine there was much sledging for Pattinson.
Unless some Kiwi's cleaners were tidying up the stands.

East Auckland Hammer 10:32 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Yeah I read that Pattinson had been withdrawn after 21.3 overs I think. It wasn't clear whether he was tapped on the shoulder mid - over, or if it was the end of the day of session.

Either way, seems as though it came as a bit of a shock to everyone concerned.

A little bit unprofessional really. Very un-Australian. I cam imagine the sledging he took on the way out of the ground.

Sven Roeder 10:20 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Personally like many I have not been happy since Rod Marsh since he took over from John Inverarity.
Selection errors in the Ashes and whatever the necessity for rotating players recently with the India games and NZ preparation overlapping its looked a bit as though it's been made up on the hoof.
I see James Pattinson has now been withdrawn mid Shield match to join the Test players a few days early. He was unaware that was the plan and it appears a few players seem to lacking communication of THE PLAN.
Shaun Marsh is a funny player. A bit like another WA player Marcus North .... if he starts he makes hundreds , if he doesn't he has lots of single figure scores. Very talented but I suspect his Aust future will be t20 only. He has done very well in IPL so could actually be very useful in the upcoming World Cup.

East Auckland Hammer 10:05 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Shaun was shit in the first ODI.

Misfield for 4, lost a catch in the sun (which was behind him) and got about 5 with the bat before getting squared up like a complete chump.

I'd disown him too, if I was Rod.

As for the Dukes vs Kookaburra debate, something has to change. You simply can't have 15 balls (or whatever the number was) go out of shape in a series without paying the price.

Imagine the carnage if your mob had to face us with the Dukes ball over here this series.

Sven Roeder 9:59 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

The Sheffield Shield match in NZ seems to be going ok & set up for an interesting final day with NSW 402 & 11/1 v Western Australia 491
Runs for WA for Adam Voges 149 & future Test players Cameron Bancroft 45 & Sam Whiteman 93

Always amused with all the comments on cricinfo about Rod Marsh and the selection of Shaun & Mitchell Marsh.
For the record they are the sons of former Australian opening batsman & coach Geoff Marsh and not related at all.
Rod Marsh is the brother of the former international golfer Graham Marsh but that's as far as it goes.

Sven Roeder 9:51 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

There does seem to be a groundswell down under about the performance of the Kookaburra balls recently. All the players interviewed have been scathing and I read that NZ's contract with them expires in 2017 and the vibe was that they would be open to change.
I know CA have previously asked Dukes for balls for them to assess and they got a positive reaction. Couldn't seem to find when the Australian contract expires but there is a definite push led by influential people like Ricky Ponting to change.
Personally I think an international ball would be a good idea and Dukes seem able to adapt a ball to cope with a more abrasive surface down under. That's what they do with the West Indies who use a slightly different Dukes ball to the English one.

VirginiaHam 5:30 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Sven Roeder 9:16 Wed Feb 3

It won't be any preparation at all unless NZ use Duke balls.

Your bowlers have no idea what to do with them.

East Auckland Hammer 4:27 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Ha ha

http://www.theshovel.com.au/2016/02/04/nine-new-marsh-relatives-brought-in-to-bolster-australian-one-day-squad/#more-6337

East Auckland Hammer 12:52 Fri Feb 5
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Well, this is good news:

"ICC blow for India, England, Australia as power to be reduced

The boards of India, England and Australia will no longer be permanent members of the International Cricket Council's decision-making executive committee, the governing body said on Thursday.

The ICC approved wide-ranging changes in 2014, giving the three powerful nations permanent seats in its executive committee and the lion's share of the revenue while also promising more funds for everyone.

After taking over the reins at the ICC last year, Indian cricket board president Shashank Manohar flayed the imbalance of power and criticised the 2014 restructuring.

"The board has agreed to carry out a complete review of the 2014 resolutions and constitutional changes," the governing body said in a statement following a board meeting held at its Dubai headquarters on Thursday.

The ICC received widespread criticism two years ago with some suggesting the 'Big Three' would take over the sport at the expense of the other cricketing nations.

The governing body's constitution is also to be completely reviewed and all members asked to provide feedback in the next few weeks, it said.

"No member of the ICC is bigger than the other and I am determined to make a meaningful contribution in this regard with support of all the members," Manohar said before adding the ICC chairman would not be allowed to hold a position in a member country board in future.

The ICC has also reinstated Sri Lanka as a full member after the country held elections last month to appoint a new organisation to run the sport.

Sri Lanka had previously been sanctioned for government interference."

LeroysBoots 10:11 Wed Feb 3
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Im sure it's been discussed earlier but i just cant be asked to look through all the posts

Nice slaughtering of the Aussies earlier today

That's all

East Auckland Hammer 9:49 Wed Feb 3
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

They, at least, turned up for the tournament.

Sven Roeder 9:45 Wed Feb 3
Re: 4th Test: South Africa v England at Centurion

Sorry I meant NZ u19's

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