England v South Africa | 1st Test | The Oval | Jul 19-23, 2012 | Day 4

[Markhor]

England totally demoralised by the Amla-Kallis partnership.

And now South Africa's bowlers are getting far more out of this pitch than the England bowlers ever did. South African pitches have more variety than English ones, they also have the flat, sub-continental tracks there, and have been exposed to these types of pitches before. Their bowlers are lethal in all conditions. England totally outclassed here, cannot see a way back for them.

[Boi]

lol england getting pwned.

[Anfield]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Games not over yet. england could still savage it! In saying that i think englands 1st inns is to blame more so then current one of the lose. Pretty much on day 1 england gave it away when KP threw his wicket away and then straight after into went into block mode and allowed S.A to dictate the pace of the game. England will bounce back am sure. I think it regards to team selection i think its time prior batted six and broad/bresnan 7/8 with finn coming in. I think thats way for england to go until they find someone who can actually do a job at number 6 as a batsmen.

very unfair to Bopara. Give him a proper chance before discarding him. He has carried drinks for too long.

[Express Pace]

Atherton/Botham resorting to some weak jokes.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by Anfield very unfair to Bopara. Give him a proper chance before discarding him. He has carried drinks for too long.

Yeah Bopara deserves a shot for a few series. Whatever happened in this match isn't his fault.

[KingKhanWC]

Originally Posted by Amjid Javed Games not over yet. england could still savage it! In saying that i think englands 1st inns is to blame more so then current one of the lose. Pretty much on day 1 england gave it away when KP threw his wicket away and then straight after into went into block mode and allowed S.A to dictate the pace of the game. England will bounce back am sure.

You're having a giraffe here.

South Africa at the very least will wrap this up before just before tea.

To be fair to England, they have come up against a monster of a test team. Two days in the field in warm weather takes a lot out of the players. It was always going to be tough for England but having arrogant showboats like KP doesn't help their cause.

11 overs to go tonight, one more wicket will do nicely.

[DeadlyVenom]

Originally Posted by Express Pace Atherton/Botham resorting to some weak jokes.

Like what?

I've tuned out.

[cricketworm]

Enough of these no balls Tahir!

[Express Pace]

Originally Posted by DeadlyVenom Like what? I've tuned out.

Just making fun of Graeme Smith's fielding.

[DC]

This is all horribly reminiscent of the maulings the Aussies used to give England, SA have been (obviously) the much better team this test. Hope it wont continue for the next two.

[James]

South Africa are playing the perfect test match here. Hopefully England can come back with the quality they have at Headingley.

[Buffet]

Originally Posted by Express Pace Atherton/Botham resorting to some weak jokes.

Unless you are English fan, both are terrible to hear due to illogical and over the top comments at times.

Botham was putting English line up with great AUS/WI line up after winning few test series at home. Pitch was flat and in 20 overs or so it has become bad if you listen to commentators.

It won't be bad to admit that SA outplayed Eng in this test by big margin so far. It's simple fact but commentators keep twisting it. Not too different with some commentators from other countries. Very few quality commentators are left worth listening.

[truthseer]

That commentary is nothing compared to that music thing they were going on about yesterday. Holding's face was epic, he was smiling at the nonsense

[leatherface58]

England are missing the doggedness of Paul Collingwood.haven't really found a no 6 batsman to replace him. Bairstow bopara Morgan all have had limited success.

Sent from my MT11i using Tapatalk 2

[Ironcat]

England batting now is effectively Cook and Trott.

If this was a bit livelier pitch, perhaps their bowling could have come through. Maybe it still will.

[Maximas]

I wish bell comes out tomorrow back to the form like prevoius series. Its fight for the real English now.

[adnan yasin]

The most under rated cricketer who should be in the list of all time greatest allrounders and batsman category

Scored another brilliant 180 odd not out innings

[Express Pace]

When did Kallis become underrated? rated very highly.

[PakFan2010]

English fans and pundits going on about Swann being in a different league to Tahir yet Tahir has a miles better ODI average and he has bowled on greentops in his career so far.

Boycott said he could play Tahir at 70

The English are the same as the Americans but the Americans are even more egotisical as they believe they should be the only country with nuclear weapons.

[iHammad]

What a day of complete ownage by South Africa! England will need to bat really well to save this one.

[Amjid Javed]

england will have to bat well to save this game, but it can be done.

Feel sorry for jacques rudolph in this game. fielded in both inns and didnt get a bat. Id find that anoying lol if that was me.

[Savak]

Difference between the bowling attacks has been exposed.

[iHammad]

Bell, Bopara, Prior, Bresnan, Swann and Broad. Let's see how long they can last tomorrow morning.

[Random Aussie]

So worlds greatest bowling attack perhaps not so great after conceding 2/600 AT HOME.

I suppose the advantage of this is we wont see Malakian for a while.

[Anfield]

"Frankly, it's a murder under the sun" Boycott.

[saj786]

i hate to keep on repeating me self but this england attack is ordinary at best, apart from swann who probely in top 3-4 spinners in world the seamers are ordinary, anderson and broad are average test match bowlers with averages of 30 plus

[Amjid Javed]

Bell, bopara and prior are all shot players, so a chance tomorrow to show they can do otherside of the game and dig in and fight.

[leatherface58]

i think england will do better in headingley and lord's but this test is gone. i will be shocked if england draw this. but if they do, they will entirely deserve it since they will have played out of their skins. but there is 99.99% chance they wont.

[LegCutter]

Prior is quite the fighter. He might resist for a while, but the rest of them are going to drop like flies.

[khalil1986]

Originally Posted by Random Aussie So worlds greatest bowling attack perhaps not so great after conceding 2/600 AT HOME. I suppose the advantage of this is we wont see Malakian for a while.

LOL he will show up before the India series with his usual non sense and than conveniently disappear.

[adnan yasin]

Originally Posted by Express Pace When did Kallis become underrated? rated very highly.

his performances never been treated like we treat of sachin or dravid or jayawardene

His name never been taken in the list as the greatest all rounders in ODI and TEST.. which is highly due now .... its not like when he retires then only they take his name

DUE CREDIT NOT GIVEN YET ... IN SHORT

[Down2Earth]

england's bowlers were exposed. Bresnan is a trundler, anderson can't bowl unless the pitch offers something and broad shouldn't average less than 40 with the ball. Swann's the only decent one and he bowled like a kiwi spinner

[WalkingWiggett]

Originally Posted by Down2Earth anderson can't bowl unless the pitch offers something

Now now, Trundlah Jimmeh contributed to the diabolical destruction of Australia's feeble top order in Adelaide in the last Ashes series. Of course that was some of the worst, most spineless batting I'd seen in a long while but due credit to TJ and England's superlative fielding to skittle the Aussies for a pathetic 245 on a genuinely flat track that easily has 400+ in it if not more. Many "flat" tracks in Asia etc. are really not, for there is some assistance for the bowlers, balls keeping low, spin, inconsistencies in the pitch, etc. but Adelaide Oval days one to three is basically a genuine road.

Barbs took a hatful of wickets vs Pakistan recently on tracks that were not especially helpful to 130 kph seamers TBH. And the current Pakistani batting lineup isn't too shabby: most other sides (including the Saffers) have struggled to bowl it out since Misbah took over.

[Random Aussie]

Wow Trundlah Jimmeh put in one good performance against Australia from about 30 Tests. Keep talking him up.

[Jo_Don]

Originally Posted by WalkingWiggett Barbs took a hatful of wickets vs Pakistan recently on tracks that were not especially helpful to 130 kph seamers TBH. And the current Pakistani batting lineup isn't too shabby: most other sides (including the Saffers) have struggled to bowl it out since Misbah took over.

I think most people will agree though that the pitches SA played on in the UAE were roads, and were very different to the ones England played on. Neither seam nor swing could take wickets. That was 2 years prior to England's arrival, who played on pitches that allowed bowlers to take wickets.

[PakFan2010]

Kallis would average over 60 if he had fully focused on his batting.

[WalkingWiggett]

Originally Posted by Jo_Don I think most people will agree though that the pitches SA played on in the UAE were roads, and were very different to the ones England played on. Neither seam nor swing could take wickets. That was 2 years prior to England's arrival, who played on pitches that allowed bowlers to take wickets.

This is basically true, and I'll admit I was surprised to see sporting spinning wickets being used for the Pakistan-England series. It worked for Pakistan, however, and made for some interesting cricket, albeit of the grinding-it-out attritional variety you tend to see in that part of the world with the very slow decks (often in contrast to the fast-paced excitement of Tests in South Africa or Australia!).

[Anfield]

Originally Posted by Jo_Don I think most people will agree though that the pitches SA played on in the UAE were roads, and were very different to the ones England played on. Neither seam nor swing could take wickets. That was 2 years prior to England's arrival, who played on pitches that allowed bowlers to take wickets.

I agree.. pitches against SA were pretty flat since. Then a conscious effort has been made to build pitches which have something in for the bowlers too.

[Anfield]

Originally Posted by WalkingWiggett Now now, Trundlah Jimmeh contributed to the diabolical destruction of Australia's feeble top order in Adelaide in the last Ashes series. Of course that was some of the worst, most spineless batting I'd seen in a long while but due credit to TJ and England's superlative fielding to skittle the Aussies for a pathetic 245 on a genuinely flat track that easily has 400+ in it if not more. Many "flat" tracks in Asia etc. are really not, for there is some assistance for the bowlers, balls keeping low, spin, inconsistencies in the pitch, etc. but Adelaide Oval days one to three is basically a genuine road. Barbs took a hatful of wickets vs Pakistan recently on tracks that were not especially helpful to 130 kph seamers TBH. And the current Pakistani batting lineup isn't too shabby: most other sides (including the Saffers) have struggled to bowl it out since Misbah took over.

Andersen was average against us. 50% of his wickets were of tailenders. He didn't. Pose any threat to Pakistani batsmen. As a bowlng unit England were pretty good with Broad being excellent. But Andersen alone was average.

[Bilal7]

England still have a chance to draw this. Even their #11 can bat so SA need to hit them hard and not choking will be appreciated.