England's Winter

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New Zealand

T20 Internationals

Friday November 1st - Christchurch
Sunday November 3rd - Wellington
Tuesday November 5th - Nelson
Friday November 8th - Napier
Sunday November 10th - Auckland

Squad
Eoin Morgan (Middlesex) captain
Jonny Bairstow (Yorkshire)
Tom Banton (Somerset)
Sam Billings (Kent)
Pat Brown (Worcestershire)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Tom Curran (Surrey)
Joe Denly (Kent)
Lewis Gregory (Somerset)
Chris Jordan (Sussex)
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
Dawid Malan (Middlesex)
Matt Parkinson (Lancashire)
Adil Rashid (Yorkshire)
James Vince (Hampshire)


Tests

Wednesday November 20th - Tauranga
Thursday November 28th - Hamilton

Squad
Joe Root (Yorkshire) captain
Jofra Archer (Sussex)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire)
Rory Burns (Surrey)
Jos Buttler (Lancashire)
Zak Crawley (Kent)
Sam Curran (Surrey)
Joe Denly (Kent)
Jack Leach (Somerset)
Saqib Mahmood (Lancashire)
Matthew Parkinson (Lancashire)
Ollie Pope (Surrey)
Dominic Sibley (Warwickshire)
Ben Stokes (Durham)
Chris Woakes (Warwickshire)



South Africa

Tests

Thursday 26th December - Centurion
Friday January 3rd - Cape Town
Thursday January 16th - Port Elizabeth
Friday January 24th - Johannesburg

Squad
TBC


ODI
Tuesday 4th February - Cape Town
Friday 7th February - Durban
Sunday 9th February - Johannesburg

Squad
TBC



T20 Internationals

Wednesday 12th February - East London
Friday 14th February - Durban
Sunday 16th February - Centurion


Sri Lanka

March 7th - Warm up 1, Katunayake (3 day)
March 12th - Warm up 2, Colombo (3 day)
March 19th - 1st Test, Galle
March 27th - 2nd Test, Colombo

alfie wrote:Realistically England's chance is pretty slim : odds are the occasional ball that does something "different" we have seen throughout the game (somewhat surprisingly more on day two than the first or third) will be more plentiful. And while things have looked fairly calm with the openers and later Burns and Denly playing sensibly , the potential for a couple of wickets to fall quickly is always there : recent history says that can often produce a collapse in this England outfit. Even when they aren't all wandering in and out of the medical room ...

The hope they do have is that SA have already bowled quite a number of overs ; keep them in the field without a lot of success for another session or two and tiredness would become a big factor.  Probably easier said than done though...they'll be right at England from the start.  And they have Marharaj.  He's not Shane Warne : but he's not Joe Root either

As many are probably saying " it's the hope that kills you"  and that is true to a point ; but it would still be nice to see them make this a real battle rather than a quick anti-climactic fold up. So keeping fingers crossed.

Alfie - spot on in all respects. I was also going to flag the Marharal factor.

Anyway, I'm up, watching ...  and keeping my fingers crossed. 

Burns loses his patience and his wicket. Foolish.

Just as the bookmakers were starting to make England favourites (yes, seriously!).

I’ll take £10 of whatever those bookies are on Duty!

Pity Burns threw it away like that...

To be honest I feared a rush of blood after he'd played all those maidens from Philander. Don't want to harp on about it but they have to find a way to keep the score moving ...Philander is a fine bowler but he cannot be allowed to just bowl dot after dot after dot..Singles have to be taken. Yesterday they were a bit busier and looked happier for it.
In any case a fine innings from Burns even if he will kick himself for the manner of its ending

A lot up to Root now. At his best he could do this : not sure where the super bug has left him...

England favourites, now that is ridiculous. One can easily bring three (or five) on a pitch like this, or to be fair any pitch England bat on, especially if faced with great bowlers like Roston Chase

All the talk of Rabada and Philander and it’s the third and fourth seamers who have got the wickets! Denly gets a start, but doesn’t push on and England have two new batsmen at the crease (the last two that I have any faith in).

Denny gone...

Bit unfortunate to be given lbw and confirmed on umpires call but it did look pretty good live so no real surprise. He played well but not for long enough.

Stokes needs to produce another miracle I guess but this isn't at Headingley. SA are playing this well...very patient , very disciplined.

Over around tea I'm expecting.

Uneven bounce starting to become a huge factor, a new ball not too far away and we haven’t yet seen today what the spinner can do. Plus Bairstow’s in next.

Not exactly a bed of roses for England.

Credit to England for battling and not caving in that first session but just 50 runs scored and 2 wickets lost. It's a fine balance so as not to lose more wickets but we do need to be busier as Alfie said earlier. 50 runs every session and it would take us until tea tomorrow to reach our target - that's never going to happen!! 

Admittedly, we didn't start from a good place and South Africa have bowled well as a unit keeping it dry which means we are second favourites by a very long way. Don't understand the bookies' odds above or Atherton's comment that ''it has moved slightly to South Africa's advantage''. He seemed to be talking about the match, not just the pitch. The hosts well on top for me although I'm pleased with the fight being shown by England.

Nasser thinks South Africa are only marginal favourites, like the rest of the Sky team. Seems bizarre to me. South Africa are strong, near nailed-on favourites for this, with hardly any batting left for England when the next wicket falls.

Well not really true , Duty , is it ? The next three batsmen are all capable enough , even if they've not been in much form lately. A bit of luck , a player gets a start...anything can happen. SA tail wagged in both innings.

But yes , SA remain firm favorites for mine , if only because of the historical fact that most of these long chases founder at some point - even if at times it looks as if the batting team is on course...

...and there it is ! Maharaj , who'd been taking some tap , gets the bogey man , Stokes. Nice piece of bowling

Uphill for England , even more so than before. Really wanted those two to reach the new ball , especially as they were starting to tick the score over nicely.

Bairstow’s in the worst slump of his career, Buttler averages in the low 30s and I have little faith in his test batting in tough conditions, Curran might give you a quick 20 or 30 but you can’t except much more, then you’ve got three number 11s to come.

England’s only hope relied on Root and Stokes getting it down to double digits, but that’s expired now.

Bit harsh on jofra to call him an 11 but yes the chances of a win are even remote than when they'd started. At least they havent folded completely and it does show that with a better decision on the toss and without the illnesses they could beat this SA side.
Frustrating more than anything.

Yeah Jofra’s got a respectable FC batting average, but has batted woefully in his short England career so far.

New ball does for Bairstow. Not really wise to play that shot, in truth.

Maybe let the guy you’ve dropped and told to go away and work on his game, actually go away and work on his game Ed Smith?

Crawley should have played. He was the reserve bat in NZ, not sure why Bairstow jumps over him now.

Pope should be fit for T2 anyway.

To get within a shout of winning this test, with the prep they've had and the bad call on the toss, that's a positive to take. They've been losing players during the actual match because of this illness problem, let alone the problems beforehand. I give the players some credit, I really do.

I struggle with management, as ever. Bairstow shouldn't be playing, and that toss call has been exposed.

No redemption for Root. Nortje, very wayward in his first spell of the match, seems to be quite a handy bowler.

Duty281 wrote:No redemption for Root. Nortje, very wayward in his first spell of the match, seems to be quite a handy bowler.

Nortje's gone on to play a good and important role. A couple of wickets in our first dig, 40 runs with more than 90 minutes at the crease as nightwatchman and 2 more wickets so far. He may not get MotM but he'll deserve a good and early glug of the champagne.

Selecting Bairstow on the back of no first class cricket is a bizarre decision; Crawley doesn't look up to much at the moment but surely it's better to try someone new rather than someone old you know isn't good enough?

Solid win for South Africa. Bowled well as a unit and executed their plans well; batted pretty competently as well. England have a lot of work to do - once again a weak first innings effort with the bat has cost them the test.

No individual centuries in the test probably highlights the toughness of the surface.

alfie wrote:Denny gone...

Bit unfortunate to be given lbw and confirmed on umpires call but it did look pretty good live so no real surprise.  He played well but not for long enough.

Stokes needs to produce another miracle I guess but this isn't at Headingley.  SA are playing this well...very patient , very disciplined.

Over around tea I'm expecting.

Called it

Was fun for a while ; but the inevitable happened in the end. Well played SA.

Three more matches to go. Lets hope they're all fit next week...

Soul Requiem wrote:Selecting Bairstow on the back of no first class cricket is a bizarre decision; Crawley doesn't look up to much at the moment but surely it's better to try someone new rather than someone old you know isn't good enough?

How much first class cricket has Crawley played recently?

I do agree recalling Bairstow to the squad without any evidence or opportunity to provide evidence he was back in touch was typical muddled thinking from England. Going with him over Crawley to fit Popes spot when he was too sick less silly, bringing Crawley along is another odd decision tbh....they clearly dont think hes ready. It's not that daft not to pick a mediocre young opener at number 6 for a test.

All in though it's not that that cost England. It was the decision to bowl first and the effects of the ilneses coupled with them not being very good.

SA have done well, but really the win was gift wrapped for them. Englands leadership is a mess, and when one of your top batsmen is Joe Denly they dont have a lot of great resources to work with.

Pretty worrying that Root says that he ‘still thinks the toss was a 50-50 call.’

Dobell reckons Leach won’t even be fit by the time of the next test

50 right 50 wrong...he chose the wrong 50

Or maybe he means the heads or tails bit?

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Dobell reckons Leach won’t even be fit by the time of the next test

I had heard he might come home ... although if he was that unwell, I wonder if he would be ok to travel. Either way, it doesn't sound good.

Who do they drop to get a spinner in? Suddenly Mo’s ability with the bat underlines why they liked him so much, they basically got away with picking another seamer.

Bairstow needs to go away. He’s not good enough to be in reserve. I’d have bloody Vince comfortably over Bairstow.

If England were to put a spinner in, most likely Bess, they should drop Archer, but it would most likely be Curran facing the axe.

Leach suffers from Crohn’s disease - which is a hideous thing. So imagine this bug would affect him more than others. Grim.

Imagine Bess allows them to dodge any sort of tough decision and play Archer, Anderson and Broad again as he can bat 8.

If Bess plays its probably to strengthen the batting as much as anything else. Yet again England's supposed depth is a hideously long tail in the real world. Something is not quite right with all this, hardly anyone is performing to their potential.

Bess is the poor mans Moeen really! Id rather they just did without a spinner, it certainly didnt hurt them in this game and chances are the pitches will continue to offer plenty for the swing bowlers. Even with his loan spell at Yorks he still only played half a county season and lacks cricket of any kind. Understand having him as cover in the squad, but unless its looking like a raging turner (which is incredibly rare in SA) he would seem a desperation selection, even given how much SA struggle against spin.

Curran and Woakes are more than adequate 8s and with 7 batsmen already in the side they really shouldn't be worrying about Archer at 9.

Surveying the wreckage...

First off I'm neither particularly surprised or unduly worried that SA won the match. Other teams - especially at home - are allowed to play well and sometimes they just do enough things better than you to win the contest. Doesn't necessarily mean your team is rubbish. In this case , given the scant preparation and illness issues affecting the team , it was hardly unexpected that England might struggle if the locals were on their game...and with all the excitement around the return of some old heroes to the management side , SA were clearly pretty fired up for the contest. So congrats to them should be the main point.

Now as to what England did wrong (so easy to judge in hindsight) : obviously sending SA in was a mistake. Root apparently still maintains it was a 50/50 call - and perhaps it was. But if so , he should surely have gone with the % play and batted : you really should only insert your opponent if the odds are stacked your way.
Even so , with 5 down for 111 they had a chance to make the gamble pay off ; and here is where I think Root really did drop the ball. (I
fear he has a tendency to do this : failing to recognize - or to act quickly enough - at the key moments in a match It shows he really isn't a natural captain , I think - though this doesn't mean he cannot do a job. Just needs to learn from mistakes.)
Anyway : I know he was a bit stuck , in the absence of Stokes at the crucial time - Anderson had bowled a solid spell , Broad looked temporarily spent , and he's already been criticized for over bowling Archer (who had been a bit all over the place anyway on the day). But bowling himself for several overs to a new partnership when two more wickets would have had England through to the tail unfortunately removed all the pressure that should have been building on the SA batsmen...once De Kock and Pretorious were away the chances of skittling SA disappeared quickly. Surely he could have asked his main bowlers for two or three full effort overs to press home the advantage ? If it didn't work , OK : he'd have to go to part timers ; and it would have told on his main men and might have hurt England later. But why not be bold at the first chance ? He'd already gambled on sending SA in : why go all conservative when their was a chance for a killer blow ?

Of course Root nearly had De Kock out twice to injudicious shots so he might have had bragging rights and the last laugh. And then I wouldn't have penned this criticism

But he didn't. And frankly , the odds were not on his side from the off. He needs to make better calls more often.

More later.

Anyway not all Root's fault...bowlers could have been better , bats could have ma a better fist of the first innings (second really wasn't a bad effort in the situation ) . Bit of a habit of losing a match in a session - though perhaps England isn't the only team to do that...

But really : fair to say room for improvement all round . And hopefully they'll do just that - they usually do bounce back quite well from a loss. Lord knows what changes they'll make as this flu has clearly knocked a few of them around : surely Leach isn't going to play as he's spent more time in bed than on the training track for what seems like weeks. If they want a spinner it has to be Bess ; though I'm not sure they will. The fast bowlers may be a bit more ready this time . They could actually make a very decent attack if they get it right with two steady bowlers plus two quick and bouncy and a leftie for variety. I'd like to see Archer in particular stick to a plan though rather than
trying too many tricks : he surely has the ability to bowl a sustained series of balls in a dangerous area and let the pressure work for him. Five wickets isn't a lot of use when it comes at six per over and the fourth innings target is already disappearing over the horizon...

As for the batting I imagine Pope should be fit and will come back in for Bairstow who seems to have lost all confidence at the moment. (And I do think it is confidence rather than anything technical, despite all the stuff about his getting bowled too often. He got bowled a few times back when he was making runs for fun a couple of years back and nobody cared because he usually had a good score first. So much so that a lot of folk - several on here , I think - were demanding he come up the order as he was "too good to be wasted at seven" . As I feared at the time , it wasn't such a good idea . Should have left him where he was : but England have a habit of meddling with things that were working : Root at four ? Lets move him to three ... Anyway hopefully he will get his mojo back sooner rather than later and for now let us see how the new boy goes)
Be nice to see the openers follow up the last innings with another stand. Won't be easy against a very good SA attack. Let us hope Denly can keep up the good work at three. And maybe this time , on a  less capricious surface , someone will bat seriously long.  Still think this will be a tight series as long as they don't panic.

Sibley’s come down with this mystery illness and the next test only a few days away - Crawley to open if Sibley’s out? Or, as I fear, shunt Denly up to opener and Root at 3, put Pope in and keep Bairstow?

If there was any point in bringing Crawley on tour he has to come in for a sick Sibley.

All players fit to train today

George Dobell reporting that Dom Bess is likely to play, with Jofra an injury concern with a sore elbow and potentially the one to face the chop.

Bloody mugged off by the “fit to train” report earlier - it just meant no illnesses! Jof being possibly injured does give them an out on choosing who to drop for spin.

Says a lot that Bess is the man getting that chance

Injury or not, a rest for Jofra isn’t the worst idea. Having said that, putting in a mediocre county spinner as replacement on a non-turning pitch is unlikely to be a stroke of genius.

Playing Bess still remains an infinitely better idea than KP suggesting that England drop Broad or Anderson to pick another batter and play three seamers + an injured Stokes. Bizarre.

Well, quite! KP in no way motivated to make that suggestion by his own personal dislike of Anderson and Broad.

Assume that Leech wast included in the "fit to train" as well.

That noone is talking about Woakes taking Archers place shows just how far his stock has fallen. Either way and despite Jofra not being at his best this winter it feels like Englands attack will be limper. I really dislike the idea that they need a stronger number 9 batsman, but smacks of them wishing Moeen was a thing despite all the times hes let England down with bat and ball.

SA have their own issues too. Sounds like Makram will be out, and whilst hes struggled for form he is their strongest top 3 batsman. Just to confuse things they are apparently going to debut Malan (not the one currently tearing up the BPL) who sounds like a bit of a Denly "solid pro" pick against the pressure to pick a young transformation candidate (presumably because theres no-one vaguely good enough). Just read that Bavuma is fit too, but has been told to make first class runs and win his place back ...so really dropped.
Its the weakest SA batting line up for as long as I can remember, shame England will be turning up with a "barrage" of medium pace and a county slow bowler.

Because things hadn't got worse for roughly 12 hours, Rory Burns has now gotten injured warming up playing football.

Ominously had to be carried back to the changing rooms, and 5 minutes later Zak Crawley came out for a long net.

FFS

1.Crawley
2.Denly
3.Bairstow
4.Root
5.Stokes
6.Pope
7.Buttler (wk)
8.Curran
9.Bess
10.Broad
11.Anderson

Sounds like we will see something like that then. Possibly Archer being fit but if he is I can't see them dropping any of Anderson, Broad or Curran so probably be a 5 man seam attack again if he's fit.

Bairstow will get another chance that realistically he hasn't had a chance to work towards or earn. Not great for either him or the team given he has technical issues he needs to address.

Rob Key will be wetting himself on Sky over the prospect of Crawley and Denly opening. I'm not sure many others will though.

Burns injured playing football. I've been banging on about this for ages. Why warm up playing football? It's asking for trouble. Seem to remember that Bairstow's problems began when he was hors de combat after a similar moment of stupidity.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Because things hadn't got worse for roughly 12 hours, Rory Burns has now gotten injured warming up playing football.

Ominously had to be carried back to the changing rooms, and 5 minutes later Zak Crawley came out for a long net.

Pope was clobbered yesterday by Parkinson playing football. Fortunately he seems ok for the Test although there were initial concerns about him too. You couldn't make it up! 

Meanwhile, looking at Carlos' likely side, I would expect Sibley - assuming fit enough - to make the cut ahead of Bairstow and Crawley.

You could colour me amazed if Sibley gets dropped with Burns injured Carlos. That Crawley was only wheeled out after he was cronked for the intensive nets suggests he was intended to be bench warmer again, and Bairstow was only ever a replacement for Pope so surely drops out.

The cross training team ups like a soccer kick around are a very important part of injury prevention. (Picard facepalm emoticon).
If Archer is out which sounds likely then they may as well pick Bairstow as the opening bowler.

England are just a complete train wreck these days. It's bad enough they consistently fail on the pitch but this endless illness and injury list is horrendous, and has been a constant since the Ashes. That it's not in game stuff suggests that England really arent looking after their players very well.

England just won’t ever learn about the football thing. Sounds as though Burns is more likely to be out than in, and as he’s becoming England’s most reliable batsman (admittedly not a high barometer) it’s a big loss.

Pitch expected to be pretty flat for the duration of the test. That means bat if you win the toss, Joe!