SA under Shelsey (story)

[Shelsey]

Tour of India

With the tour of India fast approaching new SA coach Jack Sheldon announced his 18 man squad for the tour:

G Smith, H Gibbs, H Amla, A Prince, AB De Villiers, N McKenzie, JP Duminy, M Boucher, J Kallis, M Morkel, R Peterson, D Steyn, A Nel, P Harris, M Ntini, M Zondeki, C Langeveldt, A Morkel

The uncapped Albie Morkel and JP Duminy are included while Peterson's recall may surprise some. The tour will comprise of 3 Tests only.

[Shelsey]

1st Test

India: Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Karthik+, Kumble*, H Singh, Z Khan, RP Singh

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Kallis, Amla, Prince, De Villiers, Boucher+, Harris, Nel, Steyn, Ntini

India choose Gambhir ahead of Jaffer to open while Karthik is surprisingly the chosen wicket keeper rather than Dhoni. Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma also dont make the team , so as that India can play the two spinners. South Africa choose Gibbs ahead of McKenzie to open and Nel ahead of Morkel in the attack.

Day 1: South African captain Graeme Smith wins the toss and elects to bat. The day is dominated by a wonderful innings from Gibbs, who is 156 not out at the close. Gibbs is supported by Smith (53) and Prince (71). De Villiers is 11 not out and SAfrica 314-4. RP Singh the best of the bowlers taking 3 wickets.

Day 2: Gibbs falls early on for 175 but 50s from De Villiers and Boucher ensure an impressive total of 483. RP Singh's figures are 5-137. Sehwag and Gambhir successfully block to the close, leaving India 49 without loss at the close.

Day 3: India are bowled out for 332, Gambhir top scoring with 72 and Laxman making 63. Spinner Paul Harris was the best of the bowlers with 4-87. However South Africa suffered a major blow with Kallis likely to miss the rest of the series with a back injury. South Africa faced 1 over before the close and are 2-0.

Day 4: South Africa dominate the day with only the 1 wicket falling of Gibbs to RP Singh for 18. Smith (120 n.o) played excellently for his 15th test century and Amla is 87 not out at the close.

Day 5: Kumble removes Amla who add 2 to his overnight score and South Africa then promptly declare at 255-2 with Smith 127 not out. India require 407 to win. Thanks to some excellent bowling from Nel (4-68) South Africa sniff a chance. Ganguly top scores for India with 50 but South Africa can only take 8 wickets. Karthik batting excellently with the tail and South Africa will probably regret not declaring earlier rather than waiting to see if Amla could reach his hundred.

[GrahamB]

Almost a win first up!

How dangerous are the Indian spinners?
Spinners used to dominate and wreck the international game in ICC3.

[Shelsey]

2nd Test

India: Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Karthik+, Kumble*, H Singh, Z Khan, RP Singh

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Amla, Duminy, Prince, De Villiers, Boucher+, Harris, Nel, Steyn, Ntini

The only change on either side is that South Africas JP Duminy beats Neil McKenzie in the race to replace the injured Kallis. Duminy makes his test debut.

Day 1: Indian captain Anil Kumble wins the toss and elects to bat first. It was certainly the right choice as South Africa only take 2 wickets in the day. Sehwag to Nel for 48 and Gambhir to Harris for 31. Tendulkar then gave little chance to the bowlers and finished the day 113 not out with Dravid on 82.

Day 2: Dravid completed his hundred early on before South African spinner Paul Harris ripped through Indias middle order taking the wickets of Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and Karthik along with Gambhir the day before and Zaheer Khan. Harris's final figures were 55.1-13-140-7. Harris's effort brought what had at the end of day 1 looked like being an excellent score to an average one of 420 all out. Despite this South Africa were in a spot of bother by the end of the day, Amla (58 n.o.) the only batsman to get in as SAfrica found themselves on 123-5.

Day 3: South Africa bat at an extemely slow pace throughout the whole day, Amla still there on a remarkable 122 not out off 584 balls. The tail wags as well, Harris making 22 and Nel 27 not out. RP Singh is the best of the bowlers with 4-27.

Day 4: After so much resistance the previous day Amla falls without adding to his overnight score in the first over of the day. Nel continues to bat well for his 37 but South Africa are all out for 269 and are still 151 runs behind India's total. SAfrica struggle to impose themselves on the Indian batsmen however. Only 3 wickets, Sehwag (79), Gambhir (15) and Dravid (32) fall before India declare with Tendulkar 92 not out (!) and Laxman on 30. Harris was once again the best of the bowlers with figures of 2-54. India made 257 and SA need 409 to win. South Africa 19-0 at the close.

Day 5: South Africa do very well on a pitch doing a lot to bat out for a draw, loosing just 2 wickets, Smith for 29 and Gibbs for 15. Amla remained an immovable object for India, finishing on 62 n.o. off 331 balls. Test debutant Duminy made 40 not out. The series goes down to the decider.

[Shelsey]

Almost a win first up!

How dangerous are the Indian spinners?
Spinners used to dominate and wreck the international game in ICC3.

Harbhajan and Kumble have been fairly inaffective so far but from playing a bit further with West Indies during my trial some good spinners come up after a couple of seasons.

[GrahamB]

What bowling tactics do you use (if you don't mind sharing)?

[Shelsey]

3rd Test

India: Sehwag*, Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly, Karthik+, Pathan, H Singh, Z Khan, RP Singh

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Amla, Duminy, Prince, De Villiers, Boucher+, Harris, Nel, Steyn, Ntini

India sensationally drop their captain Kumble. Sehwag steps in as captain while bowling all rounder Pathan is brought into the attack.

Day 1: Sehwag wins the toss and elects to bat. This decision proves correct when India recover from the early loss of Sehwag for 1 and Tendulkar for 21 to find themselves 333-4 at the close. Gambhir made 76, Dravid 120 not out and Ganguly on 90 not out at close of play. Steyn and Nel take 2 wickets each. Ntini suffers a muscle strain and will be unable to bowl in the remainder of the match.

Day 2: India bat very well to make 588. Dravid falls to Steyn for 139 while part timer Duminy makes Ganguly his first test wicket for 149. However, the Indian tail wagged immensely and Pathan made 58 and Harbhajan Singh 65. The bowling was a team effort with Nel, Harris and Steyn taking 3 each. South Africa unfortunately lost the 3 early wickets of Smith, Gibbs and Duminy before Amla added stability together with Prince. Both batsmen were not out at the close. Amla on 42 and Prince on 27. Harbhajan Singh took 2 of the wickets.

Day 3: South Africa bat very poorly to collapse to 215 all out. Amla makes 55 and Prince 73 but other than 26 from Nel their is no support and Indian captain Sehwag enforces the follow on. Pathan is the best of the bowlers with figures of 5-62. The key objective was to survive a tricky evening session without loosing a wicket but Zaheer Khan traps Smith lbw for 17 to leave SA 48-1.

Day 4: Amla bats through a completed days cricket for the 2nd time during the series as only 1 wicket, Smith lbw to Harbhajan Singh for 44 falls during the days play. At the close Amla is on 78 and Duminy on 69.

Day 5: Amla falls short of what would have been a well deserved hundred, making 97 but Duminy then takes over and bats brilliantly on the way to his maiden test century, finishing on 140. Prince (48 not out) also added resiliance as SAfrica saved the game, loosing 4 wickets. Harbhajan Singh (3-99) was the best of the bowlers. 3 drawn games mean that the series is drawn despite some very good performances from both teams.

[Shelsey]

What bowling tactics do you use (if you don't mind sharing)?

I tend to not worry too much about field settings, line and length etc. but will just bowl to a batsmens weakness and on 2-4 bars depending on the situation.

[Shelsey]

Tour of England

With a long tour of England upcoming SA coach Jack Sheldon announced an unchanged 18 man squad for the tour:

G Smith, H Gibbs, H Amla, A Prince, AB De Villiers, N McKenzie, JP Duminy, M Boucher, J Kallis, M Morkel, R Peterson, D Steyn, A Nel, P Harris, M Ntini, M Zondeki, C Langeveldt, A Morkel

Following general success in India and with no South African domestic cricket having been played yet this season it made sense to stick with the same group of players. Albie Morkel the only uncapped player among them.

The tour starts with 3 day games against Somerset and the MCC before 4 Tests, a T20I and 5 ODIs. Further tour games are scheduled against the Combined Universities (3 day), Scotland and the MCC (both 1 day).

[Shelsey]

3 Day Match v Somerset

Somerset: Trescothick*, Edwards, Hildreth, Trego, Durston, Blackwell, Kieswetter+, Thomas, Caddick, Munday, Willoughby

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Amla, Kallis, Duminy, Prince, Boucher+, M Morkel, Harris, Nel, Steyn

SAfrica leave out De Villiers for controversial 3 day game against Somerset. Morkel is preferred to ageing Ntini. Somerset name 3 South African kolpaks in Kieswetter, Thomas and Willoughby.

Day 1: Gibbs hits a brilliant 141 at the top of the order, in partnership with Kallis whos 85 includes 4 sixes. Amla made 27 and Prince 6. Duminy is 23 not out and Boucher on 6 at the close. Michael Munday was the best of the best of the bowlers with figures of 2-59.

Day 2: Munday swept up the rest of the SA batting line up to finish with 7-121. Boucher made 31 and Morkel 39. Nel was left on 19 not out. South Africas bowlers then restricted Somerset to 198-7. Trego top scored with 67 and \edwards made 54. Steyn was the best of the bowlers, taking 4-60.

Day 3: The Somerset tail was pushed over by the SAfrican bowlers, particularly Nel (4-63). Somerset were 199 runs behind SA's total so the option to enforce the follow on was available to Smith. However, SA chose not to enforce it in order to give more practise to their batsmen.
Smith and Gibbs put on an unbroken 229. Gibbs making 123 and Smith 97 as the match wad drawn. A further practise game follows against the MCC.

[Shelsey]

3 Day Match v MCC

MCC: Savage, Hulme, Sharpe, Ogden*, Charlton, Jefferson, Highsmith, Rowntree+, Duckett, Perry, Henshaw

SAfrica: Smith*, McKenzie, Amla, Kallis, Prince, De Villiers, Boucher+, M Morkel, Harris, Langeveldt, Ntini

Against an inexperienced MCC side South Africa rest the in form Gibbs, Duminy, Steyn and Nel. In their place McKenzie, De Villiers, Langeveldt and Ntini get a chance to stake their claim for a place in the 1st Test.

Day 1: Smith won the toss and elected to bat. South Africa's batsmen hit over 400 in the day. Smith making a fantastic double hundred and remains not out overnight. McKenzie made South Africa's selection headache worse with his 141. In order to give batsmen who aren't in particularly good form the order was shuffled around. Prince made 15 and De Villiers was 36 not out at the close.

Day 2: South Africa continued to bat and bat, ending play on 792 for 4. Smith made his double hundred a triple before falling to Perry for 319. De Villiers also made a hundred (128). Amla was on 87 and Boucher 81 at the close. Perry (2-216) was the best of the bowlers.

Day 3: Amla continued his habit of falling just short of 100 when he fell for 95 but Boucher did complete his ton before long. At 836-5 SA declared. Perry finished with figures of 3-239 from his 63 overs. The MCC were embarassed when after more than 2 days in the field taking just 5 wickets they found themselves 18-4, then capitulated to 129 all out. Langeveldt taking 4 wickets and Ntini 3. The follow on was enforced. The MCC composed themselves much better 2nd time round surving to the close at 118-1. The performances of McKenzie, De Villiers, Langeveldt and Ntini make selection extremely difficult for the 1st Test.

[acook]

batters look in good form. I also noticed before that J.P Duminy is class on it. Why is this I had never heard of him in real life untill S.A came to England this summer and I looked at there squad. But hes something like 3rd in the ICC rankings on the game! V.Strange.

[Shelsey]

1st Test

England: Cook, Strauss, Pietersen, Bell, Shah, Prior+, Vaughan*, Flintoff, Sidebottom, Harmison, Hoggard

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Amla, Kallis, Duminy, De Villiers, Boucher+, Harris, Nel, Langeveldt, Steyn

England choose Shah over Collingwood, and Harmison and Hoggard over Broad and Anderson. Panesar is oddly left out despite taking 8-58 and 4-72 in the previous test match played by England. England skipper Vaughan will bat at a new position - number 7. For SA selection was extremely difficult with so many players in form. In the end Prince and McKenzie, despite his hundred against the MCC are left out. In the bowling department the only change from the 3rd Test v India is that Ntini is left out in favour of Langeveldt.

Day 1: On a flat pitch, Smith won the toss and elected to bat. England nabbed the crucial early wickets of Smith and Amla, and from their on England's confidence was high as Hoggard reminded everyone what a good bowler he is by taking 6-59. The best of the batsmen was Duminy, who made 71 before being given out lbw to Hoggard. SA were highly disappointing in capitulating to 201 all out, considering the good form shown against Somerset and the MCC. England survived the day to be 23-0 at the close.

Day 2: South Africa did well to restrict England to 295. Prior making 74 and Pietersen 68. Bell suffered a fracture while on 25 and had to retire hurt. He's likely to miss at least the 2nd Test. Steyn (4-61) was the best of the bowlers but Harris who took 3 wickets bowled well too. England lead by 94 after the first innings. South Africa's objective was not to loose a wicket during a short spell before the close but they failed miserably, loosing both openers.

Day 3: SA find themselves in serious trouble by the close. Amla top scores with 73, De Villiers makes 44 and Duminy 41 but by the close SA are
234-6 and only 140 ahead. Hoggard completes his 10 wickets for the match with his figures of 4-54. Boucher is on 29 and Harris on 1 overnight.

Day 4: Sidebottom (5-82) rips through the South African tail as the Proteas are bowled out for 254, Boucher making 36. Nel (3-49) does well to take the wickets of Cook (30), Strauss (47) and Pietersen (57) but Shah is 25 not out when England reach what proves to be an easy target. A very disappointing performance from SAfrica and a polished one from England. England lead the series 1-0 and it will now be an uphill struggle for SA if they are to win this series.

[Shelsey]

2nd Test

England: Cook, Strauss, Pietersen, Shah, Prior+, Vaughan*, Joyce, Sidebottom, Harmison, Panesar, Hoggard

SAfrica: Smith*, Gibbs, Amla, Kallis, Duminy, De Villiers, Boucher+, Harris, Nel, Steyn, Ntini

England surprisingly hand Joyce a test debut rather than bring Collingwood in for the injured Bell. Panesar returns, but shockingly in place of the fit Flintoff. South Africa resist the temptation to fiddle with the batting line-up but do make one change to the bowlers, recalling Ntini in place of Langeveldt.

Day 1: England win the toss and unsurprisingly elect to bat first. They then dominate the day scoring at a fast rate. After a good start SA take the wickets of Cook (52) and Pietersen (34), Strauss is agonisingly run out on 96 before his Middlesex teammate Shah gets his 1st test century. Prior makes 60 but Vaughan falls cheaply before the close leaving Shah on 133 and Joyce on 14. Ntini, Steyn, Nel and Harris take a wicket each. Injury to Nel makes the tourists day even worse.

Day 2: Shah completes his 150 before falling to Steyn for 152. The tail is swept up by Harris (4-157). England amass 476. SA collapse to 129 all out and look likely to go 2-0 down in the series. Duminy (34) and De Villiers (26) are the top scorers. Worries are beginning to grow over the form of Kallis. Hoggard continues his excellent form to claim figures of 4-33, Panesar takes 3 wickets. Following on the openers survive to the end of the day.

Day 3: SA have their best day of the series so far. Smith and Gibbs put on 171 for the first wicket. Smith (77) is the only wicket to fall during the day, caught behind off Hoggard. Amla then continues as Smith had done, finishing the day on 22, Gibbs reaches his hundred and overnight has 111 off 308 deliveries.

Day 4: SA loose Gibbs and Amla early on. The rest of the batsmen all make a contribution with none of them going on to make 50. Boucher is on 32 and last man Ntini on 0 at the close. It looks an impossible task for SAfrica as they are still after almost 3 days batting only 30 ahead of England's 1st Innings score.

Day 5: Ntini is out for 4 early on, completing Panesar's 5 wicket haul. Boucher finishes on 36 not out. England need 39 to win. England's openers safely guide the hosts to a 10 wicket victory. England lead the series 2-0 and SA must win the remaining tests if they're to tie the series.

[Shelsey]

3 Day Match v Combined Universities

C Univs: Plant, Leigh, Chapman, Hull*, Wallis, Moody, Hutchinson+, Duncan, Milne, Brummer, Haylett

SAfrica: Smith*, McKenzie, Amla, Kallis, Prince, De Villiers, Boucher+, Peterson, M Morkel, Langeveldt, Zondeki

A number of key players were rested by the South Africans against a Combined Universities team in which nobody had played a previous first class match. McKenzie replaces Gibbs, Prince is in for Duminy and Peterson, M Morkel, Langeveldt and Zondeki replace Harris, Nel, Steyn and Ntini.

Day 1: Smith wins the toss and chooses to bat first. SA produce a decent batting performance to reach 352-7. Smith top scored with 123, Kallis makes 67 and Boucher is 43 not out. Moody (2-74) is the is the best of the students bowlers.

Day 2: Boucher bats excellently to make 117, the SAfrican tail wags as Morkel makes 25 and Langeveldt an unbeaten 34. Wallis (4-107) finishes as the best of the bowlers. Morkel removes Plant lbw but Leigh and Chapman bat well to bring C Univs to 67-1 at the close.

Day 3: Leigh scores 101 on his first class debut, before being caught by Amla off Kallis. Morkel and Zondeki take 3 wickets each, Langeveldt and Kallis 2 each. The Universities are forced to follow on but reach 50-0 by the end of the day and the match.