Christie

Imo Tahir is an excellent limited overs bowler. His many variations are difficult to handle when batsmen are looking to score off every ball, he is a similar case to Mendis. We should use him as a specialist. For tests, his control is not good enough, where batsmen can afford to wait for a bad ball, and 4 runs per over is excellent.

Not if the Ferrari was made in China, and still cost millions. Yet, we are discussing the equivalent of that with bicycles. (I would buy a Ferrari, but it will be a classic 275 or so. 458 is perfect, but will depreciate in value. With Ferraris you can sell for more than you buy, if you know your stuff)

I read a "annual track day shoot out" in a motoring publication a while ago. They had a collection of the latest and greatest fast cars, from Cooper S JCW to, Mazeratti, McLarens and a Lambo. They put some bona fide racing drivers in them, recording lap times, top speed, etc. To their credit, they also puplished the un-edited impressions of the racing drivers as well. One of the drivers described one of the extremely expensive and desirable cars as "a shopping trolley for stupid people". I would not call the F8 that, but a lot of "value" behind Pinarellos of late is in their image and marketing, bragging rights, that kind of thing. In my book, the ultimate bike is a custom one which have been sized to my exact anatomy, and ride qualities tuned to my preference. (I weigh 69kgs, and thus need a lot less stiffness in the bb than an 80kg sprinter, for example), with a custom factory paint job that nobody else has. If I spend more than R100k on a bike, that is the way I would go. No amount of marketing will convince me to spend that much on something mass produced in the East, regardless of brand.

Sometimes the conservativeness of our selectors are so disappointing. Zim and WI are the ideal teams to expose some new talent to the top level. We need to improve some areas, before going to India. After our win in Galle, and our struggles in Colombo, India will know what kind of pitches to prepare.

I like the look of the F8, much more than any of the predecessors. It is the first really good looking Dogma. In terms of weight, the previous Dogmas were waaay below par - they are heavier than aluminium frames, when the cutting edge of bicycle structural engineering is at frame weights of 700 to 800 grams. (it would be interesting to compare the weight of those Dogma frames without serial numbers, to see if there is a difference) Regarding weight of the F8, it is respectable for an aero frame, and a definite improvement. I do find the price amusing, though - it is similar to or more than a hand built custom, which I consider a better buy. Comparing the F8 to the new Colnago aero bike, for example: for me it is much of a muchness. The aero Colnago is built by Giant in Taiwan, the F8 is built in China. Both not worth more than other bikes from the same factories in engineering terms. The Colnago C60, however is made and painted in Italy. That is still worth something, and could justify extra $ on the sticker. My personal stable peaked at 5 bikes. I have since sold all my road bikes, but I have rolled on Colnagos, Cannondales, Scott, Cervelo, Merkcx, with top of the range everything. I never saw a difference in my performance from the one to the next in races, and I really took it to the n-th degree, with coaching, power meters (I have had 3 at one time) etc. In the end, I solidly agree with LA (hate to admit) - it is so not about the bike.

"... He draweth out the thread of his verbosity finer than the staple of his argument"

13th, I think.

If you have that kind of cash, why not have a bike custom designed and hand built (stiffness tuned to your requirements) and painted to taste? Parlee Z0, ESX, or something from Sarto, for example. Since the frame in question probably weigh the same as 2x top of the range from most manufacturers, light weight is not an objective for the build in question. That means a frame in titanium can easily fit the bill, too. I like Eriksen or Baum. Lastly, since frame weigt is not an issue, custom steel can also work. Google Pegoretti. Re the Dogma, it is too much money for a mass production Chinese bike, with or without a serial nr imo.

We were saved by the late decleration. He could have set us 250, we would not have survived another 10 overs. Too bad for SL.

http:// http://mg.co.za/article/2014-01-14-alviro-petersen-steps-down-as-lions-captain

Time for Petersen to go. Who to replace him with? Perhaps Van Zyl? Or will they open with QdK? (I prefer him to bat in the middle order) Petersen caused trouble at the Lions - without Smith to keep him in line, it is time for a clean break imo.

Why did we only pick one spinner, if it is such a dust bow? When touring SL and India, we should expect these dust bowls. They would be crazy to prepare green tops with how Steyn and co. are bowling. The toss was crucial, too. What other option is there from losing the toss but to spin them out.

It looks as if they were playing for the draw from the start. Risky - SL has a handy lead, and a defensive mindset is sometimes a road to defeat. Just ask the Sharks and Stormers.

My take on gearing: 1x10 or 11 is for aggressive downhill riding, the podium in XC or marathons, or mtbers who want to look like those who stand on he podium. The only reason a non pro would prefer 1x for general riding for fun, would be mud. But a lot of those people portage or even stay at home if they see mud. If you are looking to spend money to go faster, I would say: coach, power meter, dietitian.

Correct. Yes, there is an academic difference between rotating an translating mass under acceleration, but for a bicycle acceleration is minuscule. The effect is so small that 1kg is effectively 1kg, no matter where you go. The other theories were created by marketers to sell more stuff to, well, how to put it, "less informed" folks with fat wallets.

Imo the brains trust got it wrong by going with an unchanged attack. This pitch is even flatter than the last, and shows signs of taking a lot of spin. Philanderis not effective, Duminy is part time, and Tahir is not the answer. Selectors were too conservative. I would have kept Tahir in the hope that he would come good, but would have dropped Philander for Piedt or Harmer.

Few (if any) bikes at the world cup XC races run rigid forks. Olympic XC race was won on a dual. Perhaps the gain of less weight is offset by time lost over technical bits? Stir for the day: When is a 29er without suspension a mtb, and when is it a road bike with knobblies on? Is the rider a mountain biker or a dirt roadie?

I would think pronouciation differs depending on the local dialect: " Ho avuto componenti Campagnolo sulla mia bicicletta" Vs. "I have got Campagnooolooo compooonents on my bicycle" Vs. "I can like to have Campagggnola on my bike"

Philander has never had success on flat wickets, throughout his career. He has been awesome in SA, and in England. He relies on a bit if movement off the seam to get wickets. On a flat track, must rely on line and length, but at his pace the threat is much reduced.

Raising another issue: the ball tampering incedents are mounting. Is that what reverse swing is about? There are more legal ways of roughing the ball up- stopping it with the boot, throwing in on the bounce. In this case the ball was deemed unaffected, and remained in play, but the team needs to wise up a bit on working the ball within the rules.

I agree that Philander can be chosen as an all-rounder. This means we effectively have 3 specialist bowlers and 2 aĺl-rounders making up the attack. I dont like it, we need 4 specialist bowlers. Where would we be if Steyn or Morkel picked up an indury during a match?

Another for Steyn. Need 2 more, if Eranga doesn't bat. Selectors need to look at Tahir and Philander for the next match, both not contributing in this game. Time to give Piedt a go - he cant do worse than Tahir. Philander is a more difficult debate, but on flat pitches he looks ineffective. When will Abbot get a look?

There we go! Some fire and brimstone from Steyn, and a loose shot from Sangakara opened it up for us. At 200+ behind and 6 wickets down, I doubt SL will chase the win, Mathews should look to shore up and farm the strike. The win is on the cards! If we keep the good bowling up, and have a bit of help from a delivery or two that misbehaves from here, we can take it.

If we bowl well, there will be opportunities to get wickets if they play their shots. If we bowl badly, we will lose. It looks like the spinners are not doing the job so far. Philander has a 0 in the wickets column - I feel we depend too much on Dale Steyn to bowl sides out, he almost bowled the same nr of overs as Thahir in the first innings, and the same now.

Shew, hard graft for the batsmen today. We needed the extra batsmen, without which we would have been in trouble. Good knock by JPD, slight advantage SA. Will we declare after JPD gets 100? Imo they should use the max time and get as many runs as possible, perhaps bowl 5 overs at the end of the day. I still feel we are short a spinner, but lets see how we bowl.