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mind you... if AB keeps and we go over our overrate he'll solve the selection problem. Then Abbott can come in for AB, and we just have to hope that the extra bowler reduces our semi final opposition to below 200, because without AB, that's about the max I would want to chase.

yes! and give the gloves to Rilee, because if AB keeps, he'll need 4 and a half hours to complete 50 overs, not just 3 and a half. Who_needs_a_wicketkeeper_anyway

I am sure that the T's & C's covers planned and unplanned closures. Do you get a refund if a cricket game you are attending rains out half way through?

Well said Deon. We often over-simplify matters that we do not fully comprehend. The best thing we can do is give the powers-that-be our full support.

It is comments like these that probably led to Kallis saying f-it, I'm off to play BBL and make a wad of cash. My money is on Steyn turning up the wick for the knock outs.

Albie is in the same boat as Ontong and Kemp. I like Wiese, but he only really had one or 2 good showings after the squad was announced. Phangiso was a waste and like poor Tsolikile seems destined to carry drinks and will benefit more by playing at home than not get game time. In hindsight a few experienced backup players would have added more value if required in a crunch game than youngsters who should be working on their game instead of carrying drinks.

The allrounder issue is not a squad issue, but a player pool issue. We don't have any proper all rounders. MacLaren averages less than 20 with the bat in ODI's, Ontong hardly bowls these days. Robbie P maybe? Kemp? Thats going in the wrong direction in terms of bringing young talent through on 3 counts. Kallis would have been invaluable considering his form in the BBL, but we as SA public and media declared him too old, so he obliged and retired.If QdK had form we could have played the extra bowler. AB seems our most likely option to share some overs with JP. Now will QdK bat at 1 or 7... Lets see...

UAE never intended to make a game out of this. If they did, they would have batted first. I wonder if they were just dead-set on limiting our opportunities to chase a score. They are batting as if they are saving a test match and we seem to be happy to just get through the remaining overs without too much incident. Game over and questions answered ito the knock-outs?

And AB is answering some of the 5'th bowler questions. If he can go for 15 off 3 and pick up a few wickets against quality opposition as well we'll take it.

Ok so the batting questions seems to be largely answered. QdK will probably miss out for the rest of the tournament and AB will keep. Lets hope that moving Rilee around like that does not backfire. One low score could see him in exactly the same place as QdK. I hope Beharfien and JP get a few overs each as AB will be out of the bowling if he keeps. Behardien batted well today, so lets hope there is more to come.

I don't quite agree with your assessment. We look much better setting a target than chasing. Our whole top 6 bar QdK scored runs and all bar QdK averages over 55 in the tournament. We had a terrible game against India, and let things slip against Pakistan (or Pakistan played exceptionally well on the day, the jury is still out on this one). If we get a result tomorrow, the Pakistan result would not matter as we would have ended second on the log win or lose against Pakistan. 3 of our 4 front-line bowlers are performing well, namely Tahir, Morkel and Abbot (the latter being somewhat of a surprise to me). 5 of our bowlers averages below 5 runs an over in the tournament, and De Villiers, Rossouw, Duminy and Du Plessis average below 7. I'll take 5 an over from my top 4 and 7 from my 5,th bowler compliment if you give it to me on a small ground like Wellington. If QdK can play a decent knock and construct his innings better, and JP gets some form with the ball to bring that 5th bowler run rate closer to 5 we will be competitive in the next 4 games. Our fielding has been spot on. I can mayber recall 5 lapses in the field. Our bowlers seems to be more disciplined with extras. We need to speed up our overrate if we are not going to bowl out sides We need to be more focussed at the death.

That's how the Kiwis and Aussies decided to cut the pie when they did a joint bid. I quite like the smaller venues. Ticket prices are one thing, but appetite is another. The only nation with an insatiable appetite for cricket are the Indians. for the rest its best to spread it around a bit.

The thinking was play more games in NZ, particularly the games involving the associate nations. It must be eerie playing at the MCG with only 2000 spectators. The thing I remember most about the West Indies hosted WC was near empty stadiums.

July 2011? Surely they've not been on the rocks since then?

yes I know, but who else is there? Do you think they'll try and pull another Eoin Morgan from the Irish player pool or try and get a few more imports from the colonies? For one of the "Big 3" they appear to be very thin on talent. Lets hope Stuart Broad hangs up his boots now, a more whiny, sniveling brat is yet to be born.

enter Kevin Pietersen? England cricket needs a new (or their old) badboy.

my Bible is not wrong, but lets not let this degenerate into a religious argument.

Well done Bangladesh. To the England cricket team, better get packing for that early flight home, to the ECB, perhaps you, Aus and India should have reconsidered things before you hijacked the game for your own financial gain. There are few stories as good as a modern time David vs Goliath.

who ho!!!!

England is 132 / 5... hehe... Boardroom bullies might be taking an early flight home.

Sounds like Tabloid trash-writing. I've stopped reading the Sunday Times about 10 years ago.

Don't worry. The Lankans are saving their best for the QF [emoji6]

QdK is keeping well. If he failed with the gloves as well you comment would be justified. Parnell is not succeeding with either ball, bat or in the field.

We also need to win 3 tosses in a row. Our ability to chase is most concerning.