Sri Lanka tour of South Africa 2019 - 2 Tests, 5 ODIs, 2 T20Is

[PhatBoy]

It was money base but! Wasn't the board paying b grade wages was that the term?. Players got ripped off and quit for the cash in thr shorter form. is that close ?

It was far more than that. The initial major rift largely stemmed from the WIPA president signing off on a significant pay cut to contracted players at all level from memory, while the board itself did a major deal with a telecommunications company that was in direct competition with a rival company that already sponsored a huge amount of players.
The selection criteria has been chopped and changed numerous times from stipulations like ‘only players who compete in the domestic odi competition will be considered for the odi team’ to an inability to write no objection certificates for players who wanted to play in the franchise leagues when the international schedule allowed it or skipping some of the less important series etc.

It runs to far more levels than simply ‘so and so wanted more money.’

 

[PhatBoy]

A good example of what goes on in the Dave Cameron administration is the case of Darren Sammy.

When the 2009 series against Bangladesh was boycotted by the Players Association as the regular squad were requested to play their FIFTH consecutive series without being on contract, Sammy was selected (with next to no first class claims on a spot) and emerged as a leader within the side and the entire region. He was able to ultimately unify a pretty disparate group of players, get some reasonable results in all formats, and then led them to two T20 World Cup wins, and was acknowledged by the people that matter - his players - as an excellent leader.

West Indies Cricket Board’s response? Strip Sammy of the captaincy, give it to Carlos Braithwaite who not only wasn’t a captain at any level, but was barely in the best XI even allowing for his ‘remember the name’ fireworks, and basically confine Sammy to the dustbin.

So does anyone really have any grounds to complain that all Sammy does now is to travel the world playing franchise cricket? I wouldn’t think so.
His story is one of many like it.

 

[NSWCROW]

No no no no no

 

[The Speaker]

Reminder that SL are a worse ODI team than Test team...although so are SA.

 

[ioppolo]

Got to give props to Malinga, not many fast bowlers keep going at 36, let alone one with his pace and action

 

[Ishikawa]

Think the South African's have finally got it right with Faf at three. He's the perfect batsman for the position, Amla has been a tremendous player but I feel like he's not the guy who gives them the best chance of winning the cup. van der Dussen has slotted in nicely but I think they need their best bat and most importantly a leader to be coming in at first drop.

 

[PhatBoy]

Think the South African's have finally got it right with Faf at three. He's the perfect batsman for the position, Amla has been a tremendous player but I feel like he's not the guy who gives them the best chance of winning the cup. van der Dussen has slotted in nicely but I think they need their best bat and most importantly a leader to be coming in at first drop.

Markram clobbered 169 in a domestic game last night as well with his team 5-30 or something.

 

[corbies]

Markram clobbered 169 in a domestic game last night as well with his team 5-30 or something.

139 last night. 169 3 days ago.

 

[Ishikawa]

Yeah I reckon he's the ideal candidate to partner de Kock (though Hendricks has played some nice innings).

 

[PhatBoy]

139 last night. 169 3 days ago.

Ah ok. I saw the story this morning so assumed it must have been last night.

 

[PhatBoy]

Their attack aside, the only thing that can help SA do any damage at the World Cup is QDK and Faf.

This home summer, across the two formats, de Kock has 764 runs at 58 (no not-outs to pad the average), at a strike rate of 96.

Still battles with slow bowling but boy he’s in some nick.

 

[Sea fog]

QDK is on fire atm.

 

[PhatBoy]

QDK is on fire atm.

Seeing it like a planet.
I think I’m right in saying that every single one of his boundaries tonight was off the middle of the bat. Not even a single squirted four through third man or anything like that. He may as well be batting with a barn door

 

[HotSausage69]

De Kock probably the most in form batsman in the world at the moment.

His most recent scores:
121, 94, 81, 86, 1, 80, 55, 83, 0, 33, 18, 129, 59, 45

 

[Sea fog]

De Kock probably the most in form batsman in the world at the moment.

His most recent scores:
121, 94, 81, 86, 1, 80, 55, 83, 0, 33, 18, 129, 59, 45

And at a rollicking rate. His scoring-rate in ODIs is 96.

 

[PhatBoy]

And at a rollicking rate. His scoring-rate in ODIs is 96.

It wasn’t far off it in the tests either

 

[Ishikawa]

It's a bit of an oft-made, lazy comparison but there are so many similarities between he and Gilchrist at the crease and their approach to the game in general.

 

[PhatBoy]

It's a bit of an oft-made, lazy comparison but there are so many similarities between he and Gilchrist at the crease and their approach to the game in general.

If he can overcome his subcontinental demons there’s really no reason he can’t finish with a record to match Gilchrist’s.

His destructiveness at the top of the one day order and ability to play these freak momentum shifting test innings with his team in trouble is amazing.

 

[SunGirl89]

that was fun from Udana

58-run partnership for the 10th wicket, of which Rajitha contributed 0*

Record 10th wicket partnership for Sri Lanka

 

[Damon_3388]

Anrich Nortje, another one from the South African production line of quality quicks.

They genuinely go at least 10 deep as far as international-standard pace bowlers go right now, and that's before you count guys that have gone the Kolpak route or switched countries (Neil Wagner) or retired or withdrawn themselves from international selection.

 

[Damon_3388]

It's a bit of an oft-made, lazy comparison but there are so many similarities between he and Gilchrist at the crease and their approach to the game in general.

Consider that at the same age de Kock is now, Gilchrist was still almost two years away from making his Test debut, and had played just 22 ODIs (35.42 average with the bat, with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties).

 

[PhatBoy]

Consider that at the same age de Kock is now, Gilchrist was still almost two years away from making his Test debut, and had played just 22 ODIs (35.42 average with the bat, with 2 hundreds and 2 fifties).

As SA’s batting starts it’s inevitable decline with Smith, Kallis, De Villiers, and soon enough Du Plessis and Amla going, De Kock’s chances of matching Gilchrist at test level will be hurt by the fact that he simply won’t have the same amount of chances to come in with the opposition on their knees. That’s not a criticism of Gilchrist - he proved repeatedly that he could smoke it when his side was in trouble, but he also made countless runs when they were 5-400 etc.

 

[Damon_3388]

As SA’s batting starts it’s inevitable decline with Smith, Kallis, De Villiers, and soon enough Du Plessis and Amla going, De Kock’s chances of matching Gilchrist at test level will be hurt by the fact that he simply won’t have the same amount of chances to come in with the opposition on their knees. That’s not a criticism of Gilchrist - he proved repeatedly that he could smoke it when his side was in trouble, but he also made countless runs when they were 5-400 etc.

All true.

Still, he's on pace already for 50+ international centuries, which will easily put him in the GOAT keeper/batsman conversation.

I'm interested to see how long SA can play him as a keeper. I think once their current crop of veterans retire, he might drop the keeping gloves and play exclusively as a top order batsman in all formats, similar to Brendon McCullum once upon a time.

 

[corbies]

All true.

Still, he's on pace already for 50+ international centuries, which will easily put him in the GOAT keeper/batsman conversation.

I'm interested to see how long SA can play him as a keeper. I think one their current crop of veterans retire, he might drop the keeping gloves and play exclusively as a top order batsman in all formats, similar to Brendon McCullum once upon a time.

It's probably for the best anyway as his keeping isn't anything special. Makes up for a generally poor keeping technique through pure athleticism and hand-eye.

 

[PhatBoy]

It's probably for the best anyway as his keeping isn't anything special. Makes up for a generally poor keeping technique through pure athleticism and hand-eye.

That’s the thing though - I agree about the last sentence, but it’s fairly immaterial as he makes very few mistakes for the reasons you outlined. Same as a batsman with a poor technique who still thrives through other strengths.