Cricket: Preview of South Africa's Tour To England

Lasse Manson — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 01:22:35 -0400

The rivalry between South Africa and England is an intense, competitive and fascinating one. Perhaps not as widely acclaimed as Australia vs. England or Pakistan vs. India, but still gargantuan in standing.

Traditionally (and certainly over the last few years) the odds have been pretty even. In 28 encounters since South Africa's re-admission into international cricket, the records are:

South Africa -> Won 8, Lost 8 and England -> Won 8, Lost 8 with twelve encounters being drawn/no-result.

This series is to be no different, both teams seem to have a fairly stable line-ups with their own strengths and weaknesses.

The Strengths

South Africa

South Africa have a very strong bowling line-up. Makhaya Ntini, Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Paul Harris are likely to lead the attack.

Steyn has everything you need in England (or anywhere else for that matter); pace, swing and a potent bouncer.

England

Bowling. Fantastic exponents of swing and at home are devastating if teams are not properly prepared to face swing bowling.

Who remembers Matthew Hoggard tearing through the South African lineup? Pure poetry.

The Weaknesses

South Africa

A tendency to be slightly on the frail side, batting wise, with top-order collapse a firm likelihood. The batting should not be taken likely, however. With Smith, Kallis, Amla, de Villiers, Mckenzie and Prince, it's a fairly decent line-up that bats all the way down.

England

Overreliance on one player seems to be the norm; England need to pull together as a team a little in order to be the potent force they always threaten to be.

It's going to be a fascinating series, with the outcome firmly placed in favour of the team that bowls the best. I believe the players to watch are the bowlers, especially Steyn and Anderson as I believe they hold the defining performance in at least one Test match.

Jacques Rudolph, Another Part of the Kolpak Drain

Lasse Manson — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 19:32:51 -0400

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I saw a small left-handed batsman. Playing for the Titans against a touring Australian team, he walloped a 150 in 100 balls.

Shane Warne called him the one of the best batsman he had played against in a long time. The batsman named was none other than Jacques Rudolph, a classical left hander.

I'll never forget the wonderous cover drives and marvellous cut shots he played, even against the best of international opponents. He was, and still is, my favourite batsman (unless he starts playing for England ;-)).

His International Career

Jacques played 35 test matches for the Proteas between April 13, 2003 and Feb. 5, 2006 at an average of 35, plundering five hundreds.

For a newcomer to any side, you would think that he deserved more of a chance. However, like all sports, when a team has done really poorly (South Africa vs. Australia, 2006) it seems like the selectors decide the best approach is to cull as many young players as possible.

Many forget that in a Perth epic, Rudolph scored an unbeaten 102 against a charged-up Shane Warne. This was the only saving grace for South Africa, as they went on to lose the next three test matches.

Although Rudolph only managed to score 125 runs from his next six inninings, perhaps his axing was a tad unfair.

Then came the Kolpak deal, Rudolph moved to Yorkshire citing his unfair treatment. None could blame him.

At Yorkshire, Rudolph continues to churn out the runs. In the 2008 season Rudolph has already scored 542 runs, in six inns at an average of 77.

Perhaps Rudolph will play for England at some stage; it wouldn't be such a bad thing. At least I'd be able to see that classical cover drive again.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Lasse Manson

Cricket: Preview of South Africa's Tour To England

Jacques Rudolph, Another Part of the Kolpak Drain