Wolf
New Member
South Africa tour England
Hatred and Rivalry
Think back to England vs. South Africa matches of recent times, and as an England fan you see the glory years of Duncan Fletcher, and matches where an exciting brand of cricket is played. Firstly there is the glorious summer of 2003, which in quality more than matched the Ashes series two years later, when Graeme Smith with two double hundreds helped South Africa dominate the first two tests, a drawn first test at Edgbaston and a win at Lords in which Andrew Flintoff finally announced himself as a major force in international cricket with a scintillating 142 in the second test with the match gone. England came back to draw the series 2-2 James Kirtley taking an amazing six wicket haul to bowl them to victory in the third test, before Jacques Kallis repeated the feat in the fourth test, only for Marcus Trescothick to save the series for England with 219 at the Oval. England showed the aggressive cricket which was the forefront of the Fletcher era, and in the winter of 2004/05 they went on to record what many regard as England’s finest moment of recent times, a 2-1 win in South Africa’s own backyard, which set them up for the Ashes triumph next summer, the bowling attack of Flintoff, Jones, Harmison, Hoggard and Giles working together as a unit, and Andrew Strauss becoming the toast of English cricket with three fine centuries.
Since those series South Africa have grown while England have somewhat weakened, and the Saffas come into this series as clear favourites, possessing a fearsome bowling attack of Morkel, Steyn and Ntini and an aggressive batting line-up with no weak links. England on the other hand possess a relatively slow but swing-happy pace attack of Sidebottom, Broad and Anderson, with Panesar backing them up with his left arm spin, and with an inconsistent batting line up which seem unable to string a succession of scores together. All the batters will be under pressure because of the impending return of a fit again Flintoff, but with wet weather forecast for the opening test at Lords, they might not get much of a chance to showcase their credentials. With a draw likely at the home of cricket, it looks like the series will be down to three matches, and England will look to take advantage of the normal bowlers friendly pitch at Headingley before they move onto tests at Edgbaston and The Oval.
One thing is for certain there will be no love lost between the sides with England players Pietersen and Strauss both being born in South Africa. It will be Pietersen who will take the brunt of the stick as he is viewed as a traitor in South Africa after quitting the set up after becoming disillusioned the quota system and also having a long standing row with Smith.
The first test starts tomorrow, Thursday 10th July. If the rain holds, expect excitement in abundance.
Squads for both teams are as follows:
England (1st test only):
Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire, wkt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire)
South Africa:
Graeme Smith (capt), Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Monde Zondeki.
Fixtures:
June 2008
Sun 29 - Tue 1
Somerset v South Africans
July 2008
Fri 4 - Sun 6
Middlesex v South Africans
Thu 10 - Mon 14
1st Test - England v South Africa
Lord's
Fri 18 - Tue 22
2nd Test - England v South Africa
Headingley
Fri 25 - Sun 27
Bangladesh A v South Africans
Wed 30 - Sun 3
3rd Test - England v South Africa
Edgbaston
August 2008
Thu 7 - Mon 11
4th Test - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval
Wed 13
PCA Masters XI v South Africans
Thu 14
England Lions v South Africans
Sat 16
England Lions v South Africans
Wed 20
Only Twenty20 International - England v South Africa
Riverside Ground,
Fri 22 Floodlit Match
1st ODI - England v South Africa
Headingley
Tue 26 Floodlit Match
2nd ODI - England v South Africa
Trent Bridge
Fri 29
3rd ODI - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval
Sun 31
4th ODI - England v South Africa
Lord's
September 2008
Wed 3 Floodlit Match
5th ODI - England v South Africa
Sophia Gardens
Hatred and Rivalry
Think back to England vs. South Africa matches of recent times, and as an England fan you see the glory years of Duncan Fletcher, and matches where an exciting brand of cricket is played. Firstly there is the glorious summer of 2003, which in quality more than matched the Ashes series two years later, when Graeme Smith with two double hundreds helped South Africa dominate the first two tests, a drawn first test at Edgbaston and a win at Lords in which Andrew Flintoff finally announced himself as a major force in international cricket with a scintillating 142 in the second test with the match gone. England came back to draw the series 2-2 James Kirtley taking an amazing six wicket haul to bowl them to victory in the third test, before Jacques Kallis repeated the feat in the fourth test, only for Marcus Trescothick to save the series for England with 219 at the Oval. England showed the aggressive cricket which was the forefront of the Fletcher era, and in the winter of 2004/05 they went on to record what many regard as England’s finest moment of recent times, a 2-1 win in South Africa’s own backyard, which set them up for the Ashes triumph next summer, the bowling attack of Flintoff, Jones, Harmison, Hoggard and Giles working together as a unit, and Andrew Strauss becoming the toast of English cricket with three fine centuries.
Since those series South Africa have grown while England have somewhat weakened, and the Saffas come into this series as clear favourites, possessing a fearsome bowling attack of Morkel, Steyn and Ntini and an aggressive batting line-up with no weak links. England on the other hand possess a relatively slow but swing-happy pace attack of Sidebottom, Broad and Anderson, with Panesar backing them up with his left arm spin, and with an inconsistent batting line up which seem unable to string a succession of scores together. All the batters will be under pressure because of the impending return of a fit again Flintoff, but with wet weather forecast for the opening test at Lords, they might not get much of a chance to showcase their credentials. With a draw likely at the home of cricket, it looks like the series will be down to three matches, and England will look to take advantage of the normal bowlers friendly pitch at Headingley before they move onto tests at Edgbaston and The Oval.
One thing is for certain there will be no love lost between the sides with England players Pietersen and Strauss both being born in South Africa. It will be Pietersen who will take the brunt of the stick as he is viewed as a traitor in South Africa after quitting the set up after becoming disillusioned the quota system and also having a long standing row with Smith.
The first test starts tomorrow, Thursday 10th July. If the rain holds, expect excitement in abundance.
Squads for both teams are as follows:
England (1st test only):
Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), Tim Ambrose (Warwickshire, wkt), James Anderson (Lancashire), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Alastair Cook (Essex), Monty Panesar (Northamptonshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Ryan Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire)
South Africa:
Graeme Smith (capt), Ashwell Prince, Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wkt), AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Neil McKenzie, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Robin Peterson, Dale Steyn, Monde Zondeki.
Fixtures:
June 2008
Sun 29 - Tue 1
Somerset v South Africans
July 2008
Fri 4 - Sun 6
Middlesex v South Africans
Thu 10 - Mon 14
1st Test - England v South Africa
Lord's
Fri 18 - Tue 22
2nd Test - England v South Africa
Headingley
Fri 25 - Sun 27
Bangladesh A v South Africans
Wed 30 - Sun 3
3rd Test - England v South Africa
Edgbaston
August 2008
Thu 7 - Mon 11
4th Test - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval
Wed 13
PCA Masters XI v South Africans
Thu 14
England Lions v South Africans
Sat 16
England Lions v South Africans
Wed 20
Only Twenty20 International - England v South Africa
Riverside Ground,
Fri 22 Floodlit Match
1st ODI - England v South Africa
Headingley
Tue 26 Floodlit Match
2nd ODI - England v South Africa
Trent Bridge
Fri 29
3rd ODI - England v South Africa
Kennington Oval
Sun 31
4th ODI - England v South Africa
Lord's
September 2008
Wed 3 Floodlit Match
5th ODI - England v South Africa
Sophia Gardens
