2nd Test: England v South Africa at Nottingham, Jul 14-18, 2017

[Titanic]

England 1-0 up in the four match series, after an unusual Test Match at Lords, with so many wickets falling to spin, and England winning by a huge 211 run margin.

South Africa have captain Faf du Plessis back after a paternity break, and need to find a replacement for Kasigo Rabada who is suspended.

England will be unchanged.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

England 1-0 up in the four match series, after an unusual Test Match at Lords, with so many wickets falling to spin, and England winning by a huge 211 run margin.

South Africa have captain Faf du Plessis back after a paternity break, and need to find a replacement for Kasigo Rabada who is suspended.

England will be unchanged.

Ball will most likely swing about at TB. Can't really see the logic in retaining Dawson over another seamer, beyond continuity, for continuity's sake.

 

[Titanic]

Some speculation that batting first will be tricky, with a reasonable grass covering, a bit of breeze and clouds overhead*... an interesting choice for the captains.

(* on the other hand that is coming from Nasser Hussain!)

 

[CHAPPERS]

Pitch has plenty of juice by the looks of it

 

[Titanic]

Ball will most likely swing about at TB. Can't really see the logic in retaining Dawson over another seamer, beyond continuity, for continuity's sake.

If our four best seamers can't do the job - what's the point of having another?

 

[Titanic]

Joe Root proves he is a useless tosser, South Africa will bat - brave decision by Faf?

 

[Titanic]

SA have stiffened the middle order, with de Kock in at four.

 

[hans kraay fan club]

If our four best seamers can't do the job - what's the point of having another?

Its a fair point, but somehow I always feel Stokes should be considered a bonus, rather than one of four to rely on. He has a great knack of taking wickets but lacks control and can be very expensive.

Either way, I'm sure this attack will comfortably win the game, but entirely unconvinced by Dawson. If we were to play two spinners, then Rashid surely deserves to be ahead of him?

 

[Machiavelli]

Ball will most likely swing about at TB. Can't really see the logic in retaining Dawson over another batsman, beyond continuity, for continuity's sake.

Corrected for you and in the spirit of cricketing accord with [MENTION=36]Titanic[/MENTION].

 

[hans kraay fan club]

lunchtime score prediction: 72/4 (with 20 minutes lost to rain).

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Corrected for you and in the spirit of cricketing accord with [MENTION=36]Titanic[/MENTION].

Again fair.

England are extremely lucky at the moment with the quality of all-rounders at their disposal. Such is the batting talent of the wicket-keeper, plus Stokes and Moeen*, that they can afford to play so few specialist batsmen, (even when two of those in Balance and Jennings are yet to properly find their feet).

*A fit Woakes over Wood and that becomes even more true.

 

[Scappa]

Looks a good toss to lose. Our top order is fragile at best: Ballance reminds me a lot of Hick and Ramprakash - peerless at county level, but not got quite enough up top to make it at Test level; Jennings has showed very little form in Div 2. This is the same track that Broad took his 8fer against Australia - wouldn't fancy batting first up facing Philander (different beast to the bowler who barely turned up at Hove), Morkel and Morris, especially with cloud cover aiding swing

 

[hans kraay fan club]

Looks a good toss to lose.

Root says he would have bowled anyway:

View from the toss

South Africa captainFaf du Plessis: "It's a tricky decision because there's clouds in the sky. The first hour will be a challenge but we'll be ready for it. It was different watching from the sidelines in the first Test but I got some valuable insight from the commentators!"

England captain Joe Root: "I'd have had a bowl. Hopefully the cloud cover will bring our seamers into the game. If you look at the bowlers' previous performances at this venue, they've had a lot of success."

 

[papajaff]

Strange from Du Plessis to bat first but glad he chose that

 

[Common as Mook]

Looks a good toss to lose. Our top order is fragile at best: Ballance reminds me a lot of Hick and Ramprakash - peerless at county level, but not got quite enough up top to make it at Test level; Jennings has showed very little form in Div 2. This is the same track that Broad took his 8fer against Australia - wouldn't fancy batting first up facing Philander (different beast to the bowler who barely turned up at Hove), Morkel and Morris, especially with cloud cover aiding swing

Ballance has 4 test hundreds already.
Ramprakash got 2
Hick 6

 

[Titanic]

Looks a good toss to lose. Our top order is fragile at best: Ballance reminds me a lot of Hick and Ramprakash - peerless at county level, but not got quite enough up top to make it at Test level; Jennings has showed very little form in Div 2. This is the same track that Broad took his 8fer against Australia - wouldn't fancy batting first up facing Philander (different beast to the bowler who barely turned up at Hove), Morkel and Morris, especially with cloud cover aiding swing

Gary Ballance has played 40 Test innings, scored 1467 runs, 4 hundreds, 7 fifties and an average of 38.6, that puts his average ahead of Atherton, Hussain, Lamb, Gatting, Butcher, Botham, Randall...

 

[CHAPPERS]

Ballance has 4 test hundreds already.

Against India, West Indies and Bangladesh.

Hales should be in this side.

 

[Titanic]

Jimmy hooping it in the first over

 

[Common as Mook]

Against India, West Indies and Bangladesh.

Hales should be in this side.

Sri Lanka, not Bangladesh.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Sri Lanka, not Bangladesh.

Right you are.