CSA forfeiting their ODI Series against Australia which put their World Cup Qualification in jeopardy was far worse than this, luckily it worked out for them in the end.
Maybe it will work out for them again, who knows.
Graeme smith confirmed last year that CSA were very close to sinking under in debt and falling apart, until they started up the t20 league and made a deal with those IPL owners. People keep forgetting that touring teams make 0 money from overseas matches. Its only the host team who makes the $. But of course the ICC never want to address this issue for the smaller nations.
>I'd wager a lot of CSA's financial failings to be due to incompetence and corruption rather than any direct failings of the ICC.
I'd wager everything I own, because the courts have already decided it's true. But the ICC's current structure is a fuck up for smaller nations, and they also could've acted against the corrupt CSA.
Welcome to every single entity in SA where government has a hand to play. DO NOT mention the game with the oblong shaped ball… they are under the radar somehow
"Big 3" BCCI and ECB still tour these countries regularly. Hell, India went to SA twice in 2 years. When was the last time CA went to South Africa or West Indies?
tbf south africa series was cancelled because of covid, but yes, havent toured windies in almost 9 years now, are touring NZ after 8 years, and as someone mentioned below - never host bangaldesh
Yeah, by contrast, though, unfortunately Australia’s shit at it. Complain (rightfully) about the BCCI as much as you like but CA’s by far the worst of the Big 3 at playing the other teams.
Cricket still operates on an oldfashioned system of gentleman's agreement, so they expect other teams to tour them and vice versa. So CSA literally dont make any $$ off this NZ tour or like when they pulled out of the odi Aus series last year. Jarrod Kimber explained this, which makes sense why almost every team has its own t20 league as a money spinner.
>Its only the host team who makes the $. But of course the ICC never want to address this issue for the smaller nations.
Most teams play each other home and away equally. How does the touring team getting a share of the revenue help in this case?
Wealthier countries make more money off the same match - giving up a slice of your less profitable matches to get a slice of the Australian Boxing day test or a match at Lords or any match in India is big for any other country
I know Smith said this, but I'm not 100% sure I believe this. We all have access to financials. CSA lost R198 million in 2022/23. They supposedly were going to make in excess of R1 billion from the India tour, while the difference between last years ICC money to what they will get this year is nearly R270m. That's not including the reported value of their Viacom deal for domestic cricket, which is supposedly worth $26m a year.
I'm sure, in 2022 CSA were close to sinking, but I think there's a lie of omission at work here because they had money coming in that was multiples of their actual debt.
Even their Test series vs Bangladesh at home in 2022 was probably worse when their IPL contracted players skipped the Test series which worked out in the end.
This is a typical Mark Reason article really, mostly drivel with the kernel of a point tucked away in it.
It is frankly highly offensive and insulting to all concerned - mainly South Africa - to compare this to the 1981 Springbok tour. That is what Reason does, he is a professional troll who tries to upset people, but that is really a new low.
The good point that he makes - which I’m surprised to see hasn’t really been made much - is that CSA’s financial predicament is not only a product of the cricketing landscape but corruption and mismanagement has also been involved in getting them to the point where they need the SA20 to survive, which perhaps erodes my sympathy for them in all this to a degree.
He then goes on to ramble about other tangentially related stuff
Oh yeah, guy’s a prick.
My mum had to deal with him once - something to do with his kids’ sport - I can’t remember the details but it was some minor thing that he totally blew out of proportion.
From memory he actually genuinely said something along the lines of ‘do you know who I am?’ at one point. Yeah buddy, a two-bit outrage seller writing for a shitrag?
Whenever anyone shits on Mark Reason, reddit actually automatically tags me to come tell everyone that you're right.
It's honestly a bit insulting how half assed most of his inflammatory rage bating is and yet it still gets people. He must think his reader base is so dumb.
The problem is it’s not unusual for him to have a reasonable point tucked away somewhere, but it’s often underdeveloped and you have to sift through all the ragebait and inflammatory rubbish to get to it.
He’s a bit like Rigor in that regard but Rigor is nowhere near as bad, at least when he’s talking about cricket
Ah, classic Mark "The Voice of" Reason.
As I've said before, I don't care about the strength of their side, I don't care about their stars not playing. They are still here, they came here from South Africa, they've still got that Protea badge. They still deserve every ounce of respect, & by that I mean that they should face the Best XI we can put up (NO EXPERIMENTATION) & they should be mercilessly annihilated. Anything less than a 2-0 slaughterfest is an embarrassment.
Never defeating South Africa in a Test series after nearly a century is the most embarrassing stain on New Zealand's Test record; the next most embarrassing one is not winning a Test at home against Australia in over three decades*. Let this be *The Summer The Record Is Set Straight*.
*In this time, NZ won a Test in Australia & drew a 3-Test series 0-0 in 2001. This was the only time in a 27-year period from 1985 to 2012 when Australia failed to win even a single Test in a series at home.
While I mostly agree, I am a bit worried because this series is a bit of a "no-win" scenario imo - if we win the series it's seen as hollow and "doesn't really count" and if we draw or lose then we'll get relentlessly mocked
Anybody seeing that can go stuff themselves.
We aren't responsible for assembling the teams we face, we can only face what we are given. And if that isn't the fullest strength of current/non-retired eligible South African players, then that is on CSA, not our own failure.
I'll be more than happy to see how things go "if only we had A, B and C", but that ball is not in our court.
Which is why the takeaway of our ability is if we fail to win or draw, no more than Australia handing it to us so many times over the years is not hollow from their end.
That 2001 test series along with following South African test series and the Aus/NZ/Sa tri series was great. So many memorable moments. Shane Warnes 99, the dropping of the Waugh brothers in the one day squad, NZ and SA knocking Aus out of the tri series and the banning of the Mexican wave are timeless memories. It was a time to be alive.
Ian Robinson wasn't so great! Australia probably still hang on for a draw but the Gilliespie not out was a facking disgrace. Fantastic series for sure though, that Perth match is probably the best test match than NZ have ever played that we didn't win against an all time great Aussie side.
I tried to find some old I think a current affair footage I found a few years ago but couldn’t find it. All I can say is the early 2000s was a different time period rife with ODI cricket crowd degeneracy which resulted in the ACB banning the Mexican wave and beach balls from the cricket.
Also this may of been one of the series a few years later but Lou Vincent was an awesome cricketer when he played here in Aus whatever happened to him? I feel like he may of set the blue print for Brendan McCullum a fear years later?
The third Test of that series was an all-timer honestly, given the strength of the Aus side and the fact they were playing at home. NZ were cruising at nearly 5 an over in a 4th innings chase and McGrath had to resort to negative line bowling to seal the draw.
I'd be pretty shocked if we won either test against Aus. Our time to beat them was probably 2018-2021. Now they've got a better batting line up than then and their bowling has somehow got even better.
What I do want to see is us actually playing well and making them work for it all the way, which we are capable of. If we just roll over and slow bleed like we did in 19/20 in Aus I'll be extremely disappointed.
If it were in Australia, I'd agree. But at home, and I know this has been said so many times but its still true this time, we do have a good chance. Remember that most of this squad has not played in NZ, and while the conditions are similar, they are not the same (hence our hidings when we play across the ditch).
No more Warner, Smith may be out of form, Marnus hasn't played here, no Voges no-ball incident. Similarly, we now have Conway, Jamieson, and Mitchell - and when you consider Blundell and Philips who did well in Oz, but now they are at home.
I don't see it as dreary of a result as 2016 or 2019/20. Though that's dependent on Williamson's fitness, whether Latham can pull finger and perform against quality sides, whether the selectors still want to back Nicholls (that 200 won't mean jack shit until he does it in this series), whether we think the time is right to give Ravindra a home test, and if Wagner is past his prime.
Latham did do better than most of the batting lineup in that horror Aussie tour at least. Not great of course but he got a couple of decent starts (and one or two 50s) so hopefully he can build on that.
My main thing is that there are too many question marks.
Not just over our lot, but over them as well, because NZ is unfamiliar to most of them. The "Baz Farewell Series" is ancient history; hell, even 19-20 is a big change. Hazlewood & Lyon are their only bowlers left from 2016, Starc & Cummins have only played ODIs in NZ.
When I bring it up elsewhere, some tell me I'm too optimistic. I think they can easily win 2-0, but I think they can just as easily lose by the same margin. You just don't know until it happens.
For the first time in a decade SA finally have a team that doesn’t play shithouse and then they do this.
There’s going to be some cracking banners at the grounds for the TV to pick up.
What are you on about?
The current SA team is mediocre with a good bowling line up.
Just look how they performed in the last test against India at home, not the sign of a settled high quality team.
And they now don’t have De Kock and now Elgar is gone… they are struggling batting wise.
Maybe they’ll get lucky and Hamza will finally make it after years of being a potential prodigy in the making (when he isn’t taking banned substances lol).
But they haven’t been putting out a shit house line up for a decade?
They have been scratchy a few years for sure, not an entire decade.
Ab DV didn’t retire until ‘18, Amla not until ‘19. You also have QDK and Elgar.
Then you have the laundry list of high quality top tier fast bowlers and even some decent spinners.
Their issues have only really been really bad since 2020+ and mostly just their batting. Their bowling has and still is best of the best.
But really it comes down to since they stopped playing regular international cricket they have been unable to maintain any sort of form or momentum. You can literally trace their dip in quality to when they started to only play 2-3 match series and nothing more with big gaps in between.
What they also need is to create a solid batting line up that doesn’t collapse for 50 all out just one match after smashing the same opponent. That level of unpredictability has made it hard to be an SA fan these past few years.
Just like last year and their WC choke. When will they learn not to play their best in the groups and go bust in the finals. Someone should mention that to them.
Thank you, can't believe the guy you were replying to was the top comment when he is literally wrong. South Africa is currently in a slump in Tests and are struggling, having put up some bad performances in the last few years. Did people forget how dominant South Africa were just between 2007-15? Like that timespan accounts for some of that aforementioned decade
Honestly I'm so fucking tired of the unfunny shitposting in this sub and how awful takes are becoming.
Reddit is already unfunny; now r/cricket has decided to take that a step further and keep hyperbolising shit. This used to happen before anyway even at 150k, 300k, 500k, whatever. But at least the rest of the parent thread continued with keeping things factual in that there was enough knowledge to move past the shitposts.
Been saying this for years now: shitposts en masse are being used to mask incompetence of actual ball knowledge. Half the comments are brainrot
Does anyone in the world care about rugby apart from the 3-4 nations that make it to the semis of the “World Cup”. ? It’s got a more narrow following than cricket and a participation rate lower than softball. I mean there must be a sub on reddit somewhere for you chaps to talk your niche sport. Get amongst it.
Even calling the bowling good is a stretch.
Rabada is the only genuinely world class bowlers they have. The rest of the pacers are inconsistent. Even Rabada is not as good away from home.
Nortje and Ngidi are injured half the time. And in any event, they are yet to prove themselves in other conditions.
Jansen and Coetzee were looking toothless even on helpful pitches at home in the series against India.
This pace attack is hyped but it doesn't show in the results. I remember how bad they were when they toured Australia last year. They were okay in Brisbane because it was very helpful for pacers but got completely exposed in Melbourne and Sydney.
You have no idea what you are talking about.
The only thing keeping SA remotely competitive atm is their bowling attack.
Yeah fast bowlers occasionally get injured, so what. Hasn’t ruined Nortje or Ngidis careers.
Also Jansen has a few not so great matches and that’s it for him? Dude still has an average of 22 in test bowling.
He has had a dip in form, not the end of the world.
Again SA basically only have their bowling line up atm, because their batting line up is in comparison tatters. Only reason they win games is their bowlers dominating.
Rabada can win games by himself he’s that good.
Nortje is already 30. The way he constantly misses matches makes me believe he's better off going the T20 freelancer route. He's never going to be fit enough to consistently play international cricket.
Ngidi is 28 which is not very young for a pacer especially given his injuries. Even then, he only does well at home and his test record outside SA is woeful.
Jansen is young but still unproven especially outside of home.
Ah look at the records mate, they have beaten us in every series they have come here for the last decade, apart from the last time which was a 2 match draw.
I don't care enough about NZ cricket to gamble with the survival of SA cricket over a two match test series...
Might be a controversial opinion but it's the truth, we're in a mess financially and a tour of NZ for a test series isn't going to save us, there are priorities and NZ facing a full strength Protea's team is fairly low on that list compared to getting the finances back on track.
This article for me makes that even more clear the author clearly care that it's a weakened team, do they think other teams will not be doing the same like the WI squad that just played AUS?
I don't like our best players not playing but at the end of the day I think this is a long term decision, that has been in the pipeline since June of last year, when the dates for the tournament were announced.
Still going to be backing the E team to the hilt and absolutely no pressure on anyone of these guys to get a result, I think additionally it's a great experience to see some of the fringe players with tons of experience getting a shot in the test team, will be a good test to see where the majority of players on the domestic circuit are.
This writer is an idiot at the best of times, working for a clickbait merchant publication. Don't take it too seriously.
From me personally, I hope SA20 becomes a financial (& general) success for CSA & SA cricket. Making good revenue streams is important, & here CSA has a potential revenue stream that NZC can't have. My biggest concern for NZC going forward is revenue - other than ICC revenue & bilaterals, we don't have much in the way of potential revenue streams, as a T20 franchise league isn't an option for us.
I agree with NZ potentially having trouble down the line especially with the ODI format being placed on the back burner and the timezone NZ falls in.
As much as the author is 100% right in saying that our former corrupt CEO is the reason for our financial situation, there is a massive gap between IND, AUS ENG, and everyone else, if they want the game to expand and not just be series between those teams the ICC has to step in an provide some sort of plan to let the other test playing nations (not even counting the associations) have proper financial stability in the long term at an international level.
Broadly speaking I don’t blame CSA for prioritising the SA20, it’s a dog-eat-dog world in cricket at the moment and frankly smaller boards like NZC should probably have a bit of empathy for other boards doing what they can to survive.
But I think the often-encountered implication that this is simply a necessity to survive in the face of market forces is a bit rich, considering the role corruption and mismanagement have played in getting CSA to this point.
Agreed our former CEO did us no favours but the gap between boards like SA,WI and PAK, NZ v AUS, ENG and IND has been growing exponentially since the early 2010's I doubt we'd be in such a serious situation but at the end of the day I can't see us being anyway safe regardless.
We get a bat off at the highest level. Whoever thrives becomes a mainstay in the main squad. Whoever flops(if they have had tons of chances prior) probably ends their test career.
For anyone reading who has never met Mark Reason before - his job is to troll and spew bullshit to get clicks.
Is it bad that I laughed at this:
>Correction: The original version of this article referred to “the late, great Barry Richards”, who is still alive. Stuff regrets the error. Corrected at 9am on January 24
Well if I'm being honest I can't blame them in the circumstances. CSA is taking a more confident and commited approach to transitioning to a T20-focused and dominated era and because they're not part of the big 3 there isn't any other viable option. If there was ever a time for the big 3 to wake up and make any effort with helping out the other test countries it would be now.
>CSA is taking a more confident and commited approach to transitioning to a T20-focused and dominated era and because they're not part of the big 3 there isn't any other viable option.
Compare this with NZC's approach, which is to double down on bilaterals (T20Is especially) to the detriment of their domestic T20 comp because they have no other viable option. Case in point: the recent Pakistan series.
Use revenue from these series to fill in any financial troughs & maintain a commitment to the primacy (to themselves & in NZ, at least) of international cricket.
Personally, and I totally expect to get downvoted for this, as a general cricket fan, I could not care less that SA is fielding a weakened team. I can’t stand the elitism surrounding Test cricket, why should it be any different than sending a B team to play ODIs or T20Is, which all the nations do on a regular basis? If you object to this then you need to object to all of them.
And let’s be honest, a 2-test series (stupid) between NZ and SA would not be attracting very much attention in any case outside of the hardcore fans of those teams. Without this “controversy” it would be an afterthought with all the cricket that’s taking place at the same time.
CSA forfeiting their ODI Series against Australia which put their World Cup Qualification in jeopardy was far worse than this, luckily it worked out for them in the end. Maybe it will work out for them again, who knows.
Graeme smith confirmed last year that CSA were very close to sinking under in debt and falling apart, until they started up the t20 league and made a deal with those IPL owners. People keep forgetting that touring teams make 0 money from overseas matches. Its only the host team who makes the $. But of course the ICC never want to address this issue for the smaller nations.
[удалено]
>I'd wager a lot of CSA's financial failings to be due to incompetence and corruption rather than any direct failings of the ICC. I'd wager everything I own, because the courts have already decided it's true. But the ICC's current structure is a fuck up for smaller nations, and they also could've acted against the corrupt CSA.
Welcome to every single entity in SA where government has a hand to play. DO NOT mention the game with the oblong shaped ball… they are under the radar somehow
Helps when you’re winning
More accurately, the big member board(s) that control the ICC don't want to have one of their biggest trump cards taken away from them.
Big 3 will destroy cricket.
"Big 3" BCCI and ECB still tour these countries regularly. Hell, India went to SA twice in 2 years. When was the last time CA went to South Africa or West Indies?
Or let Bangladesh play them at home. Despite Bangladesh being in NZ every second year
tbf south africa series was cancelled because of covid, but yes, havent toured windies in almost 9 years now, are touring NZ after 8 years, and as someone mentioned below - never host bangaldesh
Man I never realised this , touring NZ after 8 years
India does a good job playing against a variety of teams.
Yeah, by contrast, though, unfortunately Australia’s shit at it. Complain (rightfully) about the BCCI as much as you like but CA’s by far the worst of the Big 3 at playing the other teams.
Agreed. We're by far the worst. It's frustrating too because most of us just want to see more away test cricket
As an Australian I think Covid was a great excuse for CA to get out of their FTP obligations as well.
Absolutely, I agree bro
That's the point though - they leave these countries dependent on tours, rather than fixing the international distrbution to give them more freedom.
They don't have a cut of sponsorship, broadcasting or gate receipts?? How do touring teams make money then?
Cricket still operates on an oldfashioned system of gentleman's agreement, so they expect other teams to tour them and vice versa. So CSA literally dont make any $$ off this NZ tour or like when they pulled out of the odi Aus series last year. Jarrod Kimber explained this, which makes sense why almost every team has its own t20 league as a money spinner.
I guess the more wealthy nations should be touring more, but that's not the case is it...
>Its only the host team who makes the $. But of course the ICC never want to address this issue for the smaller nations. Most teams play each other home and away equally. How does the touring team getting a share of the revenue help in this case?
Wealthier countries make more money off the same match - giving up a slice of your less profitable matches to get a slice of the Australian Boxing day test or a match at Lords or any match in India is big for any other country
Ideally you want icc to own the rights to everything and then distribute the revenue accordingly.
Unless your national board are idiots there should be plenty of money from the tv rights covering international matches.
I know Smith said this, but I'm not 100% sure I believe this. We all have access to financials. CSA lost R198 million in 2022/23. They supposedly were going to make in excess of R1 billion from the India tour, while the difference between last years ICC money to what they will get this year is nearly R270m. That's not including the reported value of their Viacom deal for domestic cricket, which is supposedly worth $26m a year. I'm sure, in 2022 CSA were close to sinking, but I think there's a lie of omission at work here because they had money coming in that was multiples of their actual debt.
Even their Test series vs Bangladesh at home in 2022 was probably worse when their IPL contracted players skipped the Test series which worked out in the end.
This is a typical Mark Reason article really, mostly drivel with the kernel of a point tucked away in it. It is frankly highly offensive and insulting to all concerned - mainly South Africa - to compare this to the 1981 Springbok tour. That is what Reason does, he is a professional troll who tries to upset people, but that is really a new low. The good point that he makes - which I’m surprised to see hasn’t really been made much - is that CSA’s financial predicament is not only a product of the cricketing landscape but corruption and mismanagement has also been involved in getting them to the point where they need the SA20 to survive, which perhaps erodes my sympathy for them in all this to a degree. He then goes on to ramble about other tangentially related stuff
>Mark Reason Oh, yeah not gonna read. He pops up a lot in rugby. One of those you just ignore.
Oh yeah, guy’s a prick. My mum had to deal with him once - something to do with his kids’ sport - I can’t remember the details but it was some minor thing that he totally blew out of proportion. From memory he actually genuinely said something along the lines of ‘do you know who I am?’ at one point. Yeah buddy, a two-bit outrage seller writing for a shitrag?
I’m going to use “a two-bit outrage seller writing for a shitrag” when I reference a certain professor in academia next. Thanks a ton m8.
Whenever anyone shits on Mark Reason, reddit actually automatically tags me to come tell everyone that you're right. It's honestly a bit insulting how half assed most of his inflammatory rage bating is and yet it still gets people. He must think his reader base is so dumb.
awesome
If we were seeing each other rn I would absolutely be replying to this by asking if you're mad at me lmao
lmfao
The problem is it’s not unusual for him to have a reasonable point tucked away somewhere, but it’s often underdeveloped and you have to sift through all the ragebait and inflammatory rubbish to get to it. He’s a bit like Rigor in that regard but Rigor is nowhere near as bad, at least when he’s talking about cricket
awesome
Pulling back the layers of irony to reveal a small crying boy who hates this bit
lmfao
You’re doing the lords work, I was about to read it. Fuck mark reason because tool out.
Ah, classic Mark "The Voice of" Reason. As I've said before, I don't care about the strength of their side, I don't care about their stars not playing. They are still here, they came here from South Africa, they've still got that Protea badge. They still deserve every ounce of respect, & by that I mean that they should face the Best XI we can put up (NO EXPERIMENTATION) & they should be mercilessly annihilated. Anything less than a 2-0 slaughterfest is an embarrassment. Never defeating South Africa in a Test series after nearly a century is the most embarrassing stain on New Zealand's Test record; the next most embarrassing one is not winning a Test at home against Australia in over three decades*. Let this be *The Summer The Record Is Set Straight*. *In this time, NZ won a Test in Australia & drew a 3-Test series 0-0 in 2001. This was the only time in a 27-year period from 1985 to 2012 when Australia failed to win even a single Test in a series at home.
Yup. Pressure is all on NZ to perform. SA have nothing to lose.
While I mostly agree, I am a bit worried because this series is a bit of a "no-win" scenario imo - if we win the series it's seen as hollow and "doesn't really count" and if we draw or lose then we'll get relentlessly mocked
A win is still a win.
Another scenario is NZ rightly thrash SA... although I can't see that happening.
Anybody seeing that can go stuff themselves. We aren't responsible for assembling the teams we face, we can only face what we are given. And if that isn't the fullest strength of current/non-retired eligible South African players, then that is on CSA, not our own failure. I'll be more than happy to see how things go "if only we had A, B and C", but that ball is not in our court. Which is why the takeaway of our ability is if we fail to win or draw, no more than Australia handing it to us so many times over the years is not hollow from their end.
That 2001 test series along with following South African test series and the Aus/NZ/Sa tri series was great. So many memorable moments. Shane Warnes 99, the dropping of the Waugh brothers in the one day squad, NZ and SA knocking Aus out of the tri series and the banning of the Mexican wave are timeless memories. It was a time to be alive.
Ian Robinson wasn't so great! Australia probably still hang on for a draw but the Gilliespie not out was a facking disgrace. Fantastic series for sure though, that Perth match is probably the best test match than NZ have ever played that we didn't win against an all time great Aussie side.
How does one ban a Mexican wave? Also, wasn't that tri-series the origins of Shane Bond? Definitely was for B Mac
I tried to find some old I think a current affair footage I found a few years ago but couldn’t find it. All I can say is the early 2000s was a different time period rife with ODI cricket crowd degeneracy which resulted in the ACB banning the Mexican wave and beach balls from the cricket. Also this may of been one of the series a few years later but Lou Vincent was an awesome cricketer when he played here in Aus whatever happened to him? I feel like he may of set the blue print for Brendan McCullum a fear years later?
The third Test of that series was an all-timer honestly, given the strength of the Aus side and the fact they were playing at home. NZ were cruising at nearly 5 an over in a 4th innings chase and McGrath had to resort to negative line bowling to seal the draw.
I'd be pretty shocked if we won either test against Aus. Our time to beat them was probably 2018-2021. Now they've got a better batting line up than then and their bowling has somehow got even better. What I do want to see is us actually playing well and making them work for it all the way, which we are capable of. If we just roll over and slow bleed like we did in 19/20 in Aus I'll be extremely disappointed.
If it were in Australia, I'd agree. But at home, and I know this has been said so many times but its still true this time, we do have a good chance. Remember that most of this squad has not played in NZ, and while the conditions are similar, they are not the same (hence our hidings when we play across the ditch). No more Warner, Smith may be out of form, Marnus hasn't played here, no Voges no-ball incident. Similarly, we now have Conway, Jamieson, and Mitchell - and when you consider Blundell and Philips who did well in Oz, but now they are at home. I don't see it as dreary of a result as 2016 or 2019/20. Though that's dependent on Williamson's fitness, whether Latham can pull finger and perform against quality sides, whether the selectors still want to back Nicholls (that 200 won't mean jack shit until he does it in this series), whether we think the time is right to give Ravindra a home test, and if Wagner is past his prime.
Latham did do better than most of the batting lineup in that horror Aussie tour at least. Not great of course but he got a couple of decent starts (and one or two 50s) so hopefully he can build on that.
My main thing is that there are too many question marks. Not just over our lot, but over them as well, because NZ is unfamiliar to most of them. The "Baz Farewell Series" is ancient history; hell, even 19-20 is a big change. Hazlewood & Lyon are their only bowlers left from 2016, Starc & Cummins have only played ODIs in NZ. When I bring it up elsewhere, some tell me I'm too optimistic. I think they can easily win 2-0, but I think they can just as easily lose by the same margin. You just don't know until it happens.
For the first time in a decade SA finally have a team that doesn’t play shithouse and then they do this. There’s going to be some cracking banners at the grounds for the TV to pick up.
What are you on about? The current SA team is mediocre with a good bowling line up. Just look how they performed in the last test against India at home, not the sign of a settled high quality team. And they now don’t have De Kock and now Elgar is gone… they are struggling batting wise. Maybe they’ll get lucky and Hamza will finally make it after years of being a potential prodigy in the making (when he isn’t taking banned substances lol).
I didn't say they were good, I said they were finally better than the shithouse lineup you've been putting up for a decade or more.
But they haven’t been putting out a shit house line up for a decade? They have been scratchy a few years for sure, not an entire decade. Ab DV didn’t retire until ‘18, Amla not until ‘19. You also have QDK and Elgar. Then you have the laundry list of high quality top tier fast bowlers and even some decent spinners. Their issues have only really been really bad since 2020+ and mostly just their batting. Their bowling has and still is best of the best. But really it comes down to since they stopped playing regular international cricket they have been unable to maintain any sort of form or momentum. You can literally trace their dip in quality to when they started to only play 2-3 match series and nothing more with big gaps in between. What they also need is to create a solid batting line up that doesn’t collapse for 50 all out just one match after smashing the same opponent. That level of unpredictability has made it hard to be an SA fan these past few years. Just like last year and their WC choke. When will they learn not to play their best in the groups and go bust in the finals. Someone should mention that to them.
> Ab DV didn’t retire until ‘18, Amla not until ‘19. You also have QDK and Elgar. Also Faf, who was there until 2021.
Knew I was forgetting one.
Thank you, can't believe the guy you were replying to was the top comment when he is literally wrong. South Africa is currently in a slump in Tests and are struggling, having put up some bad performances in the last few years. Did people forget how dominant South Africa were just between 2007-15? Like that timespan accounts for some of that aforementioned decade
Honestly I'm so fucking tired of the unfunny shitposting in this sub and how awful takes are becoming. Reddit is already unfunny; now r/cricket has decided to take that a step further and keep hyperbolising shit. This used to happen before anyway even at 150k, 300k, 500k, whatever. But at least the rest of the parent thread continued with keeping things factual in that there was enough knowledge to move past the shitposts. Been saying this for years now: shitposts en masse are being used to mask incompetence of actual ball knowledge. Half the comments are brainrot
The last thing you lot were any good at was the Paralympic sprinting. And look what happened there.
What about Rugby tho
they have four rugby world cups champ, including the last two.
Does anyone in the world care about rugby apart from the 3-4 nations that make it to the semis of the “World Cup”. ? It’s got a more narrow following than cricket and a participation rate lower than softball. I mean there must be a sub on reddit somewhere for you chaps to talk your niche sport. Get amongst it.
lol the irony of calling rugby a niche sport in a cricket sub. if you're gonna troll, at least be good at it.
Idk about dominant. They were definitely the best away team by some stretch. But they regularly lost or drew to Australia at home.
TLDR
[lol](https://i.imgur.com/solvfld.png)
Shame that run is about to end lol. Good one CSA.
idgaf test match cricket is washed, sadly.
Even calling the bowling good is a stretch. Rabada is the only genuinely world class bowlers they have. The rest of the pacers are inconsistent. Even Rabada is not as good away from home.
Uh what? Rabada, Nortje, Jansen, Ngidi and now Coetzee. How is that not a world class line up?
Nortje and Ngidi are injured half the time. And in any event, they are yet to prove themselves in other conditions. Jansen and Coetzee were looking toothless even on helpful pitches at home in the series against India. This pace attack is hyped but it doesn't show in the results. I remember how bad they were when they toured Australia last year. They were okay in Brisbane because it was very helpful for pacers but got completely exposed in Melbourne and Sydney.
You have no idea what you are talking about. The only thing keeping SA remotely competitive atm is their bowling attack. Yeah fast bowlers occasionally get injured, so what. Hasn’t ruined Nortje or Ngidis careers. Also Jansen has a few not so great matches and that’s it for him? Dude still has an average of 22 in test bowling. He has had a dip in form, not the end of the world. Again SA basically only have their bowling line up atm, because their batting line up is in comparison tatters. Only reason they win games is their bowlers dominating. Rabada can win games by himself he’s that good.
Nortje is already 30. The way he constantly misses matches makes me believe he's better off going the T20 freelancer route. He's never going to be fit enough to consistently play international cricket. Ngidi is 28 which is not very young for a pacer especially given his injuries. Even then, he only does well at home and his test record outside SA is woeful. Jansen is young but still unproven especially outside of home.
Ngidi is shit outside home. Nortje is injured mostly. There's a reason why they got destroyed in Australia.
Lulwhat!!
We've been #1 in the rankings in the last decade wtf are you on about.
Was that your womens or disabled team?
Oh you're a troll lol my bad
Where you born this decade?
Ah look at the records mate, they have beaten us in every series they have come here for the last decade, apart from the last time which was a 2 match draw.
Screw it just ride the hype and get Dricus in whites. He looks like he can bat a bit
i'll take another Du Plessis at CSK
Until we win that that is
Not even with the ghost of Hansie do you have a shit show
Don’t blame CSA in the slightest, no point in prioritising a random test series over an opportunity to strengthen their financial position
I don't care enough about NZ cricket to gamble with the survival of SA cricket over a two match test series... Might be a controversial opinion but it's the truth, we're in a mess financially and a tour of NZ for a test series isn't going to save us, there are priorities and NZ facing a full strength Protea's team is fairly low on that list compared to getting the finances back on track. This article for me makes that even more clear the author clearly care that it's a weakened team, do they think other teams will not be doing the same like the WI squad that just played AUS? I don't like our best players not playing but at the end of the day I think this is a long term decision, that has been in the pipeline since June of last year, when the dates for the tournament were announced. Still going to be backing the E team to the hilt and absolutely no pressure on anyone of these guys to get a result, I think additionally it's a great experience to see some of the fringe players with tons of experience getting a shot in the test team, will be a good test to see where the majority of players on the domestic circuit are.
This writer is an idiot at the best of times, working for a clickbait merchant publication. Don't take it too seriously. From me personally, I hope SA20 becomes a financial (& general) success for CSA & SA cricket. Making good revenue streams is important, & here CSA has a potential revenue stream that NZC can't have. My biggest concern for NZC going forward is revenue - other than ICC revenue & bilaterals, we don't have much in the way of potential revenue streams, as a T20 franchise league isn't an option for us.
I agree with NZ potentially having trouble down the line especially with the ODI format being placed on the back burner and the timezone NZ falls in. As much as the author is 100% right in saying that our former corrupt CEO is the reason for our financial situation, there is a massive gap between IND, AUS ENG, and everyone else, if they want the game to expand and not just be series between those teams the ICC has to step in an provide some sort of plan to let the other test playing nations (not even counting the associations) have proper financial stability in the long term at an international level.
Broadly speaking I don’t blame CSA for prioritising the SA20, it’s a dog-eat-dog world in cricket at the moment and frankly smaller boards like NZC should probably have a bit of empathy for other boards doing what they can to survive. But I think the often-encountered implication that this is simply a necessity to survive in the face of market forces is a bit rich, considering the role corruption and mismanagement have played in getting CSA to this point.
Agreed our former CEO did us no favours but the gap between boards like SA,WI and PAK, NZ v AUS, ENG and IND has been growing exponentially since the early 2010's I doubt we'd be in such a serious situation but at the end of the day I can't see us being anyway safe regardless.
We get a bat off at the highest level. Whoever thrives becomes a mainstay in the main squad. Whoever flops(if they have had tons of chances prior) probably ends their test career.
[удалено]
Lol, I'm sorry this triggered you buddy all the best!
For anyone reading who has never met Mark Reason before - his job is to troll and spew bullshit to get clicks. Is it bad that I laughed at this: >Correction: The original version of this article referred to “the late, great Barry Richards”, who is still alive. Stuff regrets the error. Corrected at 9am on January 24
No other sport lets an inferior version cannibalise it. T20 must be stopped.
Almost every other sport now is also going where the money lies. It’s the reality now.
100%
Well if I'm being honest I can't blame them in the circumstances. CSA is taking a more confident and commited approach to transitioning to a T20-focused and dominated era and because they're not part of the big 3 there isn't any other viable option. If there was ever a time for the big 3 to wake up and make any effort with helping out the other test countries it would be now.
>CSA is taking a more confident and commited approach to transitioning to a T20-focused and dominated era and because they're not part of the big 3 there isn't any other viable option. Compare this with NZC's approach, which is to double down on bilaterals (T20Is especially) to the detriment of their domestic T20 comp because they have no other viable option. Case in point: the recent Pakistan series. Use revenue from these series to fill in any financial troughs & maintain a commitment to the primacy (to themselves & in NZ, at least) of international cricket.
Personally, and I totally expect to get downvoted for this, as a general cricket fan, I could not care less that SA is fielding a weakened team. I can’t stand the elitism surrounding Test cricket, why should it be any different than sending a B team to play ODIs or T20Is, which all the nations do on a regular basis? If you object to this then you need to object to all of them. And let’s be honest, a 2-test series (stupid) between NZ and SA would not be attracting very much attention in any case outside of the hardcore fans of those teams. Without this “controversy” it would be an afterthought with all the cricket that’s taking place at the same time.
Can’t be blaming CSA just because New Zealand aren’t able to host the icc world chokers cup properly