Sri Lanka in South Africa (2011-2012)

A completely out of form Sri Lankan team tour Soth Africa, a formidable out fit, This will be as tough as it could get for the Lankans esp after their series of defeats lately, very hard to see them turn around their fortunes in this series.

Someone I know made an interesting observation.  Since Sri Lanka's pay issues, they haven't performed?? Anything fishy?  Basically its only Sangakkara been doing the business with the bat.

It's very disheartening to see if I am being honest. The gulf between these two sides would have been almost unimaginable not so long ago. SL just look a complete disaster since Vaas left, Murali retired and Malinga retired. Their bowling is very shoddy, plenty of ordinary seamers and Herath is average at best. Up against SA's varied and skillful attack, they look like they will get completely outplayed.  Dilshan is extremely unreliable at the top, Sanga is awesome but one man can't carry a team, Jayawardene is going through a bad patch, Mathews is very talented but still needs to hone his skills. Their batting overall is pretty weak on paper, especially up against a red hot SA middle order in de Villiers/Amla/Kallis. I wonder if Prince can make a case for himself this series because I would really like to see Duminy given more opportunities. I really hope I am proven wrong but I will be very very surprised if SL can draw or win something. If they do, it will be because one man had an amazing day. It won't be because they all contributed equally and played as a team because they are anything but at the moment.

I think Sri lanka, barring weather, will get steam rolled during the tests!

England by the time they face South Africa next year, may find themselves in the middle of the rankings - as they have to cope some tough cricket away form home. That will be more tastier than and England South Africa series - it will really test England's toughness methinks.

I think Tahir will start - in the old days after readmission SA often played without a spinner and battled to bowl even average sides out.  They were lambasted in the local press and have been searching for a decent spinner since that time. Harris did a holding job and little else - I always believed that Smith had little confidence in Harris and set defensive fields even when there was some turn.   Tahir isn't a world beater but can deliver a wicket taking ball - he is another string to their bow in attack.  I still expect the seamers to do the damage in this series - Steyn will shine methinks.

Philander continues to live a dream life and Steyn continues raking them in for fun!  Nothing new, and a good start being 90/1 at the end of play, with Smith going for a well played 50.  The Sri Lankan bowlers wasted the new ball.  Walegedara gets the new ball to shape well but wasted it by pitching too wide outside off stump.

The other seamer was a waste, some of his deliveries hardly carrying on this surface, which means he hardly gets anything behind the ball.  Dilhara, solid fella but delivers nothing really to back it up.  He wasn't bad today but on pitches like these, he should have batsmen ducking for cover.

I hope Amla is batting after lunch tomorrow, as waking up at 4 AM is beyond me at this moment.

Should end tomorrow, barring a really impressive performance from one of the Sri Lankan batsmen. AB was unlucky to miss out on a deserved 100 but it was nice to see him walk and trust the fielder, just one short of a milestone. 

Philander becomes the first bowler in over 110 years to take 4 5-wicket hauls in his first 3 Tests. Unbelievable considering that no one was even rating this guy before his first Test. I hope he keeps it going and maintains the consistency, SA desperately need a talented 3rd seamer if they are to pose a long-term threat to England. Still think England have a better seam attack if you take their reserves into consideration, e.g. Finn, Tremlett, Onions. SA don't have that same depth but the main 3 can rival England come next year's series. Only need Morkel to find his form now.

They hardly even bowled Tahir, it may be worth giving de Lange a try in his place if the Durban wicket looks very helpful to seam on the morning of the first day. He appears to be tall and can perform Morkel's role if Morkel is still rusty. If de Lange can shine on the international stage and Morkel finds form then pretty much all of SA's worries are covered. 4 quality quicks plus Kallis, a promising spinner, good opening combination (once Rudolph hits his straps) and class middle order. Boucher got some valuable runs too so SA looking very settled.

SL - The less said the better. Doubt Kulasekara and Prasad are going to add much. Dilshan is so overrated. He is a poor man's Sehwag. The same recklessness and carefree aggression but without the skill to match. The very occasional impressive innings but aside from that, he invariably gets SL off to a poor start. He lacks tactical nous, his captaincy has been very shoddy. Kallis gets rattled by Fernando and he starts by bowling Herath and himself. Atrocious decision making, both as a captain and in terms of shot selection. I hope Sanga and Mahela can fire because otherwise, this could get far, far worse than it already is.

SA are a fantastic talented side and I greatly enjoy watching them play. Having said that, England are still a better side overall and I still reckon England will be No. 1 mid 2012. I know England have got a couple of tough away series but as I explained earlier, it's still very possible to come out with victories. UAE pitches aren't minefields and SL will be far easier without Murali. ENG should also beat SA. Their bench strength is better. Their openers are slightly better (mainly because of Cook). Their spinner is better. Their keeper is FAR better. Middle order and seam attack is roughly equal. ENG definitely have the edge and if they can come through the subcontinent series' unscathed, they should really beat SA at home. SA will still be a far tougher challenge than India earlier in the year though. 

Interesting that you say Prior is FAR better than Boucher BP! I don't think so, Boucher has taken more catches than any other keeper in history, he is as good a keeper as you'd get and batting wise too I think he is pretty much up there with Prior.

I don't know if it is a 3 test series or a 4 test series, but I won't be surprised if the final result is a 1-1.

Mikey, the Philander now is bowling more threatening than the Philander we saw 2 years back.  He's been nipping it about both ways.  Whether that is due to such helpful tracks, time will tell, but for now he's making the ball and deserves the wickets.

No real surprise that the match didn't even go to tea on day 3 - the Lankans were simply outclassed.  Philander continues to raise eyebrows , his length is immaculate and he nips it both ways. His success should give hope to all 1st class bowlers slogging it out in their domestic competition. He's been around for quite some time and I've watched him evolve from an average seamer whose strength was accuracy without venom into a much fitter individual with some nip. He's hitting the splice now too , he's a yard quicker - the hard work has paid off.  Tsotsobe will be a worried man if Morkel refinds his mojo.  Morne had a poor match here and his no ball problem needs addressing - he sends down far too many.  Tahir had little to do and will be hoping for more involvement at Kingsmead.  He might be disappointed though as the Lankan batting looks frail and the South African attack just looks too strong.  BP is right , Dilshan is a very poor man's Sehwag , not only lacking technique , but courage as well - he just doesn't look happy against the pace of Steyn and company.
                It'll be 2-0 before our test here at Newlands , so I'll be watching a dead rubber - sad that.  I'll not be buying a 5 day ticket either and that's a first since arriving in this part of the world!