RE: And Yet Another One Impresses

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I joked to a colleague of mine this afternoon that it was the best Test innings I've seen from a South African since Kevin Pietersen - another one for your list!

All joking aside It's a sad state of affairs to be in and not beneficial to the game of cricket as a whole which needs nations like South Africa to continue to be competitive at the highest level. The one big plus in that regard I guess it that the UK leaving the EU has ended the Kolkap gravy train that so many South Africans (and other Commonwealth nationals) used to jump aboard rather than representing their country.



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p.s, even before KP we had Allan Lamb and Robin Smith

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Yes I watched Lamb at Newlands the season before he left. There has actually been many more besides the obvious ones. I know Strauss left when he was still young but what about Malan? Plus that wicket keeper I am struggling to remember his name from 5 or 6 years ago.

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Matt Prior, Craig Kieswetter? There have been a few!

There is a difference I guess between the likes of Prior or Strauss who moved to the UK when they were very young vs someone like KP, Alan Lamb or Malan who were developed by the South African cricket system and then left. Strauss is ra-ra Radley boy, you don't get more stereotypically English public schoolboy than that!

I've had this debate with many Indian supporters who anytime they get beaten by England will point to the fact that the English team isn't ethnically pure in the same sense as their side. Beyond what that says about the UK as a more open society, I also like to point out that if you want to go far enough back we could probably stake a pretty good claim on ethnic grounds to anyone with the surname Smith, Williamson, Starc, Hazlewood or Cummins. That's gonna be a hell of a Test team when we add those 5 in as well!

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Lol. Very true and South Africa also pinches players from other countries. Look at Imran Tahir and for our rugby we stole the "Beast" Tendai Mtawarira from Zimbabwe.

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I agree but it may stop the older established players but not the youngsters. South African Cricket is in such a poor state of health these days there is no hope for them to be competitive. There are a few decent players kicking around but it takes more than 3 to make a decent team. I see ABD decided against coming out of retirement for the T20 World Cup and would love to know the real reason. He was forced to select an injured player when he was skipper instead of Kyle Abbott and funny enough that decision forced Abbott to become a Kolpak player. The injured player was Vernon Philander who then lasted bowling only 4 balls and was all about politicians meddling.

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True, the problem now is going to be those who jump ship onto the T20 franchise circuit. That team that South Africa put out against Pakistan just before the IPL started this year was a bit of a joke once the likes of Rabada, de Kock, etc had left to earn there pay day.

Shame about AB not playing but at least he did a fair stint over the years with the national team. International cricket is a tough gig for anyone but for a South African it comes with even more pressures and bull shit which I can't possibly hope to understand.

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