with hales opening i'd take that

The commentators also mentioned that SA have won 15 of the last 20 Test matcheds played here

I've given up on the game for now and switched over to the racing and the footy

Have SA got bowler, keeper and 9 slips ?.........

Quite...

quick scoring start for England........5 an over

Well we're passed 21

Looks straightforward at the moment. Morkel may be the trickiest to face

I got another wicket..

I suppose 22 is above the average

Hales has wasted his opportunities on this tour to nail down a regular spot

I can't see him getting many more He's out of his depth in the Test arena that's for sure. But not as much as Woakes, who surely would not have played if the series had still been alive.

personally i thought the fact the series was already won should have been even less of a reason to play him instead of giving footitt a debut

Looks like they're trying to get Cook caught down the leg side again

I agree we just don't have an opening partnership at the moment with the likes of Trescothick/Atherton, Trescothick/Vaughan, Trescothick/Strauss and Strauss/Cook.

Delete

Oh dear Compton now gone for 19.

Worrying signs with Compton's dismissal.
Could possibly of played forward but when the ball keeps as low as that it causes all sorts in the mind

EDIT
On reflection. playing forward wasn't the shot

England are 138-2 at the end of todays play.

Cook's played brilliant (so far).

As for Hales I'd still give him a chance as opener (time is running out though) as Trescothick had made three 50's for England early in his career but he didn't get his first Test 100 till his 7th Test match (against Sri Lanka in Galle).

I can't say that's a brilliant comparison in my mind, Tres scored 104 in his first Test for being once out. He'd have been averaging comfortably in the 30s by the time he got his 100 and always looked comfortable in the Test arena, Hales just doesn't.

I agree although Trescothick did start his Test career in England Hales has started his away in South Africa.

Unfortunately who's going to open now with Cook? Compton?

A tribute to Jack I've put on my GAW Facebook page;

https://www.facebook.com/goalsandwickets/

RIP Jack Bannister

Condolences to all family and friends

It has got to the point when I discount Hales getting out much the same as I would a night-watchman when considering England's batting performance.

RIP Jack Bannister.


I agree the only problem is who opens now Compton?

The top 5 English Openers last season (with runs scored/average) in the County Championship Division 1 were:

Trescothick 1284 runs at an average of 45.85 (Retired)
Carberry 1129 runs at an average of 38.93 (Failed)
Stoneman 1090 runs at an average of 34.06
Hales 892 runs at an average of 49.55 (Failed?)
Robson 891 runs at an average of 30.72 (Failed)

Maybe give Stoneman a chance as an Opener?

cant see any way hales will be partnering cook come the first home test of the summer

so leaves us with two options

my preferred option is bump everyone up a spot, play bairstow as a batsman only and give buttler the gloves back

or we just wait and see who is in form at the start of the county season, one caveat on that, i am dreading ian bell scoring runs for warks at the start of the summer as there will be a clamour to get him back in. thing is even during the last 2 years when bell has struggled at international level he still scored runs any time he went back to warks, so him being in good form for warks does not mean it will carry over into the test team.

Big day for KP and Luke Wright in the morning in the Big Bash Final
Doubt either of them will make Englands' T20 World Cup squad though.
KP has burnt his bridges and even if he got a 17 ball century , wouldn't stand a chance

Been impressed with Rashid and Willey and their experience should hold them in good stead for the T20