Boards

i thought Ponting was incredibly gracious in defeat.

Englands most consistent bowler in the series I thought, plus he dismissed Ponting with that awesome delivery at edgbaston. Prior was also superb throughout

I agree that Collingwood and Harmy should retire. Sidebottom should come in, and I think Cook will still open. Not sure about who we have as back up

And have Michael Carberry in at number 3. Hell it worked well with Trott, why not another untested batsman instead of the same old ones.

The pitches will suit him.

Likewise I don't think sending Rashid to make his debut on the concrete slabs of SA and get pasted around the park is such a good idea. Save his debut for back in England next summer

granted he had a fairly crap ashes, but he's a good player and worth persevering with.

Big ask of Trott to step up to 3 against SA in his second game, I agree he looks very promising, but might be better left in the middle order for the time being.

Strauss
Cook
Bopara/Bell
KP
Trott
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
2 from Rashid, Monty, Harmison, Onions, A.N. Other

That's a good batting side - all the way down to 8 or 9 depending on who fills the last 2 places.

Jimmy's going to have to step up and prove he can lead a bowling attack for a whole series on a surface where he won't have the same movement as in England.

well looking back a few years, some things in the team have been sorted and been replaced by other problems. we have a good tail-end that score a lot of runs, a reliable wicketkeeper-batsman and a solid opening partnership. also a player who can perform as captain to boot.

the glaring issue now is the middle order. pietersen has been promising more for a while now and it's time he stepped up, matured and took the number 3 role he should be in. broad should be tested at 7 but it's up in the air whether he can transfer his skills from 8 where his runs are a bonus rather than an expectancy. bopara is a fine middle order batsman and the fact he was ridiculously placed at three by selectors shouldn't signal an end to his test career. collingwood, i'm afraid, is starting to look way past his best. it's hard to overstate how impressive trott in fact was - a century on his debut in a final ashes test, and only the second england ton of the series.

if broad goes to 7 it gives the possibility of a second spinner - but a bowler in the mould of flintoff and harmison would be preferable. there's tremlett, mahmood, khan, but my god if they don't inspire confidence. i'd plump for tremlett because he's impressed at test level before.

what i like about this team and particularly andy flower is the understanding that while winning the ashes is a great achievement, it's not the same to 2005. then it was as if something was completed, now it should only be a springboard - australia are not the team they were and south africa, india and sri lanka are the powerhouses now. i really can't wait for the tour of saffers this winter now - i think this a good young team that can really go places.

team for south africa:

strauss
cook
pietersen
trott
bopara
prior
broad
swann
anderson
onions
tremlett

lots of players have been ordinary-looking in most games but had one or two crucial performances (so - bell's first innings this weekend, swann and broad this weekend, flintoff and anderson at lord's).

cook could do with a break - just to freshen him up a bit. Trott looks very very promising - great composure when everyone else (bar strauss) seemed to be wilting.

still, england won, and for the second time in four years. as strauss said "when we were good, we were just good enough".

this is probably impossible but it needs to happen.

Strauss
Prior/Denly
Cook
Pietersen
Trott
Bopara/Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett/Onions
Sidebottom

Then take Rashid, Carberry, Key and possibly this woakes kid who appears to have a lot potential for the experience and the time with the coaches.

Even though he played great in his first two innings, it could ruin him just like it did to Bopara. I reckon KP should go in there. Cook needs to have a bit of work on his technique, a la Strauss (eg when the ODIs are on), but should still be in the team. Colly - just quite frustrating. He seems to need to think he'll be dropped before he starts to perform. His innings in Cardiff did basically keep us in the series.

Bowlers - Broad, Jimmy, Swann and Onions have definitely done enough to tour. I'd probably have them down to play in any game. Harmison - due to there being no one else who bowls like him, I reckon he should tour as well. Along with Rashid, who should be ahead of Monty. So my team would be:

Strauss
Cook
KP
Collingwood / Bell / Bopara
Trott
Prior
Broad
Swann
Anderson
Onions
Harmy / Rashid (depending on pitch, with Rashid in at 8 if he plays)

Also bring Carberry on tour.

No way cook bats anyhwwere else, yeah not the greatest series for the lad but i think his average is still 43, not bad. All this talk of his problems being a technical issue rather than mental can surely be ironed out easily enough.

That stand at Cardiff was HUGE, without Colly's defiance and watching a million balls miss off, and that ridiculous decision by Ponting to put part timers in to bowl against Jimmy and Monty we would have lost. That last session was the most exciting and crucial of the whole series in my opinion. Every ball, more belief that a draw was possible, the permutations of how many overs reamained, if they took wicket they'd lose a couple of overs, nobody really knowing what was going on. Test cricket is class.

is there ever a time when theres no cricket? like, at all? where i can just relax and not have to have SSN invaded by the most mundane sportin the world?

i'll be happy then. so gald its over for another 2 years.