South Africa's tour of England 2012

Schedule:

July

9-10: v Somerset, Taunton

13-15: v Kent, Canterbury

19-23: 1st Test, The Oval (11:00 BST)

27-28: v Worcestershire, New Road (11:00 BST)

August

2-6: 2nd Test, Headingley (11:00 BST)

10-11: v Derbyshire, Derby (11:00 BST)

16-20: 3rd Test v England, Lord's (11:00 BST)

22: v Gloucestershire, Bristol (50 overs) (10:15 BST)

24: 1st ODI v England, Cardiff (10:15 BST)

28: 2nd ODI v England, Southampton (d/n) (14:00 BST)

31: 3rd ODI v England, The Oval (d/n) (14:00 BST)

September

2: 4th ODI v England, Lord's (10:15 BST)

5: 5th ODI v England, Trent Bridge (d/n) (14:00 BST)

8: 1st Twenty20 v England, Chester-le-Street (14:30 BST)

10: 2nd Twenty20 v England, Old Trafford (d/n) (18:30 BST)

12: 3rd Twenty20 v England, Edgbaston (d/n) (18:30 BST)

 

Terrible news: Mark Boucher has been forced to retire from international cricket due to his eye injury. South Africa need to find a replacement 'keeper before the first test starts.

 

England won day one closing on 267-3.
My only criticism is that we scored too slowly which may be a problem if we lose a day to rain.
Cook carries on his impressive form making another century, can see him breaking all sorts of records.

 

England crumbled a bit on day 2 and now at lunch on day 3, South Africa look set to make a huge score and put England under huge pressure on days 4 and 5. Great contest.

 

Don't worry, until now, England haven't needed to bat to save a match since the 1st test in the Ashes recently, and we all remember how that turned out!

In Cook and Trott, we have 2 immovable objects, who will bat until the cows come home.

Come Test No.2 it's a new slate

 

Hmmm, how come SA can bat for 2 days for the loss of 1 wicket yet ours tumble? You can never predict what England will do next.

 

England comprehensively beaten. Some batsmen giving away their wickets by playing extravagant shots, can't understand why they make the same mistakes over and over again. They really should have been able to bat out 4 sessions on that wicket.

 

Honestly; all the rain that's been falling on England all summer and not a drop yesterday. It's just not fair

 

England's failure to knock over South Africa's tailenders allowed them to get past 400 runs. England need to bat all day today and can't afford to lose more than 3 or 4 wickets then bat most of tomorrow too to set a target to try to win this game. No Swann on day 5 though.

 

We do seem to be in turmoil, all that effort to get to Number one then we self-implode. Crazy.

The bowlers are going to have to do a job to rescue this series though it's a shame and a farce that it's only three tests not five.

 

I think SA are the best test side in the world, would be nice to see that put to the test over 5 games.

 

On a pitch that took us most of the day to bowl out the South African tail, our openers lasted 5 minutes.
Can't see anything but an SA victory today.

 

England are behind the game but if we put on another 50 runs after lunch in the style we did before lunch i think the pressure will start to shift. 170/4 with two set batsmen, a 55 over old ball and a sun-filled afternoon and the match could have a different complexion.

If England can win this session (100+ runs for the loss of 1 wicket) then we have a chance. 230/5 at tea would be tight, with SA having their noses in front. Of course we could just be al out by 2pm.

 

Will England bounce back in the ODIs?
Their number one ranking is at stake...

 

Will it ever stop raining in Wales?

It's glorious sunshine here in Cambridgeshire.