The atmosphere at St Mary’s is not the most jovial at the moment due to Southampton’s current predicament.
The coastal club are just one point above the relegation zone in the Premier League having not won a game since November.
In fact, the team have picked up just four wins all season, which has understandably put the fans in a foul mood.
Manager Mauricio Pellegrino has received plenty of criticism from the supporters for the team’s style of play and inability to stay consistent in front of goal.
The transfer window has certainly not helped given that the club are yet to bring in some important reinforcements, particularly up front.
Theo Walcott was reportedly tipped for a return to the club where he developed as a player, but the Arsenal star ended up signing for Everton.
Earlier this week, the club posted a behind-the-scenes video of Sofiane Boufal posing in a photoshoot for the club magazine.
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Normally a glimpse into the goings on of the club would be met with some light-hearted responses, but not this time…
Ahead of Arsenal’s trip to the west of Germany on Wednesday evening, Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp has described both teams style of football in a unique manner.
Klopp describes the side from North London who are currently sitting on top of the Premier League as an orchestra, with their intricate pass and move game. However, the eccentric German describes his side, who are currently sitting second in the Bundalisga as a piece of heavy metal, with their hard, in your face game. Klopp, 46, then went onto say that despite Arsenal’s beautiful style of play; the Gunners will never be a truly great team under Wenger unless they change their style. Is he right in saying that?
Wenger changed the face of English football when he first arrived in England in 1996: Signing unknown talented foreign players, changed the players diet, used unique training methods and had an attacking mind set which made Arsenal into one of the best clubs in the world. However, in recent years his Arsenal team have been in decline as the Gunners have lost major stars, underachieved in the league, and most importantly, have gone nine seasons without a trophy, which is too long for a club of Arsenal’s nature. So is this down to the football that Arsenal play?
Wenger’s style of football has helped win a number of trophies for Arsenal which includes three league titles and four F.A Cups, however, Arsenal have been playing the same football for the last few years which has left them short of success. The type of football Arsenal play makes every single football fan love the game. Their one touch movement will frustrate their opponents as they can’t get the ball where they will be chasing shadows and effectively chasing the game, but this football has left Arsenal second best since 2005.
Arsenal have been accused of ‘trying to score the perfect goal’ in the past, which has effectively lost the Gunners points on numerous occasions, most notably against Bolton in April 2011.
After the cup final defeat to Birmingham, Arsenal had gone six league games without a win, and needed to end this run against a team who they had struggled to beat in the past, at their ground.
Arsenal lost the game 2-1 tanks to a late Tamir Cohen goal, which was the Gunners seventh straight league game without a win which knocked them out of the title race. However, the Gunners could have avoided defeat if they just did one thing, shoot.
Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Jack Wilshere all had changes to smash the ball passed Jussi Jaaskelainen, but instead were looking for that ‘final through ball’ to score the perfect goal which left Arsenal fans fuming. So, does Klopp have a point here?
Since Klopp took over as Dortmund manager in July 2008, he has seen his team win two league titles, one German Supercup, one German cup and get to a Champions League final. In that same time, Arsenal have finished either third or fourth in the league, lost a League Cup Final (a game which they should have won handsomely, no disrespect to Birmingham) bought and sold Samir Nasri and have seen Emmanuel Adebayor, Robin van Persie, Gael Clichy, Alex Hleb, Cesc Fabregas and Alex Song all depart from the club, whilst Dortmund have kept onto their main stars such as Jakub Błaszczykowski, Marco Reus and İlkay Gündoğan.
The style of play which both managers use can affect the teams morale, and when Arsenal’s pass and move game left them unsuccessful in many competitions over a certain period of time, it’s no surprise that many of the clubs first team players left, as they wanted to be in a team whose style of play is capable of winning trophies.
The German manager is a very casual, cool and knowledgeable football manager, who knows how to win games in a certain manner. His physical, aggressive, gritty, fast counter attacking play was what helped his side destroy Stuttgart 6-1 on Friday night, a game which they amazingly fell behind in.
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Klopp, who stated that the Arsenal gaffer should be knighted as he refers to the Frenchman as, “Sir Arsene Wenger”, describes Arsenal’s football as perfect but also states that being ‘perfect’ doesn’t always win you titles.
“When I watch Arsenal in the last 10 years, it is nearly perfect football, but we all know they didn’t win a title. In Britain they say that they like Arsenal but they have to win something. Who wins the title? Chelsea, but with different football, I would say. This is the philosophy of Arsène Wenger. I love this but I cannot coach this because I am a different guy. You think many things are similar? I hope so in some moments, but there are big differences, too.”
I’m not saying that Arsenal’s style of play is wrong, as it’s very impressive to watch. Jack Wilshere’s goal against Norwich a few weeks back is the prime example of scoring the ‘perfect goal.’ However, if Arsenal want to win the league for the first time since 2004, they also need to attack like dogs to earn hard fought wins, as intricate pass and move football doesn’t always win you games.
Rickie Lambert admits he cannot wait to return to Merseyside, as Southampton prepare to face Everton at Goodison Park on Saturday. The official Southampton website reports.
The Saints will go into the match with confidence, after back-to-back wins over Aston Villa in the League and Sheffield Wednesday in the Capital One Cup.
Lambert tried to review the upcoming match in a professional manner, before revealing how the match evoked memories of playing for the Toffees’ local rivals, Liverpool as a boy.
He said: “It’s just another one.
“But it’s another one that all the lads are buzzing for, and for me as a Scouser it’s definitely one I’ve been looking forward to.”
Although, the 30-year-old is aware of David Moyes’ side’s good start to the season and admits they will have to be at their very best to get a result.
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“They’re flying at the minute, but even when they’re not flying it’s a hard place to go so we know we’ve got a hard game on our hands.
“Hopefully the Villa win is going to give us the confidence to go there and get something”, he added.
Chris Woakes and Shoaib Bashir also included in XI for first Test at Lord’s
Vithushan Ehantharajah08-Jul-20241:59
Ehantharajah excited to see what Atkinson can offer England
England will hand debuts to the Surrey duo of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith for the first Test against West Indies at Lord’s, which begins on Wednesday.Chris Woakes also returns to the XI, his first Test appearance since being named player of the series in last summer’s Ashes, while offspinner Shoaib Bashir makes his home debut after three Tests in India at the start of the year.Atkinson, who has made 12 appearances for England in white-ball cricket, was unused on the tour of India but has been earmarked as a long-term pace option, registering in the late 80s and early 90s mph at his most fluent. A breakthrough 2023 summer saw him earn selection for the ODI World Cup, though he was omitted for this summer’s T20 World Cup. This season, he has taken 14 County Championship wickets at 29.78 for Surrey, who lead Division One.England XI to play West Indies•ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Smith, meanwhile, will assume the gloves as England move beyond Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow. The 23-year-old has been in fine form across all formats and marked his maiden call-up with his second first-class century of the season. He is currently Surrey’s top-scorer with 677 Championship runs at 56.41 with a strike rate of 76.67. He earned two ODI caps against Ireland at the end of last summer and will slot in at No. 7 with Harry Brook returning to the No. 5 position having missed the India series following the death of his grandmother.Ben Stokes slots between the pair at six, and is back to fulfilling his allrounder duties, which has allowed for the selection of Bashir. After impressing with 17 wickets in India, England underlined their faith in the spinner by selecting him in the squad ahead of Jack Leach, despite the fact Bashir had to move on loan to Worcestershire for first-team opportunities with Leach the No. 1 spinner at Somerset.Related
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Woakes adds to that balance as an option with the bat, and will likely be an ever-present this summer in what is set to be a transitional period for England with the impending retirement of James Anderson.England XI: 1 Zak Crawley, 2 Ben Duckett, 3 Ollie Pope, 4 Joe Root, 5 Harry Brook, 6 Ben Stokes (capt) 7 Jamie Smith (wk), 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Gus Atkinson, 10 Shoaib Bashir, 11 James Anderson
“I never knew if I would actually be able to get one Test hundred, let alone be where we are now”
Andrew Fidel Fernando11-Mar-2023New Zealand fight, and find ways to win. This was part of Daryl Mitchell’s appraisal of New Zealand on day three at Hagley Oval, when they came roaring into the Test. Mitchell was the top-scorer, hitting 102 off 193 balls, as New Zealand recovered from 188 for 6 to post 373.This was Mitchell’s fifth Test hundred, in 25 innings, and his second in his hometown of Christchurch. Since making his international debut in 2019, Mitchell – now 31 – has become an integral part of the national side, across formats.”To do it at home here in front of my family is pretty cool, and to do it in the circumstances where those runs were needed,” he said after the day’s play. “I never knew if I would actually be able to get one Test hundred, let alone be where we are now. Every one is special.”I guess I’m a late bloomer in international cricket. To represent my country across all the formats is something I’ve dreamed of since I was a kid.”
Sri Lanka assistant coach Naveed Nawaz:
On the key passage of day three: “The New Zealanders played very well in the second session today and swung the game their way. It was that 25 overs when Daryl Mitchell and Matt Henry’s partnership took the game away from us. And after that, Neil Wagner as well. It looked like a 50-run lead for us at one stage.”
On Sri Lanka’s prospects: “We have to back ourselves that a couple of batsmen will go in there and get some big runs, to swing back to our side. The wicket is still good to bat on. It gives a little to the fast bowlers still. Anything above 275-300 would be a good score.”
Although New Zealand at times looked in danger of conceding a lead of perhaps 100, Mitchell lauded the fight, which he said is just part of the way his team plays. Through the course of his innings, Mitchell put on significant stands with Tom Latham, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, and Matt Henry. But before all that, he had had to battle through some incredibly probing bowling in the third session of day two.”It’s a typical Hagley wicket in that it has got pace and bounce there,” Mitchell said. “I thought the Sri Lankans bowled extremely well last night. They built a lot of pressure and were relentless. You needed a little bit of luck to get through that patch as well. That was nice. And then to put on partnerships with the boys and get us to a total that put us ahead of the game was awesome.”Henry was the other standout batter on day three. Coming in at No. 9, he struck a bruising 72 off 75, which featured ten fours and three sixes. His 69-run partnership with No. 10 Neil Wagner was in fact the best of New Zealand’s innings, and saw the hosts move past Sri Lanka’s first-innings total. They eventually established an 18-run lead.”I thought Matt Henry’s knock was special. He has obviously got great hand-eye coordination, and some of the sixes he hit were massive. Every run is really important in a Test like this. For him to go out and get 70-odd at his home ground is pretty cool.”We know as Kiwis we’ll keep fighting and keep trying to find ways to win. We back each other to do a job, and it was awesome to see Henry go out and play his natural game, and more importantly build partnerships and get us to a total that we thought was perfect for that first innings.”
South Africa captain hints team might go with an extra allrounder in the XI for the first ODI
Firdose Moonda18-Jan-20221:54
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South Africa have welcomed Quinton de Kock back into the national squad with open arms and expect the wicketkeeper-batter to enter the India ODIs with a “point to prove,” according to captain Temba Bavuma. In December, de Kock had announced his retirement from Test cricket after the Boxing Day Test and has been on paternity leave over the last three weeks following the birth of his daughter, but remains available for the shorter formats. On Wednesday, he will take his spot at the top of the order against India.”It’s good to see Quinny again. We obviously miss him in the Test team, but he has made his decision and that’s a decision we respect. Having Quinny again with the team has been good; and knowing Quinny, he will have a point to prove,” Bavuma said. “I don’t want to put words in his mouth but he will have a point to prove, and I am sure he is as excited as we are to see him in the team.”Related
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Bavuma all but confirmed that de Kock and Janneman Malan will open the batting, with him slotting in at No.3 and feeling in good form.”The Test series went quite well for the team but for me personally, my feet seemed to move well and I was hitting the ball quite well. I’d like to carry on with that feeling,” Bavuma said. “People have asked me if there’s anything I’ve changed or done differently and to be honest no, I’ve been doing things the same. Maybe it’s just a period of good form.”The strength of the top three leaves South Africa with a conundrum of how to manage Aiden Markram, Rassie van der Dussen and David Miller, as Bavuma explained that there may only be room for two of them.”Quinton and Janneman have done fairly well so I don’t see that changing. I come back into the picture at No.3,” he said. “Then, it’s probably more the middle order, whether we want to go with an extra batter or an allrounder at 6. That’s the real conversation that needs to happen.”If it were up to Bavuma, the allrounder might be preferred to a specialist batter to ensure sufficient bowling stocks in the XI.”As a captain, you always like to have as many resources as you can from a bowling front. You accept that one bowler isn’t going to hit his straps on the day, so to be able to have an adequate replacement for him is a luxury,” he said. “It’s something we still need to settle on but I would like to have as many options as I can.”One of them could well be Marco Jansen, who could make his fifty-over debut this week after being picked in Anrich Nortje’s injury-enforced absence. “The world has seen what cricketing abilities he has and his x-factor ability. It was a no-brainer to get him into white ball squad,” Bavuma said.”He is a guy who will come strongly into contention when we speak about the team.”Temba Bavuma – “I am sure Quinton is as excited as we are to see him in the team”•AFP/Getty Images
Jansen’s ability to extract bounce from the slow Paarl wicket could see him edge ahead of some of the competition.”Considering Paarl and the conditions there – it’s a lot different to our Highveld wickets – it’s on the lower side; a bit skiddier. We’ll consider pace bowlers who can exploit that, like Lungi (Ngidi), (Sisanda) Magala and Marco Jansen,” Bavuma said. “And then Paarl is quite friendly to slower bowlers and spinners so (Tabraiz) Shamsi, (Keshav) Maharaj and (George) Linde all come into the picture.”Linde is a late inclusion to the ODI group and has been retained from the Test squad bubble in anticipation of the surfaces that will be used for this series.Though there are no World Cup Super League points at stake in this series, South Africa are still determined to use the matches to build on their progress over the last six months.”We’re not expecting this one-day series to be easy. We know it’s going to be tough, especially considering the Test series. We will prepare as well as we can to make sure we are ready for when the challenge comes our way.”
He wants more players from the state to force their way into Australia squads
Andrew McGlashan26-Aug-2020Chris Rogers, the former Australia Test opener and new Victoria coach, hopes to be able to help Will Pucovski break into the Australia side for the international career he has been on the cusp of for a couple of seasons.Pucovski, 22, came close to a Test debut against Sri Lanka in 2019 and was part of the Australia A set-up ahead of last year’s Ashes series.However, he has had to deal with multiple concussions during his short career – the most recent coming late last season against England Lions when he stumbled taking a run – and has also taken breaks from the game to manage his mental health.In 20 first-class matches, Pucovski has made 1225 runs at 42.24 with a best of 243 against Western Australia at the start of the 2018-19 season which followed a 188-run knock late in the previous summer against Queensland.”Will’s at a really interesting point in his own career,” Rogers said. “Obviously there’s the issues regarding the concussions and so forth but I don’t think anyone’s doubting his ability. It’s about finding out what he thinks he needs to do to take the next step and finding ways to support that.”I think he’s at that age where he’s really come to terms with everything about his game. He’s had some experiences now that have tested him and would no doubt have built a lot of that resilience. It’s going to be a little bit up to him but with a lot of support from the coaching staff as well.”I think he’s a fantastic player. What stands out for me is his mindset. I think that’s really quite impressive for a guy his age. He almost looks like he plays as a very experienced player, so it’s probably helping him develop that as well.”Like any domestic coach, Rogers will be marrying the dual demands of domestic success with producing players for the international stage and he said that having more Victoria names in Australia squads was a key aim of his role.Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell are the Victoria players in the limited-overs squad for the England tour while fast bowler James Pattinson is the only one around the Test set-up although may not make the first choice XI.The batting line-up features Marcus Harris and Nic Maddinson who have had a previous taste of the Australia level: Harris was part of the Ashes series last year but lost his spot after struggling in tough batting conditions, to be replaced by Joe Burns, while Maddinson’s brief Test career came in 2016 with his last white-ball appearance in 2018.Harris would probably be in the frame as top-order cover if enlarged Test squads are needed this season as has been flagged by Justin Langer while two prolific first-class seasons for Maddinson, which have brought 1353 runs at 83.93, has put him back on the selectors’ radar and earned him Australia A call-ups last season. Maddinson withdrew from the squad to face Pakistan in Perth for mental health reasons then scored 52 against England Lions in February.”I think Nic just needs to perform,” Rogers said. “He’s someone who has found his style, how he wants to approach the game and has had some success doing that. It’s important then to support what he does and make sure he’s accountable for his performances. But if he wants to perform for Australia, I don’t think I’m the only one who will tell him that, he just needs to put the runs on the board and he’s doing that. “As a former left-handed opener, Rogers has the ideal skillset to offer Harris any specialist advice he may need. “I have some ideas about how Marcus can go about it and that will be working with him,” he said. “He’s at that right [time] where he should be playing the best cricket of his life and it’s just being there to help him to do that.”The prospect of larger international squads taking more players out of domestic cricket – meaning state depth will be tested – is also something Rogers sees as a good challenge.”It might mean some of the better players in the state teams are unavailable and therefore you have to have your resources tested and opportunities might come for younger players,” he said. “If you look at the Victoria squad – it’s pretty young. I know from when I first moved over it was a vastly different squad, but with that comes so much excitement and opportunity.”
Captain describes final selection meeting as “toughest decision” but stands by the 15-man squad that will launch campaign on May 30
Andrew Miller21-May-2019Eoin Morgan says that the process of whittling England’s World Cup squad down to the final 15-man party was “the toughest decision I’ve ever been a part of”, but believes that he personally, and his team as a whole, have never been better equipped to make the big calls, having grown together in the four years since the 2015 campaign.Speaking at the launch of England’s World Cup kit in East London, Morgan admitted that his team’s final approach to the tournament had not been entirely smooth – with Alex Hales’ expulsion from the squad for a second failed drugs test providing a particularly unwelcome distraction in recent weeks.However, with England making a seamless readjustment in Hales’ absence to beat Pakistan 4-0 in another record-breaking run of batting form, Morgan feels that the team has come through a significant stress test of its culture. Looking ahead, he backed his players to find further ways to keep winning in the event of any more disruption during the course of the tournament.”I wouldn’t say it’s been smooth, I’d say we’ve been better equipped at dealing with anything that’s cropped up, certainly as a group,” said Morgan. “For me as a captain, being more experienced, and having been through four years of being captain, our prep and planning has been excellent and the guys have responded to that by performing on a consistent basis, probably more so for last two years than first two.”Asked if the Hales situation was the sort of crisis that would have derailed past England World Cup campaigns, Morgan admitted: “Yeah, it probably would have. It’s something I’ve never come up against before.”However, he also explained that the team management had put in place contingency plans for similar incidents, meaning that they had not been caught entirely on the hop when the news of Hales’ indiscretions were made public.”We hadn’t planned exactly for that, we’d planned for instances when the [team] culture had been tested or individually we’d been tested,” Morgan said. “There’s still loads of things that we’ve planned for that might continue to crop up throughout the World Cup.”Our values as a team include the words ‘courage’, ‘respect’, and ‘unity’, symbolising the three lions on our cap, and taking that cap forward across all three formats and all squads.”ALSO READ:Dobell: Focus on fringe players shows how far England have come“Over a period of time, everyone can relate to it on and off the field. For some people it may only be words, but for us as international cricketers, travelling around all the time, the one thing that’s constant right from the beginning of your journey is your cap. It’s a gentle reminder of how much responsibility you have, and the privileged position you are constantly in to make the most of that.”That shared journey made this week’s decision to cut Joe Denly and, especially, David Willey from England’s final 15 particularly tough, but having been given the casting vote in the selectors’ deliberations, Morgan was able to defend the “logic of the decision and the balance of the squad” that resulted in Jofra Archer and Liam Dawson being called up in their places.”It was the toughest decision I’ve ever been a part of, certainly with this group,” said Morgan. “To leave two guys out, one who has been around for the last four years and been a big part of everything we’ve done on and off the field, and the other is an exceptionally talented cricketer. It’s unfortunate for those who missed out but it was the right call.”Morgan added that he wasn’t able to feel any great sense of relief at having made the cut, given that the contributions of both players had required “the time and dedication” to do them justice. However, he was able to reiterate to both the point he made at the presentation ceremony in Headingley last week, that the nature of a six-week tournament would almost certainly throw up the possibility of a replacement being called upon.”We had a conversation last night,” Morgan said, “explaining the fact that there are nine group-stage games and the fact that we have four fast bowlers, and one of them is likely to get injured. It happens.”And I had the same conversation with Joe. We haven’t had many injuries in the batting department for a long time, so we need to plan for everything, given that they might come into play straightaway, so they need to be prepared for that.”Asked if England were playing “fearless” cricket in the wake of their 4-0 series win over Pakistan, Morgan actually felt that his team had reined in some of the more overt aggression that had led to a few rare but notable mishaps in recent years.”I wouldn’t say that we feel fearless, probably two years ago we felt more fearless, because we were quite young in our growth as a team,” he said. “We’ve had two more years’ experience on top of that, and we are better at coping and adapting to scenarios and recognising different situations throughout a game. I wouldn’t say that’s fearless.”The team’s single biggest disappointment of the past four years, the Champions Trophy semi-final defeat against Pakistan in 2017, was an example of where England had been derailed in the recent past.”One of the biggest learning things that came out of that was that it probably came a little bit early for us,” he said. “We probably didn’t realise how good we were and how poor we were on slow wickets. Since then, we’ve improved our play at both home and away, and on wickets that don’t necessarily suit our planning.”Overall, however, Morgan said that he was simply itching to get started. “We are pretty close to our starting XI, barring a couple of pitch minor adjustments,” he said. “If the game was tomorrow, it would be better for us than seven or eight days’ time. Our preparation against Pakistan was as good as anything we could have hoped for. To perform like we did is extremely encouraging.”
A quiet break from cricket, after two high-quality Tests that were in the spotlight for several wrong reasons, has given the South Africa opener time to think about his faltering batting
Firdose Moonda19-Mar-2018The two things Dean Elgar has enjoyed most about the last seven days is the silence and the chance to reflect on two highly competitive games of cricket, away from the sideshows that have surrounded them.”There’s been so much noise that people have actually forgotten there is such a great Test series happening between two strong and competitive teams. The backroom noise is hindering what has been quite an exciting Test series,” Elgar said, as South Africa resumed training after a week’s break ahead of the third Test against Australia at Newlands.The match starts on Thursday, which has effectively meant a 10-day period for the teams to get away from each other, and on the evidence of the first two Tests, they needed that. Everything from the stairwell saga to the send-offs has been laced with aggression and intensity. Those close to the Australian camp have gone as far as to say the temperature of this series has been hotter than recent Ashes’ contests and the South Africans, usually a passionate but not overly petulant lot, have also turned on the heat.Elgar, one of the pricklier characters in the squad, admitted he has also got involved. “There’s been a lot of niggle. It comes from both sides. It’s what you expect when you are playing against quality opposition. The intensity should be there. That’s what makes the format exciting,” he said. “I’ve been on the receiving end of it and I have also been one to give it out a bit, in all the right measurements.”The “right measurements”, as Elgar put it, have been debated throughout this series and, so far, no one can provide a recipe as to what those might be. Steven Smith has, on several occasions, insisted there is a line his team does not cross while Faf du Plessis has endorsed chirping as good for the game but said he would not advocate swearing. And then there’s the physical side of things. From David Warner needing to be physically restrained in the episode with Quinton de Kock, to the shoulder brush between Kagiso Rabada and Steven Smith, Elgar is right when he said this series is less about cricket and more about contact.A tweet on Vernon Philander’s account went as far as to suggest simulation could even come into the picture, but the message was deleted a few ours after it was posted and Philander claimed his account was hacked. And so the silence Elgar was enjoying might have been broken in the middle of the break, when it suddenly emerged that there may be a new flashpoint.Though very little has been made of the post on Philander’s account and the subsequent backtracking from it, that could change. Cameron Bancroft has already suggested Australia will use the tweet to try and unnerve the seamer on his home ground; the same venue where he played a major part in bowling them out for 47 in his debut Test series in 2011.AFP
Elgar suspects it will take more than that to get under Philander’s skin. “He’ll take it in his stride like Vern does. He is quite a relaxed human being but on the field he is as competitive as anyone else,” Elgar said. “He is going to expect that they are going to come out and say something to him on the field, and I am sure he is going to be prepared for that.”Philander might have other things to think about than what the Australians have to say. Should South Africa be without Kagiso Rabada – whose appeal hearing against a Level 2 charge extended to over six hours today – Philander will lead an attack that will likely include the retiring Morne Morkel and the inexperience of Lungi Ngidi. South Africa will have to find a way to take wickets without their leading bowler.Though the players have tried not to become preoccupied with the Rabada proceedings, they understand losing him would be a big deal. “As players, we are just trying to isolate ourselves away from that situation. We know we don’t have any influence over what has happened or what can happen. It would be nice to put it behind us,” Elgar said. “Having KG [Rabada] in our side is massive for us. It’s massive for the game, massive for the format, because KG is an extremely special cricketer. But we do know there are rules. We respect that. If he is good to go for the third Test, it will be awesome for us and awesome of the game.”In the meanwhile, Elgar would like to concentrate on his own game and on finding the form that had him finish as the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket last year. Elgar’s 2017 included 1128 runs from 12 Tests at 53.71 with five centuries, but he has only managed 285 runs from five Tests this year at 31.66.He accepted that “it was always going to be difficult to follow-up on what was a very good year”, but would like to start contributing more, especially because of his returns so far. He was dismissed in single-figures in both innings in the first Test and the second innings of the second Test; his only score in double-figures so far this series was a stubborn 57 in Port Elizabeth. “I feel that I am batting nicely. I am getting through all the tough parts and then I am letting myself down with silly, stupid, uncharacteristic kind of dismissals,” Elgar said. “I know it’s not what the team requires, our team requires me to try bat out a day.”His half-century, which took five hours and six minutes to score, used up most of a day and helped lay a platform for South Africa to take a match-winning first-innings lead in Port Elizabeth. But on either side of that knock, Elgar has twice been caught and bowled by Nathan Lyon and desperately wants to change his record against the spinner.”I have handled him quite [badly],” Elgar said. “Like I said, silly dismissals that are uncharacteristic of me. In the past I have handled him quite well. He has developed his game massively in the last two years, and I will just be mindful of that and still trust my defence against him.”And hope for some more peace and quiet before the series resumes.
David Boon, Matthew Hayden and Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday
ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jan-2017Two of Australia’s finest modern top-order batsmen, Matthew Hayden and David Boon, and legendary women’s allrounder Betty Wilson will be inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame on Monday.Boon played 107 Tests from 1984 to 1996 and scored 7422 runs at 43.65, mostly as an opener and No.3 of tremendous fight, and he also featured in 181 one-day internationals. Since retirement, he served as an administrator with Cricket Tasmania and as a national selector, and in 2011 took up a position as an ICC match referee.”David Boon was a key figure in the rise of the Australia side under Allan Border that went from easy-beats to winners of the ICC Cricket World Cup in India and Pakistan in 1987 and then the best Test side in the world,” Peter King, the Hall of Fame chairman, said.”He was player of the match in the 1987 World Cup final against England and was a reassuring presence either as opener or number three with more than 13,000 international runs across more than a decade at the highest level.”He played a crucial role in putting Tasmania cricket on the map and did much the same for English county side Durham, where he ended his career in 1999 with a tally of more than 23,000 first-class runs, plus more than 10,000 runs in List A cricket. He epitomises the tough-as-teak Australian cricketer and his induction into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame is thoroughly merited.”Hayden played 103 Tests from 1994 to 2009 and, with 8625 runs at 50.73, sits fifth on Australia’s list of all-time Test run scorers. An opener who combined patience with an ability to bully the bowlers, Hayden plundered 380 against Zimbabwe at the WACA in 2003, which was the highest Test score by any player until surpassed by Brian Lara’s 400 the following year.”Matthew Hayden featured prominently in the Australia squads that went unbeaten to win successive ICC Cricket World Cups in 2003 and 2007,” King said, “and his role as an intimidating opening batsman and outstanding slip fielder mark him out as one of the greatest players this country has ever produced.”Wilson, who was sometimes known as the “female Bradman”, will be the second women’s cricketer in the Hall of Fame, after 2014 inductee Belinda Clark. Wilson, who died in 2010 at the age of 88, averaged 57.46 in Test cricket during the 1940s and 1950s, and took 68 wickets at the remarkable average of 11.80.She was the first player of either gender to score a century and take 10 wickets in a Test, doing so against England in Melbourne in 1958; two years later Alan Davidson became the first man to match the feat. In that same Test, Wilson also became the first woman to take a Test hat-trick.”Betty Wilson was a woman ahead of her time, thanks to her brilliant all-round skills as a batter and off-spinner,” King said. “It was cricket’s misfortune that she only played 11 Tests – due in part to World War II, but also because her career spanned a period when far fewer women’s cricket matches were played than in the modern era.”It is fantastic that Betty can take her rightful place in the pantheon of great cricketers produced by this country through her induction to the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame and it is an honour that is wholly justified.”Boon, Hayden and Wilson will officially be inducted at the Allan Border Medal ceremony in Sydney on Monday evening, where the Betty Wilson Young Player of the Year Award will for the first time form part of the ceremony. This year’s group takes the number of Hall of Fame inductees to 46 since its inception in 1996.Hall of Fame inductees Warwick Armstrong, Richie Benaud, John Blackham, David Boon, Allan Border, Sir Donald Bradman, Greg Chappell, Ian Chappell, Belinda Clark, Alan Davidson, George Giffen, Adam Gilchrist, Clarrie Grimmett, Wally Grout, Neil Harvey, Lindsay Hassett, Matthew Hayden, Ian Healy, Clem Hill, Bill Lawry, Dennis Lillee, Ray Lindwall, Charles Macartney, Rod Marsh, Stan McCabe, Glenn McGrath, Graham McKenzie, Keith Miller, Arthur Morris, Monty Noble, Bill O’Reilly, Bill Ponsford, Jack Ryder, Bob Simpson, Fred Spofforth, Mark Taylor, Jeff Thomson, Hugh Trumble, Victor Trumper, Charlie Turner, Doug Walters, Shane Warne, Mark Waugh, Steve Waugh, Betty Wilson, Bill Woodfull.