Does anyone do well in India!? And losing to us at home is the exception isnt it? Speaking from memory so apologies if wrong!
At the WACA, that's how to do it.
No you're not wrong that until recently, SA had an impressive away record (and an underwhelming home record), but there are signs of this changing.
Christ no. There's already too much emphasis on players who have done well in the shorter formats of the game coming into the Test team. White and red ball cricket are getting more and more different, if you wanted to do anything encourage county players to go oversees for the winter - and don't constantly run down first class cricket, especially the county championship.
Not if you're smashing boundaries it isn't. Scoring is paramount at any venue. I don't think your criticism is valid at all. Put away the bad balls and keep out the good ones.
The format no, but the experience of being away in unfamiliar conditions, the ability to learn from the guys they will play against. KP, for all his faults makes the point about how much you can learn in those tournies
Not self-serving at all, that opinion? See this shit that pays tons of money - it's great for my game, you know!
I don't totally agree or disagree, but can see the benefits of both sides. Its not straight forward eh?
Yes, that's true. But a four is better than a single.
He isn't the only person that thinks that though, but he is all about him I agree!
So does Root. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I just think it's harsh to judge this innings on this pitch using those criteria.
Agree. We had 3 proper 1st class fixtures before the victorious 2010/11 series and fielded the Test XI in two of them.
In his defence, he has always denied having anything to do with a fake account. Yes he did leave the tour early because he was unable to bowl properly and felt that he had become a liability to the team. I don't think either of those "accusations" disqualify Swanny from making informed comments based on his experience. You may feel anger towards him because you what you perceive to be (incorrectly?) a betrayal and consider him a traitor, however he does make a lot of sense in my opinion and I enjoy his contributions to TMS like I enjoy Boycs, Tuffers and Vaughny. They all add their own unique perspective which is part of what makes TMS utterly brilliant.
As I said he has denied having anything to do with the twitter account, if you have something other than gossip evidence then feel free to present it. As for playing records, well they're not really comparable. All three have contributed to past England successes and have also been present at English failures.
I guess this sort of thing is subjective, and if you already believe that he is an "utter cunt" then you probably won't be appreciative of his contributions. In my opinion he's well qualified to comment, he's a former Ashes winner who has performed well for England in the past and has good knowledge of the game. Yeah his comedy accents might be a bit hit and miss (perhaps even just miss) but he does know his stuff. All of the summarisers have stories and anecdotes, that's part of the TMS vibe and I'm happy for him to stay. I guess if you don't really care for him you can always switch over to BT Sport when it's his turn to summarise.
loool, oh yeah I forgot that there's cross BT/TMS pollination.
I don't think they've been on TMS, I've mainly heard Glenn McGrath, who as been excellent imo. I didn't really like the bits of Gilly that I saw on BT Sport, but tbh I've only seen bits and mostly listen on TMS.
