Here at The Almost Cricketer we like to think of ourselves as the Optimus Prime of cricket pundits and with that in mind boldly predicted that the Indians would leave SA with their tale behind their legs. We forecast, many bruised ribs (not to mention egos) for the Indian batsman. Weather permitting our crystal ball saw a fairly comfortable whitewash. 
After all this was a team who couldn’t bat on bouncy seaming wickets, a team who couldn’t possibly deal with the threat of messieurs Steyn, Morkel, Tsotsi and just about any other seamer that the Saffers had to offer.
A team that surely could not trouble the mighty Protea top 6 in their back yard, we couldn’t expect Zaheer, Sreesanth, Unadkat, Sharma and Bhaji to trouble a batting line up that included Smith the Smiter, Hash “the run machine” Amla, King Kallis, Ab the precocious and Prince the Perseverer.
After the Proteas resounding victory in the first test The Almost Cricket felt the force of our Prime like visions coming to life, we sat back smugly getting ready to pull out the “I told you so’s”.
On to Kingsmead and all seemed to be following the script, Steyn had another 5er India scrapped 200. Until the Turbanator decided to pick up 4 quick wickets in the Proteas first innings, VVS decided to join the party by playing one of “those special” innings. Combine this with the collective failings of the Smiter, the run machine, King Kallis, the precocious one and the perseverer. India had just done the unthinkable winning a test at the old green mamba.
We were on to Newlands and all would be secured, this being the fortress of South African cricket. A ground on which only one foe has been victorious over the democratic years. The Proteas were put into bat in bowling conditions and made a solid 362 however at a massive cost. Kallis injured himself in the innings and was unable to bowl in match. Ultimately the Proteas inability to dimiss the Indians in the second innings cost them the victory. A bowler down in Kallis combined with Harris who decided to chuck pies on a wearing day 5 pitch. The very same pitch which the Turbanator wreaked havoc on the day before! A 1-1 draw left our crystal ball shattered, nonetheless the Indians were deserved of their hard fought draw.
After the Proteas mediocre performances a bit of introspection is needed, and even though our crystal ball has just let us down, we have decided to make a few more predictions:
We are fairly confident that Paul “the pie chucker” Harris has played his last test....it was apparent that if we had a half decent spinner we would have comfortably won the series. With Imran Tahirs recent citizenship we have a ready made successor.
Boucher’s days are probably number as well, it won’t surprise us if he has also played his last test. When you look at a few of his more distinguished peers like Dhoni, Prior and Haddin, they all average 40+ in test cricket, at least 10 more than Bouch. The gap is ever widening as Bouch’s prowess with the bat continues to diminish, 35 may just be the age for Bouch to move on.
Prince may be a little unlucky to get the chop but JP is the future and offers a useful spin option as well.
Petersen is the other weak link in the line up. There are just not many other openers putting their hands up in domestic cricket scene. The Saffers have a wealth of talent from 3-6 but there seems to be a problem at the top.
Without further ado here is The Almost Cricketers Test 11:
Graeme Smith
Alviro Peterson (only barely survives as there is no viable replacement)
Hashim Amla
Jacque Kallis
Ab de Villiers
Jp Duminy
Heino Khun (Without a doubt, the best batsman/keeper in the country, Smit from the Dolphins may be the best glovemen but his batting needs a lot of work.)
Dale Steyn
Morne Morkel
Imran Tahir (the saviour)
Lenwabo Tsotsobe (His control and movement really impressed us during the latter part of the series however he still needs to gain 5-10km in the off season to become the finished article)
Till the next time,
Keep it real
Bonus ODI content
The Almost Cricketers WC 11
Graeme Smith
Hashim Amla
Jacque Kallis
Ab de Villiers
Jp Duminy
Albie Morkel (Albie gets our vote at 6 as his a proven match winner in Indian conditions, he is devastating against spin which will be useful in the sub continent. He also provides a good death bowling option)
Johan Botha
Dale Steyn
Morne Morkel
Imran Tahir (Saviour)
Lenwabo Tsotsobe
