CricketZA

 AB de Villiers has released a single, with Karen Zoid and the Ndlovu Youth Choir.  The music video features cameos from Virat Kohli, Kagiso Rabada and Dale Steyn, among others. Enjoy 

On the surface, it appears that South Africa is basically all the way there with regards to creating and playing a good T20 team. They have a batting line-up with match-winners all the way down, and if this season's IPL is any indicator, they may have the best fast bowling pairing in the world in Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje. Throw in the first change talent of Lungi Ngidi along with (possibly) the ageless spinning talent of Imran Tahir, and, as they say in the South, baby you got a stew going. The one issue which the national team does have, however - and this was somewhat accentuated by the retirement of JP Duminy - is a reliable fifth bowler who doubles up as the all-rounder. It's not so much that we don't have options in the fifth bowler set up, we do, it's more that each of them has something that other would ideally have more of, and yet neither of them quite represent the full package in a way which would really be ideal. Now, it should be noted that South Afr...

AB de Villiers once  said he thought the IPL was bigger than the World Cup , an almost outrageous claim considering the fact that, gun to head, most non-Indian cricket fans would not be able to even guess who won the 2019 IPL, let alone the 2018 version. Now this could certainly be seen as an expected line of thinking from a man who continues to dominate in the IPL, yet has not played a T20 for his country since 2017, but we wondered if there was more to that? Now, it should be noted that doing better in one field than another does not indicate preference. I love money as much as I love gaming, but I play PlayStation every night, and I seem to never have money. That said though, we thought it was worth a look to see if AB plays T20 internationals with the same verve and chutzpah as he does in the IPL.  AB de Villiers batting T20 batting records   IPL T20 matches 166 78 Runs 4734 1672 ...

  Time was once when Dale Steyn was arguably the best pace bowler in T20. From his debut in 2007 until 2014, Steyn averaged 15.98 at an economy rate of 6.45. In T20 terms, that is a supernatural level of productivity. It showed in his IPL purchases as well, as Steyn was regularly auctioned off for prices in excess of a million dollars. From the first IPL tournament until 2014, Steyn had never gone at more than 8 runs an over. Indeed from 2008-2014, he went at an economy rate of 6.6. Almost unheard of level of efficiency from a pace bowler at the time, and even now.  That was then, however. The biggest mistake a team can make is to be married to the past. Someone once said, "The past is a wonderful place, but you can't live there". We live in the present, and at present, continuing to persist with Steyn would be a mistake. Since the clock struck midnight on the 31st of December 2014, Steyn has provided a steady diet of average to below average T20 cricket. Even now, as we ...

 Cricket South Africa has revealed the fixture slate for the 2020/2021 season. The season promises to be a jam-packed one with England, Sri Lanka, Australia and Pakistan all slated to tour South Africa, while South Africa has a potentially historic tour to Pakistan on the horizon following the home stand. South Africa have not toured Pakistan since 2007. The biggest shock of the fixture list sees the New Year's Test match, long the fiefdom of the Newlands Cricket stadium, being hosted by the Wanderers Cricket Stadium as CSA attempt to minimize travel.  “We are delighted to announce the schedule of men’s international cricket for the home season,” commented CSA Acting CEO, Kugandrie Govender. “It is an absolute pleasure to deliver more good news for our cricket-loving fans to consume, following last week’s confirmed tour against England and domestic season launch. “The COVID-19 pandemic predictably forced many changes to the ICC Future Tours Programme (FTP) and the traditional ...