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Good to see Du Plessis and his team given a good reality check.....appears as though Australia aren't the only team to be Tarzans at home but Jane's away.......

Anch: good thread and post. The fact that De Bryun made a century showed the rest of them up. He played well against Australia too, but got dropped because of their affirmative action policy. I really hope they don't stuff test cricket up by getting rid of the toss.

Nice complement from Russell Arnold.

It was a delight to watch. The pitches weren't outrageous. They were weak of spirit again SA when the pressure went on and some of the body language and behaviours after dismissals was average. Although I'm not sure I'd want to face someone who can bowl decent leggies and offies in the same over.

Sri lanka are fast becoming the toughest side to beat on their home soil but what the 2 Tests really showed up was how poor the smug Saffas are against decent spin bowling (remember Warnie used to make not only Daryl Cullinann look silly at times) on turning decks....dare I say it even poorer than us on the sub continent!
Old Rangana Herath is a marvel a greying keg on legs but still bowling well into his 40s and the only player still left playing Test Cricket who debuted in the 1990s (Shoaib Malik from Pakistan just plays the limited overs variety now)!

Beasley Hutton wrote: Sri lanka are fast becoming the toughest side to beat on their home soil but what the 2 Tests really showed up was how poor the smug Saffas are against decent spin bowling (remember Warnie used to make not only Daryl Cullinann look silly at times) on turning decks....dare I say it even poorer than us on the sub continent!
Old Rangana Herath is a marvel a greying keg on legs but still bowling well into his 40s and the only player still left playing Test Cricket who debuted in the 1990s (Shoaib Malik from Pakistan just plays the limited overs variety now)!

BH a few people I know went to a couple of tests in Sri Lanka a few years back ,V Australia.For $100 a day they had all the food and beers they wanted all day.A must for cricket fans to watch a test over there in the members box.

gtrxuone wrote:

Beasley Hutton wrote: Sri lanka are fast becoming the toughest side to beat on their home soil but what the 2 Tests really showed up was how poor the smug Saffas are against decent spin bowling (remember Warnie used to make not only Daryl Cullinann look silly at times) on turning decks....dare I say it even poorer than us on the sub continent!
Old Rangana Herath is a marvel a greying keg on legs but still bowling well into his 40s and the only player still left playing Test Cricket who debuted in the 1990s (Shoaib Malik from Pakistan just plays the limited overs variety now)!

BH a few people I know went to a couple of tests in Sri Lanka a few years back ,V Australia.For $100 a day they had all the food and beers they wanted all day.A must for cricket fans to watch a test over there in the members box.

GTR I reckon we would easily drink our $100 worth as it can get bloody hot in the old Ceylon!

I must admit I enjoyed watching SA get turned over. Love the grounds over there especially the one with the fort (Galle is it?)
Again it shows how difficult it is for teams to win away from home. Will be interesting to see if India can reverse that trend when they play England starting next week.
I was amazed to see that Steve Smith is still top of the ICC test batting rankings even though he is already 4 months into his suspension.

mikeh wrote: I must admit I enjoyed watching SA get turned over. Love the grounds over there especially the one with the fort (Galle is it?)
Again it shows how difficult it is for teams to win away from home. Will be interesting to see if India can reverse that trend when they play England starting next week.
I was amazed to see that Steve Smith is still top of the ICC test batting rankings even though he is already 4 months into his suspension.

Likewise, Mike, I'm very happy that Sri Lanka had a series win as I have a soft spot for the Lankans.
Smith being No.1 on the ICC rankings is a little surprising given he scored just 142 runs at an average of 23.67 in the South African series.
Still, he had 1305 runs in the bank at almost 77 in the 2017 calendar year, plus 83 in the January SCG Ashes Test.

Yes, what people need to keep in mind about little Herath, as well, is that he out bowlled Murli in Australia. He has atest average here of 33, which in this day and age, on our pitches, is good going. Mural averagged 75 here .