Cricket season

neigh wrote: Is it just me or is the quality of international players very weak compared to years gone by ?

Just you neigh :huh:

should declare overnight and try and bowl them out in a day

I agree and the ball seems to be doing a lot more early on in the day. Total is more than enough to defend against them.

Newlands at her very best ! This is why the Cape and her supporters of sport out-weigh the rest of SA by far. Magic ! How the f..... can WP be bankrupt ?

News reports around that Kyle Abbot apparently is close to signing a 3/4 Kolpak deal with Hampshire which effectively will end his South African days. This was prior to Steyn injury and he could change his mind. 100 000 pounds per season was the amount being negotiated. A shoe in all formats at the moment, hope he stays.

Looks like Rilee Rossouw is also mulling a Kolpak deal. Oh dear...

CONFIRMED: Abbott, Rossouw to leave SA, Proteas

Lloyd Burnard - Newlands

Cape Town - Kyle Abbott and Rilee Rossouw will both leave South Africa to take Kolpak deals with English county side Hampshire.

This was confirmed after the completion of the second Test in Cape Town, which saw the Proteas comprehensively beat Sri Lanka by 282 runs.

There had been speculation throughout the Test match after the news on Abbott initially broke, but Thursday's announcement did come as somewhat of a shock given how well Abbott has been bowling and how valuable a member of the South African bowling line-up he has become.

The 29-year-old addressed media at Newlands, but his skipper Faf du Plessis had earlier confirmed that Abbott had played his last Test match for the Proteas before leaving.

"It's been one of the hardest decisions of my life," Abbott said.

Du Plessis confirmed that Abbott would not be a part of the squad that does battle against Sri Lanka in the third Test in Johannesburg starting on January 12.

Du Plessis added that he and other members of the Proteas squad had tried to convince Abbott to stay in South Africa during the Cape Town Test match, but that Abbott's mind was made up.

Abbott has played 11 Test matches since making his debut against Pakistan back in 2013 at Centurion.

He took nine wickets in that match, but had to wait longer than a year before he was awarded a second cap.

According to a statement released by Cricket South Africa (CSA), Rossouw will be joining Abbott at Hampshire.

More to follow ...

kak man. :evil:

This is only the beginning more to come......

If Steyn and Morkel are fit then Abbott would not come close so no big loss there. He only has about 3 years left in him so he has done the right thing by himself by signing for Hampshire.

Mind you he may regret it as the pound is going to crash in a couple of months when they trigger the Brexit thing.

Couldnt agree with you more about making the right decision... Steyn + Morkel back = Abbott bench... they can say all they want, now that everything has happened, but the proof is in black and white... Performance and form does not equate to automatic selection... Reputation does... then factor into the equation that there is a teenager, Ngidi who will be a Protea sooner rather than later (deservedly so imo), and all of a sudden Abbott is then 5th choice... Im happy for him, and he is a really nice guy. Once he has finished his contract, he can easily go into coaching at his new home club.. he is a very thorough individual and extremely intellegent when it comes to his profession..

David Wiese has signed a Kolpak deal with Sussex.