Get to know the South African team
This is a guide to a few of the newer South African players. You shouldn’t cut it out, nor should you keep it. You should read it once, sigh and think to yourself: ‘I already knew all that. I remember when this site was good.’
Paul Harris
Paul Harris is a South African spin bowler. Don’t let his competent record fool you. He’s still a South African spin bowler.
Like all South African spin bowlers, he’s 29 already, even though he’s ‘new’.
Hashim Amla
You sort of remember him from when England toured South Africa in 2004, when his beard was all the more lovable for the short periods of time it was inside a batting helmet. It wasn’t a great series for Amla.
Unfortunately Hashim Amla has rather pushed on. In his last ten Tests - against New Zealand, West Indies, Bangladesh and India - he’s bearded three hundreds and averaged 58.8. It’s customary at these times to remove any scores against Bangladesh, so let’s do that.
Now he averages 64.4.
Hopefully this form won’t last and having hit a hundred in each of South Africa’s warm-up matches, Amla’s clearly frittering away his reservoir of runs at the wrong time. The hirsute fool!
Dale Steyn
Think James Anderson with another 5mph of pace and no bad days.
Morne Morkel
Morne Morkel’s one we’re looking forward to seeing. He’s fast and ludicrously oversized. Not ludicrously oversized in a lanky Steve Harmison way, more in an undue pressure on the pituitary gland kind of way.