Vernon Philander to call it quits

[PhatBoy]

Big Vern retiring after the england series.

The last member of the original pace battery that took SA to number 1.

Anyone who appreciates smart and skilful bowling would hopefully have taken a heap of pleasure from watching this guy in action. Like a surgeon

 

[cricketnut14]

was a star and always got the job done and more than handy with the bat.

one of SA's greats and statistically stands alongside SA's greats - steyn, donald, pollock & rabada.

 

[PhatBoy]

was a star and always got the job done and more than handy with the bat.

one of SA's greats and statistically stands alongside SA's greats - steyn, donald, pollock & rabada.

9 five wicket hauls in his first 15 tests.

A start to his career unlike anyone else in bowling history really.

 

[Ducky Tie]

Was as good if not better than Steyn for a while there. Can’t get much higher than that.

 

[Wedge McManus]

Fantastic bowler. One of SA's best. If one was to be slightly critical one would probably mention that had he got himself seriously fit he would have played 100 tests

 

[PhatBoy]

Fantastic bowler. One of SA's best. If one was to be slightly critical one would probably mention that had he got himself seriously fit he would have played 100 tests

Possibly, had to wait 7 years for a test debut too though. And a handful of his injuries were non fitness related. Unquestionably could have developed his body more though

 

[Wedge McManus]

Possibly, had to wait 7 years for a test debut too though. And a handful of his injuries were non fitness related. Unquestionably could have developed his body more though

He's still a young man now really. 34 isn't old for a seamer of his pace these days. But he always seemed to carry a paunch every time I saw him. He was probably fit for your average bloke but compared to the body shapes some teams have, he looked a few years behind imo

 

[Ducky Tie]

He's still a young man now really. 34 isn't old for a seamer of his pace these days. But he always seemed to carry a paunch every time I saw him. He was probably fit for your average bloke but compared to the body shapes some teams have, he looked a few years behind imo

Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s retiring to take up a Kolpak deal before Brexit prevents it.

 

[PhatBoy]

Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s retiring to take up a Kolpak deal before Brexit prevents it.

He’s actually said he wants to be involved in development in SA. He’s only played a handful of tests in the last few years

 

[iluvparis]

Wouldn’t surprise me if he’s retiring to take up a Kolpak deal before Brexit prevents it.

What's your typical county contract for a player of his ilk? 350k GBP?

 

[Ducky Tie]

I hope he does do that. SA need to keep these people involved.

Somerset lead the chase to sign fast bowler Vernon Philander

Philander, 34, announced on Sunday that he was calling time on his international career next month after eight years at Test level that have reaped 216 wickets at just over 22 runs apiece.

www.google.com.au

Talk already has started in the media though so it could happen I reckon.

 

[PhatBoy]

3 bowlers with strike rates in the 40s, another at 53, with a combined 1147 wickets.

What an era for SA pace bowling

 

[Ishikawa]

Absolutely beautiful bowler to watch, one of the most graceful I've seen operating short of a length outside off. There's some great quicks about the moment, but none really in his style I can think of off the top of my head. Hope he goes out with a win.

 

[bixente]

Sad news, one of my faves.

 

[Power Raid]

such a classy bowler

 

[PAFC_1870]

Just another on the list of great South African players we hardly ever got to enjoy first hand.

 

[eth-dog]

Right up there with Steyn, Pollock and Morkel

 

[Buzzasto DaSilva]

A thread about a South African player retiring that doesn't feature criticism of the nation's selection policy and governance? This is a first.

 

[PhatBoy]

A thread about a South African player retiring that doesn't feature criticism of the nation's selection policy and governance? This is a first.

Really the losses they’ve suffered for those reasons are guys who didn’t really get much of a career anyway like Abbott and Olivier etc

 

[PhatBoy]

Absolutely beautiful bowler to watch, one of the most graceful I've seen operating short of a length outside off. There's some great quicks about the moment, but none really in his style I can think of off the top of my head. Hope he goes out with a win.

This.
Just a real throwback to another era.

Wouldn’t make my best 11 from the last 10-20 years but if the conditions were remotely green he would be my first name on the team sheet. One thing I liked about him that you can’t necessarily always say about bowlers of his ilk, is that even in conditions that didn’t suit, he could still play a role drying up an end for Steyn and Morkel etc to attack from

 

[Park cricketer]

Absolutely brilliant bowler in helpful conditions. Probably the most accurate bowler of his era. Guy just kept probing in around the off stump and found a way to overcome his lack of pace in helpful conditions. In flat conditions, he mostly found a way to keep things tight through his incredible accuracy.

But one criticism of his career is that he could become a bit impotent when the conditions weren't helpful for fast bowling, particularly in asian conditions where the wickets tend to be on the slower side. I basically consider him the fast bowling version of Ashwin. I wish he cut out on his celebrappeals though, he always had a kinda annoying "Yeah, I know I'm good" vibe about him, which tbh he was entitled to because he was very very good. Boy did he love Cape Town, was pretty much invincible in that venue.

 

[Pippen94]

Bowled SA to victory in Hobart with a beer gut

 

[PhatBoy]

Absolutely brilliant bowler in helpful conditions. Probably the most accurate bowler of his era. Guy just kept probing in around the off stump and found a way to overcome his lack of pace in helpful conditions. In flat conditions, he mostly found a way to keep things tight through his incredible accuracy.

But one criticism of his career is that he could become a bit impotent when the conditions weren't helpful for fast bowling, particularly in asian conditions where the wickets tend to be on the slower side. I basically consider him the fast bowling version of Ashwin. I wish he cut out on his celebrappeals though, he always had a kinda annoying "Yeah, I know I'm good" vibe about him, which tbh he was entitled to because he was very very good. Boy did he love Cape Town, was pretty much invincible in that venue.

He didn’t really play much in Asia though. A combined 140 overs in India and Sri Lanka. It takes time for a bowler of his type to master those sort of conditions and given his smarts I think he would have worked out a way sooner or later, in the same way Abbas has done or even Vaasy. I didn’t like his appeals either but to be fair to him they were usually out!

 

[Park cricketer]

He didn’t really play much in Asia though. A combined 140 overs in India and Sri Lanka. It takes time for a bowler of his type to master those sort of conditions and given his smarts I think he would have worked out a way sooner or later, in the same way Abbas has done or even Vaasy. I didn’t like his appeals either but to be fair to him they were usually out!

Tbh it's bloody hard to be effective while bowling mid 120s on a slow and low deck. I agree that he might have improved on his record had he not missed his asian tours through injuries, but I also think he still would have found it very hard against strong batting line ups. Then again, only India have a very strong batting line up among the asian teams, so there's that..

 

[Ishikawa]

Just another on the list of great South African players we hardly ever got to enjoy first hand.

Off the top of my head he had five series against us - three over there and two in Aus Thats's a pretty significant proportion of an 8 or 9 year test career.