Australia tour of South Africa, 2008/09

[valvolux]

Too right....hes sees and plays the ball soooo late that he looks vulnerable almost every ball cause he just pulls the bat out in time...but everytime right in the middle...but thats why he can late cut so effectively. He must have amazing sight.....he looks so hard to get out - all 3 times so far it has been a bad shot rather than good bowling that has got him out...they have stacked the offside field for him yet he still finds the gaps...and as he showed Morkel - he may not have shown us the pull shot yet, but he certainly can put away anything that is straight or straying down leg. Never felt this comfortable watching an opener....Hayden and Langer included....and for a guy who has demanded that he face the first ball in all of his 4 innings so far....Australia is in bloody good hands here.

 

[aus_maestro]

Top day for us, loving it. Hughes has become a GREAT find, hope he can carry this form into the Ashes to assist us in pwning the poms :P We should win from here, would be very dissapointed with any other result.

 

[McLOVIN]

I dont know why all that time OZ didnt let their young guns play! this Hughes guy is crazy! double centuries ...

 

[mdoggie]

This has been some of the worst cricket I have ever seen South Africa play, I could probably play better. The bowling has had no spark, one of two good spells but the rest has being absolute Cr*p. They have let Australia score too many too fast and haven't looked like taking a wicket for large parts. Hughes has had a far too easy time for someone who doesn't handle the short ball well early on. Ntini has lost his spark and is not half the bowler he used to be. Steyn has just proved that he is overrated and Morkel needs to learn how to take wickets. Harris, scarily has our most consistent bowler, doing his job of holding up an end.

The batting is even worse, what is the idea of blocking the ball with your body. Australia showed how you handle short bowling. Johnson has being bowling on another level, definitely a future great and he can only improve. The batting is looking incorrigible, they lack the ability to handle to proper fast bowling. Many changes will need to be made. Mckenzie is useless and Kallis needs to get into form.

I guess we can only play well away because out results versus Bangladesh were much better away then at home. And with Australia it couldn't be more different. Credit to the Aussies, they have being out of this world and are back. They have out played us 7 out of 8 days, and have never given us a sniff, Absolutely brilliant.

 

[0601731]

why isnt botha playing,from wht i ve seen so far he looks a better option than harris.

 

[sifter132]

This has been some of the worst cricket I have ever seen South Africa play, I could probably play better. The bowling has had no spark, one of two good spells but the rest has being absolute Cr*p. They have let Australia score too many too fast and haven't looked like taking a wicket for large parts. Hughes has had a far too easy time for someone who doesn't handle the short ball well early on. Ntini has lost his spark and is not half the bowler he used to be. Steyn has just proved that he is overrated and Morkel needs to learn how to take wickets. Harris, scarily has our most consistent bowler, doing his job of holding up an end.

The batting is even worse, what is the idea of blocking the ball with your body. Australia showed how you handle short bowling. Johnson has being bowling on another level, definitely a future great and he can only improve. The batting is looking incorrigible, they lack the ability to handle to proper fast bowling. Many changes will need to be made. Mckenzie is useless and Kallis needs to get into form.

I guess we can only play well away because out results versus Bangladesh were much better away then at home. And with Australia it couldn't be more different. Credit to the Aussies, they have being out of this world and are back. They have out played us 7 out of 8 days, and have never given us a sniff, Absolutely brilliant.

I feel for the SA fans. They played well in Aus, but being up 2-0 after Perth and Melbourne wasn't a fair indication of that series and probably meant they were overrated a bit.

In saying that, nothing seems to have gone right for South Africa. They always seem to screw up their referrals too The SA boys need to take an umpiring course so they can get better at those.

 

[valvolux]

why isnt botha playing,from wht i ve seen so far he looks a better option than harris.

I can't resist!!! I'd say it is because he'd likely get called for chucking! His action is still suspect at best...after 20 odd overs I have no doubt that his action would get a bit too lax and probably come under scrutiny. But yeah Harris isn't going to run through a side in a hurry - he reminds me of Giles...just there to do a holding job and maybe pick up a wicket or two through frustrating the batting. TO be honest he has done that job pretty well....the major dissapointment has to be Morkel not holding up his end of the bargain. Steyn has been awesome at times and then Morkel just relieves the pressure - I sure hope he doesn't end up washed up like Harmison because he seems to have a heap of talent. Wonder what it is about these bloody tall guys losing their lines and lengths? I woulda thought if you were that tall it would be easier to put it on a 20 c piece!!

 

[0601731]

I can't resist!!! I'd say it is because he'd likely get called for chucking! His action is still suspect at best...after 20 odd overs I have no doubt that his action would get a bit too lax and probably come under scrutiny. But yeah Harris isn't going to run through a side in a hurry - he reminds me of Giles...just there to do a holding job and maybe pick up a wicket or two through frustrating the batting. TO be honest he has done that job pretty well....the major dissapointment has to be Morkel not holding up his end of the bargain. Steyn has been awesome at times and then Morkel just relieves the pressure - I sure hope he doesn't end up washed up like Harmison because he seems to have a heap of talent. Wonder what it is about these bloody tall guys losing their lines and lengths? I woulda thought if you were that tall it would be easier to put it on a 20 c piece!!

The proteas need someone like nel right now,he always gives it his all and he can lift the side.

 

[aussie1st]

Hopefully Hughes can score quickly tomorrow and reach his double ton. I hear Ponting is going to bat on and declare about an hour into play depending on conditions.

 

[Highlander999]

For some reason I never really noticed Hughes and I did a bit of a double take on Cricinfo when they said he is 20. If he keeps this up, he could easily better the likes of Tendulkar, Hayden and Smith. Of course, it is still early days, but I must say I am very impressed with what I have read up on him :cool:

 

[smssia0112]

As I said in the end of dominance thread, this is what happens when the selectors finally take action and pick the guys demanding selection - Hughes is a long term selection and will play for another 10-15 years and North has been Mr. Consistent in the Shield for years now. The sad thing is that if Symonds and Lee hadn't gotten injured, and if Hayden hadn't retired, we'd probably be getting thrashed right now.

 

[leftarmlegspin]

I still believe Lee warrants a place in the side. Nearly 300 Test wickets, bags of experience, and still plenty of pace.

 

[sifter132]

Hopefully Hughes can score quickly tomorrow and reach his double ton. I hear Ponting is going to bat on and declare about an hour into play depending on conditions.

I think declaring when he gets to 150 is more likely. Otherwise, Hughes would probably need a while to get the 68 runs, and our lead would be 600+ by then. Possibly overkill if we are only bowling for 5 sessions. But it would be a good way to ensure we can't lose

I still believe Lee warrants a place in the side. Nearly 300 Test wickets, bags of experience, and still plenty of pace.

I agree. 12 months ago he was our best bowler and Allan Border medal winner. Sure he's had some poor returns in the 4 Tests in India and the one against South Africa in Perth (Melbourne doesn't really count), but I can't see anything that tells me he's lost it. India's a tough place for a quick to do well. Lee took just 8 wickets in that series, but the mighty Mitch Johnson only took 13. Lee took 24 wickets in 4 Tests v India last summer and 18 in 3 Tests v WI in May/June and 12 wickets in 2 Tests v NZ this summer. The man can obviously bowl still.

He's nearly as quick as he was and still fast compared to Joe Average Fast Bowler, he bowls with more control now and even if he's not the main striker, he would be a great support bowler. He's fit and can bowl long spells, he's great in the field and a good #9 and decent #8 with the bat. And he's a great bloke in the dressing rooms. Why would we throw him out?

 

[Slowcoach]

If Hayden is "the greatest opener of all time" according to Aussie Ben, then what does that make Hughes? The next Don Bradman?

Thank god Hughes wasn't left to wilt on the vine and they gave him a chance while he was young, anyone who scores that many runs deserves a chance, another year in shield cricket would have just ended up frustrating him and destroying his motivation and done nothing for his cricketing education.

Smacking crap bowlers around day in day out doesn't teach you anything, England should learn from this and give their young batsmen a chance.

Edit...the thing that impresses me most about Hughes is the way he uses his hands to adjust each stroke at the last moment, sort of like improvising depending on the length and waiting until very late to decide how to play each shot.

 

[aussie_ben91]

As I said in the end of dominance thread, this is what happens when the selectors finally take action and pick the guys demanding selection - Hughes is a long term selection and will play for another 10-15 years and North has been Mr. Consistent in the Shield for years now. The sad thing is that if Symonds and Lee hadn't gotten injured, and if Hayden hadn't retired, we'd probably be getting thrashed right now.

Oh, come on. You wanted Rogers in the side over Hughes.

I didn't think someone would come along so shortly after Hayden's retirement, with the potential to match or even better Hayden. When Hayden was Hughes' age, he hadn't even played a first-class match yet!

Looks like I'm right as usual. About 6 months ago, I called Hughes the best young batsman in the entire world and many scoffed. I also said that Siddle could rip through world class batting lineups and that was scoffed at aswell. I reckon in a few years time, Siddle will be the best bowler in the world and he could potentially match Dale Steyn. So many similarities. I love how Siddle gets fired up after taking a wicket or appealing for LBW.

Hopefully Hughes doesn't turn into another Alastair Cook though.