Commonwealth Bank Series

[The_gas]

Well done England. I didnt think they had it in them. I'd lost all faith. Nice to see Australia losing 2 games on the trot. Long may it continue.

 

[symonds_sixes]

Well done England. I didnt think they had it in them. I'd lost all faith. Nice to see Australia losing 3 games on the trot. Long may it continue.

We lost 2 in a row and 3 out of the last 4.

 

[Sureshot]

You spelt grammer wrong. If you can't write properly then don't point out other peoples errors. I do agree to an extent though.

http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/cha...ry=grammer&title=21st&sourceid=Mozilla-search

Pardon?

I think you'll find it is spelt 'Grammar'

Plunkett in 6 games had a S/R of 24.9! The next best was Jimmy Anderson and McMillan (though he only bowled 22 overs) who had 27.7 and 27.4 respectively.

Jd averaged 13 with the bat and 67 with the ball!

 

[evertonfan]

I must say Irottev, thank you for being gracious. And no, that isn't sarcasm.

South Africa are in my opinion, the best ODI team in the world. They have probably the best new ball pair in Ntini and Pollock, good back up in Nel/Hall/Langevelt, a consistent and destructive wicket-keeper in Boucher and nearly all of their batsmen are natural boundary finders. The only thing they lack is a spinner and a consistent opening partnership.

Australia however, have a very weak bowling line-up at times. Lee seems to be out of form, McGrath is too inconsistent, Bracken is quality, Johnson is just average, Tait is two-length and they only have Hogg who is a decent enough spinner. As for their batting, well just take get rid of Hussey and Ponting cheaply and you have ripped out their spine and you have more or less bowled them out.

Of course i'm willing to be proved wrong on this; It's happened a LOT of times before.

 

[Mars Maximus]

At the moment evertonfan I kinda think you're right! I just hope we aint at the end of our teather so to speak lol

 

[IloveGilly]

Well no doubt Australia aren't so much on the form side at the moment. Quite an imbalanced team and going to NZ could do that again.

 

[Leicester Fox]

Australias first game in the world cup is against Scotland so they have the chance to find form

 

[wolf]

Scotland will strike them when they are down. Come on the Tartan Army!

 

[Mars Maximus]

Scotland will strike them when they are down. Come on the Tartan Army!

I, tis a bonny thing you said lad :laugh

Not!

 

[Leicester Fox]

Oh my god we have a warm up game before the WC starts against the Aussies! there goes our momentum

 

[Sureshot]

We should qualify before we face any recognised teams (ie a test playing nation).

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

Oh my god we have a warm up game before the WC starts against the Aussies! there goes our momentum

Yea , U got Foxy , that time we will make things even , hope we can .

 

[angryangy]

I must say Irottev, thank you for being gracious. And no, that isn't sarcasm.

South Africa are in my opinion, the best ODI team in the world. They have probably the best new ball pair in Ntini and Pollock, good back up in Nel/Hall/Langevelt, a consistent and destructive wicket-keeper in Boucher and nearly all of their batsmen are natural boundary finders. The only thing they lack is a spinner and a consistent opening partnership.

Australia however, have a very weak bowling line-up at times. Lee seems to be out of form, McGrath is too inconsistent, Bracken is quality, Johnson is just average, Tait is two-length and they only have Hogg who is a decent enough spinner. As for their batting, well just take get rid of Hussey and Ponting cheaply and you have ripped out their spine and you have more or less bowled them out.

Of course i'm willing to be proved wrong on this; It's happened a LOT of times before.

From a purely technical perspective I think most of your observations are correct, but also ODI cricket is a tricky customer, where you're often not at all sure how one side won and the other lost. Or indeed, not sure how anything happened at all, such as the final SAF vs AUS last year.

Sometimes I think the best fielding side is inevitably the best team, because you really only bowl as good as your fielders catch and you bat easier knowing you robbed the opponent of a good total.

I think when you say Ponting and Hussey, you need to include Gilchrist, because dropping to 2fer early is what has Clarke out early and exposed, plus the usual belief is that 20 overs of Gilchrist will break a game. Mind you, drop three key figures in any batting order and watch the other four flop about like jellyfish.

But overall, I do agree with you. This current Aus side has a bit of growing to do, while the Proteas are well aged and their best XI is very well determined. I do think the newer players are capable of maintaining Imperium Australis, but there will be questions that need to be answered.

 

[Leicester Fox]

We should qualify before we face any recognised teams (ie a test playing nation).

On the schedule on sky sports news it said we're playing Bermuda and Australia as a warm up on March 9th before we play the actual tournament. I read it here as well:

 

[Sureshot]

Warm up games mean what exactly?