South Africa in Australia Dec 2008-Jan 2009

[smssia0112]

No way to Bracken, he's clearly not good enough at test level and he's not even in good form. He failed to take a single wicket in a Shield game against South Australia. I thought Siddle was good and deserves another match, he worked hard and was unlucky quite a few times. He was definitely not our worst bowler (Lee).

I'd like to see Symonds out for either Watson or Noffke, we need a better 5th bowling option because 4 aren't taking enough wickets. Then Hayden out for Rogers (or even Hughes or Klinger), and I'd love to see Lee out but it won't happen.

The MCG was hard to score on in the last couple of domestic matches I attended, the pace bowlers will do on it.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

No way to Bracken, he's clearly not good enough at test level and he's not even in good form. He failed to take a single wicket in a Shield game against South Australia. I thought Siddle was good and deserves another match, he worked hard and was unlucky quite a few times. He was definitely not our worst bowler (Lee).

I'd like to see Symonds out for either Watson or Noffke, we need a better 5th bowling option because 4 aren't taking enough wickets.

What about Krejza ? Lee is definately not our worst bowler atm.

Roy is doing good while batting. We should take out Krejza and put Watto in.

 

[ajdude]

What about Krejza ? Lee is definately not our worst bowler atm.

Roy is doing good while batting. We should take out Krejza and put Watto in.

Did you not see Nagpur? The pitch at the WACA never gets much turn, so I don't see why he's our worst.

And what has Symonds done, make 57? Whoa! Watson made a 78 in India, give him another go.

 

[surendar]

Both our batting and bowling were poor, no need to point the finger at either. Without Johnson, we would have been absolutely smashed.

Nothing was poor from Aussies.. Setting a total of 400+ is not a poor thing.. And getting the opponent all out for 280+ is neither a poor thing.

The thing is, both the teams gave their hearts out to win the game. Though Villiers, Kallis and Dummni executed their plan very well, Yesterday's Smith century was the key that laid the platform for victory.

We are still NO 1. We have great bowlers. Just need to get rid of this Krejza. 1 win and will once again abck in our usual track. Tbh we will win our Boxing day test match.

Whatever team you support doesnt matter.. but make sure to speak sense.:

I wonder how chameleon natured people are.. Same Krejza was placed in everyone's head when he outsmarted against Indians.. now the same people talking some crap.. Ups and downs are common in cricket.. And especially for a newly introduced player, it takes sometime to learn from their mistakes and gain experience from them.

 

[karnog]

What's wrong with raising Brad Haddin to number 6? He's shown good temperament and has learnt from the Indian experience to give each delivery its due return. Before he seemed a little brainless but he's raised a whole new level. His keeping isn't too bad (still a few things to be rectified) and i think the responsibilty at 6 would make him a better batter. Maybe Hayden should go down the order just to gain some confidence. It did wonders with Sehwag and Strauss. As for Bracken i like him and he brings a lot of variety which Lee at the moment doesn't have. Siddle did ok and i like him but he's too young. He risks injury playing at such a young age with such little domestic experience. Would be a shame if he gets injured- looks to me like he puts too much pressure on his back.

 

[simran3]

Aussies are suffering because of the following reasons

Brad Haddin-has talent but not the temperament to at the test level. He is going to cost Australia over a long period of time.

Brett Lee- He has lost pace and is not that effective as he hardly moves the ball.

Rick Pointing- The worst Captain of Australia ever in my opinion. He is not being able to motivate players to play at the optimum level. Also his strategy in test matches is well not effective.

Matt Hayden- Well he is suffering from the same symptoms as Dravid was very recently till he made a hundred. His failures at the top of the order are definitely a major factor in the decline of Australia and Ricky Pointings batting form.

Andrew Symonds- His best is behind him, i don't see him as a effective option as he is suffering from mental stress and has hardly done anything to deserve a place in the Aussie team.

The people who i feel that are actually worth keeping in the team:-

Peter Siddle, this guy has very good potential as he has genuine pace. He should be guided in the right direction. He reminds me on McDermott .

Krejza- I know , you guys are going bite my head over this one. I feel he wasant used in the right way by Pointing . He is a newcomer and he was made to ball as if he was Shane the magician Warne. He has really good flight and talent. Even Warne was slaughtered by the Indians intially.

Michal Hussy- He is by far the best player in the team. He has a good head for situations, and is actually one of those player the opposing team wants to get out, as fast as possible. He helps to bring about a feeling of confidence, when he is out there.

Aussies are definitely in a slump, but i am sure they will be very competitive in a year or so.

 

[karnog]

Except for Brad Haddin i quite agree. People have been to hard on Krejza who i thought bowled quite well despite being outshined by Harris.

 

[Yogy]

Amazing performance by South Africa. They were looking down the barrel all through the match but they picked up just when it mattered the most, very much like it happened in the first test between India and England. Smith did what Virender Sehwag did for India, although Smith batted a lot more patiently, but he set the ball rolling for the rest to follow. He got great support from the likes of Amla and Kallis. Then de Villiers took over and alongwith Duminy scripted a famous win. Australia have a lot to do in the next game.

 

[angryangy]

Haddin just looks like a guy who has batted at 4 or 5 all through his career. His confidence in the tail is not where it needs to be; let's face it, it is currently a pretty skilful tail-end and even Siddle was worth rotating the strike to in those conditions.

 

[aussie1st]

Biggest worry with Watson is can he perform with the bat. 30 odd aren't enough from a number 6 and I highly doubt his bowling can make up for the lack of runs. We need 70+ from our number 6 on a consistent basis. It was the base from which McGrath and Warne could work their magic. I won't say no to giving Watson a try but if he doesn't perform with the bat then we have no choice but to get a specialist.

Lee won't get dropped but as I've said he just isn't the same anymore. Bollinger looks to be back to his best so perfect time for him to get a go.

 

[Mr.Cricket]

I feel like crying:crying How could we lose that game ? This is just not right. But Saffers batted well though , all credits to them , what a gutsy win. 3 of our top 4 batsmen did nothing with the bat and 3 of our top bowlers took 3 wickets between them for the whole match. If wasn't for Mitch Johnson and some good lower order batting this wouldve been a thrashing.

'Such is life' I guess. Its still 1-0 and we have a chance to square the series in Melbourne. I am sure the boys will be fired up for that. Our bowling is a massive worry though. I am even starting to agree with 'aussie1st' about the need for a swing bowler. We had no variety in the attack. Maybe someone like Hilfy or Bollinger should get a crack or play Watson/Noffke at 6 or move Haddin to 6 to play an extra bowler.......we just gotta do something becuase this clearly is not working.

Btw well done to Mitch Johnson. Bowled his guts out all match , champion effort. Hopefully this match is the start of a special career. Onya Mitchy!!!

 

[mattfb]

No way to Bracken, he's clearly not good enough at test level and he's not even in good form. He failed to take a single wicket in a Shield game against South Australia. I thought Siddle was good and deserves another match, he worked hard and was unlucky quite a few times. He was definitely not our worst bowler (Lee).

I'd like to see Symonds out for either Watson or Noffke, we need a better 5th bowling option because 4 aren't taking enough wickets. Then Hayden out for Rogers (or even Hughes or Klinger), and I'd love to see Lee out but it won't happen.

The MCG was hard to score on in the last couple of domestic matches I attended, the pace bowlers will do on it.

Symonds out, Noffke in.

What about Krejza ? Lee is definately not our worst bowler atm.

Roy is doing good while batting. We should take out Krejza and put Watto in.

No way to Watto. Noffke was the highest wicket taker last year in fc and in the top 10 run scorers, where as Watson was really low in both and averaging a lot less in batting and a lot more in bowling then Noffke.

 

[Valaskjalf]

wow do i feel like a complete plonker for being such a pessimistic and unpatriotic douche over the last few days!!

Man am I proud of my team! I think we finally and fully buried the ghosts of the past and we certainly have come a long way over the past year - this time it wasnt just babble from Smith but we actually seem to have worked through our problems with australia. In the end it just shows how great McGrath and Warne really were and the great mental damage they caused to our team.

And it also shows that Ponting isnt as a great a captain as we all thought - its always nice for a captain to have 2 world-beaters in his team, really makes those wins look easy. But without them Australia look seriously vulnerable. Yet they still were no push-overs - they never are.

SA positives

Im overjoyed at AB's performance! This innings is going to transform him as a player and will do LOADS for us as a team and a nation.

Hats off to Duminy as well, he had massive boots to fill with Prince out of the side. Apart from Smith I think Prince was the player we could least afford to lose to injury as he's been our rock for the past year or more. But I think Duminy has finally arrived - exceptional talent he's shown in the domestic scene and finally he's done his place in the side justice. Im absolutely stoked for him to come in on his debut in a situation where many experienced players would have lost their heads under pressure.

Our top 6 has been very impressive and Kallis is finally finding some form. Not too worried about McKenzie though, hes a class player and has proven that eversince he's made his return to the side - Im sure he will put things right in Melbourne. Proof is in the pudding with so many of our top 6 being high up on the list of best run-getters for 2008. Smith and Amla fantastic as well, the captain might have made some dodgy decisions with his bowling changes / field settings but he lead from the front as always with stellar batting!

SA negatives

We could have killed Australia off within the first day and we should have. We urgently need to work on our "death" bowling and finishing off innings. We need some aggression from Steyn/Morkel when they bowl to the lower order - having the opposition scoring so freely when they're 7 down is a big worry.

Australia positives

Not too much here....One obvious positive for them is that you can never discount them. They always turn the game on it's head when they fall behind - something theyve always done.

Mitchell Johnson is amazing! I never rated this guy really and didnt think he would be a factor in this series but his variation / line / length is impecable for the most part.

The rearguard fightback from Australia is very impressive, Haddin especially looks very good - first time Ive seen him play and hes class!

Australia Negatives

Obviously not as threatening as they used to be and the fact that Johnson took 11 of the 14 SA wickets should be a MASSIVE worry for Ponting. If he gets injured during the course of this test Australia are SCREWED - the rest of the Aussie bowlers took 3/536 @ 3.85rpo, which is pretty unheard of from an Australian point of view, with Lee being fairly unimpressive to be honest even though he probably bowled better than his figures suggest.

The loss of Stuart Clarke a huge setback, but Im not sure about his injury status and whether he will be fit for the next game or not - if not then Aus have a big problem on their hands with their relatively sterile bowling line-up.

Finally, the top 6 was probably the big difference in this game. Good scores from Katich and Clarke (Katich reminds me a LOT of Gary Kirsten - horrible to watch but very dependable) - All class players at the top so probably wouldnt do something drastic if i was Australian, players like Ponting, Hussey and Hayden are bound to come good sooner rather than later.

Overall

Again, hats off to Smith and the resilience of the young guys, AB and JP - the most excited Ive been about our cricket since the magical 438 game, will try my best to sort out my personal skepticism from now on - looks like the boys truly regained their self-belief so who am I to question that?

 

[mdoggie]

My autopsy of the game.

Australia
Top order- They failed in both innings, only katich got a good 50, but Ponting, Hussy and Hayden were poor. Maybe Hayden should take some time off and build up his confidence while playing some domestic cricket (just a few matches before the away series to SA).

Middle order- Clarke was good but he got out to a stupid stroke in the first innings. Symonds gave more of a flash in the pan innings which never looked like he could convert it. Haddin played well in the second innings but he played like it was an ODI and not a test, and that could bite him in the back later on.

The wagging tail-They frustrated the hell out of South Africa and saved teh Aussie blushes. Krejza and Johnson did well but they shouldn't bare the batting responsibility.

Bowling- Other then Johnson, no one looked very threatening, Lee was looking good for a bit but overall did nothing special. Siddle was average at best with some good line at a decent pace. Krejza turned the ball quite a lot but didn't seem to have any variation, but Ponting didn't set very digressive fields for him.

South Africa
Top order and middle order- The whole team bar Neil at least 50. Smith was class batting with a problem elbow chipping in both times including a wonderful 100. Amla looked good at times and was great in the first innings,lifting the team. Kallis Was solid as ever and look that he has gotten some form back. Ab was magnificent, his hundred was well played and got out to a good one by Johnson in the first. Duminy will unlikely to lose his place after his 50 which showed his fines and his temperament. The tail collapse to easily and they will need to work on their batting.

Bowling- Ntini was good, showed that he still has it, he bowled tidily adn will know he will be key for the boxing day test. Steyn did OK but didn't look destructive, he bowled online but he didn't do anything special. Morkel was good at time but lacked consistency, probably the weak link of the four front line bowlers. Harris bowled neatly and got some key wickets, his ball to Ponting was brilliant. He did get a but of punishment for Haddin but was good against the rest. Kallis bowled well in the second innings and showed his bowling can still threaten.

Overall it was a tight game but the poor Aussie Top order and disappointing back up to Johnson was what won it for South Africa.


I'm bored

 

[angryangy]

In terms of Krejza's field placements, I don't think anyone would want to see them more aggressive. He doesn't bowl ball after ball on the spot, there's no way he can compel the batsmen to play to a tight field. What was hurting was that they encouraged the batsmen to hit with the spin for ones and twos. The right handers needed to be encouraged more to drive straight or through the covers.