South Africa in Australia Nov-Dec 2012/13

[War]

Well before this series we all knew that AUS batting had to stand up if they want possibly win this series, because the pace attack had the ability to keep S Africa's batting in check.

The batting did step up & it was great to see Cowan get that hundred cause i'm sure many people were still sceptical about him.

Hopefully Watson is fit to play as an all-rounder in the next test now.

For South Africa, well i guess their much vaunted bowling attack just had one of those unusually bad days. As i think cricinfo highlighted this was first time a team had scored so heavily vs them since Sanga/Jayawardene in 2006. Coincidentally the last time they lost a test series.

However i had suspected before the series, that Klienvelt could be another quota-ish selection & my concerns were confirmed. Chris Morris who impressed in the t20 champions league & who has been bowling excellently in domestic cricket would have been a better fourth seamer replacement for the injured M De Lange.

 

[Left_Hander]

Assuming Watson is fit to play the next match, who would you drop from the team?

 

[War]

Obviously Quiney would have to go if Watson is fit.

Another point about the Gabba pitch and well i was a bit disappointed about how it has been playing in the last 3 seasons in tests. This is second test in 3 years following the ashes 2010 tests, where the surface really played like a sub-continent road for large periods of the game.

Having watched tests @ the gabba since the 1998 ashes & build a reputation of being one of the most balanced wickets in world cricket, this needs to addressed.

 

[mrtwisties]

I read an interesting paper on "pitch science" the other day.

1. Moisture. Basically, as pitches dry out they become markedly faster and bouncier (no surprises there). Once the pitch reaches a certain point of dryness the bounce becomes variable (nothing to do with cracks/compression, just dryness). Shortly thereafter the pitch reaches a point of dryness where the ball starts breaking through the surface and it loses almost all of its bounce/pace.

2. Compression. The greater the initial compression, the greater the pace/bounce, and as the pitch is further compressed through usage there's a further increase. But it's pretty minor compared to the effects from drying out.

Based on this, I think the Gabba pitch probably lacked sufficient compression in the first place (it was tricky early on, but only with the new ball) and probably could have done with a little more grass for the seamers. But the *real* problem lay with the rain on day two, which not only prevented wear and tear (ie compression) but more importantly re-moistened the pitch. If not for that, I think we would have had a *very* interesting days three-to-five.

 

[Griffo]

Australia has to be confident heading into the next test with the addition of Watson, the only problem is we all know what Adelaide is like and it will most likely be another draw heading into a test in Perth for the decider where South Africa will have a bigger advantage due to the nature of the deck if they don't fall into the trap of bowling short.

 

[Sedition]

We're always confident But yeah, will be great to have Watson back. Shame for Quiney not even getting a second innings dig, will be kicking himself for falling so cheaply on that deck.

 

[sifter132]

First chance I am getting to look at our attack, Siddle really has dropped in pace but hes bowling really well especially right now.

I loved Siddle's length in that 2nd innings - always seemed to be on the money. Occasionally he dragged one short, but for the most part I was quite happy. Hilfenhaus too had a good, sustained spell in the middle session where he was on a good length as well. That day 5 bowling effort was pretty good from Aussies. Possibly saved the spot of both those guys too as Starc would have been a hot favourite for a spot after the criticism of the Aussie bowling in the first innings.

As for speeds, they were down the whole match. I'd guess Pattinson and Morkel were the only ones to average around 140 - maybe the averages weren't even that high. We'll see what the gun at Adelaide says.

Looking forward to the next Test, will be good to see SA with an extra man and see how Tahir goes at Adelaide too.

And just on Watson: Watson's selection may hinge on whether he can bowl...South Africa in Australia, 2012-13 : Shane Watson surplus to series unless he can bowl | Cricket News | Australia v South Africa | ESPN Cricinfo I HATE this, and I've said it before. He's your #3 batsman normally, and now they're saying he may not be a good enough batsmen to be picked on his batting alone Yep we picked this #3 for his part time bowling

 

[angryangy]

We're always confident But yeah, will be great to have Watson back. Shame for Quiney not even getting a second innings dig, will be kicking himself for falling so cheaply on that deck.

I don't think he can beat himself up too much. The weight of evidence says that no matter how you think you're going to bat, whether you're a veteran or a debutante, you're going to cough up a cheap score most of the time. Graeme Smith made 10 and 23 without batting recklessly.

I mean we like to take meaning from an innings and suggest that a player who makes a big score did it for a reason, but it doesn't necessarily work that way. A lot of very determined people still end up very out. All things considered, Quiney needed to thump the ball around, attempt to make a bold impression. He's not going to weaken his chances of playing again just because of one innings, but, for example, we're all going to forget how Smith played pretty soon. An exciting innings would have been useful. The risk was there to be taken.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

South Africa in Australia, 2012-13 : Shane Watson surplus to series unless he can bowl | Cricket News | Australia v South Africa | ESPN Cricinfo

I don't get Australia's logic. Watson's not getting picked cause he can't bowl a lot. So instead of picking him as a batsman who can bowl a little, they drop him and pick a batsman who can't bowl at all? How does that make sense?

 

[War]

It doesn't make sense. South Africa for example has used Kallis as a pure batsman when @ times he couldn't bowl, so AUS logic here is very faulty on Watson currently.

 

[mrtwisties]

It makes sense to me. In Adelaide you'll need lots of high quality overs to get South Africa out, so you should be picking either five bowlers or four + a bowling all-rounder (which Watto more or less is, averaging 26 with the red ball since coming back into the side in '09). Obviously Quiney doesn't make too much sense either, but I don't mind talk of Henriques or what about - a bit left field, this - replacing Hilfenhaus and Quiney with Starc and Johnson? Two left armers would create some nice rough for Lyon, and their combined first class batting production of 45 is not far short of 48 for Quiney and Hilfenhaus. On a flat deck like Adelaide it just might work.

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Of course, none of the above precludes you also picking Watson over Warner or Cowan or Ponting, if you think that's an improvement. I'm not sure it is, though, just because of the century conversion issue.

 

[War]

Well yes, Adelaide is one wicket, where you can certainly do with 5-bowlers - but its not imperative although its a traditional batting paradise. England's well oiled 4-man attack beat australia @ adelaide in 2010 lets not forget. AUS 4-man attack is is solid state @ the moment & could be enough to take 20 proteas wickets even @ adelaide.

So if Watto is only fit enough to bat, he really should play.

Very puzzled why Mitchell Johnson's name is seriously being mentioned here as test candidate.

 

[mrtwisties]

I was a bit surprised when his name cropped up, too - but since I do want to see Graeme Smith coming out to bat wearing his extra-extra-padded gloves I'm willing to roll with it

Seriously, though - if we'd had a wicket-taker in place of Quiney's overs, we'd probably have won at the Gabba.

 

[angryangy]

I think the lost day is the main thing. It was like the 8th longest Gabba Test by overs bowled in 20 years. Not an interesting stat! So the games certainly do go into the 5th day and high scoring is a prevailing feature of the ground; it's just that usually only one team does all the scoring. The real difference is that this game was a contest. It was the first Gabba Test played by South Africa in about 50 years; it probably also shows one of the reasons why.

 

[War]

South Africa in Australia, 2012-13 : AB de Villiers' wicketkeeping questioned | Cricket News | Australia v South Africa | ESPN Cricinfo

Ha i'm starting to get a feeling that crinfo's miss Moonda is pushing a case for Tsolekie to be selected. Every other south africa related article is always throwing in a line/statement as to why he is S Africa's best pure glovesman.