***Official*** South Africa In Australia

[biased indian]

Rather cream you mean. However recently, sponsor's logo has occupied atleast half of the length as evidenced in this photograph

ya sponsors name have been there i agree

but in SCG test they are going to use full PINK colour stumps and bails rite

 

[iamdavid]

Well Katich may be a tactically better captain, and more along the lines of Steve Waugh in temperament, but is that what we really need at the moment?

Waugh was incredibly aggressive and had a team to back him. Ponting has had a lesser team with a lot of debutants and new players. His strength is player management, not on-field tactics, and at the moment, with so many new players I feel that player management is probably the most needed trait in a captain. I'm not sure that Katich has that.

The other problem with picking Katich as captain is that there is no certainty with his place. Should he go through any kind of extended form drought over the next couple of years there may be question marks over his place in the side. With Rogers and Hughes piling on pressure in the domestic comp is Katich's spot a certainty for the next 4 years? I'm not sure.

The other factor that has to be brought into consideration is the form of Ponting. He is a much better batsman when given the responsibility of captaincy. Most batsmen experience a form drop when they get given the mantle. We can almost be assured that Ponting would lose some form if the captaincy was taken away (the whole mental anguish at losing his job + historical statistics for him as a player), while Katich's form would also likely fall away. Leaving us with two batsmen in lesser form, while not necessarily providing us with a significant improvement in captaincy.

If we had have had this argument when Ponting was granted the captaincy people would have been justified in supporting Warne as captain, but circumstances change. In the current circumstances I can see no tangible benefit to changing away from Ponting as captain.

Hmm lots of assumptions and generalisations in there, there is no way we can just assume Ponting's form will drop right off if the captaincy is taken off him, I know him being given responsibility coincided with the start of his hot-streak, but even without the c next to his name he's still a far more mature player now than he was pre 2002 and I don't see why he'd be any less productive with the bat.
And who's to say the captaincy would have a negative effect on Katich, certainly didnt seem to do so last year at NSW?

I'm also not so sure that Ponting's strengths lie in his man-management skills, can recall several instances of him refusing to back a struggling player in the media, and the squabble with Lee didn't really endear him.

At the end of the day though I would be against giving Katich the captaincy, mainly because as you say he isn't guaranteed a longterm place in the side, if he has another mediocre ashes series for instance, then he's gone.
It's pretty knee-jerk of people to be calling for Ponting's sacking already aswell, I've never thought of him as a great tactical captain however there are clearly bigger problems than his leadership hindering the side at the moment. The bowlers are lacking penetration, as we knew they would, plus Hayden and Hussey are both averaging less than 15 this summer which nobody counted on. I think with a blunt attack and two of your best three batsman not contributing at all, any side is going to struggle.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

I assumed you was replying to the post right above yours. Gotta quote.

I did, and then deleted it because, like I said, I cbf.

 

[stephen]

I think with a blunt attack and two of your best three batsman not contributing at all, any side is going to struggle.

BINGO!

Hayden is out of form and has been since the world cup really.
Katich is on fire
Ponting is playing extremely well, though perhaps not quite to the same standard as 3 years ago.
Hussey is out of form
Clarke keeps getting out to stupid shots, but is doing ok
Symonds is a bit hit and miss at the moment, though with his injury we'll be blooding someone new here
Haddin is very hit and miss
Lee is injured and will be replaced by a debutant
Johnson is bowling and batting very well
Hauritz has impressed, though is certaintly still learning his craft and needs pressure up the other end to be effective
Other than one spell Siddle has proven to be ineffective at the top level thus far

So there we have it, out of the last 11 to play test match cricket for Australia you have:
2 form batsmen
2 batsmen who are doing ok (though one is injured and won't play in the next test)
2 out of form batsmen
1 hit and miss keeper-batsman
1 form bowler
1 out of form bowler who is now injured
1 inexperienced fast bowler, who has been ineffective thus far
1 inexperienced spinner who has impressed, but is reliant a bit more on the other bowlers

With 3 form players, 4 players who are merely "ok" at the moment and the rest of the team out of form or ineffective any team will struggle.

The next test will see one of the "ok" batsmen replaced and one of the bowlers replaced, both with debutants. Our batting should still be ok, with our two form batsmen (Katich and Ponting) still there (you have to expect any batting lineup to have 1 out of form batsman at a time anyway - 2 is pushing it but still doable, especially with players of their class).

It is our bowling that I'm very concerned about. Johnson is in very good form with the ball, but is still pretty much new to the test match arena. Yet he is our most experienced bowler that will play. The rest of the bowlers are going to be debutants or have less than 5 tests under their belt. That is my biggest concern at the moment.

The pressure should be on the selectors for not blooding more new bowlers at test match level before now. Why has Noffke and Bollinger not had even a couple of tests in dead rubber/minnow games? Why has Siddle been picked so early and inexperienced and for such an important series?

Siddle's bowling place is guaranteed in the SCG test, which is a shame because he has not deserved it. Bollinger should have been given a run before him and Bracken must be wondering who's butt he didn't kiss to be overlooked for such an obviously green player.

 

[susudear]

Hayden is out of form and has been since the world cup really.

Not really.

Hayden averaged 63 since World Cup till his injury in the Home series against India.

However since then, he's averaged just 22 in 8 tests.

 

[Chimpdaddy]

I completely agree with you analysis on Siddle. He has 1 or 2 good sessions where he bowls 145kph and gets some sideways movement, and that's it! The rest of the time there is nothing. No movement, no real pace, no trouble for the batters.
Surely Bollinger deserves a go with his record this year. Simply amazing. I would like to see Braken get a shot in the test arena. At least he can extract some swing with the ball.

-Chimpdaddy-

 

[Craig]

McGrath bowling in the nets. Make a comeback FFS

 

[inbox24]

Hey guys, guess who I saw today at Subway.

I'd just finished gym at Town Hall and at around 6 walked into the George St Subway and saw what looked like Aussie surfer boys. So I walked in and ordered a foot long pizza, and as they were making it, the guy standing next to me in a blue shirt asked for more salad in this weird accent. I originally thought it was like a New Zealand accent, so I looked at the tall guy standing next to the guy in the blue shirt, and he looked familar. Then it became clear. They were Paul Harris and AB de Villiers. I was pretty shocked. Later Graeme Smith came and after they ordered they ate at this corner table and afterwards they went to see a movie.

Good way to cap off a crappy day.

BTW Smith and Harris ate Hungry Jacks as well, sharing a burger, the same burger lol. I thought cricketers were on strict diets?

 

[iamdavid]

BINGO!

Hayden is out of form and has been since the world cup really.
Katich is on fire
Ponting is playing extremely well, though perhaps not quite to the same standard as 3 years ago.
Hussey is out of form
Clarke keeps getting out to stupid shots, but is doing ok
Symonds is a bit hit and miss at the moment, though with his injury we'll be blooding someone new here
Haddin is very hit and miss
Lee is injured and will be replaced by a debutant
Johnson is bowling and batting very well
Hauritz has impressed, though is certaintly still learning his craft and needs pressure up the other end to be effective
Other than one spell Siddle has proven to be ineffective at the top level thus far

So there we have it, out of the last 11 to play test match cricket for Australia you have:
2 form batsmen
2 batsmen who are doing ok (though one is injured and won't play in the next test)
2 out of form batsmen
1 hit and miss keeper-batsman
1 form bowler
1 out of form bowler who is now injured
1 inexperienced fast bowler, who has been ineffective thus far
1 inexperienced spinner who has impressed, but is reliant a bit more on the other bowlers

With 3 form players, 4 players who are merely "ok" at the moment and the rest of the team out of form or ineffective any team will struggle.

The next test will see one of the "ok" batsmen replaced and one of the bowlers replaced, both with debutants. Our batting should still be ok, with our two form batsmen (Katich and Ponting) still there (you have to expect any batting lineup to have 1 out of form batsman at a time anyway - 2 is pushing it but still doable, especially with players of their class).

It is our bowling that I'm very concerned about. Johnson is in very good form with the ball, but is still pretty much new to the test match arena. Yet he is our most experienced bowler that will play. The rest of the bowlers are going to be debutants or have less than 5 tests under their belt. That is my biggest concern at the moment.

The pressure should be on the selectors for not blooding more new bowlers at test match level before now. Why has Noffke and Bollinger not had even a couple of tests in dead rubber/minnow games? Why has Siddle been picked so early and inexperienced and for such an important series?

Siddle's bowling place is guaranteed in the SCG test, which is a shame because he has not deserved it. Bollinger should have been given a run before him and Bracken must be wondering who's butt he didn't kiss to be overlooked for such an obviously green player.

They obviously saw something pretty special in Siddle and decided he was worthy of fast-tracking, and frankly I don't think they were far wrong.

Remember last summer the guy was the best bowler in the Pura Cup when fit and he was the only one to stand up to NSW on a road in the final, he has excellent control, bowls at great pace hitting the bat very hard and he has a nack of jagging the ball away off the seam which with his other attributes when he gets it right can make him just about unplayable. Plus he was only 23 when first picked, they obviously see him being a big part of our attack in the future and I agree wtih them.

However like you say he is very hot and cold, seems to go from 145kph+ in his opening spells to about 138 later on, which makes him seem far more pedestrian. I think it might be a fitness issue as he is quite young and he's only played what like 15 FC games over a few seasons? If that is the case then I'm sure it will be addressed soon.

 

[pup11]

BINGO!

Hayden is out of form and has been since the world cup really.
Katich is on fire
Ponting is playing extremely well, though perhaps not quite to the same standard as 3 years ago.
Hussey is out of form
Clarke keeps getting out to stupid shots, but is doing ok
Symonds is a bit hit and miss at the moment, though with his injury we'll be blooding someone new here
Haddin is very hit and miss
Lee is injured and will be replaced by a debutant
Johnson is bowling and batting very well
Hauritz has impressed, though is certaintly still learning his craft and needs pressure up the other end to be effective
Other than one spell Siddle has proven to be ineffective at the top level thus far

So there we have it, out of the last 11 to play test match cricket for Australia you have:
2 form batsmen
2 batsmen who are doing ok (though one is injured and won't play in the next test)
2 out of form batsmen
1 hit and miss keeper-batsman
1 form bowler
1 out of form bowler who is now injured
1 inexperienced fast bowler, who has been ineffective thus far
1 inexperienced spinner who has impressed, but is reliant a bit more on the other bowlers

With 3 form players, 4 players who are merely "ok" at the moment and the rest of the team out of form or ineffective any team will struggle.

The next test will see one of the "ok" batsmen replaced and one of the bowlers replaced, both with debutants. Our batting should still be ok, with our two form batsmen (Katich and Ponting) still there (you have to expect any batting lineup to have 1 out of form batsman at a time anyway - 2 is pushing it but still doable, especially with players of their class).

It is our bowling that I'm very concerned about. Johnson is in very good form with the ball, but is still pretty much new to the test match arena. Yet he is our most experienced bowler that will play. The rest of the bowlers are going to be debutants or have less than 5 tests under their belt. That is my biggest concern at the moment.

The pressure should be on the selectors for not blooding more new bowlers at test match level before now. Why has Noffke and Bollinger not had even a couple of tests in dead rubber/minnow games? Why has Siddle been picked so early and inexperienced and for such an important series?

Siddle's bowling place is guaranteed in the SCG test, which is a shame because he has not deserved it. Bollinger should have been given a run before him and Bracken must be wondering who's butt he didn't kiss to be overlooked for such an obviously green player.

Look mate AFAIC this has been a collective failure on part of the selectors, the batting unit and the bowling unit, with a good share of bad luck too involved, likes of Clark and Lee are on the sidelines with injuries and i am hardly surprised because since the retirements of McGrath and Warne, these two have been doing the bulk of the bowling and winning Australia games by carrying the whole bowling unit on there shoulders, its only recently that Johnson has come good, before that it was all Lee and Clark, i think Aussie selectors missed a big trick by not resting Lee or Clark from playing in meaningless ODI games over the period of time and not testing prospective replacements for likes of Lee and Clark in case of an injury, because they would have been insane to think that with the number of games Aussies are playing a few players won't go down to injuries.

The batting too has failed to do its bit, i think given the state of the bowling attack atm the batsmen should have taken added responsibility upon themselves to make sure they can put as many runs on the board as possible to make it that much easier for their inexperienced bowlers, but all of them are batting as if they still have the luxury of having services of bowlers like McGrath and Warne to bail them out of trouble.

The wheels though have truly come off whereas the bowling side of things is concerned, Lee are Clark aren't there, Johnson is the lone ranger atm, and given the way he is being bowled into the ground atm, the threat of a injury looms over him too.

 

[Matt79]

They obviously saw something pretty special in Siddle and decided he was worthy of fast-tracking, and frankly I don't think they were far wrong.

Remember last summer the guy was the best bowler in the Pura Cup when fit and he was the only one to stand up to NSW on a road in the final, he has excellent control, bowls at great pace hitting the bat very hard and he has a nack of jagging the ball away off the seam which with his other attributes when he gets it right can make him just about unplayable. Plus he was only 23 when first picked, they obviously see him being a big part of our attack in the future and I agree wtih them.

However like you say he is very hot and cold, seems to go from 145kph+ in his opening spells to about 138 later on, which makes him seem far more pedestrian. I think it might be a fitness issue as he is quite young and he's only played what like 15 FC games over a few seasons? If that is the case then I'm sure it will be addressed soon.

AWTA.

I think weirdly enough the injuries to Symonds and Lee have the potential to help in the short term if they are actually replaced by players who are currently in form. Lee is better than both Bollinger and Hilfy overall, but probably hasn't been bowling better than them in the last month or so - similarly, if they get someone who will be bowling useful deliveries rather than pus, Symonds being out isn't a bad thing.

Of course they could actually be sensible and say that with Symonds and Watson injured, there isn't an allrounder who merits a spot and select someone like Hodge or D.Hussey - significantly improving our batting while also maintaining a 'back-up' spinner equal to Symonds...

 

[biased indian]

Hey guys, guess who I saw today at Subway.

I'd just finished gym at Town Hall and at around 6 walked into the George St Subway and saw what looked like Aussie surfer boys. So I walked in and ordered a foot long pizza, and as they were making it, the guy standing next to me in a blue shirt asked for more salad in this weird accent. I originally thought it was like a New Zealand accent, so I looked at the tall guy standing next to the guy in the blue shirt, and he looked familar. Then it became clear. They were Paul Harris and AB de Villiers. I was pretty shocked. Later Graeme Smith came and after they ordered they ate at this corner table and afterwards they went to see a movie.

Good way to cap off a crappy day.

BTW Smith and Harris ate Hungry Jacks as well, sharing a burger, the same burger lol. I thought cricketers were on strict diets?

they have game tomorrow rite..and they are going for movie today ???

Edit : the series already won may be they are all relaxing and enjoying SCG

 

[Craig]

they have game tomorrow rite..and they are going for movie today ???

Edit : the series already won may be they are all relaxing and enjoying SCG

It starts on Saturday.

 

[howardj]

Besides the red hair, and a middle name of Barry (both of which render you unmarketable) I don't know about the selection of Andrew MacDonald. It smacks of a bits and pieces selection for mine - averaging 38 with the bat and 30+ with the ball, is not a great recommendation. We'd be mocking England if they picked such a player.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Besides the red hair, and a middle name of Barry (both of which render you unmarketable) I don't know about the selection of Andrew MacDonald. It smacks of a bits and pieces selection for mine - averaging 38 with the bat and 30+ with the ball, is not a great recommendation. We'd be mocking England if they picked such a player.

Andrew Flintoff?

 

[howardj]

Andrew Flintoff?

Freddy always had the raw material though.

From what I've seen, the same cannot be said of Macca.

 

[iamdavid]

Besides the red hair, and a middle name of Barry (both of which render you unmarketable) I don't know about the selection of Andrew MacDonald. It smacks of a bits and pieces selection for mine - averaging 38 with the bat and 30+ with the ball, is not a great recommendation. We'd be mocking England if they picked such a player.

I more or less agree.

I'm sure McDonald won't embarass himself. He's a handy cricketer and mentally I reckon he'll be upto it, he'll be tidy with the ball and could be a pain in the ass for South Africa with the bat. However I don't think he's ever going to run through a side with the ball or win a game with the bat at test level and I don't really see him being in the mix long-term.

This is not the sort of selection we would ever have seen during the Trevor Hohns/Steve Waugh days, picking an allrounder who is quite likely going to be a little bit out of his depth simply for the sake of maintaining balance. I agree with Matt79 that it would've made more sense to recognise that we don't have an allrounder of test quality and pick Dave Hussey instead.

 

[pup11]

I more or less agree.

I'm sure McDonald won't embarass himself. He's a handy cricketer and mentally I reckon he'll be upto it, he'll be tidy with the ball and could be a pain in the ass for South Africa with the bat. However I don't think he's ever going to run through a side with the ball or win a game with the bat at test level and I don't really see him being in the mix long-term.

This is not the sort of selection we would ever have seen during the Trevor Hohns/Steve Waugh days, picking an allrounder who is quite likely going to be a little bit out of his depth simply for the sake of maintaining balance. I agree with Matt79 that it would've made more sense to recognise that we don't have an allrounder of test quality and pick Dave Hussey instead.

Yup Symonds would be back for the 1st test in South Africa so this might be the only test McDonald might play for now, come to think of it two Victorians are gonna be the Aussie test XI, well when was the last time that happened!!

 

[iamdavid]

Yup Symonds would be back for the 1st test in South Africa so this might be the only test McDonald might play for now, come to think of it two Victorians are gonna be the Aussie test XI, well when was the last time that happened!!

2 months ago in Mohali lol

 

[Prince EWS]

Yup Symonds would be back for the 1st test in South Africa so this might be the only test McDonald might play for now, come to think of it two Victorians are gonna be the Aussie test XI, well when was the last time that happened!!

White and Siddle in India.