***Official*** South Africa In Australia

[pasag]

eek

 

[pup11]

I think we can safely say that the careers of Clark and Lee are effectively over, or at least their best days are over.

How dire, in the space of 2 years we lost;

Lee
Warne
Clark
McGrath



I guess if we blood the right new talent, we can still be near the top in about 7-10 years right, because we're transitioning earlier than anyone else (besides NZ).

I think you going a bit OTT here, Lee and Clark still have plenty of cricket left in them, given their bodies don't give up on them, i personally would never rule out Lee, he has been a fighter to the core all his life and i am confident he would come back strongly, as for Clark, his whole game is pretty simple and neither is action too demanding, and he has the ability to pitch the ball int the right areas consistently, so if he still has that zip in his bowling, i can still see him being a handful on any surface for some time to come.

Anyways not having either Clark or Lee in South Africa is going to be huge blow, and really my expectations of an Aussie fightback in the return leg have taken a serious nose-dive after this development.

 

[Johnners]

I think you going a bit OTT here, Lee and Clark still have plenty of cricket left in them, given their bodies don't give up on them, i personally would never rule out Lee, he has been a fighter to the core all his life and i am confident he would come back strongly, as for Clark, his whole game is pretty simple and neither is action too demanding, and he has the ability to pitch the ball int the right areas consistently, so if he still has that zip in his bowling, i can still see him being a handful on any surface for some time to come.

Anyways not having either Clark or Lee in South Africa is going to be huge blow, and really my expectations of an Aussie fightback in the return leg have taken a serious nose-dive after this development.

That is one mega sentence.

 

[Precambrian]

How about you stop chasing around commenting on everything I do, you obsessed little boy?

If Jakester wants to be a journalist, he has to learn about attribution.

Fine, I you so I chase you. Jakester at his age deserves some praise also for his commitment to furthering the art of cricket writing, which "grown ups" hardly do here.

 

[Precambrian]

I think we can safely say that the careers of Clark and Lee are effectively over, or at least their best days are over.

How dire, in the space of 2 years we lost;

Lee
Warne
Clark
McGrath



I guess if we blood the right new talent, we can still be near the top in about 7-10 years right, because we're transitioning earlier than anyone else (besides NZ).

Lee at peak you'd say. Because Lee post 2008 Aussie summer has hardly looked devastating he was for two years before that.

Clark too is a tad overrated in these boards. He had an astounding first year in tests, but has been steadily dropping ranks ever since. I'd prefer Mitch over him at the moment, as well a year back tbh.

McG and Warne, anything about them will be stating the obvious, but one expects such a side to get over their retirements atleast after 2 years.

 

[Top_Cat]

Lee at peak you'd say. Because Lee post 2008 Aussie summer has hardly looked devastating he was for two years before that.

Clark too is a tad overrated in these boards. He had an astounding first year in tests, but has been steadily dropping ranks ever since. I'd prefer Mitch over him at the moment, as well a year back tbh.

McG and Warne, anything about them will be stating the obvious, but one expects such a side to get over their retirements atleast after 2 years.

AWTA. Forgetting his numbers, I don't think he's really been at the top of his game since the last Ashes series.

 

[IndGunner]

Lee at peak you'd say. Because Lee post 2008 Aussie summer has hardly looked devastating he was for two years before that.

Clark too is a tad overrated in these boards. He had an astounding first year in tests, but has been steadily dropping ranks ever since. I'd prefer Mitch over him at the moment, as well a year back tbh.

McG and Warne, anything about them will be stating the obvious, but one expects such a side to get over their retirements atleast after 2 years.

Really? I dont think you can trully get over players of Warne and Mcgraths calibre in two years i seriously doubt there will be another player to warnes standard in the next 10 years even, Maybe mcgraths boots can be filled but at the moment the only likely candidate has been Clark. what about Bracken why doesnt he get a shot in the tests?

 

[social]

Clark out is massive for the return series. I really think a fit Clark could have turned this series on it's head and had hoped to see him play in SA.

Hopefully Clark can get right for the Ashes.

Where is Siddle at with his injury?[/QUOTE]

You can almost guarantee that he wont be fit

In a further blow, my wife refuses to let my 3 year old son (who is a pretty mean leftie with his plastic golf ball) join the tour squad as she fears CA will cripple him as well

 

[Burgey]

Clark out is massive for the return series. I really think a fit Clark could have turned this series on it's head and had hoped to see him play in SA.

Hopefully Clark can get right for the Ashes.

Where is Siddle at with his injury?[/QUOTE]

You can almost guarantee that he wont be fit

In a further blow, my wife refuses to let my 3 year old son (who is a pretty mean leftie with his plastic golf ball) join the tour squad as she fears CA will cripple him as well

I've ruled my 7 year old out for the same reason.

I'd love to replay the 3 tests just gone, with the same Australian attack in all three but Lee fit when he was there and each of the other bowlers with between another 20-30 tests under their belts. Reckon they'd have kicked on and won.

Suppose we just have to wait and see how they develop. What is Siddle's injury out of interest?

 

[pup11]

Where is Siddle at with his injury?

Pretty unlikely that Siddle would be fit for the South African tour, stress fractures aren't easy to overcome in such a short period of time and even if he does it, he would be pretty undone by lack of any real match practice leading into the test series.

 

[Precambrian]

Really? I dont think you can trully get over players of Warne and Mcgraths calibre in two years i seriously doubt there will be another player to warnes standard in the next 10 years even, Maybe mcgraths boots can be filled but at the moment the only likely candidate has been Clark. what about Bracken why doesnt he get a shot in the tests?

Their quality is not replaceable in the short term.

But if you really are a champion side, then you should not be dependent on just 2 players. Or should be able to fill their ranks to some degree by compensating in other areas, in a matter of 2 years.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Geez, Clark is a huge loss. Australia go from a reasonable shot in SA to major underdogs with his injury.

Career definitely isn't "over" though. Seems like a fairly minor setback and he could still be playing FC cricket within a month.

 

[stephen]

So with Clark, Lee and Siddle out, our fast bowling squad for SA must be between:

Johnson
Noffke
Bracken
Hilfenhaus
Bollinger

Given that Bracken isn't going to get a go due to the selectors beliefs about him, I'd say that he'll be the unlucky one to be left behind.

It'll then be up for grabs between these four and McGain for the four bowling positions IMO.

 

[social]

Their quality is not replaceable in the short term.

But if you really are a champion side, then you should not be dependent on just 2 players. Or should be able to fill their ranks to some degree by compensating in other areas, in a matter of 2 years.

As long as their potential replacements are actually available

Australia's biggest problem is not the retirement of Warne and McGrath - it's the fact that potentially half of the side (or more) is injured

 

[Precambrian]

As long as their potential replacements are actually available

Australia's biggest problem is not the retirement of Warne and McGrath - it's the fact that potentially half of the side (or more) is injured

Exactly. To harp about retirements in these two players retirement again and again, is just a weak excuse. The real problem is that Australia have struggled to put up a bowling attack that is atleast half as decent as the two legends. Injuries and bad form are the culprits, but one wonder whether Australia can be called the team possessing the best bench strength in the world anymore.

 

[social]

Exactly. To harp about retirements in these two players retirement again and again, is just a weak excuse. The real problem is that Australia have struggled to put up a bowling attack that is atleast half as decent as the two legends. Injuries and bad form are the culprits, but one wonder whether Australia can be called the team possessing the best bench strength in the world anymore.

The problem is that we've gone through the bench and we're now working on the second row!

 

[Top_Cat]

The problem is that we've gone through the bench and we're now working on the second row!

Yeah that's it, we're stretching it a bit now. Three seasons ago, the current attack, even in the form they are now, were all 3rd tier behind McGrath, Gillespie, Lee, Kasper, Bichel, etc.

 

[vic_orthdox]

Pretty unlikely that Siddle would be fit for the South African tour, stress fractures aren't easy to overcome in such a short period of time and even if he does it, he would be pretty undone by lack of any real match practice leading into the test series.

Pretty sure that they were "hot spots" rather than stress fractures (i.e. a stress fracture in the very early development). In the foot, from memory.

 

[Jakester1288]

Bring back warnie!

 

[pup11]

The problem is that we've gone through the bench and we're now working on the second row!

Yeah pretty close to reaching the last bench now in terms of the fast bowling stocks..

I think its all good to say that earlier Aussie players use to come in fresh from domestic cricket and start performing from the word go, but a lot has changed now, the newer players don't have the cushion of having all these greats around, who use to probably ease the workload or level of expectations off the backs of these blokes, but the new blokes who are coming through the ranks now, really don't have the luxury anymore, so they would take time to find their feet in international cricket, something that the selectors need to understanding too, they still seem to be stuck in the golden era, with their ruthless selection policies.

A new breed of world-beaters won't be complied overnight and you have gotta to give talented players some time to really come of age, likes of Steyn and Johnson are pretty good examples of this, they looked pretty average at first, but they were persisted with and now the result is there for everyone to see.