***Official*** Australia in South Africa

[mikeW]

Mcdonald at 3.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Mcdonald at 3.

Haddin IMO.

 

[Something_Fishy]

If the Aussies bowl like this against us at the Wanderers... O gatta patata.

 

[iamdavid]

I reckon both McGain and McDonald will miss out at Jo'burg, however I expect McGain to come in for the remaining two tests.

 

[Briony]

I reckon both McGain and McDonald will miss out at Jo'burg, however I expect McGain to come in for the remaining two tests.

Cape Town is meant to be conducive to spin. The President's team is not so hot after all.

 

[Nate]

Gotta laugh at the reactionary comments by the vast majority of posters in this thread. Nice to see the same trusted heads staying sensible.

North with six - fantastic. Hopefully someone other than me might start to rate his bowling now.

 

[Prince EWS]

Gotta laugh at the reactionary comments by the vast majority of posters in this thread. Nice to see the same trusted heads staying sensible.

North with six - fantastic. Hopefully someone other than me might start to rate his bowling now.

*cough*

I actually made a longer post about his bowling a while back but the dire new search function won't find it for me.

 

[Uppercut]

Gotta laugh at the reactionary comments by the vast majority of posters in this thread. Nice to see the same trusted heads staying sensible.

North with six - fantastic. Hopefully someone other than me might start to rate his bowling now.

Actually the XI just went on a declaration charge cause they wanted to make a game of it. North was in the right place at the right time, and Australia are still poor. Check out the cricinfo commentary on his wickets:

22.2 McGain to Petersen, FOUR, another beautiful cover drive.
22.3 McGain to Petersen, OUT, Gone, missed this time and hits middle.
AN Petersen b North 36 (73m 49b 8x4 0x6) SR: 73.46

36.1 North to Wiese, OUT, attempts to go over the top. Hauls out at mid-off.
D Wiese c Bollinger b North 18 (25m 17b 4x4 0x6) SR: 105.88

36.4 North to van der Merwe, OUT
RE van der Merwe c Johnson b North 1 (1m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
36.5 North to Imran Tahir, SIX, first ball goes over the top.

38.4 North to Imran Tahir, SIX, huge one into the stands
38.5 North to Imran Tahir, OUT, Hauls out at midwicket.
Imran Tahir c sub (MEK Hussey) b North 16 (8m 8b 1x4 2x6) SR: 200.00

40.6 North to Kuhn, OUT, hauls out at deep mid-wicket.
HG Kuhn c sub (MEK Hussey) b North 47 (75m 57b 8x4 0x6) SR: 82.45

I'm afraid you Aussies may be overreacting in the opposite way this time

 

[Nate]

*cough*

I actually made a longer post about his bowling a while back but the dire new search function won't find it for me.

That's not a huge wrap.

Haha, likewise I tried to find some posts of mine on North, but the search function the first few times said I'd never even mentioned him in a post. (Y)

Actually the XI just went on a declaration charge cause they wanted to make a game of it. North was in the right place at the right time, and Australia are still poor. Check out the cricinfo commentary on his wickets:

22.2 McGain to Petersen, FOUR, another beautiful cover drive.
22.3 McGain to Petersen, OUT, Gone, missed this time and hits middle.
AN Petersen b North 36 (73m 49b 8x4 0x6) SR: 73.46

36.1 North to Wiese, OUT, attempts to go over the top. Hauls out at mid-off.
D Wiese c Bollinger b North 18 (25m 17b 4x4 0x6) SR: 105.88

36.4 North to van der Merwe, OUT
RE van der Merwe c Johnson b North 1 (1m 2b 0x4 0x6) SR: 50.00
36.5 North to Imran Tahir, SIX, first ball goes over the top.

38.4 North to Imran Tahir, SIX, huge one into the stands
38.5 North to Imran Tahir, OUT, Hauls out at midwicket.
Imran Tahir c sub (MEK Hussey) b North 16 (8m 8b 1x4 2x6) SR: 200.00

40.6 North to Kuhn, OUT, hauls out at deep mid-wicket.
HG Kuhn c sub (MEK Hussey) b North 47 (75m 57b 8x4 0x6) SR: 82.45

I'm afraid you Aussies may be overreacting in the opposite way this time

Marcus North is one of my favourite players and I think he's the best option at six for Australia, partly because he has useful offies which are very hard to get away. I said 'fantastic'. How is that over-reacting? Pretty much no-one rates his bowling on this forum, so regardless of when they came, it proves he has the ability to bowl well.

 

[Prince EWS]

That's not a huge wrap.

Yeah I know but it was the closest I could find with the search function.

 

[Uppercut]

Marcus North is one of my favourite players and I think he's the best option at six for Australia, partly because he has useful offies which are very hard to get away. I said 'fantastic'. How is that over-reacting? Regardless of when they came, it proves he has the ability to bowl well.

Not you specifically, and he may well be the best option, just it does very little for his case to play tests that he's a good option when the opposition decide to hit out wildly when setting a target.

 

[Nate]

Not you specifically, and he may well be the best option, just it does very little for his case to play tests that he's a good option when the opposition decide to hit out wildly when setting a target.

See, I think it helps prove how valuable he is. Australia have struggled this summer in containing the opposition to any degree at all. Playing North gives us an extra option to keep things tight and if South Africa want to smash him round, I just don't think it'll happen.

Understand what you mean though.

 

[stephen]

Hmmm

Seems a number of our players are coming down with very mild injuries just after milestones.

Still, very happy to see North in some form with the bat and ball.

 

[Hoggy31]

Johnson to get robbed of a ton by time here.

 

[pasag]

Smitteh says:
*doubt katman will bat, doesnt need the practice
*northy might open I reckon
zeg says:
*johnson IMO

I'm gunski's.

Not far off

 

[Hoggy31]

Johnson to get robbed of a ton by time here.

or not.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Hmmm

Seems a number of our players are coming down with very mild injuries just after milestones.

Still, very happy to see North in some form with the bat and ball.

They're not being retired hurt, it's just the way the cricinfo displays it.

Sheesh.

 

[pup11]

I think this game could have pretty much ensured a spot in the XI for North in the first test, 50's in both the innings, and six wickets to go with it, if he doesn't get picked after that, then he should consider himself very unlucky.

All in all, this game proved to be a very good workout for the Aussie boys, almost every batsman made some runs and spent some time out there in the middle, and the bowlers too seemed to have gotten themselves into better rhythm as the game progressed.

Obviously Clarke' availability is still a worry, and has it been revealed why McGain and Siddle didn't bowl in the 2nd innings, because it makes no sense for them not to bowl and get some valuable practice under the belt, unless of course they are struggling with an injury or something

EDIT: Never mind... just read about it.

 

[pup11]

They're not being retired hurt, it's just the way the cricinfo displays it.

Sheesh.

Haha, people should have worked that out by now, anyways ****info also needs to learn, its "retired out" and not "retired hurt".

 

[Uppercut]

Haha, people should have worked that out by now, anyways ****info also needs to learn, its "retired out" and not "retired hurt".

Is it cricinfo? I thought they were just retiring hurt as opposed to out in order to protect their averages.