***Official*** Australia in South Africa

[BoyBrumby]

Marsh chops Botha on trying to cut. Eeeuuww. Final proof of the non-existence of god.

 

[SamSawnoff]

Problem is, can't afford to bowl out Morkel or Tsotsobe now though. I'd give Duminy a few. He's probably just as good as the other two spinners these days anyway.

He's good and he doesn't look as revolting as Botha. Oh Shaun

 

[Furball]

Creamy back foot cover drive from Marsh. Chap has a definite touch of class about him.

Plus Botha going for runs brings cheer to the heart of every right thinking cricket fan.

Botha is the one bowler I'd love to see get smashed everytime he plays. Worst action ever and he's diabolical to watch.

 

[Howe_zat]

Australia meandering along towards making a game of it again. Weird. Shouldn't have even been in the question with two overs remaining, but 14 to get from 12 could go very wrong very quickly for them with a couple of wickets.

And just as I post that, a maximum to basically finish it. But I'm pretty sure I still had a point.

 

[Jayzamann]

Much closer than need be, tbh

 

[grecian]

I've probably said it 5000 times before, but I just don't get Steven Smith.

Edit: well that was inevitable, still think he's not deserving of an international place.

 

[Furball]

I've probably said it 5000 times before, but I just don't get Steven Smith.

Edit: well that was inevitable, still think he's not deserving of an international place.

He'll get absolutely ruined playing constant limited overs cricket when what he needs is regular Shield cricket in order to define himself in the longest form of the game. His batting thus far is more potential than results but I reckon he'll be an extremely handy cricketer for Australia in limited overs; I'm quite suprised he didn't bowl today because I think he's an excellent T20 bowler.

 

[Howe_zat]

Really? Smith has never impressed me with the ball in any format. I agree that he has potential with the bat, though. I think his temperament and fielding skills should make him into a good limited overs batsman, and maybe in few years a decent Test batsman, but he isn't quite good enough right now to make an international top six.

 

[Furball]

Really? Smith has never impressed me with the ball in any format. I agree that he has potential with the bat, though. I think his temperament and fielding skills should make him into a good limited overs batsman, and maybe in few years a decent Test batsman, but he isn't quite good enough right now to make an international top six.

He did very well with the ball in the last World Cup.

 

[Howe_zat]

Well we'll just have to disagree on that if that's how you saw it. For me, his international bowling that I've seen has only ever varied between acceptable and poor.

 

[Redbacks]

Smith a bit like a cricketer designed by comittee at the moment. Does a bit of everything well but nothing well enough to warrant selection.

 

[Redbacks]

Plus Botha going for runs brings cheer to the heart of every right thinking cricket fan.

Action still looking as sus as 'Cake's' first thread I take it.

 

[Top_Cat]

Gotta feel for Patto Cummins, tbh. Should have been playing Shield cricket but instead has to suffer through team and personal success on tour against some of the best cricketers in the world.

 

[Top_Cat]

Joking aside, it's a nice change to see the selectors actually pick the best available T20 side instead of stacking it with blokes who have no interest in it and never play it domestically at home or in India.

 

[Burgey]

Gotta feel for Patto Cummins, tbh. Should have been playing Shield cricket but instead has to suffer through team and personal success on tour against some of the best cricketers in the world.

And female Saffie spectators.

 

[Top_Cat]

The hits just keep on coming. How that could possibly compare with playing in front of 200 retirees at Adelaide tomorrow?

History, tradition, loud noises, etc.

 

[Nate]

He did very well with the ball in the last World Cup.

Well we'll just have to disagree on that if that's how you saw it.

Haha you're kidding yourself Howe! Was one of the bowlers of the tournament.

 

[Prince EWS]

Really? Smith has never impressed me with the ball in any format. I agree that he has potential with the bat, though. I think his temperament and fielding skills should make him into a good limited overs batsman, and maybe in few years a decent Test batsman, but he isn't quite good enough right now to make an international top six.

I actually think he has more potential with the ball than he does with the bat, even though he's obviously a better batsman than he is a bowler right now.

His batting and his bowling are two such different beasts though; they're actually complete opposites in a couple of ways. He has a pretty limited technique with the bat but he knows his game very well; in fact I'd say he knows it exceptionally well for a man of his tender age. His bowling action, in contrast to his batting technique, looks pretty pure for a leggie (I'm not saying it's perfect, but the more work he's done with Warne, the more a genuine bowler he's looked in his action, IMO) but he still has a lot to learn about his own game with the ball and bowling in general.

 

[Redbacks]

. He has a pretty limited technique with the bat but he knows his game very well; in fact I'd say he knows it exceptionally well for a man of his tender age.

Will he be good enough for test cricket or do you think he is better off trying the Symonds route of a specialist LO player?

He looks like he has raw talent to burn so hopefully he will continue to develop.

 

[Prince EWS]

Will he be good enough for test cricket or do you think he is better off trying the Symonds route of a specialist LO player?

He looks like he has raw talent to burn so hopefully he will continue to develop.

Hard to say, really. While he knows a lot about his game already, there's certainly nothing stopping someone so young from making some technical adjustments over time, which I think could do him a lot of good.

I will say though that if he reaches his potential with the ball then it probably won't even matter as he'll be in the side anyway. As I alluded to in the previous post though he's a lot further away from bowling ceiling than his batting ceiling at the moment.