Can Steyn test the aussies ?

[Uppercut]

Steyn already has a one up on his main competition, Brett Lee, for Dale has taken wickets in India and the subcontinent, Lee hasn’t. Brett was blasted in Bangladesh and has been wayward on this tour.

Brett Lee is yet to play on a grassy pitch in India though. But that's only a partial qualification. Steyn was awesome in that series.

 

[Richard]

Dillon took 16 wickets at an average of just under 30 in Australia. It might not look brilliant but I suspect it'd be right up there if you compare it to other tourists in the last ten years. Averaging under 30 in Australia has been a rare thing for touring bowlers.

I'm not aware of his record against them overall but how he did on West Indian pitches isn't relevant to my point.

Ah, I see. Well, one thing of some importance is that Dillon's tour of Australia came in 2000/01, which was just before the key date of September 2001. That was the time when pitches everywhere, and in Australia more than most, flattened-out.

There was something in most of the pitches that series for the seamers, as demonstrated by the fact that, despite having a batting-line-up of excellence (and Hayden ) Australia never completely ran away with things and piled-up 500 after 500 as they've been doing constantly since 2001/02.

To demonstrate that: between the 1990/91 and 2000/01 seasons, 21 front-line bowlers who played more than 1 Test in Australia averaged under 35 (Shayne O'Connor, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Chris Cairns, Angus Fraser, Ajit Agarkar, Alan Mullally, Dillon, Peter Such, Wasim Akram, Mushtaq Ahmed, Fanie de Villiers, Darren Gough, Kapil Dev, Alex Tudor, Allan Donald, Ian Bishop, Dean Headley, Shaun Pollock, Chris Lewis and Curtley Ambrose). Since 2001/02, there have been 7 (Upul Chandana, Dwayne Bravo, Nel, Shoaib, Anil Kumble and Andy Caddick). 3 of these 7 owe everything to 1 good innings or match and did nothing besides this. I think you simply must make the 2001/02 distinction in this matter.

Any batting unit, however good, will be vulnerable to the moving ball, and Australia in all their heavy run-scoring of the last 7 years have never defied this rule. In the last 7 years, the precious few bowlers who've had success against Australia have either been those who've managed to extract rare swing or those who've bowled in really, really good areas.

 

[NUFAN]

Pretty certain that Steyn can and will test the Aussies.

 

[aussie]

Pretty certain that Steyn can and will test the Aussies.

Word out, very surprised to see some reckoning he will be blasted by Australia.

For all the talk of how Steyn will bowl againts the Aussies, Kallis being the key etc. The big moments of those 6 tests will be how Matthew Hayden plays.

Making runs againts Steyn/Ntini/Morkel should before the Ashes will be the first step in laying to rest any doubts anyone has about his credentials as one of the games great openers.

 

[archie mac]

The wickets will decide it all

 

[thierry henry]

Ah, I see. Well, one thing of some importance is that Dillon's tour of Australia came in 2000/01, which was just before the key date of September 2001.

lol. Did the curators of the world react to September 11 by taking all of the terror out of their pitches?

 

[Richard]

I doubt it, but you'd be hard-pressed to miss the en-masse flattening-out that happened at the start of the 2001/02 season - nor that it was most pronounced of all places in Australia, though it was emphatically obvious over here as well. Run-scoring in England between 2002 and 2006 was absurdly easy by the standards of any other time except the decade of the 1930s.

 

[Jono]

lol. Did the curators of the world react to September 11 by taking all of the terror out of their pitches?

Heh I already used a similar line

Anyway, I reckon Steyn will do alright. I am a Katich fan, but I reckon he'll own him.

 

[Polo23]

Steyn should confirm his position as the best quick bowler in the world on the Aussie tour. He did very well in India and the Aussie pitches will offer him a lot more than that.

If he stays fit between now and then, and has a lot of bowling under his belt I think he will be more than a threat to Australia.

 

[Jono]

Steyn should confirm his position as the best quick bowler in the world on the Aussie tour. He did very well in India and the Aussie pitches will offer him a lot more than that.

Will they though?

 

[Polo23]

Will they though?

Yes.

 

[Uppercut]

Two lefty openers is a problem for Steyn. He's far, far better against right handers, as was obvious against England.

 

[Precambrian]

Will have to come around the wicket and aim the pads. His sheer pace might help him tho.

 

[Uppercut]

Will have to come around the wicket and aim the pads. His sheer pace might help him tho.

He tends to get his line wrong though. Had real trouble against them in England, unlike Ntini who excels against lefties, and Hayden in particular actually.

 

[Polo23]

It will only be an issue if Australia have big opening partnerships, and with South Africa's pace attack I don't think it will be a big problem.

 

[Richard]

Two lefty openers is a problem for Steyn. He's far, far better against right handers, as was obvious against England.

Will have to come around the wicket and aim the pads. His sheer pace might help him tho.

He tends to get his line wrong though. Had real trouble against them in England, unlike Ntini who excels against lefties, and Hayden in particular actually.

Bowling round-the-wicket is the worst strategy for an inswing-to-the-LHB right-arm bowler like Steyn. If the delivery you're aiming for is such a ball (and I've seen no evidence yet that Steyn can get the ball to go the other way to order) then you must angle it accross and get it to come back. Bowling round-the-wicket makes the inswinger easier, not harder, to handle - unless it's going around corners Waqar Younis style, in which case it really doesn't matter where you bowl it from.

The only time a right-arm seamer should bowl around-the-wicket to a LHB is if he does not swing the ball back into him.

 

[Uppercut]

Bowling round-the-wicket is the worst strategy for an inswing-to-the-LHB right-arm bowler like Steyn. If the delivery you're aiming for is such a ball (and I've seen no evidence yet that Steyn can get the ball to go the other way to order) then you must angle it accross and get it to come back. Bowling round-the-wicket makes the inswinger easier, not harder, to handle - unless it's going around corners Waqar Younis style, in which case it really doesn't matter where you bowl it from.

The only time a right-arm seamer should bowl around-the-wicket to a LHB is if he does not swing the ball back into him.

He can bowl straight-on deliveries and nick batsmen out playing for swing. But yeah, generally he's better doing so from over the wicket.

 

[Richard]

Steyn should confirm his position as the best quick bowler in the world on the Aussie tour. He did very well in India and the Aussie pitches will offer him a lot more than that.

Will they though?

Yes.

No reason to presume that. Bellerive and Adelaide Ovals tend to produce pitches as flat as anywhere in The World, I can't remember the last time anyone got the ball to swing much at either ground, and there've been plenty of rank flatties at The 'Gabba and The WACA of late as well, and even The SCG, though good swing-bowlers should still find something at the lattermost two grounds.

Also the Australian tail is stronger than the Indian one, and the only reason Steyn did well in the First Test in India was because he got to clean-up the tail. You couldn't possibly hope to find a more seam-friendly surface than the one at Motera in the first-innings of the Second Test. I'll be absolutely astonished if something liket that is produced in Australia next summer.

 

[Richard]

He can bowl straight-on deliveries and nick batsmen out playing for swing. But yeah, generally he's better doing so from over the wicket.

You're unlikely to get the LHBs out nicking straight balls from round-the-wicket TBH, the only advantage to going round if it's not doing anything much is a defensive one, in that the angle means batsmen have fewer scoring opportunities.

The only time going around is a truly attacking option is if you can swing (or seam, or cut) the ball away from the LHB, and precious few right-arm seamers can do that at the current time. There's sufficiently few who can do the seemingly basic thing (I can do it myself) of swinging the ball back in at the LHB.

As for batsmen nicking straight balls playing for swing - well, that's only going to happen if you're actually getting swing ITFP. Swing is all the more dangerous because it doesn't happen every ball, and nicking a straight ball playing for swing is as much part of the merits of swing bowling as missing one that does swing.

 

[Speersy]

I doubt it, but you'd be hard-pressed to miss the en-masse flattening-out that happened at the start of the 2001/02 season - nor that it was most pronounced of all places in Australia, though it was emphatically obvious over here as well. Run-scoring in England between 2002 and 2006 was absurdly easy by the standards of any other time except the decade of the 1930s.

hmmm, is that a sneaky shot a Bradman there, whom scored 30% of his runs in England in the 1930's?