***Official Australia in South Africa***

[aussie]

Junior Dispatches Micky Lewis.

Not unusual for Junior - he doesn't rate too many players! Could have a point here, though.

he's right, hopefull after the SA tour he be gone & either Dizzy or tait will be back in their..

 

[marc71178]

3.17 was Lee's economy rate against South Africa, which you described as "very high".

Bearing in mind SA were extremely slow in scoring and the other bowlers in the series were as follows:

McGrath - 2.44
Symonds - 2.62
Bracken - 2.67
Warne - 2.68

Heck, even MacGill only went at 3.09.

 

[luckyeddie]

not rubbish. just not as good as he was portrayed as being

Don't let Richard hear you saying that - he'll think you've gone soft.

 

[luckyeddie]

The point is, anyone who saw Lee bowl in the WI and SA series could tell how much he has improved, and, frankly, if you or anyone else simply judges him upon his average, they're just being stupid.

Just pointing out the stupidity of judging ANY cricketer solely on statistics - I'm on your side (and more to the point, a HUGE fan of Brett Lee and, for that matter, pretty well any player who tries his guts out).

 

[luckyeddie]

Casually mentions the word "Pakistan" whilst continuing to short sell his Multiplex shares.

Got me there - and I've a feeling you might be able to 'get me there' in March too (but that's another story).

 

[parttimer]

Anyone know if ABC radio is covering this tour?

 

[andyc]

Just pointing out the stupidity of judging ANY cricketer solely on statistics - I'm on your side (and more to the point, a HUGE fan of Brett Lee and, for that matter, pretty well any player who tries his guts out).

Ohh right now that I actually read your post, I see that. Oops..

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Bearing in mind SA were extremely slow in scoring and the other bowlers in the series were as follows:

McGrath - 2.44
Symonds - 2.62
Bracken - 2.67
Warne - 2.68

Heck, even MacGill only went at 3.09.

Seriously, what are you missing about this? the entire point of what both aussie and I are saying is that Lee's economy rate of 3.17 was perfectly good for a bowler of his type. If you look at the series-by-series economy rates of other express seamers like Shoaib, and to a lesser extent Harmison, Flintoff, Ntini and so on, you will see that 3.17 is perfectly fine, even against South Africa. Therefore, complaining about Lee for being expensive when he was going at three an over is ridiculous. Yes, obviously Warne and McGrath went for less than 3 because they always do, while Bracken bowled quite a negative line, and Symonds bowled relatively little on the flatter pitches. Nobody said that Lee was the most economical bowler in the series, they said that he was quite tight and never went for many runs, given the style in which he bowls.

 

[marc71178]

Yes, and I'm pointing out that half the reason he went so "cheaply" was because the SA side were very defensive in their outlook.

But sorry, I forgot that any criticism of Lee has been banned now and we should all praise as the best bowler of all time.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

If he was English you would.

 

[marc71178]

Because I've never criticised any English players have I?

If he were English I'd be wanting him playing ODIs only.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

To be fair, I don't think anyone is saying he's the greatest bowler in the world [I also realise you were being sarcastic and exaggerating] but 3.17 is still a good economy rate for a bowler of his pace and skidding-off-the-pitch type of bowling. It's not super-duper-amazing either, but it's a good rate. And yes, his average wasn't much better than average [lol], but I watched 95% of the tests and he did bowl much better than his results suggested.

He's still not past his two-length 'former' ways, but he is definately getting better. He's maturing well, I don't think it will be long before his average pushes down below 30.

And if he were English he probably wouldn't make the test side anyway, haha.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Because I've never criticised any English players have I?

If he were English I'd be wanting him playing ODIs only.

Really? Even with 31 wickets @ 25 in his last six tests? Not to mention 146 runs @ 24.33? While you're picking Plunkett and Shaun Udal?

I doubt it.

 

[aussie]

Yes, and I'm pointing out that half the reason he went so "cheaply" was because the SA side were very defensive in their outlook.

But sorry, I forgot that any criticism of Lee has been banned now and we should all praise as the best bowler of all time.

lol, stay on the point. You are making these comments basically on stats if you actually saw the Lee bowl in the series you wouldn't have been so critical on this little fact..

 

[aussie]

Because I've never criticised any English players have I?

If he were English I'd be wanting him playing ODIs only.

, in England's 4-man pace attack, if he were english he would surely make the team ahead of Hoggard.

 

[aussie]

does anyone know if Hussey is also out?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Gilchrist
Katich
Ponting
Martyn
Clarke
Watson
Hogg
Lee
Bracken
Lewis
Clark

So yes, looks like Hussey is still in Australia, and I think he might be for the whole ODI series.

Looks like the game might be washed out anyway.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Twenty20 game to start in 20 minutes, good to hear that apparently there'll be no reduction in overs - I always think it's a bit silly when a format like this with so much time to get the full game ends up being reduced because it starts a little late.

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

Play due to start 2 hours late, with no reduction in the number of overs.

 

[TT Boy]

Should be a good game, South Africa have a pretty good looking 20/20 team, lots of specialists just a shame Zulu wasn’t called up.

Also what’s up with Hussey?