***Official Australia in South Africa***

[Demolition Man]

I take it he's putting in an "Oval" spell then. Shame he's so ruddy inconsistent.

How's Warne doing?

no, not quite like that, the conditions are too difficult for a KP type innings.

 

[chalky]

Sounds like Steve is having a 'mare.

1 iffy decision gave AB not out against Lee, I have seen much worse periods of umpiring.

 

[Pedro Delgado]

1 iffy decision gave AB not out against Lee, I have seen much worse periods of umpiring.

Didn't he give Lee out too?

 

[chalky]

Didn't he give Lee out too?

Yeah yesterday he did forgot about that, even that wasn't a shocker though.

 

[Demolition Man]

Good decision by the umpire, pitty for the aussies that it went the way of most of the decisions this test.

 

[Demolition Man]

Yeah yesterday he did forgot about that, even that wasn't a shocker though.

I hope your being sarcastic, lee got nowhere near the ball. It was a shocking decision

 

[Mister Wright]

Am I the only one who thinks Symonds should play in the third Test?

No.

 

[andyc]

What the hell?? How come Clark only got 2 balls?? Why would Ponting bowl him after Warne, Symonds and Hussey?

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

What the hell?? How come Clark only got 2 balls?? Why would Ponting bowl him after Warne, Symonds and Hussey?

Poor light.

Glorious spell from Lee last night. Should have had several wickets.

 

[oz_fan]

What the hell?? How come Clark only got 2 balls?? Why would Ponting bowl him after Warne, Symonds and Hussey?

The umpires were telling Ponting that if he bowled the quicks he would offer the light and Ponting wanted to get some wickets so he persisted with spin. In the end he got fed up and just decided to bowl Clark so the umpires offered the light.

 

[howardj]

Tremendous dig from Jacques Kallis last night. Really batted with the authority that you'd expect from somone of his calibre. His duels with both Lee and Warne have been entrancing over the last four Test Matches. There's no doubt he should, in the interests of the South African team, be batting at number three.

 

[howardj]

Having watched South Africa recently, to my mind, their Test Match batting order should be:

1 Smith
2 Dipenaar
3 Kallis
4 Gibbs
5 Prince/Rudolph
6 De Villiers

 

[oz_fan]

Having watched South Africa recently, to my mind, their Test Match batting order should be:

1 Smith
2 Dipenaar
3 Kallis
4 Gibbs
5 Prince/Rudolph
6 De Villiers

Exactly Gibbs is too much of a hit and miss player to come in at 3. Drop him down to 4 or 5 and let the grinders (Kallis and Rudolph/Prince) build a total before Gibbs comes in to unleash.

 

[social]

Poor light.

Glorious spell from Lee last night. Should have had several wickets.

Interesting view by Border on decision to bowl Warne and Symonds - Ponting should bowl the bowlers that are best suited to the conditions, i.e. quick bowlers, and if it happens that light isnt good enough then "so what", SA have to win and we dont so it doesnt really matter if time is lost.

As for Lee - sensational. He must be due for a major haul of wickets (6 or 7 in an innings) before too long with the way he's bowled over the last few months.

 

[social]

1 iffy decision gave AB not out against Lee, I have seen much worse periods of umpiring.

AB decision was an absolute horror.

As Barry Richards said, "umpires that fail to give those out should think about retiring."

 

[Nate]

And Richard, that is why stats explain nothing.

Some of the best pace bowling I have ever seen, the Saffie batsmen had no clue and Lee`s short stuff was well directed. The de Villiers LBW was an absolute shocker. You can`t get much more plumb than that. Gah! Poor Lee.

 

[oz_fan]

Interesting view by Border on decision to bowl Warne and Symonds - Ponting should bowl the bowlers that are best suited to the conditions, i.e. quick bowlers, and if it happens that light isnt good enough then "so what", SA have to win and we dont so it doesnt really matter if time is lost.

As for Lee - sensational. He must be due for a major haul of wickets (6 or 7 in an innings) before too long with the way he's bowled over the last few months.

Yep we played right into South Africa's hands. Kallis and De Villiers were coping well with spin. SA need to win the match, so if they want to stay out there and face the quicks in bad light to win the match, so be it.

 

[howardj]

Interesting view by Border on decision to bowl Warne and Symonds - Ponting should bowl the bowlers that are best suited to the conditions, i.e. quick bowlers, and if it happens that light isnt good enough then "so what", SA have to win and we dont so it doesnt really matter if time is lost.

.

That was an incredibly harsh assessment from Border. Ponting did what he should have done - he stayed out there and backed one of the best bowlers in history (Warne) to take wickets on a turning pitch.

 

[oz_fan]

That was an incredibly harsh assessment from Border. Ponting did what he should have done - he stayed out there and backed one of the best bowlers in history (Warne) to take wickets on a turning pitch.

I'm sure Ponting would have had Warne on but I think Border was trying to make the point that Ponting would have probably had a quick on from the other end rather than Symonds.

 

[howardj]

I'm sure Ponting would have had Warne on but I think Border was trying to make the point that Ponting would have probably had a quick on from the other end rather than Symonds.

Yeah man, I take your point, but Im pretty sure, given the number of times the umpires conferred about the light (and this was when the slow bowlers were on) Ponting deduced that if he brought a quick on, they would be straight off for bad light. And, given that he had one of the greatest bowlers in history at his disposal, he thought (quite reasonably, on a turning pitch) that he'd stay out there and let Warne do the business. That Warne didn't do the business, is not a reflection on Ponting.