***Official*** South Africa in Australia

[Robertinho]

Well played South Africa, Ponting you are a shocker.

The team for the Boxing Day test should be:

Smith (c)
de Villiers
Gibbs
Kallis
Rudolph
Kemp
Boucher (wk)
Pollock
Boje
Nel
Ntini

Kemp's played well, showed some grit, and Rudolph has been amazing.

Warnie on 90 - will need a 10-for in Melbourne. Rudolph unlucky that Hodge hit 203* - otherwise he would be a shoe-in for the MoM.

Ponting, Ponting, Ponting

 

[GotSpin]

I said 350 would not have been enough and you guys had a LOL ... If SA had to chase 350 it would have been over by now

Great caracter showed by the Saff'a

It could of turned out different if South Africa were actually going for the win

 

[Blaze]

Ridiculously harsh. 126 overs with arguably the two best bowlers in the world, and an in-form Lee, on a final day wicket, not enough time?

Plenty of time. He was denied by excellent batting, and virtually any captain would have done the same, to a guy who was on the verge of a double century for his debut hundred. Even if Hodge had got out for 150 odd, Australia wouldn't have declared any earlier than mid-way through day 4.

Yeah ok 126 overs is plenty but only if South Africa had a sniff of victory which they didn't due to defensive captaincy from Ponting.

I don't know why you guys tolerate Ponting? Sure he is a great player but he is a pretty poor captain. Gilly or Warney himself would be better options.

 

[Blaze]

Lol anyone remember Pontings quote when Lara got his 400? About the Australians not playing the game for personal achievements? Why did he allow Hodge to get his double ton then?

Either he is a hypocrite or he is a very, very conservative captain.

 

[Demolition Man]

I agree, to an extent, but I think that a victorian getting a double ton took far too long.

Also If daylight savings were invoked in WA we would have been able to finish of the day yesterday when the suddies were in trouble and the bowlers were tearing in.

Ponting is not a great captian.

Is there something wrong with symonds ???
Why did he not even try him untill like an hour to go.

Rudolph atleast equal MOM

 

[parttimer]

It wasn't Pontings fault we took only 3 wickets in a whole day. Warne bowled pretty well and could have had a few more. Mcgrath Lee and Bracken need to have a look at themselves. But well done to SA esp Rudolph and Kemp

 

[TazzX]

It could of turned out different if South Africa were actually going for the win

I dont know any team that would be stupid enough to chase 490ODD runs with only 4 sessions remaining. If Ponting declared with SA needing 400 it would have been a differant story if SA didnt chase it. Good draw for SA, Aus will be spewing.

 

[TazzX]

It wasn't Pontings fault we took only 3 wickets in a whole day. Warne bowled pretty well and could have had a few more. Mcgrath Lee and Bracken need to have a look at themselves. But well done to SA esp Rudolph and Kemp

The pitch did nothing for the last 2.5days for any of the seam bowlers. If Ntini/Pollock couldn't do anything with the ball why would Lee/Bracken be any differant?

 

[Nate]

Great batting by the Saffies. No more really to be said. Great to see that Jaques will play in the boxing-day test.

 

[howardj]

As at Edgbaston, Trent Bridge, The Oval, Australia has once again been exposed without a firing Glenn McGrath. It's not just his bowling, but the fact that the other quicks seem to feed off him, as much as Warne relies on him to make early in-roads. He was strangely out of sorts in this match, and it's crucial for Australia's chances in this series that he lifts for the remaining games.

 

[Craig]

Yeah ok 126 overs is plenty but only if South Africa had a sniff of victory which they didn't due to defensive captaincy from Ponting.

I don't know why you guys tolerate Ponting? Sure he is a great player but he is a pretty poor captain. Gilly or Warney himself would be better options.

No point in giving Warne the captaincy at 35 when he has probably another 12-15 months of Test cricket left in him and to make Gilchrist's workload any larger and given his poor run of form is the last thing he needs. Gilchrist goes alright as a stand-in, don't know about full-time.

And you have to give some sort of credit to the South Africans to be able to defy the Australians.

 

[Demolition Man]

It wasn't Pontings fault we took only 3 wickets in a whole day. Warne bowled pretty well and could have had a few more. Mcgrath Lee and Bracken need to have a look at themselves. But well done to SA esp Rudolph and Kemp

HAd he declared for 380 odd the suddies would have been more likely to have a go at the total, and thus be more likely to get out. It hard to get wickest when your number one fast bolwer is clealry crook but his lack of imgaination with bowlers and fielding positions was poor.

 

[social]

Simply looking for a rise out of you guys.

Fact is that Rudolph played extremely well and only Lee and Warne were anywhere near there best.

 

[Demolition Man]

Lol anyone remember Pontings quote when Lara got his 400? About the Australians not playing the game for personal achievements? Why did he allow Hodge to get his double ton then?

Either he is a hypocrite or he is a very, very conservative captain.

Yeah ,

On a side note, can you imagine the guy (hodge) who had the gaul to say that he should be in the australian team would have made for an interesting scene in the dressing room if punter declared earlier.

Hodge was frigging slow and should have got more of a move on, but pontings captiancy today was the main reason for the loss.

 

[howardj]

I think this match has pretty much sealed Stuart McGill's place in this Australian team - in all but the most seam friendly conditions - for the forseeable future. It's pretty obvious, as demonstrated in five Ashes Tests also, that Australia's third best seamer is not in the same postcode as McGill, as far as effectiveness goes.

 

[Demolition Man]

The reason the WACA was the way it was this year has been due to the coldest start to summer in history. The wicket is not the concrete like deck it has been in the past.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

People, can we maintain perspective?

The last time the Australians bowled last in Perth they won with only 72 less than their initial lead, in less than a session. Ponting gave his men four sessions to bowl out the 'fragile' South African batting order, on a wicket that looked like Shahid Afridi had hosted a rave party on it.

Kemp played well. Can we turn our eyes to Boxing Day?

 

[Gideon]

SA deserved the draw imo. Great century by Rudolph, great innings of patience and concentration.

Don't think Warne could of done much more then he did, same could be said about Lee.

McGrath was down on form, but i guess that had something to do with the recent illness.

Bracken bowled alright, with-out doing too much.

I couldn't understand why Symonds didnt get a decent bowl. He could of been used last night when the light was fading..

 

[marc71178]

Is there something wrong with symonds ???

He's doing his best to make Ashley Giles on flat wickets look like Murali!

 

[howardj]

And if you had recalled him straight away, wouldn't that have defeated the purpose of dropping him and it would send the wrong message out to Clarke (and the rest)?

Who cares, Craig? You don't not select guys on the basis that it sends out the 'wrong message'. At all times at the professional level, the interests of the team are paramount. I think it's pretty clear that Symonds is a bit of a dud, and was selected this morning on the basis that Australia would go on to win this Perth Test. It was like: "ah we'll be one nil up anyway, so we can afford to carry his batting, for the sake of his medium pacers" (which Ponting hardly uses anyway). He is not anywhere near the sixth best batsman in the country (in the longer form of the game), hardly gets brought on to bowl his ineffective mediums, and therefore I don't think he should be anywhere near Melbourne on Boxing Day.