***Official*** South Africa In Australia

[jondavluc]

It's not just about judgement though. There's so much more to batting in test cricket than just playing every ball on it's merits. Watching Johnson on TV is not enough to know just how hard a bowler he is to face (or seems to be, I've not faced him obviously).

Incidently, I think Midge would be even more dangerous as a bowler if he had someone extremely economical at the other end (a McGrath, perhaps). The way he just keeps putting them in a tempting region, with both him and the batsman knowing that if he eventually plays one he's likely to edge it due to the way he delivers the ball and the bounce he gets would be even more amplified if the other end wasn't giving it away as easy as Lara Bingle. The batsman would feel even more pressured to score from him than usual, and would edge one soon enough.

The Lara Bingle line was a nice touch.

 

[Langeveldt]

Fairly sure no one actually thinks they choked. It's a good way to stick it to them though.

It doesn't really matter if we choked or not.. Fact is we can't seem to play cricket against Australia.. Even supposedly mediocre bowlers are having a field day now..

 

[aussie]

Damn, Krejza was nice i like this cat. For those Australians who have seen McGain bowl does he really offer anything better than Crazy right now at least?.

As Chappell said he looks like he could be in for a fairly successful test career given that few batsmen in test cricket these days actually use their feet to spinners.

 

[Prince EWS]

Damn, Krejza was nice i like this cat. For those Australians who have seen McGain bowl does he really offer anything better than Crazy right now at least?.

I was Krejza's only fan up until a month or so ago but there's no doubt that McGain would be more effective than him on most pitches. I highly doubt McGain will ever play a Test though.

 

[Natman20]

Dang it. Was hoping for evens but after going to bed at 226/3 i am quite shocked. Sad cause SA were really cruising at that stage. I need to watch the replays now to see whether Johnson was really fantastic or if SA players stuffed it up. Really changes the outlook of a close match now. Looks more like another Australian domination which I dread. So long as it is not NZ again I guess

 

[Woodster]

Bowling at the pace Johnson bowls induces players to play at deliveries they perhaps would not against lesser paced bowlers. With having such little time to get in position and execute the shot, it does mean every now and then mis-judgements are inevitable and players will play further away from their body and people will suggest there was no reason to play at it! That's quick bowling, and Johnson is one quick bowler, esp on these tracks.

Yes he would be much more dangerous bowler should he get some shape back into the right-hander, but that doesn't appear to be on the horizon with the way he delivers the ball. He should concentrate on doing what he does best, which is what he did today, and that's bowl fast, bang the ball in, and use his natural angle across the right-hander.

 

[NUFAN]

Everyone is saying Krejza bowled well and he did in some parts, but he got hit around a fair bit, bowled a pretty poor ball every couple of overs really.

Krejza's batting and catching was surprisingly, very impressive.

 

[Johnners]

JOHNSON!!!!! What a champ. I wanna boof him.

C'MONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Mitchell Johnson = Gun.

I think I'm in love.

Hands off ****s

Just wanted to get this off my chest.


OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG MIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Feels better. Had absolutely no idea how the days play ended up, we lost power just as South Africa past 200, didn't get it back till around midnight, woke up for some strange reason at 3am to hear Johnson has 7-fer!!!!!!!!!!! Was almost tearing up watching the Fox Sports daily update, WAG

 

[IndGunner]

It begrudges me to say it but congrats to johnson on a superb bowling effort.

 

[Talmier]

Kallis had a strike rate of 57 today the second highest of all the RSA team I think he sometimes cops a little to much slack for being boring.

That said I am not a fan of Kallis at all I just think he is a little hard done by sometimes

 

[Son Of Coco]

Wow! Mitchell Johnson! I woke up this morning and turned on the news expecting SA to be at most 4-5 down if we were lucky after last hearing they were 3/220-odd.

It's nice to see him take 7 for and I hope he gets 2 more this morning.

 

[Son Of Coco]

I failed that class

I wouldn't cross any old wooden bridges for a little while Craig!

 

[Son Of Coco]

Holy ****. South Africa were dominating, so I turned the T.V off to come on the computer. Later in the night, I check the scorecard to see how it ended up, and Johnson has 7 wickets!

Strange how he gets so many wickets with bad balls, the batsmen get themselves out against him. Johnson is the fastest in our team now as well. Siddle bowled really well I reckon, deserved a wicket or two. So did Krejza, he bowled good all day, unlucky to only get the 1, deserved 2 or 3.

I know someone who needs 'Net Nanny' installed

 

[Son Of Coco]

at test level they should be good to judge those ...if he was bowling to me i might have edged every single ball

It's test level batting (in most cases) vs test level bowling though...so both sets of skills are very good. McKenzie did his best to prove this isn't the case today, although I think he might have been slightly beaten for pace on the ball he tried to pull, as well as playing the wrong shot. Johnson almost wanders in without looking like he's going to pelt it down at 150+ so I'd imagine that would be deceptive. As someone else mentioned too, the angle changes things somewhat.

 

[SirBloody Idiot]

Just about to leave and a bit giddy with excitement. Hoping for a Johnson nine-fa.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Everyone is saying Krejza bowled well and he did in some parts, but he got hit around a fair bit, bowled a pretty poor ball every couple of overs really.

Krejza's batting and catching was surprisingly, very impressive.

Didn't he play as an all-rounder for NSW? I assumed he had ability with the bat because of this.

 

[Spikey]

Didn't he play as an all-rounder for NSW? I assumed he had ability with the bat because of this.

Fairly sure he did at the start.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Didn't he play as an all-rounder for NSW? I assumed he had ability with the bat because of this.

Yeah he did, I think he opened a bit for NSW as well.

 

[Langeveldt]

Yeah I wasn't expecting much from Siddle, but he seems to have his head screwed on the correct way.. Reminds me of Iain O'Brien who isn't doing to badly himself at the moment

 

[Son Of Coco]

Bahh, they hardly choked. Kallis and De Villiers edged balls just outside off, Duminy got a bad decision, Morkel got fooled by a slower ball and Harris is ****. Why do people look for things that aren't there? It only takes away from a terrific spell of bowling from Johnson.

Duminy did get a bad decision it seems, but if that's how a top order batsman plays a short ball then he can brace himself for a few more dismissals in that manner, whether he hits them or not. Waving your bat around near the ball whilst turning your head and ducking is nice to see for a fast bowler. Any deflection near the hands or bat at that pace will look like an edge.

I originally thought it was Duminy that got out like this (but then thought it must have been Morkel as I'd only seen replays), looking again it was very poor. Very good short ball though