Australia In South Africa

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3/56, Watson, Hughes and Ponting all out cheaply. Steyn has two wickets with Philander the other on debut. Clarke 10*, Marsh 22*.
 
lol, leave to go for my nightly walk with SA only 1 wicked down, get back about 3/4 an hour later, turn the TV on and Australia have knocked them over for 96 :eek:

How good does that now Clarke's Captain's knock of 151? :cool:

edit - Steyn gets Watson out LBW for 4, would've got the decision reversed if he referred it though...
 
Haha this is just bizarre, Australia now 9 for 29 after narrowly escaping NZ's record of the lowest Test innings score, 26 runs. Unbelievable :eek:

And just watching the dismissals, seriously what the **** was Haddin thinking with that one day shot??
 
Australia finally bowled out for 47, with the last wicket stand between Siddle and Lyon scoring over half the runs :eek::D

South Africa now need 236 for victory..
 
WOW all out for next to nothing. Third lowest test score. OK fair enough that is one crappy pitch and the SA board should hang its head in shame but really this does not look good for the team. A few questions i imagine will be asked. Even 150 in the second innings wold have made a big difference.
 
Oh look, the pitch isn't as bad as the shitty batting is making it look.

But I've got to say that was one of the best days play I've ever seen. It was so hard to stop from laughing out loud every time a wicket fell. Probably the wrong attitude but I've watched these Aussie batsmen fold so often unless it's a road, I couldn't help myself.

SA will probably pull out a flat track for the next test if they win from here - and they'd have to **** up majorly to lose and everybody in the Aus line-up will feel secure again.
 
nairbe said:
WOW all out for next to nothing. Third lowest test score. OK fair enough that is one crappy pitch and the SA board should hang its head in shame but really this does not look good for the team. A few questions i imagine will be asked. Even 150 in the second innings wold have made a big difference.
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What sort of questions will be asked though?

The first five batsmen plus Haddin were the same as in the Melbourne collapse in the Ashes and they're all still there. Shaun Marsh is the only new one and he shouldn't really have batted in the second innings. He looked very stiff at the crease taking guard.

They'll just move on and hope for the best.
 
Brilliant knock by Clarke, but did not need to throw his wicket away. He could have milked a further 20 runs or so.
Where to start: Hughes is not upto it at this point in time. He needs to go back to Shield and make some really big scores. Bring in Warner who is finally making some scores. Watson needs to go down the order.His technique on a seaming wicket is not upto opening.It also allows him to be utilised more as a bowler as he showed in this match.Ricky Ponting has to be tapped and told to retire.He is only there for his own selfish reasons and his best days are past him.Khawaja needs to start getting some game time.Marsh is a good kid but he is injury riddled and has been so since he started playing for Australia, He reminds me of Watson a few years ago when he could not get his body right. He needs to find out what Watson did to get over his injuries. Haddin is finished and should be dropped. Wade or Payne to be brought in.Hussey is a series by series proposition, but when he does retire he will be a huge loss.The wicket seamed around but I have seen worse. 9/21 is really a disgrace and Haddin's shot showed me that he did not want to get his body behind the ball and as a senior member of the team he did not give a stuff.
 
Yep, Haddin simply has to go, he's below even average with the gloves and is immature with the bat at Test level even though he's well into his 30s.. That shot yesterday was f***ing ridiculous. He's lucky that Paine has been injured as he's obviously who CA have earmarked as Haddin's successor, which is why they probably wouldn't give Wade ago atm even though I'm sure he would do a lot better than Haddin.
 
Haddin's last 12 innings have produced an average of 18. Even that includes a futile 55 not out when we were murdered by an innings and plenty by the poms. Not good enough. His 'keeping is not that good that he can get away with such poor returns at the crease.

Johnson likewise is being picked for what he might do, rather than what he is doing. If they guy is not producing the goods, put one of the other blokes in.

Hughes did alright over there last time. However, the selectors soon decided he had too many flaws and sent him back to Shield cricket to sort out his batting. He didn't. But they put him back in anyway. This is the result.

Put two proper openers in and allow us to combat decent opposition attacks rather than just brutalise ordinary ones. If one is Marsh, well & good.

Ponting & Hussey, well, sooner or later a decision has to be made. Hilditch can't just wait for one of them to turn his back (ie: miss a match through injury) to plunge the knife in. Make a proactive decision - as they should have 2 or 3 years ago.
 
I was against moving Watson down the order particularly when he was in top form but have now changed my mind. Problem is a sort of lack of other clear options, Marsh getting injured again is a worry, looks like the bloke is still made of glass. I'd really like to somehow see Khawaja in the side, even if it means promoting him to open, looks like he has the technique and temperament to succeed there.
 
You're right. Was a time not so long ago we had openers falling out of the trees (Hayden, Langer, Jacques, Rogers, Katich, ...). Now most states seem to have recycled goods from other states who are probably never going to cut the mustard at this level. Hughes & Warner are exciting, but right now we need a "sound" opener.
 
CLOCKER said:
Brilliant knock by Clarke, but did not need to throw his wicket away. He could have milked a further 20 runs or so.
Where to start: Hughes is not upto it at this point in time. He needs to go back to Shield and make some really big scores. Bring in Warner who is finally making some scores. Watson needs to go down the order.His technique on a seaming wicket is not upto opening.It also allows him to be utilised more as a bowler as he showed in this match.Ricky Ponting has to be tapped and told to retire.He is only there for his own selfish reasons and his best days are past him.Khawaja needs to start getting some game time.Marsh is a good kid but he is injury riddled and has been so since he started playing for Australia, He reminds me of Watson a few years ago when he could not get his body right. He needs to find out what Watson did to get over his injuries. Haddin is finished and should be dropped. Wade or Payne to be brought in.Hussey is a series by series proposition, but when he does retire he will be a huge loss.The wicket seamed around but I have seen worse. 9/21 is really a disgrace and Haddin's shot showed me that he did not want to get his body behind the ball and as a senior member of the team he did not give a stuff.
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Pretty much agree with everything you said except for Marsh. I think he will have a sound future for Australia provided he stays fit but that is something he must work on and it needs to be now.

The pitch was a bowling one but not that bad. Our bowling was superb in the first innings and then coupling South Africa's good bowling with Australia's rubbish batting and you get 47. This was in no way a 47-all out pitch, Australia should have been able to muster up 250 at least. The fact that South Africa are now 1/200-odd shows that the pitch isn't too bad, it was just shit batting that saw both teams bowled out very quickly.

Sober Symonds said:
Haddin's last 12 innings have produced an average of 18. Even that includes a futile 55 not out when we were murdered by an innings and plenty by the poms. Not good enough. His 'keeping is not that good that he can get away with such poor returns at the crease.

Johnson likewise is being picked for what he might do, rather than what he is doing. If they guy is not producing the goods, put one of the other blokes in.

Hughes did alright over there last time. However, the selectors soon decided he had too many flaws and sent him back to Shield cricket to sort out his batting. He didn't. But they put him back in anyway. This is the result.

Put two proper openers in and allow us to combat decent opposition attacks rather than just brutalise ordinary ones. If one is Marsh, well & good.

Ponting & Hussey, well, sooner or later a decision has to be made. Hilditch can't just wait for one of them to turn his back (ie: miss a match through injury) to plunge the knife in. Make a proactive decision - as they should have 2 or 3 years ago.
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Yep, he has to go. His shot at 5/18 was just completely inexcusable and for a guy who would have played close to 50 tests (perhaps more) to do that is just a joke. No-one would play such a ridiculous shot in an ODI game let alone a test. Paine coming into the team is a must whne he is fit and ready.

As for the opening situation, the cupboard isn't too full at the moment. Katich was axed and has no chance of returning (he probably wouldn't want to with Clarke captaining anyway) Jaques is struggling in the NSW team, Rogers is also struggling at Victoria but he was crossed off the list a long time ago. The only other alternative is Warner but his international form isn't great.

It's funny how we go from having a plethora of options to nothing at all in a few years.
 
Hughes scored a ton at the Premadasa - the most batsman friendly wicket in the world bar none - which will be enough to keep him going till we find the next road. We'll probably play NZ on at least one road and Hughes will score 200 against their club level attack. He'll keep leapfrogging along and being useless as soon as the pitch does anything or its a quality attack, but it wont matter really as long as there are enough roads around.

That sounds very negative but he is not going anywhere. He's just going to be carried along as someone says above brutalising ordinary attacks on flat pitches and pleasing all his fans that way.

I've seen Haddin's shot about five times now and got to say, it still makes me hoot with laughter. He's beyond embarrassment that much is obvious. He is occupying Planet Brad where everything smells like roses.
 
If he isn't axed there's something wrong. This is an ideal opportunity for the selectors and also Clarke to take a stand and show some balls and drop the spuds we have in the team getting a game on reputation. Haddin, Siddle, Hughes and maybe even Ponting should go, the time to rebuild is now. For too long it has been put off and delayed. Enough is enough.
 
Ljp86 said:
If he isn't axed there's something wrong. This is an ideal opportunity for the selectors and also Clarke to take a stand and show some balls and drop the spuds we have in the team getting a game on reputation. Haddin, Siddle, Hughes and maybe even Ponting should go, the time to rebuild is now. For too long it has been put off and delayed. Enough is enough.
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Well it won't be till NZ series. And if the next batting strip is flatter, I'm sure our nervous nellies can rack up something comparatively useful and then everyone can pretend that the 47 was just a 'blip'.

Seriously, I've seen more daft shots from Brad Haddin than I would have thought possible outside of watching someone like Afridi over his career, but it seems to just make NO difference to his selection.

Michael Clarke is always banging on about how people have to play their own game, their natural game. Well ****ing well choose players for the test team who realise that it's a five day match, whose natural game is to take a look around, suck up some time and check out the pitch and bowlers before they start lashing out. None of these guys are that talented that they can play the way the Aussies used to, but they don't seem to realise it. Just spend their time hoping like hell that the pitch is a road and playing like it is even when it isn't.

I swear only Shaun Marsh realises how long a test match lasts. Everyone else is sucked into the 'attacking play, the Aussie way' myth that has bred our downfall in recent times again and again.
 
Beeswax said:
Well it won't be till NZ series. And if the next batting strip is flatter, I'm sure our nervous nellies can rack up something comparatively useful and then everyone can pretend that the 47 was just a 'blip'.

Seriously, I've seen more daft shots from Brad Haddin than I would have thought possible outside of watching someone like Afridi over his career, but it seems to just make NO difference to his selection.

Michael Clarke is always banging on about how people have to play their own game, their natural game. Well ****ing well choose players for the test team who realise that it's a five day match, whose natural game is to take a look around, suck up some time and check out the pitch and bowlers before they start lashing out. None of these guys are that talented that they can play the way the Aussies used to, but they don't seem to realise it. Just spend their time hoping like hell that the pitch is a road and playing like it is even when it isn't.

I swear only Shaun Marsh realises how long a test match lasts. Everyone else is sucked into the 'attacking play, the Aussie way' myth that has bred our downfall in recent times again and again.
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A lot of emphasis has been placed on scoring ability. Looking at the names in the squad, about half are capable of sticking around with those being Clarke, Ponting, Hussey and Marsh. I reckon these four know what it takes to play test cricket, unfortunately Ponting is out of form, Hussey is nearing the end of his career and Marsh seems to spend a fair portion of time injured. But the rest are all fairly quick and prominent scorers rather than players who are able to stick around, Watson has brutality but depending on him to play out an innings is a fairly hopeless prospect and he's generally only good for around 50-90 runs before he gets out. The same applies for Hughes (way out of form) and also Haddin who are both strokemakers (Haddin being subject to regular brainfades). Rather than guys who are able to build an innings, the side seems to be based on hitting power and ability to score quickly which isn't that much of a priority in a five day game. This is further backed up by Marsh's replacement, David Warner, who whilst in great form is just a big hitter and a slog artist suited to one-day cricket.

The loss of Katich is making the former selectors look pretty stupid, he was almost Australia's best batsman and certainly would have made Australia look a lot better in the last game. Now the pantry is looking pretty thin batting wise with no-one able to make any big calls. I'll be interested to see the side picked for the second test, we'll know then if the new guard is the real deal or not.
 
Ljp86 said:
A lot of emphasis has been placed on scoring ability. Looking at the names in the squad, about half are capable of sticking around with those being Clarke, Ponting, Hussey and Marsh. I reckon these four know what it takes to play test cricket, unfortunately Ponting is out of form, Hussey is nearing the end of his career and Marsh seems to spend a fair portion of time injured. But the rest are all fairly quick and prominent scorers rather than players who are able to stick around, Watson has brutality but depending on him to play out an innings is a fairly hopeless prospect and he's generally only good for around 50-90 runs before he gets out. The same applies for Hughes (way out of form) and also Haddin who are both strokemakers (Haddin being subject to regular brainfades). Rather than guys who are able to build an innings, the side seems to be based on hitting power and ability to score quickly which isn't that much of a priority in a five day game. This is further backed up by Marsh's replacement, David Warner, who whilst in great form is just a big hitter and a slog artist suited to one-day cricket.

The loss of Katich is making the former selectors look pretty stupid, he was almost Australia's best batsman and certainly would have made Australia look a lot better in the last game. Now the pantry is looking pretty thin batting wise with no-one able to make any big calls. I'll be interested to see the side picked for the second test, we'll know then if the new guard is the real deal or not.
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The new guard is not making the calls for the second test, it's still up to the old guard or at least the still yet to depart Chairman of Selectors. Due to Marsh's injury, Khawaja will come in and that will be it for the batsmen. If Marsh hadn't been injured it would have been far more interesting as they may have had to use their selectorial powers for the batsmen instead of just hitching onto an injury.

A bowler will be dropped, if anything.

Why are you so sure that Hughes is out of form? He got a ton on the flat track at Premadasa. I think the Saffers have bowled fantastically to him they've given him no room to manouvre. Steyn gave him one length wide delivery and he jumped all over it belting it to the boundary, but that is the only one he has received.
 
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