None of them go right back and across,that is to say, actually physically moving one’s body across the crease. Batting properly, in short, is hard work. Coaches must stress this more with players-- i never masterred the front foot cover drive. AD Cook and SR Waugh, as we know, both largely avoided the shot, although together making many test runs; both would have batted better on that pitch.
AR I cant believe how poor some of the batsmens footwork is these days…just look at Warner who at times looks like he is stuck in concrete at the crease with his wild wooshes outside off stump invariably catching the edge behind or him playing on.
You only have to watch 2 minutes of the T20 stuff to realise where all this poor batsmanship is coming from!
As for the Melbourne Test you would think they would go in with the same side as Brisbane and give Hazlewood more time to over come his side issue, but seriously who would know with George and his mates Pat & Ronald these days???!!!
BH: bang on mate: in relation to the team, none of the batsmen would make it ahead of the 1980 side which played NZ, Smithy would be twelfth man. On the field i will remember Warner for carrying his bat and being Broad’s bunny.
Great series win for the Australians. Courageous efforts by Warner, Starc and Green to contribute so much when they were incapacitated. Carey has now booked his place in the side for a fair while as well.
Having said that how ordinary was this South African team? Probably the worst group to come to these shores since reunification. Only Nortje, Verennye and perhaps Jansen emerged from the series with any credit. When you think how well previous teams with guys like Graham Smith, Kallis, Steyn, Pollock, Amla, De Villiers, Ntini, Morkel etc etc,have played, it makes for a very stark comparison with this group.
Will be interesting to see who replaces Starc and Green in the Sydney test. A lot depends on whether they are looking at bringing in 2 specialist spinners. I am secretly hoping that Lance Morris gets a debut which would put some interest into a dead rubber.
Yes, real concern about the standard of South African cricket and how poor they are - I read somewhere on the weekend they play 7 first class games per season - no wonder the standard is so poor.
It’s probably more concerning that someone like Graham Smith who is in charge of SA cricket says they only pick 5 batters a keeper and 5 bowlers because they have no one else who can bat at 6 - Really. And this spinner is the worst spinner I have seen tour Australia in a long time, he doesn’t even thru the ball, nor does he get any bounce…
It has been a real poor summer for touring sides this summer and im not confident Pakistan and the West Indies next summer will be any better
I am however looking forward to the away series in India and the UK
South Africa has to go back to British traditions in cricket it can be done even if the side is more diverse then in the past; only pick pro- Commonwealth players. The yarpies should have a see South’s club rooms as a hint.,
One of the biggest issues for SA’s Test side over the last decade has been the early retirement from Test Cricket of many of their gun players especially their batsmen to play T20 full time- DeVilliers, DuPlessis, Miller, DeKock, Rossouw, Parnell, Morkel etc and or to play full time County Cricket in England under the Kolpak Rule- Prince, Ingram, Van Zyl, Wiese, Abbott, Olivier, Harmer (now back in SA full time) etc.
Then of course there has been the plethora of SA boys plying their trade for other countries due to leaving SA for whatever reason of late-
Labuschagne, Neser (AUS)
Wagner, Phillips, Watling, Elliott, Munro, Conway, DeGrandhomme (NZ)
Pieterson, Strauss, Trott, Prior, Roy, Jennings, S & T Curran, Compton etc (ENG)
For all that they still have good fast bowling depth but gee their batsmen have fallen off a cliff…I still cant believe Aiden Markram didnt tour here as he has played well against us previously and would appreciate our pitches to bat on?
BH thoes players have been forced to move into T20.With RSA Black/White roster.
BH: thanks you illustrated my point beautifully-- they won’t play the English and some of the Afrikaners can’t be botherred; worse, they have poor cricket judgement these days. Why was KP batting at number eight for Natal?
That’s a lot of quality outs BH…but as you say their bowling still looks strong…one would think if Markram can find his mojo, Petersen is fit and young Brevis steps up, that instantly makes SA batting lineup look a tad stronger, plus the keeper looks like a decent bat and Jansen will only get better with more exposure, but looks more a bowling allrounder TBH…not sold on Bavuma, Elgar, Zonda or Sarwee…though Zonda is only young.
Would love to see Morris get a game in Sydney, be pretty samey if Aust go with Cummins, Hazlewood and Boland as the quicks…cant see Agar getting a gig…especially since Head, Labuschagne amd Smith can send down a few overs between them…does Renshaw open and Uzzie come in at 6…kind of where the 2nd new ball comes in…
Freezin: Our own batting is dodgy , as we all know. There is too many kak handers in the top six. In relation to SA, what has happened to Miller?
[quote=“Freezin post=224379 userid=945”]That’s a lot of quality outs BH…but as you say their bowling still looks strong…one would think if Markram can find his mojo, Petersen is fit and young Brevis steps up, that instantly makes SA batting lineup look a tad stronger, plus the keeper looks like a decent bat and Jansen will only get better with more exposure, but looks more a bowling allrounder TBH…not sold on Bavuma, Elgar, Zonda or Sarwee…though Zonda is only young.
Would love to see Morris get a game in Sydney, be pretty samey if Aust go with Cummins, Hazlewood and Boland as the quicks…cant see Agar getting a gig…especially since Head, Labuschagne amd Smith can send down a few overs between them…does Renshaw open and Uzzie come in at 6…kind of where the 2nd new ball comes in…
[/quote]
Yep spot on about Brevis Freeze, saw a bit of him in the Under 19 World Cup earlier this year and he looks like AB DeVilliers mkII a very promising batsman who should be promoted in to the SA Test squad asap, also had forgotton about Peterson who looked quite good last summer in SA, I assume he like Markram must be injured to not tour here this summer???
The Saffas also have another promising fast bowler in Gerald Coetzee who is similar in pace to Nortje who has been very impressive out here and is only 22 so could form a formidable fast bowling quartet with Rabada, Nortje & Jansen for years to come with back up from Ngidi, Olivier, Mulder etc depending on conditions.
Freeze over the festive break I have watched some cricket from NZ in their Super Smash (the NZ equivalent to the BBL) and there are some fantastic picturesque cricket grounds over there New Plymouth, Napier, Nelson, Queenstown etc.
Very true BH, some of those NZ grounds are very picturesque…Hagley Oval in Christchurch is another…only small, but geez it’s English villagesque like.
Just come back from Melbourne with my youngest, who is a professional sports photographer. We were passing a cricket match, in Princes Park, right next to Carlton’s footy ground…Matt takes this pic, from right behind the bowlers arm…batsman doing his best Kim Hughes cover drive, with the Melbourne city skyline behind him…fantastic pic…he put it on Facebook and the Carlton Cricket Club messaged asking him if they can buy it…
TBH there are some lovely non test grounds all over the place…especially in the UK…played at some beauties around Surrey / Sussex way…
Sounds like your youngest lad has the dream job for us sports mad lovers mate, best of luck to him in his career.
No surprise to see yet another Sydney Test dominated by rain again…
Looking like another full day lost to rain coming up today, which will add to Sydney’s record of having full days play that are lost to rain for Test matches in Australia-
Sydney- 25* (will be 26 after today at this rate)
Melbourne- 9
Brisbane- 8
Adelaide- 2
Hobart- 1
Perth- 0
Interestingly England’s most washed out venue by Test days is Manchester (Old Trafford) with 24…2 less than Sydney!
BH /Sydney has had Sub Tropical January storms well before LiL-Nemo.
Word is the SACA is going to have a crack at getting the New Years test next year.The NSW dominated CA will fight tooth and nail to keep it in Sydney.
Thats an amazing stat BH and given that maybe Sydney need to look at the feasibility of indoor stadiums or give away the New years test to another drier state ( Adelaide or Perth ?)
South Africa are almost certainly going to be saved by the weather in this particular match but I have been totally shocked by how bad they actually are. I actually thought the West Indies showed a bit more fight even though they were clearly outclassed.
In the last two innings Australia have scored 1050 runs for the loss of only 12 wickets while South Africa lost 20 wickets for 393 in Melbourne. Of the bowlers only Norjke has looked interested , the batting has been below standard and the captaincy from Elgar has lacked any planning or imagination.
What’s even worse for the RSA is the lack of Maiden Overs.Only 7 bowled in Melbourne with over 150 overs bowled. There quicks are bowling to short,lack a medium pacer /swinger and a spinner to tie down an end and take wickets.
Really surprised how they always easily win at home test series.They have looked really average in Australia.
There’s no Kallis/Smith to hold there batting innings together.
The main thing to come out of this drawn 3rd test is that Ashton Agar is not the answer as the 2nd spinner on the forthcoming tour of India. He has been tidy enough but has looked less threatening than Travis Head. A bit tough on Ashton because I cant remember the last shield game he played and his bowling has been tailored to suit white ball cricket.
I think they might look at Murphy from Victoria with Swepson as the leggie for India.
MH: that is the reason the selectors still pick Lyon as the first spinner.