Cricket IV

[Jeor]

[quote name='Paxter' post='1632713' date='Dec 29 2008, 16.36']Well, McKenzie is a walking wicket at the moment, so they will be confident of at least 1 down by the close of play...[/quote]

They would've got him, except that Lee bowled him off a no-ball. ;) Exactly a carbon copy of how it was done in the first innings, except for the no-ball - sickening for Lee, although I guess bowlers only have to blame themselves when it's a no-ball. Still, very tough on him, considering that he had the guts to get out and bowl through his injury and he hasn't had much luck lately.

Smith did very well by smashing the ball all over the place and single-handedly wiping 30 runs off the chase tonight. There could be rain tomorrow so it was good to score as many as possible, while also taking the pressure off what could have been a gruelling, intense 7 overs tonight. I don't really see any way Australia can win this, as the pitch seems to be playing reasonably fine (even if it is keeping a bit low). The only chance is that rain might help them save a draw, but with only 150 runs to go, they'll need two full sessions to be rained out to have any chance of that happening, and I think the rain is only forecast for the morning.

[Jeor]

I think it's clear (despite my defence of Symonds) that he'll have to go for the Sydney Test. He had a woeful bowling performance, is a passenger in the field, and got out for a duck, considering he's basically playing as a specialist batsman. The lack of bowling cover in this match exposes it even more so Shane Watson should come in for him for the SCG.

I'd be inclined to keep Hayden for one more Test. The thinking seems to be that if Australia lose the series tomorrow, then the Sydney Test is the ideal time to audition a new opener without much pressure. On the other hand, my thinking goes along the lines of if the series is already lost, then they can afford to persist with Hayden one more time in a non-pressure situation, just to see if he's got anything left. After all the years he's given Australian cricket, they deserve to give him that much at least. And if he's found to be empty, then they can bring on a new opener for the whole return series in South Africa, Hayden won't be named in the squad, and he can announce his retirement. Cleaner that way than axeing him in Sydney.

They've put themselves in a pickle by picking Hauritz. He hasn't bowled badly but I still think Krejza should have been the guy. Now they'll have to either stick with Hauritz, or go back to Krejza on his home ground, which would just perpetuate the cycle. I suppose if Watson plays they could pick two spinners, but two offies would be a bit strange. One reason I'd argue that we should retain Hayden is that there are going to be wholesale changes for Sydney anyway. Watson will be in place of Symonds, someone (probably Hilfenhaus) will be playing in place of Lee, and we don't know what the spinning situation will be like. May as well keep Hayden.

It's interesting over the course of this series how it's been Australia who have dropped the ball (both figuratively and literally) throughout the Tests. The team has taken on some rather alarming English characteristics (sorry Hereward). In the First Test, they were in a winning position twice - they had a 94-run lead, and then set South Africa 414 to win, and yet managed to find a way to lose. In this Second Test, South Africa were trailing by 187 with 3 wickets in hand, and yet now they look set to lose again.

[Horza]

Was about to say, the reverse is also true - South Africa's fielding has been positively Australian in comparison to our Englandesque efforts :D

I can't see the selectors dropping Hayden even though I do think it's the right thing to do - what made this team great was ruthlessness and sentimentality shouldn't be allowed to get in the way.

[delete this account pls]

Ehh, they may as well keep Hayden for one more test, dropping him does us no good now with the series all but lost. His replacement is almost certainly going to be Jacques, who's already been blooded in Test cricket.

[Horza]

Jaques is injured, it'll be either Phil Hughes or Chris Rogers.

The series is lost, he's made two half centuries in 15 games, he's 37, why give him another test when we could be blooding a replacement in a low-pressure environment?

We ditched Heals when his time came, we ditched Mark Waugh and Slats and though cold-blooded it was the right thing to do. That's what this team is about. We've given him enough chances, if he can't read the writing on the wall the selectors should leave him with no misconceptions.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Jeor' post='1632779' date='Dec 29 2008, 18.38']They've put themselves in a pickle by picking Hauritz. He hasn't bowled badly but I still think Krejza should have been the guy. Now they'll have to either stick with Hauritz, or go back to Krejza on his home ground, which would just perpetuate the cycle. I suppose if Watson plays they could pick two spinners, but two offies would be a bit strange. One reason I'd argue that we should retain Hayden is that there are going to be wholesale changes for Sydney anyway. Watson will be in place of Symonds, someone (probably Hilfenhaus) will be playing in place of Lee, and we don't know what the spinning situation will be like. May as well keep Hayden.[/quote]

Hauritz has completely outbowled Krejza so far in this series (3-98 and an economy of 2.27, compared to 1-204 and an economy of 4.16), so I don't see why there should be a thought of re-introducing Krejza for the SCG. Hauritz should have had 4 wickets as well, but dropped an easy chance. And at least he will (likely) be able to keep the pressure on SA tomorrow, while Krejza would probably have leaked easy runs like he did at the WACA on Day 5.

[Hereward]

I've been doing a lot of cricket watching and no board reading for the last week, so it's nice to see I'm not totally forgotten! This has been a great test match, as is becoming almost routine at the moment. I'm more optimistic about England's prospects for the Ashes as well. I was gutted that we lost to South Africa in the summer, thinking we let them off the hook at crucial times with an all-round better team, but it seems we were not alone!

As I'm sure Jeor and Brady can recall me saying in early 2005, we may not win but it'll be damned close. :wideeyed:

[IheartTesla]

Shane Watson isnt even playing and he is out with a stress fracture for 6 months! Christ on a pogo stick....

The Australian cupboard is bare, absolutely bare. Watson gone, Lee out for a while, Clark too, Symonds limping on the field, Hayden on his last legs, no decent spinner in the wings. Now I dont want to tell the Australian selectors how to do their job, but the pattern of blooding members of the team in their late 20s has to stop. Its time for them to take a chance on some young blood. Sure, 2009 might be a disastrous year for them - but I believe they can remain in the top tier for a while after that.

There are some advantages to a youth policy, those being that not everyone will retire at the same time and young flesh will be less susceptible to injury.

Looks like SA will have this comfortably wrapped up soon. Well done!

[IheartTesla]

Well at least Jeor will be happy Symonds will be playing in Sydney :P

If his injuries heal that is. Who else is there for the #6 slot? Cameron White? Shaun Marsh (dont know much about him)?

[delete this account pls]

[quote name='Horza' post='1632800' date='Dec 29 2008, 21.36']Jaques is injured, it'll be either Phil Hughes or Chris Rogers.

The series is lost, he's made two half centuries in 15 games, he's 37, why give him another test when we could be blooding a replacement in a low-pressure environment?

We ditched Heals when his time came, we ditched Mark Waugh and Slats and though cold-blooded it was the right thing to do. That's what this team is about. We've given him enough chances, if he can't read the writing on the wall the selectors should leave him with no misconceptions.[/quote]

I'm with you 100% on being ruthless, but if that's what the selectors were doing, Hayden shouldn't have played in Melbourne. We've missed our chance to make a winning change this series (and not all of that is on Hayden obviously, I do feel for him) and I'm not a fan of blooding new guys in dead rubbers. I didn't know Jaques was still on the injured list though.

I agree with Cyrano too, get some young blood into the team. It worked with Michael Clarke. Hell, it worked with Ponting back in the day, he was, what, 21 when he made his debut? These young guys are going to be there soon anyway, half the team are in their 30s.

[Jeor]

Surprise surprise, Shane Watson's injured again! Who would have thought. The Sydney Test was one of the first times I would have been going for his inclusion in a Test, and now he goes and gets injured for the gazillionth time. No doubt the selectors will have him back in the international mix straight away when he's healthy again without seeing him play. Watson's injury history is absolutely littered with everything, it's not as if it's one problem that comes and goes - he has back stress fractures, he pulled a hammie during an ODI match, he had ankle problems in another. If he does get selected for Tests in the future, I'd bet my house (if I had one) that at some point he will break down mid Test match and cause problems ala Brett Lee in this match.

Really not sure who they'd put in for Symonds. All the in-form first-class batsmen at the moment are openers. I suppose Shaun Marsh could come in, but I don't know how he's been doing lately on the domestic scene. I guess they have at least gone the youth route with Siddle (24). Cameron White shouldn't come in; he's not either a Test batsman or bowler, and putting him in at No.6 wouldn't be very helpful.

[Stubby]

[quote name='cyrano' post='1633498' date='Dec 30 2008, 10.25']Well at least Jeor will be happy Symonds will be playing in Sydney :P

If his injuries heal that is. Who else is there for the #6 slot? Cameron White? Shaun Marsh (dont know much about him)?[/quote]

#6 Candidates:

M Klinger (South Australia) has made 906 1st class runs from 6 matches this summer, at an ave of 90+.

P Hughes (NSW) has made 730 1st class runs from 7 matches at an average of 56.15.

C Rogers (Vic) has made 661 from 6 matches at an average of 58.86.

Edit: I think Dan Marsh has made more runs this year than Shaun. :rolleyes:

[Jeor]

Good pick about Klinger. The problem is that Hughes and Rogers are both openers, so they'd probably come in for Hayden. Although Katich could move down the order (when playing first-class cricket he's a middle order player) I don't see either of Hughes or Rogers at No. 6.

[Stubby]

[quote name='Jeor' post='1633530' date='Dec 30 2008, 11.08']Good pick about Klinger.[/quote]

On form he is the only real choice.

[Jeor]

And South Africa win by an emphatic 9 wickets, and they take the series. They deserve to be the top side in the world after their strong record and being unbeaten in a series for however many years; As for Australia, we've only won 2 of our last 8 Test matches!

It's interesting how the roles were reversed. Usually it's Australia who turn bad positions into winning ones, who don't drop catches, who make their opponents pay for mistakes. In this case it was South Africa who was doing all that, while Australia were the ones who blinked at vital moments and dropped catches.

I don't want to harp on too much about the old days, but this Australian side has certainly come down a bit from a few years ago. Yesterday, when Australia were 5 wickets down for not much and were looking to build some sort of lead, you could have been 100% certain that Gilchrist would come out all guns blazing and he'd be good for a quickfire 50 or even 100 before the session was over. Even defending a small total of 183, with McGrath and Warne in the side you would have counted Australia in with a big chance, especially with Warne against South Africa. But those days are over, and in losing Gilchrist and the combination of two all-time great bowlers (most teams have one, but not two), this Australian team has lost the thing that made them so special over the years.

Every good international team in the past decade had some great batsmen (Tendulkar, Kallis, Lara, Chanderpaul, Pietersen, Inzamam) but it was Australia's bowling attack and wicketkeeping that made them so special. It's interesting to note that the teams that have most recently challenged Australia for the No.1 title (West Indies in the early 90s, South Africa in the late 90s) were teams that had two great bowlers - Ambrose/Walsh, and Donald/Pollock.

South Africa have a very good team. It has a great balance of youth and experience; Smith is still in his prime, Kallis probably has a couple of good years left in him, but they also have young batsmen like Duminy, Amla and De Villiers that will see them through for many years yet. Their bowling attack will lose Ntini in the next couple of years but by that time Steyn will have more experience, and Morkel will perhaps develop more consistency. I guess the only question mark in the future for South Africa is what to do when Boucher retires; he's been such a fixture in the team that I can't even think of another South African wickie going around at the moment, although I suppose De Villiers is the part-time option.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Jeor' post='1633530' date='Dec 30 2008, 11.08']Good pick about Klinger. The problem is that Hughes and Rogers are both openers, so they'd probably come in for Hayden. Although Katich could move down the order (when playing first-class cricket he's a middle order player) I don't see either of Hughes or Rogers at No. 6.[/quote]

Any takers for Dave Hussey or Hodge? Hussey just cracked a century in a 20/20 the other day, although I gather his shield form hasn't been great. Unfortunately, I have to say that it won't be Marsh as he is way down on confidence at the moment.

Anyway, I have to get it off my chest that I am on Cloud 9 right now. It's my 21st birthday today and I have just received the greatest gift imaginable - an Aus defeat on home soil for only the second time since I was born. I have been waiting a long time to see exciting, unpredictable and high-quality test cricket in this country and I have to say that over the last two summers (with the exception of the short and unexciting SL and NZ series), my prayers have been answered. In my mind, this series is right up there with Ashes 05 for the most unpredictable cricket I have ever seen. The two comebacks we have witnessed at the WACA and the 'G have been nothing short of outstanding. I had my doubts about the SA line-up coming in to this tour, but they have shown that their win in England was no fluke and they really are an excellent team. Imagine how good they would be if Ntini and Morkel really started firing...

Actually SA have a bit of a problem now - which in-form batsman should be left out of the SCG test match? McKenzie has now made himself much harder to drop after seeing out what could have been a tricky run chase. Maybe they will have to hand over the gloves to De Villiers and kick Boucher out of the team ;). I am honestly at a loss as to what they should do.

As for the Aussies...well they have had their moments in this series. They marginally outplayed SA over the first 3-4 days at the WACA, and dominated the first two days of this one. So they probably didn't play as badly as in India. Some of the young guns also impressed: Johnson, Haddin, Siddle and Hauritz. But in the final analysis, the Aussies were just not up to scratch in all three areas. Their batting in particular was poor IMO - SA lost only 11 wickets at the 'G and 14 wickets at the WACA, compared to 20 and 20 for the Aussies. And things could have been far worse if guys like Lee, Krejza, Johnson and Siddlehadn't contributed with the bat. Guys like Hayden, Symonds and even Clarke and Haddin (who are having quite a good series with the bat) have thrown away their wickets on far too many occasions. Simon Katich has also failed to capitalise on good starts too often. What will really hurt the Aussies is that SA didn't even have to bowl particularly well in this series. Sure, they built pressure by keeping boundaries to a minimum, and Steyn and Ntini produced a few genuinely good deliveries but the Saffers were not as threatening as, say, the English attack of '05. My thoughts on batting selection are that Symonds and Hayden should be dropped immediately (they both should have been dropped for this test as well). It's a shame that Watson is injured again because he would have been a ready-made relacement for Simmo. Instead they will have to play either D Hussey or maybe Marcus North. Hodge has a good test record but time is not really on his side (he's already 34). The problem is that these replacements won't really add anything to the bowling (although both bowl gentle off-spin). Therefore, perhaps Andrew McDonald isn't a bad selection. The opening spot should go to either Klinger or Rogers (not Marsh). Probably Rogers as he has been a proven performer over a longer period.

Bowling-wise, I think Siddle has done a good job, Johnson was outstanding at Perth but lacking penetration at Melbourne and Hauritz very good at the 'G. The big let-downs were Krejza and Lee, who have combined figures of about 2 for 450 in the series. Not only did these two lack wickets, they also failed to keep the runs down. I think Hilfy should come into the team for Lee, but it will probably be Bollinger. Both are promising swing bowlers who deserve a chance at international level. As for the fielding in this series, SA were almost flawless - the Mckenzie drop was the only notable blip. In contrast the Aussies were very sloppy, and they will live to regret dropping Steyn three times.

Anyway, interesting week of selections ahead. It will be sad to if Hayden goes (he has been an immense cricketer over a long period of time), but he really has come to the end of the road IMO. I have a bit of a sentimental attachment to Hayden because his breakthorugh test series (Aus vs India 01) was also the series that made me fall in love with test cricket. I also watched him make 380 against Zim, which was a world record at the time. But I believe his time is up.

[Stubby]

Good analyses by Jeor and Paxter both. :thumbsup:

Can't really add much to those comments. I will just agree with Pax on the 'cracking good contest' comments though. I said before the 05 Ashes (on the old board) that I wanted to see 5 tests go 5 days and the series come down to the last session of the last day of the last test. Although this series is over and the last test is a dead rubber, I still expect to see some good cricket from Sydney.

Test cricket is interesting again!!

Also, happy birthday, Pax!!

[Jeor]

Bollinger, Macdonald (all-rounder) and Hilfenhaus in the new 12-man squad in place of Symonds, Lee and Watson.

Looks like Hayden will retain his place - good. I want to see if he has anything left, and if he gets out cheaply twice again, I'm fairly sure he'll see the writing on the wall and decide to retire. That's a more respected way to go out than to get axed, and in a dead rubber Test the stakes are low enough that it's worth the risk of seeing whether Hayden can come up with a big score and continue with his career.

By a process of deduction, MacDonald will also be playing in Sydney. The 12 man squad only has five batsmen, MacDonald, the wicketkeeper and five bowlers, so unless they want to play a batsman short and bat Haddin at 6, MacDonald will play. Or perhaps the selectors think with Haddin at 6 and Johnson at 7 they can afford to have five bowlers - highly unlikely though.

[Paxter]

[quote name='Ser Stubby' post='1633652' date='Dec 30 2008, 14.45']Test cricket is interesting again!![/quote]

And long may this continue!

Just two things to add to what has already been said:
1) I forgot to mention Phil Hughes in my discussion about a new opener for the SCG. His first-class record is outstanding for someone so young, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him picked in front of Rogers/Klinger
2) Jeor, I believe that De Villiers is definitely the full-time wicket-keeper in waiting and is not considered merely a part-time option. Or so said SA cricket guru Neil Manthorpe on 720 ABC radio. There is a young 'keeper by the name of Tsolekile who played when Boucher was dropped not so long ago, but his batting looked well below the standard of AB or Boucher.

Edit: hmmm...interesting selections. Oh well, it will be good to see how Hayden goes in his last test in Aus. I doubt he can resurrect his career though. I suppose you never know. I agree with your deduction about MacDonald. It will be a contest between Bollinger and Hilfenhaus for Lee's spot.

Symonds got what he deserved. His omission was pretty inevitable after a lacklustre re-introduction to the team.

[Stubby]

So they've gone with an all-rounder again? :bang:

FFS I wish the selectors would get over this unholy fixation.