Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Sc.. » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 02:52:29


Biggest factors were ...
1)  The toss (ironically, beacause Smith won it, but Ponting said he would
have batted too)
2)  Clark - bowling perfectly suited to the conditions and used them well.
Nice debut young man.
3)  The partnership between Ponting and Hayden - the only two batsmen to
adjust their batting to Test cricket afer the ODI's (well, in Ponting's
case, anyway).

Big ask now for SA to win it the series.  A Draw still possible - they HAVE
to win an Kingsmead (I'm thinking the Wanderers might be a draw).  Pollock
back will be a big factor, obviously.

And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some runs like Ponting is doing
for Aus...

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Dave Turne » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:25:13

Quote:
> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some
> runs like Ponting is doing for Aus...

This is one of the biggest factors - their captain has rarely gotten a start
let alone gone on with it. When it comes to his batting he's definately not
walking the walk

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Ivan Skiva » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:28:50

You made a very good point about batsmen having to adjust from ODIs to
test matches. It must have been especially difficult after the slather
of the last ODI. However the point does not apply to Hayden because he
missed the ODIs.

Ivan

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Sc.. » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:40:33


Quote:
>> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some
>> runs like Ponting is doing for Aus...
> This is one of the biggest factors - their captain has rarely gotten a
> start let alone gone on with it. When it comes to his batting he's
> definately not walking the walk

Everyone was saying that when he wasn't scoring runs in the ODI's either...
 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Sc.. » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 03:43:20


Quote:
> You made a very good point about batsmen having to adjust from ODIs to
> test matches. It must have been especially difficult after the slather
> of the last ODI. However the point does not apply to Hayden because he
> missed the ODIs.

Yes, I actually picked up on a comment before the Tests started, where
Ponting said they'd have to actively concentrate on putting some of their
shots away until they had played themselves in and were really set.  Most
just seemed to want to play it as they saw it.
 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by alve » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 06:37:40

D3 Cheerentary highlight: Haysman (I think)after the game had finished;
 "At least South Africa have shown that they've closed the gap between
Australia and themselves."

alvey

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by S » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 08:26:11

Quote:

> Biggest factors were ...
> 1)  The toss (ironically, beacause Smith won it, but Ponting said he would
> have batted too)
> 2)  Clark - bowling perfectly suited to the conditions and used them well.
> Nice debut young man.
> 3)  The partnership between Ponting and Hayden - the only two batsmen to
> adjust their batting to Test cricket afer the ODI's (well, in Ponting's
> case, anyway).

> Big ask now for SA to win it the series.  A Draw still possible - they HAVE
> to win an Kingsmead (I'm thinking the Wanderers might be a draw).  Pollock
> back will be a big factor, obviously.

> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some runs like Ponting is doing
> for Aus...

Yep, no ***y argument.
Well played Aus (except for some of their batting but what the hell)

I was at most of the sessions.
Seated more or less at square leg but the most apparent thing to me was
- the way the Aus top order applied themselves
That pitch was not nice to bat on. The Aus top order knew that and
grafted for their runs. They were not guilty of tossing their wickets
away ala Kallis, Smith, Prince et al. Very disappointing from our batsmen

- Mr Clarke did the business. That pitch was going to reward the bowler
that got the ball in the right place. Mr Clarke did. Our bowlers did not.
Sitting where I did I particulary noticerd that Ntini's rhythym was just
not there.. He appeared to be correcting just before his delivery stride
more often than not

- Over way too early. I had tickets for Day 4. Now the wife is going to
give me work to do

- The 20 odd beers plus the samoosas are repeating on me. Must have been
the samoosas..

Now for Durban

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Will_ » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:23:19


Quote:
> Biggest factors were ...
> 1)  The toss (ironically, beacause Smith won it, but Ponting said he would
> have batted too)

The wicket was good for the bowlers the whole match ( well 3 days ) so the
toss wasnt that big a deal

Quote:
> 2)  Clark - bowling perfectly suited to the conditions and used them well.
> Nice debut young man.

The ball went his way. Next match he wont take a wicket.

Quote:
> 3)  The partnership between Ponting and Hayden - the only two batsmen to
> adjust their batting to Test cricket afer the ODI's (well, in Ponting's
> case, anyway).

That and a handy knock from Symonds. Otherwise the Australian batting didnt
look that good and even Ponting had a large slice of luck.

Quote:

> Big ask now for SA to win it the series.  A Draw still possible - they
> HAVE to win an Kingsmead (I'm thinking the Wanderers might be a draw).
> Pollock back will be a big factor, obviously.

Kingsmead ?  Spion friendly or pace friendly ?

Quote:

> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some runs like Ponting is doing
> for Aus...

Like I said before Ponting had the luck and Smith didnt

SA dropped to many catches and a couple times didnt get their hands on the
ball ( ie. the ball between keeper and 1st slip ).

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Mad Hamis » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 09:35:41

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 01:26:11 +0200, "Dave (SA)"

Quote:

>- Mr Clarke did the business. That pitch was going to reward the bowler
>that got the ball in the right place. Mr Clarke did. Our bowlers did not.
>Sitting where I did I particulary noticerd that Ntini's rhythym was just
>not there.. He appeared to be correcting just before his delivery stride
>more often than not

How much bowling has Ntini done since his knee injury in Aus?
Not overly surprising that he's struggling a bit with rhythm after
that.
--
"Hope is replaced by fear and dreams by survival, most of us get by."
Stuart Adamson 1958-2001

Mad Hamish
Hamish Laws

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Hilto » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 10:10:53

Quote:

>> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some
>> runs like Ponting is doing for Aus...
> This is one of the biggest factors - their captain has rarely gotten a
> start let alone gone on with it. When it comes to his batting he's
> definately not walking the walk

If we took the umpires out of the loop, Smith would (possibly) have made a
ton more runs.  He was given out numerous times when he wasn't out.  In one
game in Aus, the ball pitched halfway down the wicket, Smith (who is tall)
got hit above the knee (I immediate say "No way!") and he gets given.  TV
shows the ball would have passed 12 inches above the stumps.  Another time
it wouldn't have missed leg stump by a mile (the one that swung late and hit
him low down).  You can't blame him for not scoring in those matches.

It is time that the game of cricket, the players, and the fans became more
important that two guys standing in the middle who continually made very
very bad decisions; ones which change a game, a series, a career...  We need
snicko, we need reviews, and we need hawkeye.  We need to have the results
in 5 seconds and move on.  If the umpires could consistently make good
calls, then great, but they get it wrong WAY too often; thank heavens we use
TV for runouts and stumpings; now we have to use it for LBWs and caught
behinds too.

Oh one more thing, would someone please tell umpires NOT to run in line with
the crease when there is a close runout.  Just get out the way and give the
cameras an unrestricted view.

Airline flying became a whole lot safer as technolgy has been introduced.
Pilots initially didn't like.  Bummer, things are better safer, just as
cricket will become less of a ***shoot on what kind of a day some random
umpire is having.

Hilton

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by ColinKynoc » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 11:08:15


decided that the world would be a better place for knowing the
following:

Quote:

>D3 Cheerentary highlight: Haysman (I think)after the game had finished;
> "At least South Africa have shown that they've closed the gap between
>Australia and themselves."

Well they lost their last test by 8 wickets, so I guess 7 wickets is
closing the gap ever so slightly

Colin Kynoch

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by Bob Duber » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:20:25

Quote:

> Biggest factors were ...
> 1)  The toss (ironically, beacause Smith won it, but Ponting said he would
> have batted too)

Plus if Smith had put Australia in he'd have been lambasted for playing
into Australian hands by setting up the situation of Warne bowling on a
5th day strip. It was not a good toss to win.

Quote:
> 2)  Clark - bowling perfectly suited to the conditions and used them well.
> Nice debut young man.
> 3)  The partnership between Ponting and Hayden - the only two batsmen to
> adjust their batting to Test cricket afer the ODI's (well, in Ponting's
> case, anyway).

I didn't think either of them played with great fluency. Hayden grafted
for runs in a way that we're not accustomed to from him. But, still,
they got the runs.

This was never an easy strip for batting, and Hayden and Ponting showed
the necessary application and got the runs without ever dominating in
the way that they both can.

The only dominating batting performance was that of Symonds.

It was one of those Tests where things went right for one side a lot.
Most crucially Australia caught well. It's not just luck, it's being
able to take advantage of the luck.

Quote:
> Big ask now for SA to win it the series.  A Draw still possible - they HAVE
> to win an Kingsmead (I'm thinking the Wanderers might be a draw).  Pollock
> back will be a big factor, obviously.

> And yes, Smith needs to stand up and make some runs like Ponting is doing
> for Aus...

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by M.. » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 13:53:38

Quote:

> > 3)  The partnership between Ponting and Hayden - the only two batsmen to
> > adjust their batting to Test cricket afer the ODI's (well, in Ponting's
> > case, anyway).

> I didn't think either of them played with great fluency. Hayden grafted
> for runs in a way that we're not accustomed to from him. But, still,
> they got the runs.

> This was never an easy strip for batting, and Hayden and Ponting showed
> the necessary application and got the runs without ever dominating in
> the way that they both can.

> The only dominating batting performance was that of Symonds.

Symonds has made something of a habit (in first class cricket) of
scoring fast fifties on seam-friendly pitches.  At one stage it seemed
that this was the only time anyone made any runs and in one particular
season, I seem to recall that he averaged about 50 in games where the
top innings score was under 200 and about half that in more
batting-friendly (at least for everyone else) conditions.  Stats-rats
could probably prove me wrong, but the over-all impression was of him
scoring a large amount of runs quickly when he had no right to and
*** all when he should have been carving up the attack.

I didn't, unfortunately, see any of the test, but from various
descriptions and the fact that Symonds scored the 55 in the way he did,
I suspect that:

1) The Hayden-Ponting partnership was even better than many are giving
them credit for.
2) Australia shouldn't get too e***d about Clark yet and Lee's still
bowling rubbish.
3) South Africa's 200-odd scores were probably a high pass-mark for
that pitch.

Moby

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by alve » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 14:59:53

snip

Quote:

> Kingsmead ?  Spion friendly..." <snip>  

If it is then they'll just have to Kop it sweet....

alvey
in Brix, Battling away.

 
 
 

Oh yes, well played Aus :-)

Post by S » Mon, 20 Mar 2006 15:00:35

Quote:

> On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 01:26:11 +0200, "Dave (SA)"

>>- Mr Clarke did the business. That pitch was going to reward the bowler
>>that got the ball in the right place. Mr Clarke did. Our bowlers did not.
>>Sitting where I did I particulary noticerd that Ntini's rhythym was just
>>not there.. He appeared to be correcting just before his delivery stride
>>more often than not

> How much bowling has Ntini done since his knee injury in Aus?
> Not overly surprising that he's struggling a bit with rhythm after
> that.

Just some ODI cricket which is completely different to First Class cricket

Yep you are right. Hope he finds his rhythym before Durban