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March 25, 2009
Greatest Test series' of the modern era
Posted on 03/25/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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One of the best series wins in Ponting’s reign as captain
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With five of the six matches decided on the last day, 14 centuries scored, five five-fors taken by the bowlers, and a great well of memories created by the two teams, the back-to-back Test series between Australia and South Africa made for two of the greatest Test series' of the modern era, writes Stuart Hess on iol.co.za.
Australia found out that they didn't need so many old hands to remain successful, that in fact their domestic cricket was strong, certainly with regards batsmen and fast bowlers, and that they will continue to be close to, if not at, the top of the Test tree for the foreseeable future ... South Africa will know that to dominate the way Australia did for a decade is not easy. After winning in Australia, it was felt that with a side with so many young players in so many important positions - Hashim Amla at three, JP Duminy and AB de Villiers in the middle order, and Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel as fast bowlers, they could start to define their own era of dominance.
On iafrica.com Dan Nicholl reports back from Newlands after four days of Test cricket that saw a triumph of good over evil, a welcome appearance of Smurfs, and further confirmation that Ricky Ponting is far more deserving of the moniker liberally applied instead to his team-mate Peter Siddle throughout the series.
In the South African-based Times Alex Parker calls Australia's series win one of the best in Ponting’s reign as captain.
Australia are indeed a new, young side, but it’s clear the depth of talent in Australian cricket is enormous. A couple of injuries and defeats left South Africa scrambling for ideas. Australia, on the other hand, turned to a seemingly bottomless pool of talented cricketers and within weeks turned their fortunes around. In a flash one had the feeling that some of the new boys — Philip Hughs and Marcus North foremost among them — will be playing Test cricket for some time.
January 27, 2009
Good on yer, South Africa
Posted on 01/27/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Many Australian critics, typically recapturing their gung-ho voices not long after the dust settled on the Test portion, quickly latched on to Johan Botha’s status as leader as a source of mystery and potential weakness. Rob Houwing in Sport24.com doffs his cap proudly to the South Africans for their highly successful tour of Australia and the sparkling and utterly professional way they have gone about their instant business despite the emotional demands of the prior Test phase for the many dual-role players in the camp.
While the batsmen did well and hogged the headlines, the man who had a quietly monumental series was Botha. It had been tough to fill Graeme Smith’s shoes and he not only managed that, he also bowled quite beautifully. Alex Parker in his blog on the website of the South African daily, the Times, believes Botha is the Man of the Series by a stretch.
January 26, 2009
Australia's ODI batting looks one-dimensional
Posted on 01/26/2009 in Australian cricket
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Is Michael Hussey the wrong candidate for the No. 4 slot?
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Australia's 50-over batting is ripe for reconstruction. Apart from Shaun Mar sh and his captain, none of the incumbents have batted with conviction, Peter Roebuck writes in the Age after Australia's loss in Adelaide, which helped South Africa gain an unassailable 3-1 series lead.
None of the other local batsmen caught the eye and most will be hard-pressed to hold their positions. Maybe Twenty20 has taught them about the big shots but not the little shots. Once cast in steel, Michael Hussey nowadays seems to be made of china. Maybe No. 4 is not his best position because it leaves him betwixt and between. His strength lies in his ability to rearrange an innings. He is a match player not a machine. Even in the Test side he might be happier at No. 5.
David Hussey, Brad Haddin, Cameron White and James Hopes have looked too similar to play in the same team. None of them work the ball around, placing the ball into gaps or dropping it at their toes. Not long ago J-P Duminy passed 50 without once crossing the boundary or falling behind the clock. None of the incumbents use their feet confidently against spin, instead they rely upon sweeps and blows. Fertility has its part to play in batting. Jacques Kallis' knack of opening the face of his bat to glide good deliveries towards third man prevents the pressure building so that desperation does not seize his mind.
January 25, 2009
Botha an inspired choice for ODI captain
Posted on 01/25/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Johan Botha: Not the most talented, but among the most resolute
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Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald says he is impressed by Johan Botha's captaincy of the South Africa ODI side in the absence of Graeme Smith.
By no means was it a simple assignment. Replacing a highly regarded leader was itself a challenge, more so since it meant a forceful opening batsman had been lost.
Leading a team that had already achieved its primary aim was also tricky. Some of the tourists must have been eager for a braai and a stick of dried beef. Taking charge of older players has its perils, especially for an outsider with an unremarkable record. All too easily he could have resembled a young lieutenant with a shiny cap trying to arouse gnarled veterans with bright remarks.
January 17, 2009
Ponting finally puts his stamp on team
Posted on 01/17/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Peter Roebuck, writing in the Age, praises Ricky Ponting for his performance in the first ODI against South Africa, and feels the start to the new year for the Australian captain represents a welcome departure from a forgettable, and highly controversial, 2008.
Perhaps he senses that this team belongs to him, that he can put his imprint on it, that it is not too late to recover the livewire seen in his early years. He began as a young captain surrounded by players of vast experience and high calibre. He had not built the team so much as inherited it, and several of the regulars were his seniors. Not until the withdrawal of Matthew Hayden was he completely his own man.
He had a rotten year in 2008, moving from the craven SCG Test to the calamity of Nagpur, where even the Hallelujah chorus criticised him. Hereabouts he was an outstanding batsman but a stubborn, unimaginative captain. On this evidence he has put that behind him.
January 15, 2009
South Africa needs a director of cricket
Posted on 01/15/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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It is nearly a year since Polly has gone, but South Africa are still searching for an effective replacement
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Eric Simons, the former South Africa coach, feels the team has become static in the fast-moving world of limited-overs cricket and suggests that having a director of cricket - given the board has all others aspects covered - could have helped in avoiding the prolonged rebuilding process the team is undergoing in the shorter forms of the game. Simons says on iafrica.com:
Like it or not sport is now a business and cricket is our product which competes for the attention of sports lovers around the world. In our industry the one-day game is ultimately what generates the real money. Having to go through a building phase in our most lucrative product range is like not opening our store during the Christmas rush. It makes no business sense.
The game has got to become more professional in its attitude. Can you imagine the CEO of a listed company telling the shareholders that many of senior management had retired in the last year and new management needs time to develop so there might not be any profits for a while?
Can you imagine Sir Alex Ferguson telling supporters that his team is in a building phase and they must not expect too much from them this season? Why should an international cricket team be any different?
South Africa really can't make excuses
Posted on 01/15/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
In two successive interviews since South Africa won the Test series, the coach Mickey Arthur has played down his team's chances in the one-dayers and clearly set out to douse the flames of high expectation back home, writes Rodney Hartman in Independent Online.
The Test series triumph set the tone and the media and the public rather liked the fuzzy feeling they got going into the new year. The last thing they need is to feel like they're losing it - as happened in England last year when South Africa's victory in the Test series was followed by a horrible flop in the ODIs. Also, on the question of rebuilding, the Australians are in the same boat.
January 13, 2009
Bin the cans
Posted on 01/13/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Neil Manthorp has another brush with the security guards in Australian grounds and this time it's at the MCG, which is beginning to feel like base-camp. The venue is turning out to be a guzzler's paradise, not for the fans, but for the several trash bins. Read more in his tour diary for Supercricket
Half a dozen kids had arrived at the same time as us and clearly didn't know about the regulation which bans spectators from taking any cans of drink into the ground. They each had a couple of cans of cooldrink in their bags. Security staff removed them, opened them, poured the contents away and disposed of the can. I asked a lady why they did that: "So that nobody else can have them!" she replied, defiantly. Are there no underpriviledged, no needy people, no childrens homes?
On Graeme Smith's heroic effort at the MCG, he relates the famous story of a young Graeme and the family fridge.
January 10, 2009
Graeme's gallantry was glorious, but wrong
Posted on 01/10/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Plenty of people, not least those in the South African team, have termed Graeme Smith's decision to bat at the SCG last week with a broken hand as inspirational. But John Robbie, writing in The Independent, questions Smith's move. The writer believes batting was the easier option for Smith to make, because had he chosen not to bat, he would have been targeted by the legion of fans who are not Smith supporters. For Smith, batting was a way of winning them over, but Robbie feels the decision itself should not have been his to make.
What if a ball had hit a crack and seriously cracked open his hand? What if he was out for a year instead of a few weeks? That would have seriously compromised the next series. What would the headlines be saying now? Would they focus on bravery or stupidity?
In the New Zealand Herald, Dylan Cleaver draws up a list of players who have battled through the pain barrier in Test cricket to perform heroic deeds. Not all of these deeds led to famous victories - see numbers 10, 9, 6, 5, 2 and 1 for example - but they gave their teams hope when there was little beforehand.
The best Test series in Australia for decades
Posted on 01/10/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Peter Roebuck, writing in The Witness, feels the climax of the Sydney Test provided a fitting end to a closely fought series.
Television cameras kept flashing across to the visitors’ bench where the coach was observed chuckling nervously one minute and covering his eyes the next. By the way the thunder continued rolling around without ever delivering its contents. But the overall impression was of a team at ease with itself, a team committed to victory but unencumbered with earnestness let alone zealotry
Ray White, writing in the same newspaper, questions the scheduling of the return series, the usual rubber between Australia and South Africa being confined to three Tests, and the relatively low frequency of the contests between the two teams.
Graeme Smith's heroic effort in Sydney prompts Mike Smit, writing in Business Day, to have a change of heart regarding his views on the South African captain
January 8, 2009
Dream series ends on highest possible note
Posted on 01/08/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Roll over Allan Stanford and all the other unbelievers with a concentration span of 10 minutes. An exhilarating Test match ended in its last few moments in the most stunning circumstances as a battered but unbowed visiting captain was beaten by a scything delivery from an exhausted opponent, writes Peter Roebuck in the Witness.
It was an extraordinary finish. Storm clouds were gathering over a scarred ground. An increasingly alarmed Australian side was desperately trying to take the last two wickets thereby securing a much-needed victory. South African tailenders were hanging on for dear life.
Meanwhile all and sundry were watching the rooms wondering whether or not a wounded captain intended to bat. Rumours spread that he had been sighted in white clothes and then swinging a bat but, like the existence of the Loch Ness monster, they remained unconfirmed. Someone said that his plastercast had been cut off and he was trying to put on his batting gloves. Not until the last instant did anyone outside the rooms realise that Smith meant to take his turn at the crease.
Graeme Smith and Micky Arthur have repeatedly insisted that one of their guiding principles is that each player knows what his role is. What that means, in part, is that all the top batsmen play in a certain position that has its own unique responsibilities, writes Patrick Compton on Independent Online.
With Smith injured, what were the management to do? Playing specialist batsmen like Amla or Duminy up front would have disrupted the batting order and changed the team's batting rhythm, so the non-specialist Morkel, who has shown some ability against pace, was seen as the best remaining option. The gamble failed, as it turned out, but the decision was the correct one.
Only today can we appreciate the scale of the risk, and the epic quality of the reward, selectors contemplated when Graeme Smith was appointed captain, aged just 22, back in early 2003. Last year he led his team to a series victory in England, and now this. He’s Steve Waugh without the nastiness. He’s Australian, without the chippiness, writes Alex Parker in the Times.
The Times also has a photo feature on Smith, going back to his schoolboy days.
On Independent Online, Zaahier Adams looks ahead to the one-day series.
While the withdrawal of skipper Graeme Smith due to injury is always a negative, I think there could be a silver lining to that dark cloud. Neil McKenzie has been called up, but I am more excited by the prospect of a Hashim Amla-Herschelle Gibbs opening combination
January 6, 2009
Tale of the tail
Posted on 01/06/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Stuart Hess, writing in the The Star, feels the performance of the lower-orders of both South Africa and Australia has been the most significant in influencing its outcome.
In a series packed with so many extraordinarily talented batsmen - greats like Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith - it's been the performances of the lower-order batsmen of both sides that has had a major impact on the series.
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The way the runs they've scored have changed the direction of the matches has added to the intrigue of what has been an enthralling Test series.
Every Dougie will have his day
Posted on 01/06/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Greg Baum in the Age looks at Doug Bollinger’s eventful but wicketless first bowling innings in Test cricket.
As Mark Boucher and Morne Morkel stalled Australia for nearly three hours and added another twist to the plot, Dougie appeared to have trapped Morkel plumb in front, and appealed in a way that made this point clearly and unarguably, and was mortified when umpire Bowden did not see it his way. Another expletive followed, which was at least understandable, and from a fast bowler's point of view, the minimum requirement.
All this was enough to make a man want to tear his hair out, something Dougie must beware, since his hair is not his anyway, and if torn out would not grow back, but would have to be replanted surgically, which would cost a lot of money and besides, what would Tegan say? Admirably, but by a narrow margin, he kept his hair on.
In the Australian, Peter Lalor explains the “heavy ball” for which Peter Siddle is renowned.
Not dot balls, bad balls, wide balls or pink balls, just one that hits the bat like it is made of rock. The sort of delivery that hits high on the splice and jars your arm, no matter how far into the forest your bat maker went in search of that perfect bit of willow.
Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald believes Australia must look to the future by building their attack around Siddle and Mitchell Johnson.
January 5, 2009
Clarke shows his leadership qualities
Posted on 01/05/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Mike Coward writes in the Australian that Michael Clarke’s century at the SCG has only enhanced his growing reputation as a leader since being appointed vice-captain.
Clarke's willingness to accept greater responsibility as Ricky Ponting's deputy will buoy the selectors who have been the butt of loud criticism as the Australians have failed in a home series for the first time since the West Indies were here in 1992-93. Not everyone greeted his appointment enthusiastically and the game's governors will be delighted with the maturity he has brought to the office.
While he led competently in two limited-overs matches in the Caribbean early last year, he demonstrated his strength as a man manager later in the year when he recommended strong action be taken against Andrew Symonds for abandoning a compulsory team meeting for a fishing expedition in Darwin. He again showed his maturity during a tense moment of the Test match in New Delhi when Simon Katich was incensed by the behaviour of Indian opening batsman Gautam Gambhir. When it seemed Katich could lose his self-control, Clarke physically ushered Katich away. It was excellent work by Clarke and showed his presence of mind under pressure -- an essential quality for a leader.
Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald argues that Clarke’s 138 was the most accomplished innings of his career, while Greg Baum in the Age believes the maturing of Clarke has been one of Australia's few gains this summer.
January 4, 2009
South Africa plot to stay on top
Posted on 01/04/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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South Africa's rise is a journey mirrored by their captain
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Neil Manthorp writes in the Observer about how South Africa's side has several similarities with England's Ashes-winning one of 2005. He also talks about how the involvement of Jeremy Snape as performance coach and Duncan Fletcher as part of the backroom staff were key components in South Africa's historic series win.
South Africa's rise is a journey mirrored by their captain, Graeme Smith, who will return home straight after the Sydney match for treatment on his sometimes agonising tennis-elbow condition. Smith has made a tumultuous five-and-a-half-year transition from outspoken youth to the longest-serving and most-respected leader in the game.
The irony, to those who know him best, is that while his team and their collective attitude and approach to cricket has changed fundamentally, Smith's core principles have remain unchanged. It's just that he has now dropped the shield of aggression and bullish confrontation behind which he used to do battle.
January 1, 2009
Graeme Smith’s new era
Posted on 01/01/2009 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Graeme Smith, in his Courier-Mail column, tells of South Africa’s long-term plan to beat Australia.
It's fair to say we started talking about this tour almost as soon as we arrived home three years ago. It has always been in the back of our minds, even through this year when we had tours to India and England. If I was still in the habit of sticking notes on my fridge door, I would have stuck one there three years ago and it would simply have said: "Win in Australia next time."
The challenge now, as it was with my captaincy, is not to treat the achievement as "mission accomplished" but to use it as the start of a brand new journey, a new era.
The post-mortems of Australia’s series defeat continue with Greg Baum writing in the Age about the change in the team’s fortunes.
In the aftermath, fingers of blame have been pointed in all directions: the selectors, the captain, Cricket Australia, Matthew Hayden, Andrew Symonds. Intrinsically, each accusation has some merit. Collectively, they amount to an outpouring of bad grace, for they seem to presume that Australia's dominance is its divine right, and that it was forfeited only because of some sort of neglect. Neither is unconditionally true.
Calls for Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, to resign have started, the Courier-Mail’s Robert Craddock reports.
In the Australian Malcolm Conn writes about how the age of Australian first-class players is rising.
December 31, 2008
No more quota required
Posted on 12/31/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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South Africa, with a team truly representative of their nation and under an admirable captain, Graeme Smith, have ransacked a crumbling edifice
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Graeme Smith is currently leading one of the most gifted generations of cricketers to emanate from South Africa yet the quota issue hovers uncomfortably even now when not one member of the current squad needs this “interference”, writes Lungani Zama in the Natal Witness.
Waiting in the wings, the likes of Lonwabo Tsotsobe and Monde Zondeki have cut their teeth in the franchise competitions, both ending as leading wicket takers in the last two completed SuperSport Series. Both are more than able replacements for Ntini when he finally decides to call it quits ... The find of the summer, JP Duminy, has also waited patiently, all the while churning out a pile of runs domestically. An enthralled Australian commentary box has compared the classy left-hander to none other than Brian Charles Lara, so meteorically has his stock risen. The man whose injury opened the door for Duminy, the indefatigable Ashwell Prince, has climbed the ranks to become Smith’s lieutenant, with several match-winning centuries — including one in Australia and two in England — illustrating his pivotal role in a vastly succesful middle- order. None of these players are looked at within the team, or around the world for that matter, as inferior players of colour dependent on a favourable selection process to make the grade. They are key to Smith’s plans, heroes around the country and good enough to hold their own in any conditions.
South Africa, with a team truly representative of their nation and under an admirable captain, Graeme Smith, have ransacked a crumbling edifice in Australia, writes Stephen Brenkley in the Independent.
There were times when it seemed Australia were invincible, an opinion to which Australia themselves, through preparation, method and sheer outrageous conviction continually added credence. But they demonstrated above all that none of the above can legislate for the simple loss of great cricketers. Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne went more or less together, along with Justin Langer. Adam Gilchrist followed a year later. It was too much.
The South Africans were once the most renowned chokers in the game, but the recruitment of Jeremy Snape as their sports psychologist and performance coach played a part in changing that. Simon Briggs of the Daily Telegraph find out how.
On Supercricket website Neil Manthorp enjoys South Africa's vctory and chats to Jacques Kallis about waiting 12 years for a series win in Australia.
In the ABC Radio commentary box there is an sms screen alongside the television replay screen which displays listeners comments and questions. There are too many to mention but, from time to time, the commentator picks one and discusses it. One which slips through the net but grabs my attention while I'm doing another guest spot says: "The first popular Safrican team ever to tour Oz - they're winners and seem bloody good blokes, too much to cope with! - Nevil" Jacques Kallis is standing close to the presentation area after the match. He doesn't need to be there but has waited 12 years for this moment and wants to soak up as much of the atmosphere as possible.
December 30, 2008
South Africa's dawn, Australia's twilight
Posted on 12/30/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Mike Coward writes in the Australian that Graeme Smith is an impressive man who has led an equally impressive team.
South Africa's achievement is a triumph for astute leadership both on and off the park. The intense, angst-ridden, humourless South African cricketers so familiar to Australian crowds since 1993-94 have been replaced by positive, relaxed and modest young men bonded by a conviction that they can be the very best. Indeed, should they win the third Test starting in Sydney on Saturday, they will officially supplant Australia as the No. 1 Test nation.
Smith's reaction at his press conference said it all. A thoughtful and articulate man who is playing in considerable pain with a worrying elbow complaint felt there were no adequate words to describe his feelings. He said his satisfaction and that of his men was best judged by their smiles. This provided a delightful association of images - broad smiles of Rainbow nationals.
In the Age, Greg Baum looks at the contrasting messages this series has sent Australia and South Africa.
In South Africa, it was, in all senses, dawn. Its cricket team had won a series in Australia for the first time and was on top of the world. Television and radio ratings were at record levels, newspapers bulging.
The Sowetan, which pitches to blacks and concentrates almost exclusively on soccer, was commissioning a cricket spread. Two Cape Town businesses gave their employees the morning off. Captain Graeme Smith's phone message bank filled to overflowing in five minutes.
In Australia, it was — at least metaphorically — twilight. Its Test team had lost a home series for the first time in 15 years; and its supremacy; and three players because of injuries.
Australia's capitulation and Test cricket's new order
Posted on 12/30/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Gideon Haigh, in his blog in the Guardian, writes the nature of Australia's defeats in Perth and Melbourne indicates their decline in fortunes is more chronic than one can imagine.
At times in Melbourne, Ricky Ponting's men played as opponents used to play against them, with a kind of grim, orderly, persevering mediocrity. As JP Duminy, in his second Test, and Dale Steyn, with a single-figure Test average, added 180 on the third day, bowlers went through the motions to defensive fields, while catches were spilled, and overthrows and penalty runs were conceded almost without a care.
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It is not so much that a generation in Australian cricket is over, as that a new one has failed to begin, and that the players assumed to tide the team over in transition have fallen from their high estate.
December 26, 2008
Johnson leaves behind the nervous '90s
Posted on 12/26/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Mitchell Johnson almost quit the game after struggling with an injury and losing his Queensland contract in 2003 but his perseverance, and guidance under Australia's bowling coach Troy Cooley, has transformed him into "the most destructive member" of his team's bowling attack, write Chloe Saltau and Alex Brown in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Thankfully for Australian cricket, Johnson chose the right direction at a critical moment in his life. Sick of the stress fractures and stripped of his Queensland contract in 2003, he returned to Townsville to figure out his priorities. His father urged him to have one more crack at cricket and he did, determined to do it on his own. He got a job driving a plumbing van in the mornings, used the afternoons to get fit and played for his club side, Norths, at the weekends.
In the same newspaper Brown notes how a single-minded Graeme Smith gained the edge. Smith became South African captain at 22, fulfilling a plan he had hatched 10 years earlier, writes Alex Brown.
Also, Chloe Saltau speaks to AB de Villiers, the star for South Africa in the first Test, about his desire to emulate his boyhood hero Jonty Rhodes, and his state of mind before the final day in Perth, where he scored a century to help his team pull off the second highest run-chase in Test history.
All three, Johnson, Smith, and de Villiers feature in Peter Roebuck's Test team of the year, in the Sydney Morning Herald.
All the ingredients for a Boxing Day feast
Posted on 12/26/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Matthew Hayden's batting will be under scrutiny at the MCG
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Peter Roebuck, in the Sydney Morning Herald, previews the second Test between Australia and South Africa in Melbourne. He expects the Test to live up to the hype, as opposed to India's capitulation last year at the same venue, with plenty at stake for players from both teams, particularly Matthew Hayden, who is struggling for form amid calls for his retirement.
As far as cricket is concerned, Hayden has not passed his sell-by date - but the slide has begun. By and large, batsmen are at their peaks between 27 and 34, as shrewd brain and sharp eyes work in harmony. And it goes further. Once a sportsman reaches 35 or so, he starts to wonder about his way of life, starts to think about home and hearth. Having experienced domestic bliss in small doses, he is inclined to think well of it. And so the mind loses its intensity and the player becomes a self-caricature. About a fortnight into retirement, of course, the player wearies of golf, fishing and washing up and applies for a job with Channel 9.
December 24, 2008
Brett Lee must let it rip
Posted on 12/24/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Shane Warne, in his Daily Telegraph column, has advised a beleaguered Brett Lee to go into the Boxing Day Test and just let all hell break loose. Lee was well below his match-winning potential in Australia's record loss to South Africa in Perth, and Warne is the latest to give Lee a vote of confidence ahead of the second Test.
Sure bowlers hunt in packs and his partner, Mitchell Johnson, was outstanding in Perth with 11 wickets.That was a great achievement, but Binga is the leader of the pack and he must show it in Melbourne. I want him to let the horses out and consistently hit the 150km/h-plus mark in pace, not hover in the high 130s. Let them have it, Binga.
Warne is also disappointed in some of the speculation and criticism the Australian team received.
In the Sydney Morning Herald, Peter Roebuck notes the rapid rate at which left-handed batsmen are rising to success.
In the 1980s, roughly 23 per cent of Test runs were scored by blokes standing the wrong way around. In the last few years, the figure has shot up to 37 per cent. Apart from the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the ending of apartheid and the emergence of Paris Hilton, nothing much happened in these 20 years, certainly not enough to explain such a discrepancy. And it has only just begun. Within another two decades, the rate will have risen to 60 per cent. By then, the concept of right- and left-handed batting might have undergone a complete overhaul.
December 22, 2008
Smith's exemplary leadership
Posted on 12/22/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Fazeer Mohammed, writing in the Trinidad and Tobago Express, lauds Graeme Smith for his inspirational leadership in his team’s record run-chase against Australia in Perth, particularly because it came amid deeper, more serious off-field issues, such as the debate regarding Cricket South Africa’s transformation policy, affecting cricketers in his country.
Stand in one position long enough at any cricket venue in South Africa and sooner or later someone comes by muttering something about the perpetuation of injustice, about whites refusing to let go of undeserved privileges, or, more specifically, about Smith being a classic example of the strength of the establishment mafia in that he has been fast-tracked through the system at the expense of more deserving players of colour.
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To stay focussed on getting the job done on the field in the midst of so many deeper issues that can hardly be dismissed as mere distractions, Graeme Smith has shown the sort of leadership that we yearn for in the Caribbean.
December 19, 2008
Game over for Hayden?
Posted on 12/19/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Matthew Hayden desperately needs to score big
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Matthew Hayden endured agonies during his brief and unconvincing stint at the WACA Ground. Desperately needing to produce a convincing innings to rid his mind of doubt and secure his place for the next few matches, he searched for his game and returned empty handed, says Peter Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Often the veteran opener seemed to be beaten for pace as the speedsters bent their backs. Wisely, the tourists did not give him opportunities to move back to assess the delivery. Throughout they harried and hurried him, snapping at his heels like a pesky terrier. In his best years Hayden always had time to play his strokes. Only in his youth did he look stiff and slow and then observers concluded that he lacked the speed of wit and foot to score heavily in this company. It was a mistaken diagnosis. Then Hayden was petrified into inactivity. Perhaps history is repeating itself.
In the Australian Mike Coward writes it was much too easy to look away from Hayden on the third day. Robert Craddock also covers Hayden’s plight in the Courier-Mail.
December 18, 2008
'I don't give a toss what your badge says, mate'
Posted on 12/18/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Neil Manthorp in his diary for Supercricket, has a rather difficult time dealing with the security at the WACA despite wearing an embarrassingly large which says 'Access All Areas.'
As I step over it, another security guard becomes aggressive and charges me. Harris is outraged and angry. He asks what the problem is. "My job means nobody gets in there!" snarls the official. For once, it's me urging the player to be calm. All part of the beautiful experience of touring Australia, and I mean that. Late at night, as I finish my daily diary, I really mean that it is a great tour. It just has little 'difficulties' along the way.
December 16, 2008
Crunch time as axeman cometh
Posted on 12/16/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
When he was a young boy, Peter Siddle got stuck in at a woodchopping competition. One trophy and nearly one finger later, the Victorian hung up his axe to pursue a cricket career. Australian cricket can be thankful Siddle still has all his fingers and toes, says Chloe Saltau in the Sydney Morning Herald, because he was given his first tomahawk at the age of two.
WACA bounce is unforgettable
Posted on 12/16/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Kim Hughes was always happy to leave the WACA nets
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It’s impossible to go to Perth for a Test without bounce being a big issue. Even standing near the nets still worries the former Australia captain Kim Hughes, according to Peter Lalor in the Australian.
Hughes saw Dennis Lillee in a marquee on the same spot where they once practised and began to have flashbacks to a dark place. "I always get a bit nervous when I come here," Hughes said. "The sea breeze would be blowing and Dennis would be bowling and I always thought I was pretty lucky to get out of the nets with my head on my shoulders. Because when he did say 'sorry', it was 'sorry I missed your head'."
If you watched closely yesterday there was a hint of the old days during the Australian net session. Mitchell Johnson and Brett Lee were bowling in the net farthest from the oval and Ricky Ponting drew the short straw. It wasn't pretty and there wasn't anyone padded up and ready to replace the captain when he was done.
The Australian bowling attack has lost its aura following the retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne and the time's right for South Africa to cash in, writes Robert Houwing in Sport24.
Johnson, Siddle and Krejza? Their Test experience against the Proteas amounts to a collective, fat zero. So as much as they will be intriguing “unknowns”, they will also sport no history of psychological advantage whatsoever.
Alex Brown writes in the Sydney Morning Herald about Makhaya Ntini, the leader of South Africa’s attack.
December 15, 2008
Desperate desire can lead to painful failure
Posted on 12/15/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Everybody hurts: Hansie Cronje
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Hansie Cronje was so desperate to beat Australia that it hurt, Robert Craddock writes in the Courier-Mail. Craddock warns the current squad that “sometimes you can want something too much”.
That, quite simply, is the story of South Africa versus Australia during the past 14 years. Cronje against Australia was Greg Norman at the Masters, Adam Scott at a major, Ivan Lendl at Wimbledon, the New Zealand rugby union side at any recent World Cup.
And this is the challenge South Africa's coaching staff have in front of them this tour - rousing their side to peak performance but somehow steadying them so they don't snatch at victory and stumble like so many South Africa teams before them.
Peter Siddle has been recalled to the Test squad and the Age’s Chloe Saltau speaks to him about his rise.
Damien Fleming writes in a column in the same paper that genuine pace with late swing is kryptonite for Australia’s batsmen.
In the Australian Malcolm Conn looks at Graeme Smith, a captain who has relaxed since being full of bravado three years ago.
Barend Prins in iafrica.com dissects the captains on either side. He believes Ricky Ponting's Australian side is one of the all-time great sides, but not because of 'Punter's prowess as a captain — rather due to the brilliance of the individuals in the team. For Graeme Smith, victory in Australia will go a long way in enhancing the reputation of a South African skipper that already possesses an impressive résumé.
December 14, 2008
Bring on the Aussies
Posted on 12/14/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Iafrica.com's Dan Nicholl is optimistic about South Africa's chances of a series win in Australia for the visitors have a settled batting line-up, a pace attack that can be destructive and most importantly, the guiding hand of Duncan Fletcher, who led England to the Ashes win in 2005.
Mitchell Johnson has already tried to talk up himself, Stuart Clark and Brett Lee as equally potent, and he has a fair point — Lee at full steam with a new ball won't be the most welcome of sights for Smith and Neil McKenzie. But the adrenaline and the competition — as well as the sledging, which has the potential to reach the standard India and Australia set earlier this year — is exactly why this series will be so fascinating; that, and the test that is represents for the true measure of Australia at the moment.
The website awards the Sports Rookie of the Year to Ajantha Mendis. Barend Prins takes a look at the other nominees as well.
An off-spinner who is willing to flight the ball, Jason Krejza was selected in the Australian cricket team to tour India from relative obscurity. Australia persisted with the part-time spin of Michael Clarke and Cameron White for the first three Tests, but desperately needed a win in the final Test to square the series and Krejza finally got his chance (at the expense of Stuart Clarke). He didn't disappoint, taking eight wickets in the first innings and 12 in the match in total ... Mendis made his debut against the West Indies in April and burst onto the international scene during the Asian Cup in June. His 6/13 in the final — against Indian players that have played spin their whole careers — was remarkable, with Indian captain MS Dhoni stating in the post-match press conference that even a team with 11 batsman would not have been able to play him on the day.
December 13, 2008
Steyn's bloody fast ... and very gullible
Posted on 12/13/2008 in South African cricket
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Paul Harris wasn't too ‘cricket-aware’ on an earlier visit to Australia
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Sometimes you need to look below the “big name radar” to see where the game is won and lost, and Neil Manthorp sees potential in left-arm spinner Paul Harris, who been to Australia before, but not for cricket. Besides his surfing experience, he tells the Weekender about his "friendship" with Dale Steyn:
“Actually, that’s a myth. We’re not good friends at all, I just pretend to get on with him because he’s bloody fast and I don’t want him to hurt me in the nets. Fortunately, he’s very gullible so it wasn’t hard to convince him that we were mates,” Harris says, deadpan.
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“He can be a bit hot-headed — much like me a few years ago. I think I know my way around his control panel, I know which buttons to push. He needs calming down more than firing up but there was one time, against New Zealand, when he was a bit flat. So I walked over to him and slapped him, hard! He was furious, really pissed off. But he couldn’t kill me so he killed them — they were 97-7 at lunch,” Harris says, chuckling.
South Africa's bowling the biggest concern?
Posted on 12/13/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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Will South Africa's top gun be more of a scattergun in Australia?
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A lot of hype has been generated about South Africa's pace attack, but former coach Eric Simons believes it could prove to be the team's weak link. He writes on iafrica.com:
The biggest concern is our bowling unit. We have POTENTIALLY the most devastating attack in world cricket, but there is some distance to go before we reach that potential.
Our control is a huge concern — I saw Dale Steyn and Morné Morkel bowl more balls down leg in one Test match against very weak opponents than Shaun Pollock bowled in his entire career. Bangladesh could not punish the wayward bowling but Australia will.
I must, however, commend the selectors for picking specialist in key positions. We can debate whether they have picked the right players but their strategy has been to select what they believe are the best bowlers and not have not tried to fill gaps by giving too much consideration to their batting ability. Bowlers need to take wickets and their runs, while vital, should be seen as a bonus.
Daryl Cullinan, the former batsman, has a few interesting observations in the Weekender.
A feature for both teams is the wicket-taking abilities of their spinners. Paul Harris and Jason Krejza are still not getting serious mention in the media.
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Fielding is often neglected in pre match talk, and I think it may well come down to which team holds its catches best.
SA has never caught well in Australia, particularly behind the wicket. When it comes to skills and talent both teams have enough.
Ultimately it will come down to who has the better discipline and who can sustain that discipline for 15 days of cricket.
December 12, 2008
South Africa enter the lion's den
Posted on 12/12/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
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How will South Africa's fast bowlers deal with the on-field banter?
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Neil Manthorp writes in the Mail & Guardian that Australia is an intimidating place to tour where the people and players are aggressive on some occasions and affable at others. He says the chances of South Africa tasting success on the tour are linked to how well they cope with the “Aussieness” they will encounter. Ricky Ponting was quick to point out that neither Steyn nor Morkel had played Test cricket in Australia before -- he wasn’t referring to their knowledge of pitch conditions.
Both men will field on the boundary and will encounter verbal abuse previously unimagined, let alone encountered. And there will be more in the middle, too.
How the two young fast bowlers cope with it may play just as big a role in determining the series outcome as any other criteria. And in Business Day, Mark Smit ponders South Africa’s lack of depth as far as opening batsmen are concerned.
December 7, 2008
The tour that can make or break a cricketer
Posted on 12/07/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Graeme Smith and his team arrive in Australia with all to play for. They carry the hopes of many who love to hate anything Australian in sport. Pat Symcox in the South African daily, the Sunday Independent, highlights four components that need to be running hot if the visitors are to establish some dominance right at the start of the tour.
The first is the top four batters. Smith, McKenzie, Amla and Kallis will need to ensure they build solid foundations. Two of the four cannot have a poor series. Smith being the only left-hander becomes even more important in the context of the strategy.
The second aspect is the opening spell of 12 overs. Too many times Steyn and Ntini have wasted the new ball opportunity and allowed opposing batsmen to settle. They need to hit their lengths early.
December 6, 2008
Mad scientist looks for a scrap
Posted on 12/06/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
"The secrets to decoding Australia's top order are scribbled on Kleenex, scrawled on coasters and written on top of utility bills. Technical flaws are highlighted. So, too, bowling strategies, field settings and other annotations. Viewed as a collection, they just might be the most important body of cricketing work produced in a decade. Finding them, though, might prove difficult."
That is not a description of South Africa's coach or any member of the support staff, nor is it what the inside of some hackneyed laboratory looks like. That's what Dale Steyn's two-year analysis of the Australian batting line-up, charting everything from trigger movements to temperament, appears like. Alex Brown tries to pin him down in the Sydney Morning Herald.
In the Age, Charles Davis says that Michael Clarke's numbers don't add up. Clarke's average when Australia loses is a respectable 38, but the pattern is one of moderate scores, often reaching 20 but with a top score of 81.
December 5, 2008
It's all about handling pressure
Posted on 12/05/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Anyone using statistics, form, or any other measurable factor to predict South Africa’s chances on the approaching cricket tour of Australia, is on a fool’s errand, says Mark Smit in Business Day.
What a tour of Australia by SA is about is raw courage and mental steel. Are the South Africans tough enough? Are they able to gain the psychological upper hand over the Aussies? Are they able to grit it out to the last ball of a Test without giving up? Will they be able to stand up to the enormous pressures of touring a country that is mad about cricket and withstand the onslaught of a media known widely as Australia’s 12th man, they are so biased
December 3, 2008
Keep the fate
Posted on 12/03/2008 in South Africa in Australia 2008-09
Centuries by Mark Boucher and Brad Haddin in their last Test innings, against Bangladesh and New Zealand respectively, have set up the Australia-South Africa series perfectly as far as the glovemen go. Rob Houwing in his column on News24.com believes it is a strong mutual signal that in an expected tightly-contested encounter, both wicketkeepers realise that the winner of their own “weight of contribution to the cause” duel may just influence the overall outcome.
Whichever slots they occupy, both players act as important buffers between the batting cream and the tail of the order. The South African tail is the fluffier one, for all the wrong reasons, which only adds to the pressure on Boucher to come to the run-scoring and maybe sometimes strike-farming party in Australia.
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