Uncategorized

Full pace attack for the 4th test?

How can I put into words the frustration that we’ve experienced while supporting our team in this Castle Test series against England? The first test came down to the last over, needing just one more wicket. The second test was a joke from a South African perspective, we got whipped by an innings and 98 runs. The third test, oh so frustrating, again it came down to the last over and again we didn’t have the firepower to win the test.

Other than the dismal second test, it would seem that the Proteas have the better of England, our batting has been awesome, even with the no show that is Ashwell Prince. Prince has scored a whopping total of 78 runs in the series at an average of 13, he’s only got above 20 once. I don’t know how this man is still playing test cricket for South Africa. So it would seem that the batting department is doing their jobs, which unfortunately can’t be said for the bowlers.

The irony of dropping Makahya Ntini for the third test because he didn’t strike is beyond me, because his replacement, Friedel de Wet only took one wicket in the Newlands test. And guess what, we still couldn’t bowl England out twice.

So now we’re heading into the fourth and final test at the Bidvest Wanderers, needing a win to draw the series. Cricket South Africa managed to cock things up when they announced the squad, they included Imran Tahir, even though his paperwork wasn’t up to scratch. With Paul Harris bowling like a lame mule, and the inclusion of Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell, I would suggest and recommend that the Proteas pick an all out pace attack.

The Wanderers pitch is quick at the best of times, and with the consistent rain around Johannesburg we really can expect a belter of a pitch, so let’s drop Harris like a bad habit, replace him with McLaren, and put Parnell in for the injured Friedel de Wet. That gives captain Graeme Smith five quick bowlers with JP Duminy putting in a few overs of spin. If the Selectors really have the balls they’ll drop Prince and include Alviro Petersen, the Lions opening batsman, who would be playing on his home ground. Petersen also offers us another spin bowling option, he has an average of 34.66 with the ball in the SuperSport Series. But they are more likely to promote Amla to number 2 and drop Ashwell Price down the order.

My team for the fourth test: Graeme Smith, Alviro Petersen, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Mark Boucher, Ryan McLaren, Dale Steyn,Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell.

ODI Cricket: Australia claim 5th ODI

The final game of a long summer of cricket was played at the Wanderers on Friday night. South Africa had already secured the series victory with most players looking onwards to the IPL. Australia had only pride to play for.

Captain Graeme Smith won the toss and asked the Australians to bat first, which was a bit strange because the wicket looked a belter. Almost immediately the ball was flying to the boundary, Brad Haddin and Clarke butchered the bowlers scoring 127 runs off 115 balls. The fall of the openers did nothing to the run rate as they pushed on, at one point 340 was on the cards.

The seam bowlers had been smacked all over the Wanderers, so Graeme Smith turned to his spinners. JP Duminy stepped in for Johan Botha, taking the pace off the ball seemed to work. Van der Merwe and Duminy pulled the Aussies back from what was looking like a massive total. Duminy returned figures of 10 overs, 48 runs taking 3 wickets, Roelof van der Merwe picked up 2 wickets for 44 runs. Dale Steyn got plundered for 78, as did Ntini. An impressive 303 was the score set by Australians.

There was only one man that could have taken South Africa to victory, Herschelle Gibbs. When Herschelle scores big South Africa wins, it’s simple. He opened the batting in style scoring freely, but at the other end Smith again failed to score runs, out for 20. Herchelle continued without his opening partner eventually getting trapped LBW top scoring with 82 runs. Kallis and AB de Villiers pushed on and maintained what Gibbs had started, but once they left the crease there was simply no resistance. The ‘new ball’ was introduced and it helped Australia claim 8 wickets for 68 runs, a dramatic collapse. The South Africans need to think about the introduction of this ‘reconditioned ball’, there’s more to the game then simply going out to score runs.

The Australian fielding was superb; Ben Laughlin’s amazing catch on the boundary to dismiss Albie Morkel sealed the game for Australians. Australia won the game by 47 runs, and moved up to number 2 in the ODI rankings, South Africa end the summer ranked number in ODI cricket.