2014 South Africa vs Australia non-Official thread

Wow, talk about chocolates to boiled lollies in the blink of an eye! I guess the question of "what happens when Mitch and his mates have an 'off' game" has been answered.......the batting problems are laid bare.

I think we lost the game on the first day to be honest, 5-214 probably wasn't a good enough return given the cloud cover. That said, the bowlers HAVE bailed us out countless times before and can't be expected to keep doing it.

It will be interesting to see what happens if Shane Watson is fit - I think Doolan will make way for him, further bringing into question the relevance of Sheffield Shield success against the "gut feel " of the national selectors.
 
Watson in for Doolan, Doolan looked pedestrian in this test match and Watson can bowl reverse swing.

Any chance of getting rid of Marsh & Clarke?
 
Wow - Marsh and Siddle out, Watson and Pattinson in!

With all the pre-match banter, it's probably a good thing that the stump microphones aren't turned up during the entire Test match - ladies and gents, this one might be a bit blue! :)
 
Siddle been dropped,never seen that coming but good to see pattinson back in
It will be good to see pattinson and Johnson bowling in tandem
Comon on the Aussies!!!
 
Yep, this was the day that the batting HAD to stand up.

Michael Clarke proved that it's not how you look, it's how many you score and if Morkel tries that short stuff again this morning he'd better have a few blokes back on the fence!

David Warner - well, he talks the talk and walks the walk.
 
Clarke batted like a champion. Funny how countries pull that crap when our captains are out of form, like they did to Ponting Waugh Taylor and particularly Border and yet they will stand there and take it, now he has 92 on the board like Matty said they better have some people back on the fence because he will be cutting and pulling those today! Gritty stuff! Lot of respect. Shouldn't put the mockers on him on 99
 
howzat said:
Clarke batted like a champion. Funny how countries pull that crap when our captains are out of form, like they did to Ponting Waugh Taylor and particularly Border and yet they will stand there and take it, now he has 92 on the board like Matty said they better have some people back on the fence because he will be cutting and pulling those today! Gritty stuff! Lot of respect. Shouldn't put the mockers on him on 99
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When you think about it our captains have copped it over the years and you are right about border he copped it from those great w.i. Fast bowlers
I hope Clarke and co take it to them today and maybe s.a one bowler down
 
18 balls on 99... Yeah that's what I was getting at Craig, he had the Windies tear into him whether he was in form or not.
 
All things considered, Michael Clarke is the best-performed Australian captain I have seen in my 24 years of watching Test cricket.

He has had to win over a suspicious, spiteful and largely uneducated public, some of whom famously booed him ON to the 'Gabba in a One Day match a few seasons ago.

He has not had Hayden and Langer to bash and crash at the top, Gilchrist or Warne and McGrath to turn the screws as 4th innings specialists. Instead, he has taken a somewhat motley, unloved, unfashionable bunch and turned them into a happy, spirited squad that plays cricket with purpose and adventure.

Add to that the fact that for much of his captaincy Clarke has carried the batting single-handedly and has remained a brilliant catcher and ground fielder.

He has now made 13 Test centuries as captain, five of them away from home.
 
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Matty76 said:
All things considered, Michael Clarke is the best-performed Australian captain I have seen in my 24 years of watching Test cricket.

He has had to win over a suspicious, spiteful and largely uneducated public, some of whom famously booed him ON to the 'Gabba in a One Day match a few seasons ago.

He has not had Hayden and Langer to bash and crash at the top, Gilchrist or Warne and McGrath to turn the screws as 4th innings specialists. Instead, he has taken a somewhat motley, unloved, unfashionable bunch and turned them into a happy, spirited squad that plays cricket with purpose and adventure.

Add to that the fact that for much of his captaincy Clarke has carried the batting single-handedly and has remained a brilliant catcher and ground fielder.

He has now made 13 Test centuries as captain, five of them away from home.
Click to expand...

He's a clever cricketer. I've never understood booing , all I can put it down to is impatience and boganism.... if that's a word? That catch he took against stokes in the ODI'S was pretty good eh!
hopefully he remains not out and Australia give them a good hiding!
 
Looking forward, what does everyone think the batting line-up will/should be? I kind of fancy Watson at No. 6, particularly as he can slog sweep the spinners. To my mind, the "safe" positions are

1. Warner
2. Rogers
3. ??
4. Clarke
5. Smith
6. Watson

The number three position I think is Alex Doolan's for the taking. Sure, he doesn't score quickly but maybe safety first is what we need at No. 3 at this stage of the teams' development.
 
As solid as Rogers has been he still needs to turn the strike over more. I like Marsh but so inconsistent so Doolan at no.3 for me. He looks comfortable enough and plays the ball late & nice and deep in the crease but also needs to learn to rotate strike. He also needs to get over the top of that pull shit, twice out now from the same shot.
 
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