< 1 minute readGraeme Smith’s things are hitting the bulk of the runs in a fourth innings chase and winning Test series. There were no miracles from Australia’s bowlers, because the bowlers who could perform them are gone. South Africa chased down 183 for the loss of one wicket, won the match, won
Continue readingCategory: Australia
Ricky Ponting – an admirable batsman
< 1 minute readRicky Ponting, eh? He’s not likeable, because of the face, the face and also the face. However, he is admirable as a batsman. Look Ponting in the face and it’s tricky to know whether to sigh and hope he goes away or to start with the punching. Watch him bat
Continue readingNeil McKenzie: brave, stupid or mental
< 1 minute readNeil McKenzie did something. Tony Greig called him brave, Mark Nicholas branded him stupid. We’d like to add ‘mental’ to the equation as well. Of course, Neil McKenzie is known to be a bit mental, but this was a different kind of mental. He took up a fielding position maybe
Continue readingJP Duminy shows South Africa’s resilience
< 1 minute readJP Duminy’s Test record is improving: one in his first innings, 50 not out in his second and 166 in his third. The 166 kicks in the balls that he gave Australia’s bowlers were particularly useful as they helped produce 275 ball kicks for South Africa’s last three wickets. Those
Continue readingPeter Siddle’s bowling speed
< 1 minute readArch woodchopper cum fourth choice Australian quick, Peter Siddle, can whang the ball at speeds up to about 150kph, which is about 93mph in old money and officially makes him a fast bowler on the King Cricket scale. In light of this, we now want to see all young English
Continue readingMatthew Hayden gives you a choice
< 1 minute readMatthew Hayden’s been getting a few rough decisions of late, as batsmen often do when the ball’s missing the bat time and time again. Hayden says: “Hawkeye I think gives you a pretty good understanding of what line the ball pitched at, but take my lbw decision in the second
Continue readingAustralia’s selection policy
2 minute readJust what do they think they’re doing? There was a sign that the wheels had come off when Ricky Ponting said: “We’ve really got to pick horses for courses with our selections,” when the Australians were in India. Selection is one of the Aussies’ greatest strengths. Historically, they’ve actually planned
Continue readingMitchell Johnson – Australia fast bowler
< 1 minute readPerhaps the most striking thing about Mitchell Johnson is his ridiculous cartoon character tufty hair. After that it’s his bowling. We watched quite a bit of Johnson when Australia toured India. He was their best bowler. For all the talk about Brett Lee being the fast strike bowler, Johnson’s not
Continue readingTest average maintenance
< 1 minute readMatthew Hayden 12, Ricky Ponting 0, Mike Hussey 0. Bring ’em down. Bring ’em down to a sensible level. Those three think they’re so good. They think they can bat in any conditions against any bowler. They think they’re ‘all that’, but they’re not ‘all that’. They are, at most,
Continue readingDisturbingly smooth men of cricket
< 1 minute readJust when you think you can’t possibly vomit any more, you remember that the year doesn’t end with January. Witness the Men Of Cricket 2009 calendar, made to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation, an organisation set up by Glenn and his late wife to provide funding for breast cancer
Continue reading