3rd test Aus V SA, Perth 30 Nov to 4 Dec

[whatty]

This is not over yet by a long way!

Pity both sides like boxing and new years tests at home as these should be 5 test series.

Another cracker of a game.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Game, set and match. As I said earlier in the week, get in on this track and the runs are there. Smith and Amla playing beautifully.

 

[troxler]

Game, set and match. As I said earlier in the week, get in on this track and the runs are there. Smith and Amla playing beautifully.

We could hope for a punter double ton in his final ever game! but I tend to think that last session has cost us the game.....

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Yep, the Saffer bowling was top class this morning and we dished up many pies this afternoon. Way, way too short against that class of batting.

 

[mark_s]

I can't see us getting back into the game now. Our bowling was terrible this afternoon, poor lines and poor lengths. With fine weather forecast for the rest if the test, we are going to need something very very special.

 

[No4918]

SA could bat for the next 4 sessions and still have plenty of time to win this. Can't see a miraculous draw at the WACA as simple as in Adelaide.

I did not get to see of the game yesterday. Was it a different approach to batting that allowed the Saffers to prosper?

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

We bowled too short yesterday arvo and their good square of the wicket players profited from it.

 

[mark_s]

We are being taught a big batting lesson here by the proteas. Lets hope the Aussies are paying attention as we have Mount Everest in front of us.

SA have batted well, we haven't been able to take 20 wickets all series. Technically, we will here but Christ its been expensive. Hard to know what we could have done differently given injuries and the cattle available.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

The top order is the issue. They put too much pressure on the blokes below them and that then puts pressure on the bowlers. Our attack has fronted up well, but we won't be the number one team in world cricket until we get our top three sorted out.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Ponting, R., 8 (23) c J. Kallis, b R Peterson. FOW 3/102. Over 38.

Another legend of Australian Sport bows out.

 

[whatty]

That is about 10 times this match that Chappelie has something about wtf is the opposition doing then to be proven wrong in the same over. Not sure whether its Nicholas trying to get the love of his adopted adopted country or Chappelies constant criticism of the opposition that irks me most.

Bill Lawrey is certainly growing on me.

 

[PaarlBok]

That is about 10 times this match that Chappelie has something about wtf is the opposition doing then to be proven wrong in the same over. Not sure whether its Nicholas trying to get the love of his adopted adopted country or Chappelies constant criticism of the opposition that irks me most.

Bill Lawrey is certainly growing on me.

He sure is a Saffer hater and never have anything positive to say about our cricket. I love listening to him when our lot performs. Philander bowled excellent this morning. The two at the crease can still do the job for Australia.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

You ought to hear him talk about England!

The thing to understand about Chapelli is that he is very intolerant of negativity in cricket. He would rather see a captain risk a loss to win a game than play for a draw. That's the reason he's had so much of an issue with England over the years. I don't think he's anti-Saffer either. He and Barry Richards played together for South Australia and he's always spoken very highly of the Saffer teams he played against, especially the one that won 4-0 in the Republic in 1969-70.

He had a very high regard for the likes of Graeme Pollock (who features in his best ever centuries list), Eddie Barlow and Mike Proctor, as do any sane person who follows the game.

 

[PaarlBok]

At tea we need three wickets and Aus still 428 runs. Can the Aussies play some real test cricket and try and show some gutsy fight like Faf?

Petersen finally brought some balance with his spin bowling. Amla and AB superb with the bat.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

We don't have a batting line up that will stick around and play for a draw. We realistically lost the test in the evening session on day 2 and were never going to bat for over two days to save it.

 

[PaarlBok]

We don't have a batting line up that will stick around and play for a draw. We realistically lost the test in the evening session on day 2 and were never going to bat for over two days to save it.

I blame the shorter version for this. Shocking to see around here the way they coach the young kids playing cricket. No dissiplines of playing the eye in first or bowling within basic dissiplines of line and length first up before doing the funny stuff. The biggest smash or quickest ball get all the credit while they totally forget about the basic dissiplines. Test match cricket is about doing the basic first before the flashy shite.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

To a certain extent, it's always how we've played our cricket. The majority of our great players over the years have been attacking, stroke making batsmen. It's in our cricketing blood to be aggressive and attacking. I wish I could say the same for the Wallabies right now, because that's always how we've played our rugby too!

Your point is well made though, there is a lack of patience in a lot of our young players. You see it with with guys like Warner and the Marsh brothers -- they are trying to hit the cover off the ball from the first delivery. You need balance in a batting line up between the dashers and the blockers. Khawaja may be the exception there and is a bit more circumspect.

 

[Ruggo]

Next time I think of how bad the Fox rugby commentators are I nest need to remember the ABC Radio cricket mob. They are pitiful.

 

[PaarlBok]

Great series win for the Cricket Bokke. Excellent since Gary Kirsten took over, wins in England and now Australia should settle us nicely now in the top test spot. Regarding Australia, need to pick one LH and one RH test quick, to get more variation and more gutsy batsmen who can fight with heart and grind it out. Good luck in the ashes series.

 

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Well played to the Saffers. They would have targeted this game as a must win and they did. Their pace attack made best use of the conditions and ours didn't. They are confirmed as the No. 1 side in world cricket and rightly so.

As for us, I wouldn't have believed 12 months ago that we'd even be fighting it out for the top spot and there are still some issues with the team. The top order is the clearest one and it needs to be fixed. Still, we took it right up to these blokes and Clarke has shown on more than one occasion that he's a terrific captain. There is plenty of improvement left and I honestly think we'll continue to get better. We're not ready to be the top dog yet though.