2ND TEST MATCH AUST V STH. AFRICA AT THE MCG

[locky801]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

Have my tickets still Dutchy, name the time and place and I will produce them, including the one for 2morrow

[Hondo]

No-one's mentioned 1993-94 v RSA at Sydney when we failed to get 140 odd in the last innings. Bowled out for about 10 runs short and Damien Martyn infamously got himself out going for the big hit late in the innings and didn't play for Australia again for about 7 years IIRC

I also remember v NZ Perth 1989-90 which wasn't a loss but we had about 1.5 days to bowl them out and simply couldn't budge Mark Greatbatch.

Looking at our current side:
- 2 of our best 3 bowlers (arguably) are out or playing injured. The spinner who was going to be our number 1 this summer is out injured. Our batting all-rounder is injured and can't bowl. This is testing our bowling depth severely. 2 of the 4 bowlers in this test have played < 5 tests. The next 2 in line (Hilf & Bollinger) haven't played a single test.
- On our batting, Jaques is out for the season and the only other guy with much test experience that I can think of is Brad Hodge.
- In the last 2 seasons we have lost Blewett, Lehmann, Gilchrist, Kasprowicz, Gillespie, Hogg, MacGill, Langer, Martyn, Warne, McGrath & Bevan to retirement. That's about 25000 test runs and close to 2000 test wickets. All our depth is gone and it will take a few seasons to get it back.

That doesn't mean it's time to slit the wrists. As REB and Stan have said, we are in a transition and are no longer the best team. We are probably the 3rd best team and no amount of panicking or posts will change that.

Well done RSA, they have outplayed us in all areas of the game.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

Have my tickets still Dutchy, name the time and place and I will produce them, including the one for 2morrow

Bring em to Prospect Locky, THEN we'll slap you around for not declaring them pre bet anyway.

btw - good luck with those archers this week at the council meeting.

[JK]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

Yes, not many declared their bets until now eh Dutchy.
Luckily it's not the gambling room.

Only put it on yesterday ... Im not the expert on cricket that half the people here claim to be so I fail to see how it could have influenced anyone.

I also backed Wellington in the Soccer yesterday which didn't get up, yet noone asks for that so I can't see the relevance of whether a bet is declared in advance or not.

[JK]

Oh and I find the glee that some punters here are taking from seeing their country lose a bit sad.
Obviously some don't care that much as long as they can line their pockets.

Sorry mate, but I find that a crazy comment ... Akin to those during footy season who say if you tip against your own team you're not a real supporter.

I often back against Norwood and Liverpool, but would always gladly forgo the $$ in preference of seeing my team win, no different to hoping the Aussies win the cricket.

[Dutchy]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

Have my tickets still Dutchy, name the time and place and I will produce them, including the one for 2morrow

Scan em and post here

anyway theres another place on here to discuss/post bets....lets talk about the game

looking at the radar Im not sure where the rain is going to come from

[fester69]

Oh and I find the glee that some punters here are taking from seeing their country lose a bit sad.
Obviously some don't care that much as long as they can line their pockets.

Sorry mate, but I find that a crazy comment ... Akin to those during footy season who say if you tip against your own team you're not a real supporter.

I often back against Norwood and Liverpool, but would always gladly forgo the $$ in preference of seeing my team win, no different to hoping the Aussies win the cricket.

Maybe I'd back Geelong against Norwood ........... ummm, no bloody way!

[JK]

Oh and I find the glee that some punters here are taking from seeing their country lose a bit sad.
Obviously some don't care that much as long as they can line their pockets.

Sorry mate, but I find that a crazy comment ... Akin to those during footy season who say if you tip against your own team you're not a real supporter.

I often back against Norwood and Liverpool, but would always gladly forgo the $$ in preference of seeing my team win, no different to hoping the Aussies win the cricket.

Maybe I'd back Geelong against Norwood ........... ummm, no bloody way!

Yeah, but you've always been different mate

[NFC]

Like there was any doubt but...

Ponting >>>>>>>>>> every other Aussie batsman.

[NFC]

The problem is this isn't our best side. Hayden needs to go and is constantly putting our middle order under pressure because we haven’t been able to build any solid partnerships at the top of the innings. How many times in the past would you see the Aussies be 0/100 or 2/200? These days we're lucky to get to 100 without being three down, simply not good enough. The batting line-up hasn't changed, except for Katich but he's been great so he's not to blame. Hayden is the key, he has been such a vital part of our line-up and now that's he's horrendously out of form our other batsman are being exposed. Hayden used to be the one to bully the opposition attacks and he would always put the opposition on the back foot, through their bowling and field placements. Only now are we beginning to see just how important Hayden was/is to our team.

Sydney should be Hayden’s last test and I’d love to see Phil Hughes come into the side as his replacement. Hughes is only 20 and hasn’t been on the scene for too long but you can’t deny the runs he’s been scoring. His FC average is a massive 54 and almost half of his innings he’s scored 50+. Hughes must be ‘fast tracked’ because he IS the future and for once we should take a gamble on youth and be prepared to wait it out for him to come good. England took a punt on Alastair Cook and now look at him; we must do the same with Hughes. Jacques is 29, Rogers 31, no more quick fixes, time to go the one with the brightest future and the one that is in ripping form.

Ponting is an out and out champion and it’s great to see him back in his finest form. He looked as good as he ever has in this test and it’s a tragedy he didn’t get his second century for the match because he thoroughly deserved it while everyone around him threw away their wickets.

Brett Lee is a shadow of his former self and other than that one innings in Adelaide he’s been completely down on form for the past 8 tests and it’s costing us dearly. His speed is down and without his speed he really doesn’t have a heck of a lot that troubles the batsmen. He’s in serious of being an ODI bowler and only an ODI bowler. Siddle impressed in the first innings but I’m far from convinced. Hilfenhaus must play in Sydney and must be persisted with. Give me one good reason why not to put him in the side now given there are vacancies and he will be important in England for the Ashes.

And lastly, enough of Andrew Symonds, it’s time to end the experiment. Just doesn’t have what it takes to be a successful Test player. Shane Watson must be given an extended run in the team to prove his worth and I’m extremely confident he has what it takes to succeed. His batting average is poor but will undoubtedly improve over time and his bowling is rapidly improving and he’s shown he can trouble the world’s best batsmen. All he needs is for the selectors to show some faith in him and persist with him when he’s down on form. Symonds had a batting average of 17 after his first 11 tests, Watson should be shown the same faith. Symonds is now in the side as effectively a specialist batsman and let’s be honest, there’s no way he’s good enough to hold down the #6 batting position. David Hussey should be in if they’re looking for a specialist batsmen, and if they’re looking for an all-rounder then Watson is the way to go.

My team for Sydney:

Hayden (last test)
Katich
Ponting
Clarke
Hussey
Watson
Haddin
Johnson
Siddle
Hilfenhaus
Hauritz

[Interceptor]

Oh and I find the glee that some punters here are taking from seeing their country lose a bit sad.
Obviously some don't care that much as long as they can line their pockets.

Sorry mate, but I find that a crazy comment ... Akin to those during footy season who say if you tip against your own team you're not a real supporter.

I often back against Norwood and Liverpool, but would always gladly forgo the $$ in preference of seeing my team win, no different to hoping the Aussies win the cricket.

Yeah sure, go where the opportunities are. I don't have a problem tipping against my own sides, but putting a direct bet on a loss is where I draw the line*
My dig was a bit harsh, so to each his own.


*One exception was the Olympic Basketball with Aus vs US in Beijing.
Went for Aus to go within 30.5 points... and they lost by 31

[the big bang]

uummmmmmmmmm.......

what were we all out for?

whats our lead etc.

[Thiele]

Australia all out 247

a lead of 183

AT stumps South Africa 0/30

[the big bang]

Australia all out 247

a lead of 183

AT stumps South Africa 0/30

cheers Thiele

[Interceptor]

Our only hope (to escape with a draw) is this I'd say:

Forecast for Tuesday

Cloudy. The chance of thunderstorms during the morning. Areas of rain easing to isolated showers by the afternoon. Winds northwesterly averaging up to 30 km/h tending southwesterly up to 45 km/h during the morning.

Plus I reckon NFC is spot on with the side for Sydney.

[FD88]

I was going to write a big piece about why we won't fall below 3rd place at any stage but in short this is what I believe:

1. Our full squad at full fitness would've rolled this RSA side in both tests so far.

2. You can't pick injured/unfit pace bowlers; batsmen can often get up and perform but from my recollection injured/unfit quicks are nearly always liabilities. As I said to those idiots on cricinfail today, take Hilfenhaus into the first test instead of Lee and we'd probably have broken an extra partnership or two during that record run chase; might've been enough to get us over the line, and the same goes for the second test.

3. All things considered, the "transition" phase will amount to us floating between 1st and 3rd for a year or two before more consistently holding 1st place again.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

The problem is this isn't our best side. waffle waffle

Not bad, not bad at all. At the risk of Roddy Rooster having a rolly eyes aneurysm I reckon Watson (no matter what an unpleasant character he appears) has to be given a trot next test. Does Hayden really have to be given another test? they did'nt give Healy (thank Christ) G Marsh or anyone who was'nt a ''marketing face'' that honour, Even Hussey could be given the hint that perform or no tour for you.
Unfortunately for Australia to rebuild before the Ashes KFC & Toyota would have to recast just about all their commercials, won't happen & CA will again be told the selection criteria by the sponsors, or so it seems.

-just for the record took the $13.50 Australia this morning, just going on the ebbing & flowing of the game so far.

[Adelaide Hawk]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

It's a trait of safooty. You only ever hear someone has backed something AFTER it has won. I doubt a lot of the claims I read on here to be honest. One poster in particular always seems to have backed the most unlikely scenario after it has got up, but we never here about the bet beforehand.

[Dutchy]

God I love this South African team and in particular the punters that under rated them....

Interesting how everyone NOW says they backed them

It's a trait of safooty. You only ever hear someone has backed something AFTER it has won. I doubt a lot of the claims I read on here to be honest. One poster in particular always seems to have backed the most unlikely scenario after it has got up, but we never here about the bet beforehand.

some actually declare their bets before the event in a little thing called "The Gambling Room" !!!

Probably the reason they dont post down there is cause of the rule "no declaration, no brag"

[silicone skyline]

If anything, this South African team is the team you would rather lose to (if there had to be a lost series), over the Indians. Good luck to them, there's no doubt they deserve the series, but I'm still hoping for either a lot of rain tomorrow or somehow they collapse of course.

Summed it up right there Spelly.