First Test Match at the WACA: Australia v South Africa

[Gozu]

Try Jacques, Rogers, Hughes and Klinger.

If only we had as many bowlers knocking on the door

Jacques is the only one and he's only just coming back from a major injury. Hughes and Klinger need to dominate for a bit more than five minutes and the jury is still out on Rogers. Whether Jacques will be ready for the return leg we dont know but Hayden has to go by then if he doesnt turn it around quick smart.

btw There is a million fast bowlers floating around to replace the likes of Siddle.

[am Bays]

I can't believe some of the posters on here.

yes Siddle and Krejza didn't bowl as well as they could but heck they are two test veterans I had no expectations of them winning us games. Don't blame Pontings captaincy either our batsmen simply didn't give our bowlers runs to bowl at.

We lost this game for one simple reason every batsman who got a start gave his wicket away. It was the poor application by Clarke, Symonds and Haddin in the 1st dig, and Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Symonds in the 2nd dig that cost us the match. katich at least did the hard yards to save us when we were in teh pooh early on but he still got out when set -issing a full bunger on leg stump...

On a road not one batsman made made a ton and we only had 4 50s. Disgraceful irrespective of Haydens form, and Sidlle and krejza stil developing as bowlers.

[Dutchy]

I'll put my balls on the block,if I'm wrong i'll cop it but South Africa are still weak as p*ss.How many times in this test which is a defying one have they had a chance to bury Australia and have not. They lack the killer instinct, they will not beat Australia in this series and when they smell blood it's like they are scared. When you have Hayden,Ponting and Hussey in the shed after 15 runs the batting team should make no more than 200 and they let them pile on more than 350. Even Australia at their worst over the past 10 years did not give up their wickets so cheaply as South Africa did last night at such a cruical stage. Good luck to them but I would be surprised to see South Africa seriously challenge the total they will be chasing. Yes I am, being arrogant but let's see South Africa prove me wrong.....

Has there ever been a more incorrect post on this forum? (excluding AH of course)

[Dutchy]

I can't believe some of the posters on here.

yes Siddle and Krejza didn't bowl as well as they could but heck they are two test veterans I had no expectations of them winning us games. Don't blame Pontings captaincy either our batsmen simply didn't give our bowlers runs to bowl at.

We lost this game for one simple reason every batsman who got a start gave his wicket away. It was the poor application by Clarke, Symonds and Haddin in the 1st dig, and Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Symonds in the 2nd dig that cost us the match. katich at least did the hard yards to save us when we were in teh pooh early on but he still got our

On a road not one batsman made made a ton and we only had 4 50s. Disgraceful irrespective of Haydens form, and Sidlle and krejza stil developing as bowlers.

well said Tassie, the great effort by the tail with the bat in both innings hid the poor performance by the top order

anyone who thinks this Aussie side is miles ahead of Sth Africa is kidding themselves, they are a serious cricket team

I seriously wonder how many on here have played the game

[stampy]

maybe its just a case of typical fairweather supporters, lets face it australia is nowhere near the side from previous years, get used to it fellas, may i say our top order is abslute crap atm

[LaughingKookaburra]

Dutchy before you jump the gun read read that bold text correctly......... Yes they did surprise me by chasing down that total,but is the series won yet?? C'mon mate your a better poster than that

[Dutchy]

Dutchy before you jump the gun read read that bold text correctly......... Yes they did surprise me by chasing down that total,but is the series won yet?? C'mon mate your a better poster than that

depends what context you take it in I guess "they will not beat Australia in this series" IMO they just did! will give you benefit of dount though...play on!

[locky801]

I can't believe some of the posters on here.

yes Siddle and Krejza didn't bowl as well as they could but heck they are two test veterans I had no expectations of them winning us games. Don't blame Pontings captaincy either our batsmen simply didn't give our bowlers runs to bowl at.

We lost this game for one simple reason every batsman who got a start gave his wicket away. It was the poor application by Clarke, Symonds and Haddin in the 1st dig, and Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Symonds in the 2nd dig that cost us the match. katich at least did the hard yards to save us when we were in teh pooh early on but he still got out when set -issing a full bunger on leg stump...

On a road not one batsman made made a ton and we only had 4 50s. Disgraceful irrespective of Haydens form, and Sidlle and krejza stil developing as bowlers.

We lost this test because we only had one bowler up to test standard

[Zulu]

Apart from Johnson's 20 minute spell on day 2, Australia's attack struggled to make any inroads on the South African batsmen. The majority of the attack looked anything but test standard today.

It will be interesting to see the selectors' reaction to this result when they name the side for Boxing Day. Will they give this group the chance to redeem themselves, or bring in some fresh faces?

[catchisthecry]

Did this test finally show that Andrew Symonds is not a test all-rounder?? (no overs today, 3 for the match)
Is he a test number 6 batsman? (2 tons in 25 tests)
Hmmmm a lot of questions asked after a loss like that...

[rod_rooster]

I can't believe some of the posters on here.

yes Siddle and Krejza didn't bowl as well as they could but heck they are two test veterans I had no expectations of them winning us games. Don't blame Pontings captaincy either our batsmen simply didn't give our bowlers runs to bowl at.

We lost this game for one simple reason every batsman who got a start gave his wicket away. It was the poor application by Clarke, Symonds and Haddin in the 1st dig, and Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Symonds in the 2nd dig that cost us the match. katich at least did the hard yards to save us when we were in teh pooh early on but he still got out when set -issing a full bunger on leg stump...

On a road not one batsman made made a ton and we only had 4 50s. Disgraceful irrespective of Haydens form, and Sidlle and krejza stil developing as bowlers.

Tassie i have to disagree with this to a point. Yes some of the batsmen threw their wickets away when they should have gone on with it but you said the batsmen didn't give the bowlers runs to bowl at. How many runs do they need? South Africa chased down the second highest total in the fourth innings in 130 years of Test cricket. Put that in perspective, in 130 years of test cricket only one higher run chase has successfully been achieved and that required the genius of Brian Lara. Credit has to go to the South African side for batting so well to chase that target but to be honest the bowling attack let Australia down badly in this match. To only get 3 wickets between Siddle, Lee and Krezja says it all. The bowlers let Australia down more than the batsmen. Sure our batsmen haven't performed brilliantly but the bowlers still had 413 runs to defend. I don't care how good the wicket was they should have been able to defend that. The excuse that Siddle and Krezja are inexperienced doesn't sit well with me. If they are good enough to be picked they should have contributed more than they did. Lee was poor as well and he surely has no excuse. At the end of the day batsmen save matches and bowlers win matches. Unfortunately Australia does not have the bowling attack to take 20 wickets against quality sides like South Africa. We will struggle until we can find a stronger bowling lineup. Fingers crossed Brett Lee can regain some form soon.

[FD88]

We've only got one bowler in touch atm and our key batsmen aren't giving us anything; we can very much bounce back in the second test and while our time as easy victors over everyone may be over, I still say we'll be putting up a huge fight for the number one spot for a long long time.

This series isn't over.

[Gozu]

I was surprised how critical Ponting was after the game. Got stuck into the bowlers and said something like he envisaged a couple of changes for the next test. He basically also said Lee is not bowling well and that he thinks he will be in the squad for the next test hardly a ringing endorsement which is code for "lift ya effing game, son!". Funnily enough he had no doubts Hayden would be there.

What I saw of it refreshingly honest and talked about maybe Hilfenhaus and Bollinger coming in.

[stan]

I can't believe some of the posters on here.

yes Siddle and Krejza didn't bowl as well as they could but heck they are two test veterans I had no expectations of them winning us games. Don't blame Pontings captaincy either our batsmen simply didn't give our bowlers runs to bowl at.

We lost this game for one simple reason every batsman who got a start gave his wicket away. It was the poor application by Clarke, Symonds and Haddin in the 1st dig, and Ponting, Clarke, Hussey, and Symonds in the 2nd dig that cost us the match. katich at least did the hard yards to save us when we were in teh pooh early on but he still got our

On a road not one batsman made made a ton and we only had 4 50s. Disgraceful irrespective of Haydens form, and Sidlle and krejza stil developing as bowlers.

well said Tassie, the great effort by the tail with the bat in both innings hid the poor performance by the top order

anyone who thinks this Aussie side is miles ahead of Sth Africa is kidding themselves, they are a serious cricket team

I seriously wonder how many on here have played the game

Dutchy mate, I think you'll find a fair bit of people here have played and are still playing cricket.

Heres my opinion, AB Devillers is a good batsmen, his technique is sound and his temperment is brillant. Hence he was never going to get out.

I said before SAF are better, allround better at the moment. There top order is good and while I have some doubts abouts about Steyn after the new ball the bowling attack is sound. Nitini for me is still there best bowler. and Harris well hes not a great bowler but he does the job, nothing flashy just gets it done.

the knock by Smith was a very tough knock, A real captains innings!

[Psyber]

The two things that have stood out to me over the last several matches have been Hayden's continuing poor form, which raises the question of his place, at least as an opener, and the captain's increasing tendency to negative and defensive field placings. Ricky Ponting has revealed his lack of confidence in the bowling team by his choices on field, and his comments after this match, but such defensive field placings also reduce their chances of taking wickets, and push the bowlers into bowling defensively. There is a defensive attitude about the whole team at present.

[Hondo]

Did this test finally show that Andrew Symonds is not a test all-rounder?? (no overs today, 3 for the match)
Is he a test number 6 batsman? (2 tons in 25 tests)
Hmmmm a lot of questions asked after a loss like that...

Since his shoulder injury, his bowling has deteriorated to the point where he is only a part-timer, at best (not his fault)

So therefore his batting needs to lift to the level of a specialist test batsman. So far this series he hasn't been our worst bat, however IMO the expectations on his batting are now higher and so he shouldn't be getting out to slack shots like he did, in the interests of having a tonk. If they were to drop a batsmen to fit in either Watto or 6th specialist, then it's goodbye to Roy.

As Rod said, our bowling is not what it was 3 years ago so maybe our batsmen need to take a slightly more conservative approach. However, at the end of the day they got us 414 in front which, in 98% of cases, should be enough for a test bowling attack to defend. Krezja and Siddle can't hide behind the excuses of inexperience otherwise what were they picked for in the first place?

[Brock Landers]

Did this test finally show that Andrew Symonds is not a test all-rounder?? (no overs today, 3 for the match)
Is he a test number 6 batsman? (2 tons in 25 tests)
Hmmmm a lot of questions asked after a loss like that...

Since his shoulder injury, his bowling has deteriorated to the point where he is only a part-timer, at best (not his fault)

So therefore his batting needs to lift to the level of a specialist test batsman. So far this series he hasn't been our worst bat, however IMO the expectations on his batting are now higher and so he shouldn't be getting out to slack shots like he did, in the interests of having a tonk. If they were to drop a batsmen to fit in either Watto or 6th specialist, then it's goodbye to Roy.

As Rod said, our bowling is not what it was 3 years ago so maybe our batsmen need to take a slightly more conservative approach. However, at the end of the day they got us 414 in front which, in 98% of cases, should be enough for a test bowling attack to defend. Krezja and Siddle can't hide behind the excuses of inexperience otherwise what were they picked for in the first place?

Our 5 bowlers plus Haddin scored 43% of our total runs (302 runs out of 694 total). The Saffa's tailend only scored 14% of their first innings total (40 runs out of 281). If our bowlers hadn't batted so well the Saffa's could've been chasing a total of around 250-350.

Having said that, the bowling, apart from Johnson let us down badly this test and is a big worry because, as the cliche goes, you have to be able to take 20 wickets to win a test match.

[Ambo72]

Ponting.. what a prick!
Taking aim at the bowlers for their loss.
Don't mention that the 1st Test overall collective average of Aust top 4 batsman was 63, when S.AF's was 134.
Especially when its the lower order & tail that is the reasons for half decent totals.

Don't mention that his Captaincy may have been $hithouse (only reason he's done any good in the past is because he had champions propping him up).
How about giving a few of the failures at the Top a spell or retirement package.

How about getting the selections right in the first place, instead of using a pair of bowlers that have only played a handful of 1st class games between them as scape goats.
Ahh lets start talking about Bollinger now that we are in trouble.. even tho he wasnt good enuf to be the obvious choice after last seasons effort with the ball.. or Hilfy for that matter.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/stor ... 28,00.html
http://www.cricket.com.au/default.aspx? ... y&id=14826

http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/ausvrsa ... 83714.html

How about the treatment of this fella.. p!ss poor, first block any possible return for the Redbacks and now keep him from our young bowling stocks??
http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/austral ... 83338.html

Aussie Cricket needs a reality check on all levels if we are going to remain a force!

[THE BARKING SPIDERS]

is krezja gunna be called THE NEW BRADMAN now that he has 4 centries in 3 inns

make that 5 tons in 4 inns

[holden78]

Love it