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

[rod_rooster]

Don't get too carried away. Lee won't be able to bowl in the second innings that's all. No retirement announced.

[locky801]

Don't get too carried away. Lee won't be able to bowl in the second innings that's all. No retirement announced.

would say the 3rd test as well, start of stress fractures in the foot wouldn't heel in a week I wouldn't think.

Definately would be stupid to risk him

[rod_rooster]

No doubt he will miss the 3rd test. Will be interesting to see when he comes back. I'd say he'd miss most of the one dayers as well. Long road back for him. Hopefully a few of the younger quicks can step up but Bracken needs to be playing more now IMHO. Experienced at international level and has done nothing wrong. Needs a haircut though

[spell_check]

Needs a haircut though

No worries, Ms. Wilson.

[spell_check]

Don't get too carried away. Lee won't be able to bowl in the second innings that's all. No retirement announced.

So I wonder why it's supposed to be a "big announcement", people can see he is injured.

[rod_rooster]

Needs a haircut though

No worries, Ms. Wilson.

LMAO Ms. Wilson had to get something right

[Punk Rooster]

Hey at least Ponting can be thanked for getting through 90 overs before the scheduled close of play. However, I doubt anyone would pay any attention (certainly not the ICC, definitely not the media) because it is a positive.

why should he be praised for achieving the legally required minimum?

[hearts on fire]

I didn't watch any of it today and luckily i didn't, the score sums it up.

What a sh1t day for Australian Cricket.......

The only good thing that comes out of it, no Lee for a while!

[Punk Rooster]

I didn't watch any of it today and luckily i didn't, the score sums it up.

What a sh1t day for Australian Cricket.......

The only good thing that comes out of it, no Lee for a while!

poor form Hoff...
Lee was mis-managed by the Australian side through a pivotal point of his career.
I feel had he spent 12 months as the 3rd/4th bowler in the side, instead of 12th man, he would be far better for it now.

[hearts on fire]

Yes i understand his body is stuffed right now and this has resulted in his poor form.

Lee has been a great bowler for so long but he has now lost his pace and without his pace, he is pretty ordinary.

We would be better off with Hilfenhaus or someone who can bowl good line and length.

[Punk Rooster]

Yes i understand his body is stuffed right now and this has resulted in his poor form.

Lee has been a great bowler for so long but he has now lost his pace and without his pace, he is pretty ordinary.

We would be better off with Hilfenhaus or someone who can bowl good line and length.

he's still bowling 140, & as someone on here suggested, he may still be suffering from a virus.

[hearts on fire]

That may be the case, he hasn't looked well for quite sometime, looks a bit underweight and weak.

A good rest may do him the world of good.

[am Bays]

Well if out of today our selectors learn that given our change in personel ovr teh past 24 months we are no longer in teh luxurious position where we can afford to go into a test carrying injured players it will be a good thing.

I can understand them giving legends (Gilchrist, Healy, Mcgrath, Warne S Waugh etc) the benefit of the doubt but blokes who have done relatively nothing (Symonds) should get the "Well if you ain't 100% you ain't playing...."

[wycbloods]

Well if out of today our selectors learn that given our change in personel ovr teh past 24 months we are no longer in teh luxurious position where we can afford to go into a test carrying injured players it will be a good thing.

I can understand them giving legends (Gilchrist, Healy, Mcgrath, Warne S Waugh etc) the benefit of the doubt but blokes who have done relatively nothing (Symonds) should get the "Well if you ain't 100% you ain't playing...."

I agree tassie if he couldn't bowl in the first 100 overs as an all rounder should be then he shouldn't be in the side.

[spell_check]

Hey at least Ponting can be thanked for getting through 90 overs before the scheduled close of play. However, I doubt anyone would pay any attention (certainly not the ICC, definitely not the media) because it is a positive.

why should he be praised for achieving the legally required minimum?

He went better than the minimum, had South Africa still been in, 95 overs would have been bowled.

[FD88]

Barring a ridiculous brain snap we won't take another wicket and they'll declare with a 100 or so run lead.

Talking about ridiculous Why TF would they declare 100 up when they are 9 down

To have a chance to bowl tonight?

1-0 up in the series with plenty of time int he game SA are happy to get a draw here, no sensible reason to declare, every run above AUS is valuable

Dutchy, if that's the case then they can't ever hope to get to the top and stay there. You play to win every single match and a draw should only occur in the process of trying for a win and running out of time. Any other approach is not good enough and not becoming of a genuine top side imo.

Also to answer your question, given it took us pretty much all day to get rid of Steyn there was reason to believe it could take a long time to remove the final wicket. If the Saffers were in a mindset that a top side should be and they were still nine down in the dying stages of the day, they'd probably be wanting to use that final portion of the session to pile pressure on our top order; a declaration wouldn't be out of the question. NFC answered this far more concisely but I thought I'd expand on it anyway.

It's only a ridiculous approach if you're not always playing to win (which is ridiculous in itself).

[ubeauty]

a very ordinary day's play by the Aussies............certainly one of the worst i have seen in a very long time..........but full credit to South Africa, they played extremely well...........
i have no doubt they will win this series, they are quality and have a great fighting spirit something the Aussies have lost of late............

[Adelaide Hawk]

I didn't watch any of it today and luckily i didn't, the score sums it up.

What a sh1t day for Australian Cricket.......

The only good thing that comes out of it, no Lee for a while!

poor form Hoff...
Lee was mis-managed by the Australian side through a pivotal point of his career.
I feel had he spent 12 months as the 3rd/4th bowler in the side, instead of 12th man, he would be far better for it now.

Yes, they didn't have Lee today, and it was a real help wasn't it? People who just love to criticise Lee just annoy the hell out of me.

I also feel the ACB have mismanaged Lee by sending him to India despite his personal problems, and then continuing to bowl him even though he was ill. Once they sent him to India (I wouldn't have) he moment he showed he was suffering they should have put him on a plane and sent him home to rest.

Instead of having a fit and healthy Brett Lee bursting at the seams from the start of the Aussie summer, we had an unfit, unwell fast bowler in need of a rest. The way we treat genuine quick bowlers in this country really needs attention.

This habit of sending off our Test team to play elsewhere just prior to the Aussie summer has to stop. If would have been far better for Lee, Clark, etc to cut their teeth in a Sheffield Shield match than on the roads in India.

[locky801]

Looks like a 6 to 8 week recovery session for Lee, yet now they are saying the injury cannot get any worse and they may well bowl him in the 2nd Innings. FFS, letg the guy have total R&R, get himself back to peak fitness and then perhaps we can sit back and see if he can get back to somewhere near his best.

[topsywaldron]

Fire up the BBQ Matt.