Check out http://www.thearmchairselector.com later this evening for my vodcast with Jeremy Irvine talking about cricket including reviewing the First Test between Australia and South Africa from the Gabba.
Monthly Archives: November 2012
Australia v South Africa, First Test: Player Ratings
The first test of this summer of cricket in Australia has come to its inevitable conclusion at the Gabba this afternoon with the teams playing out a draw. Here are my ratings for the Australian and South African players from this game:
Australia
Cowan: 9 out of 10
In his first test match at the Gabba and seemingly under pressure to perform by players churning out runs at domestic level, Cowan scored his maiden test match century and did so in an assured fashion that belied his relative inexperience at this level. A great test match for a still underrated player.
Read more here: http://thearmchairselector.com/2012/11/australia-v-south-africa-first-test-player-ratings/
Australia v South Africa: will Day 5 lead to a dreary draw?
Day 5 of the 1st test of this summer of cricket has dawned with Australian in an impregnable position 37 runs in front with 6 wickets in hand. With 95 overs to play it seems that the only genuinely available result for the teams at the end of today is a somewhat “dreary” draw.
However, with South Africa, it must be conceded, out of the game for Australia to win they will rely on the follow keys to success:
1. Getting the declaration right: Forget what the fools in the Channel 9 commentary box were saying yesterday: there was never any chance of Michael Clarke declaring whilst the Australian’s had their metaphorical foot on the throat of the South Africans. This is a 3 test series and breaking down the South Africans yesterday was much too important. Today however is a different story: making the declaration will be essential to any prospect of victory. So when is the right time? It strikes me that with the fire power in the South African batting line up at least 55 overs will be needed for the necessary 9 wickets to be taken which means a declaration 30 minutes after lunch is around the mark.
2. Will the real James Pattinson please stand up? There is some thought, and statistical back up to support it, that Pattinson bowls better in the second innings of games. Certainly last time out at the Gabba for Victoria, Pattinson cut a swathe through the Queensland batting order in the second innings to take a 5 for and, indeed, on debut against the Black Caps last year bowled one of the best spells seen at the Gabba in some time in the second innings of that game. If Australia is any chance of success Pattinson must fire today.
3. How will the pitch play? It would be pretty fair to say that the pitch is fairly benign at present and is just excellent for batting. This wicket has all the hallmarks of the pitch put out in the 1st test of the 2010 Ashes series when England, anchored by 235 not out from A Cook, batted for an extended period to save the game. I don’t expect any demons in the wicket today on the basis of that evidence and the evidence of yesterday. A pitch so benign will do Australia no favours.
4. Where are the South Africans mentally? Yesterday would have been a massive shot to the ego of this very good South African team. Much vaunted as the best bowling attack in the world they failed to take a wicket by ordinary means and were dominated by a batting line up under broad questioning about form and selection. Whilst I have no doubt the South Africans are a bit flat this morning over their eggs on toast, this still is the best team in the world so I expect them to come out mentally prepared to save the game today. This again will do Australia no favours.
So where does all of this leave us: I think it is pretty safe to say that today will petter out to a dreary draw at around 4pm Brisbane time. There is just too much class in the South African batting line up for there to be any other result. As an Australian fan though I am allowed to dream and if all of a sudden the South Africans are 3 down for not many chasing 180 odd to avoid an innings defeat it might be the right time for Australia to exorcise the demons of Sydney in 1993.
Australia v South Africa: will Day 5 lead to a dreary draw?
Day 5 of the 1st test of this summer of cricket has dawned with Australian in an impregnable position 37 runs in front with 6 wickets in hand. With 95 overs to play it seems that the only genuinely available result for the teams at the end of today is a somewhat “dreary” draw.
However, with South Africa, it must be conceded, out of the game for Australia to win they will rely on the follow keys to success:
1. Getting the declaration right: Forget what the fools in the Channel 9 commentary box were saying yesterday: there was never any chance of Michael Clarke declaring whilst the Australian’s had their metaphorical foot on the throat of the South Africans. This is a 3 test series and breaking down the South Africans yesterday was much too important. Today however is a different story: making the declaration will be essential to any prospect of victory. So when is the right time? It strikes me that with the fire power in the South African batting line up at least 55 overs will be needed for the necessary 9 wickets to be taken which means a declaration 30 minutes after lunch is around the mark.
2. Will the real James Pattinson please stand up? There is some thought, and statistical back up to support it, that Pattinson bowls better in the second innings of games. Certainly last time out at the Gabba for Victoria, Pattinson cut a swathe through the Queensland batting order in the second innings to take a 5 for and, indeed, on debut against the Black Caps last year bowled one of the best spells seen at the Gabba in some time in the second innings of that game. If Australia is any chance of success Pattinson must fire today.
3. How will the pitch play? It would be pretty fair to say that the pitch is fairly benign at present and is just excellent for batting. This wicket has all the hallmarks of the pitch put out in the 1st test of the 2010 Ashes series when England, anchored by 235 not out from A Cook, batted for an extended period to save the game. I don’t expect any demons in the wicket today on the basis of that evidence and the evidence of yesterday. A pitch so benign will do Australia no favours.
4. Where are the South Africans mentally? Yesterday would have been a massive shot to the ego of this very good South African team. Much vaunted as the best bowling attack in the world they failed to take a wicket by ordinary means and were dominated by a batting line up under broad questioning about form and selection. Whilst I have no doubt the South Africans are a bit flat this morning over their eggs on toast, this still is the best team in the world so I expect them to come out mentally prepared to save the game today. This again will do Australia no favours.
So where does all of this leave us: I think it is pretty safe to say that today will petter out to a dreary draw at around 4pm Brisbane time. There is just too much class in the South African batting line up for there to be any other result. As an Australian fan though I am allowed to dream and if all of a sudden the South Africans are 3 down for not many chasing 180 odd it might be the right time for Australia to exercise the demons of Sydney in 1993.
David Warner: time to consider a “mature age” apprenticeship?
Much has been made in the lead up to the current test match being played at the Gabba about question marks, alleged or otherwise, over the form of Ed Cowan. In the context of Cowan’s sparkling century today, has the time now come to move one’s withering gaze to the other end and directly at the form of David Warner?
At the outset, I must concede that I was not a fan of Warner’s initial elevation to the Test team. I thought it was all to quick and in part was based on Warner’s marketability rather than his technique. Equally, based on form last year I was moved to concede that I had been narrow sighted in my early assessment of Warner’s elevation to the top squad after he impressed with a gritty century in his second game in Hobart.
The steady tick of time and further consideration of Warner’s play in more recent times reveals that maybe my initial assessment was right and now is the time to be considering his position in the team.
Three key factors are in play in making any consideration of this issue my view:
First, the statistics: in 10 test matches, Warner averages 39.60 with the willow having made 594 runs in 17 innings. In 2 of those innings Warner scored centuries, including his epic 180 in Perth against the Indians. In 10 of those innings however Warner has scored less than 10.
Second, it has to be acknowledged that Warner has become one of the faces of the game in very short order. This is an issue that vexes me but must be acknowledged because it could well prove very difficult for Cricket Australia to drop Warner without upsetting its commercial partners.
Third, there are some obvious replacements now knocking fairly heavily on the door. Test discards Hughes and Khawaja have had new leases of life in their adopted states, whilst the man presently occupying the number 3 slot in Australia’s order could also do the job at the top of the order should the opportunity arise. These players are all players who have been mentioned as possible replacements for Ed Cowan so why shouldn’t they be considered as possible replacements for Warner?
A question arises here that needs to be considered in the context of this debate: is Warner’s start to his career all that bad compared to those openers that have gone before him? Matt Hayden’s first 10 test matches yielded 413 runs at an average of 25.81 and one hundred. Justin Langer’s first 10 test matches yielded 402 runs at an average of 26.80 and one hundred. Pure numbers suggest that Warner’s start to his career is in fact better than those both of those legends of the game. However, one also must consider that during that span of 10 test matches Hayden was dropped 3 times from the team and Langer was dropped 4 times from the team.
This leads to me to the thrust of my argument in this blog which is this: Warner has the talent to be a top line player for a long time. However, he has not done an apprenticeship in first class cricket before his entry into the test cricket and thus his game is not yet to a state properly refined for the rigours of the top flight of the game. Of his 22 first class games as at today, 10 of those have been test matches. Contrast this to Ed Cowan who is presently playing his 80th first class game of which 72 have been first class fixtures.
Whilst there are two players knocking vociferously on the door in Hughes and Khawaja, the question must be asked as to whether David Warner’s time would be better spent playing first class cricket rather than face the best fast bowlers in the game. Time spent in the best domestic competition in the world would only serve to round the edges of his presently fairly rough game and would, I have no doubt, lead to him coming back a better and more complete player.
Langer and Hayden were dropped, often, and came back stronger having spent upwards of three full seasons in the Sheffield Shield competition. Indeed once they were given time to develop, and dominate, in the Sheffield Shield competition they returned to the “top flight” at the peak of their respective games and then dominated test match cricket too.
I, for one, think that now is the time for Warner to be given time to undertaken a “mature age” apprenticeship in the Sheffield Shield competition, given the quality of replacements waiting in the wings and the current state of Warner’s own form. I know this is an unpopular view, but on form AND in order to make him a better player, there is no time like the present.
I can only hope that the commercial imperatives linked to Warner’s selection do not play a part in any decision regarding his place in the team. It will be a sad day of that is the case.
Australia v South Africa, Day 4: The Keys
An intriguing day beckons at the Gabba today, with today’s action being determinative of whether the game petters out into a boring draw or whether the Proteas are striving for victory on Day 5. I consider there are 5 keys to today’s play that will determine which course the game takes:
1. The Clarke Factor: Say what you like about his captaincy since taking the reigns from Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke has made a fine art in recent times of coming to the wicket with his side three wickets down for not many and righting the ship. So it was again yesterday, as the captain strode to the wicket with the score on a precarious 3-40 and again he righted the ship to put the innings back on an even keel at 3-111. His appetite for big runs last year shows he can bat for long periods and he will need to today to secure what would be honourable draw for his team.
2. The Kleinveldt Conundrum: South Africa’s fourth bowler did not set the world on fire yesterday and will be needed today in the humid heat of the Gabba to bowl a tighter line and to keep the runs to a minimum while giving spells to his more vaunted counterparts Steyn, Morkel and Philander. Without a recognised spinner and seemingly seeking to limit the overuse of Kallis’ back, overs from Kleinveldt could be a determining factor in whether Australia can bat out the day.
3. DRS Drama: Yesterday again saw the DRS system come into play and again saw a wicket overturned as a result of a missed no ball call. Regardless of your views of the technology is it abundantly clear that it is playing a role in the outcome of this fixture. Success today could well hinge, in addition to the bowlers delivering legal deliveries, on who uses the DRS technology the best. South Africa did not loose one of their challenges last night on the Cowan referral so both sides still have two challenges at their disposal.
4. Fever Pitch: Most pundits have noted that the pitch has been slower than it had been in previous years and on the evidence I have seen there can be no denying that. Today presents as a different proposition with blue sky and beating sun being the order of the day. This will dry out the wicket and, as usually happens at the Gabba, make it harder and faster. This could well be a double edge sword for both teams: for Australia it will be become better for batting and for South Africa it will more suit its fast bowling quintet than at any time during the game. Which team uses the changing conditions to their advantage will be the victor of Day 4.
5. Lock it in Eddie: Yesterday we saw just how effective Ed Cowan can be as an opening batsman for Australia. He was judicious in his leaving and when the ball was in “his wheelhouse” he pounced. Impressively he played the way all cricketers have been coached since day dot: he rolled his wrists on his horizontal bat shots and played them along the ground. Today is a massive opportunity for Cowan to force feed the pundits (principally on social media) who don’t think he is up to the test stage a large piece of humble pie.
As I said in the preamble, an intriguing day beckons at the Gabba. First ball will be bowled at 9:30am and I for one can not wait.
Shumpty Speaks 