Tag Archives: cricket

Australia in South Africa 2014: Australia’s 3rd test selection conundrums

February 25, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

Much has been made in the media over the last 24 hours of who will play for Australia in the 3rd test at Newlands starting on Saturday.

To me it is simple: if Shane Watson is fit, and by fit I mean able to bowl a minimum of 15 overs a day, he must play and he must bat at number 6. Shaun Marsh must come out of the current side. Two reasons for this: first, he was an injury induced replacement for Watson in the first place and second, Michael Clarke MUST bat at number 4. Marsh’s hundred at Centurion was a great knock but a pair at St George’s seals his fate.

There are broad grumblings about changing the bowling attack. I can not countenance such a move for these reasons:

1. The inclusion of Watson will release some of the workload on the core fast bowling trio how were, understandably, tired by the end of the 2nd test.

2. Pattinson and Bird have not played in a red ball cricket game (other than a centre wicket practice) since their injuries in England over six months ago. We can not expect them to step up into this last test off no significant bowling.

So for me there is only one change: Watson for Marsh. If Watson is not fit by the criterion noted above I would be tempted to play Henriques in Marsh’s place but would only do so after looking at the pitch.

Anymore changes than those posited here would just be a knee jerk reaction to a single loss and would be neither good for the balance of the team nor its harmony.

Australia in South Africa 2014: 2nd Test Post Mortem

February 24, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

When I went to bed last night at tea on the fourth day of the second test match at St George’s Park I was confident of one thing: Australia would make South Africa work for its victory.  I woke up at about 3:30am, as men do, and on my way back from the bathroom checked the cricket score on my phone and was proven spectacularly wrong. Having lost 9-88 after the tea adjournment, Australia was thrashed by the Proteas by 231 runs.

Australia, even the Captain admits, was outplayed in ever aspect of the game by the South Africans in this test match and with five days now until the 3rd and final test match have much to work on to best the best team in the world.

Here are my 5 key issues arising out of the 2nd test match that Australia need to address:

  • Don’t blame being one bowler short: Much has been made in the press about Australia being one bowler short in this game with Shane Watson recuperating on the sidelines.  It would be fair to say that the Australians did look like they were missing that fifth bowler to churn through some key overs but one must not forget that South Africa were also a bowler short once Wayne Parnell hurt his groin after bowling just over 8 overs. The fact is Australia’s bowling attack did not get the job done.
  • It can’t all be about OMJ: Mitchell Johnson has bowled brilliantly in the last 6 test matches and showed glimpses of brilliance in this test match however on a wicket that did not support him and against an opposition more attuned to the game than their brethren in English colours he did not have anywhere near the effectiveness as in previously test matches.  Unfortunately, at the same time, neither of Peter Siddle nor Ryan Harris had enough impact to compensate.
  • Australia still can’t play reverse swing: Don’t get me wrong: the South Africa’s bowled immensely well on day four and, indeed, throughout the whole match.  That said, Australia’s performance against the reverse swinging ball on day 4 was horrid at best.  They had no answers for it from any of the South African quick bowlers and particularly Dale Steyn.  I do not know that there is an easy fix for this however if Australia do not find a way to combat reverse by Saturday they may find themselves in significant bother.
  • No middle order heroics puts top order in focus: I wrote earlier in the test match about the frailty of Australia’s top order and again in the second innings of this test match the top order, after the opening gambit of Rogers and Warner, was found wanting.  After excellent performances at Centurion, Doolan and Marsh looked out of their depth against the quality fo the South African bowlers and gave only meek resistance in both innings.  Unfortunately for them the trio of Clarke, Smith and Haddin could not save their metaphorical bacon as happened in Australia during the Ashes.
  • Stop the verbal: I have been lamenting for some time the prevalence of ‘verbal” interplay in Australia’s game plan and again in this game I am certain that verballing the opposition did nothing to enhance Australia’s cause.  For the avoidance of doubt, I have no cavil whatsoever with sledging, but there is a time and a place for it.  That time and place is not when you are getting hammered by the opposition.  From Michael Clarke’s statement about Graeme Smith’s captaincy through to David Warner’s ongoing need to chirp about everything. Australia as a team needs to have a long look at how it uses “the verbal” because it seems in this game it only served to give ammunition to the Proteas.

All in all it was a pretty sorry test match for the men in baggy green.  One would be remiss though to not mention some excellent performances that were left unrewarded by defeat:

  • Under pressure for his spot, in my view, Chris Rogers played exactly the innings that he was selected for in England.  Gritty and determined he looked largely at ease against the swing of the South Africans whilst around him the others perished.  As bizarre as it may seem this could well have been a career saving knock for “Buck”.
  • Despite my chastisement for his “chat”, David Warner was the pick of the Australian batters, Rogers’ hundred aside and again showed how destructive he can be.  He needs to bat for longer though obviously.
  • Nathan Lyon was Australia’s best bowler and was rewarded with a first innings “Michelle”.  Maligned by many before the Ashes in England it says a lot about this blokes character that he is now mentioned in the same breath as some of the best spinners in the current game at the moment.

So the Australian’s leave Port Elizabeth with much to work on and a confident opponent to defeat and head to Newlands in Cape Town where the South African’s have an imposing records since reintegration back into the international game.  Indeed, the only country they have lost a test match to at Newlands is Australia (1994, 2002 and 2006) and go into this match on an 11 game undefeated streak (including 3 draws). The series is certainly well poised.

Australia in South Africa 2014: Australia’s top order struggles in focus

February 22, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

I have been saying for some time that Australia’s top order has been inconsistent at best and out of form at worst for some time now.  The Ashes victory in Australia was built not off the back of top orders runs but the efforts of, principally, Brad Haddin with the willow and the bowlers.  Over night, after a respite of sorts in the first test, Australia’s top order limitations were again brought to the fore.

On an innocuous wicket on which Australia’s much vaunted bowling attack was made to bowl some 150 overs, no top order batter, David Warner aside, was in the long enough to construct an innings.  Now, those of you who read this blog who lament that I am often far to negative when it comes the Australian cricket team, consider these statistics:

  • Australia has played 16 test matches in the last 12 calendar months (including the test match currently in play).
  • During this span Australia has batted 31 times (again including the current innings).
  • Australia’s average score when the third wicket has fallen in each innings (excluding the one innings where the 3rd wicket was not lost) was 95.
  • Australia’s average score when the fourth wicket has fallen in each innings (excluding the two innings where the 4th wicket was not lost) was 134.
  • Those numbers, low as they are, are skewed by a couple of excellent partnerships.  Of more concern is that 18 occasions out of 31 possible innings the Australian top order has failed to reach 100 before three wickets were lost (or 58% of the time).  For the fourth wicket the numbers are not better: 12 times in 30 possible innings Australia has not reached 100 before the fourth wicket has been lost.

These numbers have to be a concern for every Australian cricket fan.  Whilst they have been winning, they have not been doing it through runs at the top of the order.  That fact is most explicitly seen when one considers that during the span of six wins Australia has recently has in a row has failed to pass 100 before losing its 3rd wicket on six out of eleven occasions and before losing its 4th wicket on five out of ten occasions.

The injection of Doolan and Marsh has not improved Australia’s top order based on last night’s evidence and, whilst the captain continues to score big hundreds on occasion, he has also been getting out regularly before reaching 20 which is putting the middle order under more and more pressure.

I do not know that there is an easy solution given that Australia has continued to tinker with its top order throughout this span of 16 test matches.  Equally, if there is one area in which Australia’s performance needs to improve it is in this area.  In India and in England the cracks in Australia’s top order could not be filled enough to secure enough runs to lead Australia to victory.  In Australia, against a woeful England, it did not matter as it also didn’t at Centurion.  Now that Australia faces the prospect of a suddenly resurgent South African line up with a lead to defend it is again up to the middle order to bail the top order.  One is starting to wonder how long this can go on before these top order struggles begin to burn the Australian team again.  I, for one, hope that test match is not the present one.

Cricket: Australia in South Africa 2014, Second Test Preview

February 19, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , Leave a comment

The second test between South Africa and Australia kicks off tomorrow night at St George’s Park in Port Elizabeth. Off the back Australia’s thrashing of South Africa at Centurion Park by 281 runs all of the pressure is on the home team to break Australia’s streak of wins at six without Jacques Kallis whilst also rebuffing Mitchell Johnson’s willing attack.

Aside from the performance of AB de Villiers with the willow in both innings there is not a player in their line who did not underperform in the first test match. With the ball the “best bowling attack in the world” was put to the sword by Australia’s inexperienced top order. In particular spinner Robin Peterson was outclassed and seemed bereft of ideas. With the willow Mitchell Johnson had his opponents on the back foot right from the start. In the field: things fell swiftly apart for the Proteas, so much so that dropped catches became the norm. Simply put: they have much to improve on in this game.

For the Australians, the first test match was a repeat of many of the performances of the Ashes series. They were in trouble in the first innings until a big partnership saved the innings. The bowlers dominated the opponent’s batters and benefited from some loose shots. Then in the second innings they benefited from a David Warner century. As bizarre as it is say it (considering I am talking about a team that has won six test matches in a row): there is still room for improvement to be made in Australia’s performances particularly in the top order batting.

The biggest battle in this game though presents as the battle between the captains and the back room tacticians. Michael Clarke bested Graeme Smith in the captaincy by some distance in the first test match. Indeed from the moment Smith won the toss and bowled Clarke was ahead of him in the captaincy battle. Further though Australia seemed to be much better prepared and had more refined plans for what they intend to do for each of the batters and bowlers they would face. South Africa conversely seemed bereft of ideas and without a plan B once their usual processes failed.

Australia will select the same team for this fixture, injuries permitting, which is the benefit of winning by such a margin. South Africa though have decisions to make at the top of the order and in the spinner ranks as well finding a replacement for Ryan McLaren who has been ruled out with concussion. With St George’s Park likely to play more like the Adelaide Oval than any other Australian ground the role of the spinner will be vital in this second test.

Sitting over all of this is the spectre of whether South Africa has adjusted to the loss of Jacques Kallis. Simply put: he is irreplaceable but the hole he has left is one that an attempt at least needs to be worked on in this post Kallis era.

I predicted a South African series win at the start of this series in part because I thought there was a question mark over the form line of the Australians coming out of the issues. Australia’s performance in the first test match, albeit still with room for improvement, has shown that they can beat the South Africans but it must be admitted that this was a South African team that was operating significantly below their usual par. I expect the South Africans to improve but whether they have enough improvement in them to best the on a role Australians is questionable. Given the likely pitch conditions I am tipping a draw in this game which will go a long way to, ultimately, an Australian series victory.

Play commences at 6:30pm Brisbane time. Umpires for this fixture will be Richard Illingworth and Ian Gould with Aleem Dar in the TV chair.

Brendan McCullum: a series for the ages

February 18, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , 1 Comment

The test series between New Zealand and India has just ended with the Black Caps victorious 1-0. The player of the series by a very long way the New Zealand captain Brendan McCullum. Simply put: there has rarely been a better performance by a batter in a test series of only two matches in length in recent member. For those interested in the statistics, they make compelling reading: 535 runs, highest score of 302, 2 hundreds at an average of 133.75 per innings.

McCullum’s performance in this series goes further than just his batting efforts. Against a more highly ranked outfit, McCullum’s captaincy has been in equal parts aggressive and inspired. In particular his marshalling of his bowlers in the second innings of the first test when the Indians looked favourites to chase down a total of 400 plus was excellent. Additionally, his gritty performance in forestalling a loss that seemed inevitable will only serve to add to the legend that will be written about him in this series.

Long thought of as a, essentially, short form player masquerading in white clothing in the long form of the game his efforts in this series will prove only to solidify his reputation as a quality player across all forms and an excellent leader of his country.

New Zealand’s next test series are both away in the West Indies (after the T20 World Cup) and then at the end of the year against Pakistan (which one assumes will be played in the UAE): these series will present an opportunity for McCullum and the New Zealand team to press for a further jump in the test match rankings and to prove that home success is transferrable to when the Black Caps are travelling which has always been a significant problem in the past for teams from the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Till then, I hope the Black Caps celebrate this series win long and loud into the night. Whilst India is not a great away performer in the red ball form of the game they are, nonetheless, a massive scalp.

Australia in South Africa 2014: 1st Test ponderings

February 16, 2014 By in Shumpty Speaks Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Let’s get this out of the way at the outset: this win by the Australian cricket team was their best performance in at least the last 24 months.  Yes, Australia defeated England but this was a win against the best team in the world.  A team that had not been bested in 19 test matches was just destroyed by the Australian team.

Mitchell Johnson bowled better than at any time during the Ashes series and that is saying much.  He bowled with pace and hostility but also, when the pitch changed, he threw in some excellent variations.  The ball of the game that showed Australia’s out and out domination of this game was in the last innings: Hashim Amla, one of the best batters of the last 5 years, was struck by a Johnson thunderbolt on the grill of the helmet.  This was a ball that Amla did not appear to see it and was rocked on his heals which is exactly what the Australians did to South Africans all game.

Another example of Australia’s dominance of this game and, indeed, an indication of just how well Australia played is that this test is the first in this current winning streak in wish Brad Haddin was NOT needed to play a significant role with the willow.

For the South Africans, Graeme Smith will be rueing his decision at the toss which will go down in history as a akin to Nasser Hussian’s toss imbroglio at Brisbane in 2002.  He will also be rueing lapses in the field that are so unlike the South African team that one suspects that they have to be an aberration at best. There is much to work on and much improvement in this camp: they must come up with a plan for dealing with Mitchell Johnson and they must find a way to get Dale Steyn fit for the first morning of the next test match.  They also must seek to reverse the trend of Australia coming back from adverse circumstances which has been the cornerstone of their wins in the last 6 test matches.

This is a golden 6 months for Australian cricket: every strategy that Michael Clarke seems to put in place, at least since the first day at the Gabba in November, has come off.  The batters that are being plucked from Sheffield Shield cricket without semblance of form are performing at the top flight. I can not remember the last time an Australian team played the same four bowlers for 6 test matches in a row.

There is a short turnaround between this test match and the next: the second test commences on 20 February.  As I wrote yesterday, Australia will select the same  team for the second test regardless of the fitness of Shane Watson.  South Africa have to look at their spin bowler selection and also have to look at what they do at the top of the order.  I expect both Petersons to be missing from the next test perhaps with Amla to open.

This result, more than any of the last six wins, has the feel about it that Australia has defeated a team of, at least, equals rather than a team in decline.  If the same result arises in the test match though then questions will be asked about whether this is a South African team in decline too.  It certainly will be interesting to see how the second test evolves right from the toss of the coin.