2009 AUS tour to SA - Tests, T20s and ODIs

[JK8]

Well mac played poorly, amla played poorly, so many played poorly , singling mac out is a bit harsh.

He is the sole reason why everyone played bad, even the bowlers. It his fault the second day was cloudy and the wicket was extra bouncy. Its also because of him that Smith broke his finger and Kallis got hit on his chinny chin chin!!

I heard rumours that Tahir will be an option for the opening spot, if so ill Buy a Proteas shirt!

 

[Stephen]

Naaa sox this is not like the aussies losing in their backyard, we stole that series, they came here and thumped us hard

I am sorry but I strongly disagree with this statement . How did we steal it ? We chased 414 with none of our batsmen given second lives. The second test it was not our fault that Ponting dropped Steyn. I am sick and tired of this "South Africa was lucky in Aus" type comments

We can go on buts and ifs the whole day, What if Smith won a toss ? What if Smith caught Ponting? What if Smith didnt get injured ?

Yes we played badly but SA is not a bad side.

I still think this Aus side will loose series in the future

 

[killadoob]

I am not thinking like that at all but in aus alot of the time we looked dead and buried in both tests. So while it was not lucky i think those 2 wins did flatter us and it could have turned out to be a 3-0 loss in aus as well had they not thrown winning positions away.

Thing is in life you have to be realistic and i think many people know we came back from the dead to win those 2 games and i would say the aussies threw the games away more than we won them, mostly because there were a few inexperienced players who are shining now.

I really thought the Aussies had no chance coming out here and we would win the series but wow they improved 10 fold and so did the new players.

 

[WonderBob]

Well I expected more than "the batsmen know what to do" from you...
Buuut anyway...

7 down, Steyn, Ntini Smithers should stay in, and accept defeat....

come on dude, I said a lot more than that. You said they were told to play for a draw, I disagreed on the way instructions and tactics get discussed and so forth.

Lets just leave it there, but dont try and prove yourself smarter to prove your point.

 

[Stephen]

I am not thinking like that at all but in aus alot of the time we looked dead and buried in both tests. So while it was not lucky i think those 2 wins did flatter us and it could have turned out to be a 3-0 loss in aus as well had they not thrown winning positions away.

Thing is in life you have to be realistic and i think many people know we came back from the dead to win those 2 games and i would say the aussies threw the games away more than we won them, mostly because there were a few inexperienced players who are shining now.

I really thought the Aussies had no chance coming out here and we would win the series but wow they improved 10 fold and so did the new players.

But didnt the Australia of old come back from the dead often, then people said "ah what a great team"

 

[killadoob]

Nope, in test cricket the aussies 9 times out of 10 beat the living crap out of everyone, sure they lost to india but not many teams can go to india and win a series.

Go look at the aussies track record in tests and you will see how amazing they are.

Australia holds the record for most consecutive wins with 16. This has been achieved twice; from October 1999 to February 2001, and from December 2005 to January 2008

You do not acheive this by blocking and leaving deliveries the whole day.

 

[silkman]

yip i agree...however i hope it's not 3-0! I really hope Khan gets a chance- I've seen him bat- looks pretty solid. Mac I'm sorry to say must go for now

 

[Good Life]

Nope, in test cricket the aussies 9 times out of 10 beat the living crap out of everyone, sure they lost to india but not many teams can go to india and win a series.

Go look at the aussies track record in tests and you will see how amazing they are.

Australia holds the record for most consecutive wins with 16. This has been achieved twice; from October 1999 to February 2001, and from December 2005 to January 2008

You do not acheive this by blocking and leaving deliveries the whole day.

Australia always play aggressive cricket. That's why the win.

 

[JK8]

Australia always play aggressive cricket. That's why the win.

Bangladesh always play aggressive cricket.

 

[Good Life]

Bangladesh always play aggressive cricket.

And look where they are... I guess from Australia you can call it controlled aggression.

 

[killadoob]

Bangladesh always play aggressive cricket.

Wow Bangladesh have been in test cricket since 2000, the aussies have 700+ test matches under their belts.

Yea good that is why they win because they are aggressive. They are not a bunch of blocking leaving sissie boys.

 

[JK8]

And look where they are... I guess from Australia you can call it controlled aggression.

You just need to have control in the side, control your team, control the game.
I dont think SA should beat themselves up about this to much.

Chasing the top spot all the time but getting nowhere, i dont think SA will ever be as good as Aus, sneaking the top spot by default or 1 point means nothing imo. If you want first place you better make sure you can hold on to it.

How long is SA chasing this now? 10 years right?

 

[killadoob]

Well we had it at one point

Under shaun pollock i think. Look if you want number one spot you need to run with the top team which for the most part we cannot do.

 

[stefan9]

Mac's international career is over he won't be back again after getting dropped now.

We had a great chance cement our spot after the great win in aus but fluffed it. We weren't beaten by a better side we were beaten because we were arrogant and didn't play to our ability. This aussie side is not better than us. Player for player ability wise we shade it but on this tour our attitude and levels of concentration were pathetic.

Heads need to roll.

 

[Smooth Criminal]

Actually I'm afraid that the series loss is another case of choking when there's something on the line. All this time they played great, but as soon as the #1 spot came into contention then they fell apart. They could have been #1 in Sydney already.

Anyway I'm glad that Mckenzie is gone, and I hope that Ashwell puts in some great performances in Cape Town. Dropping him IMO was the biggest mistake because we needed him this series. Also glad that dropping Morkel should be a wake-up call to the bowlers, although I'm not really expecting much from Parnell. Albie would have been a better replacement so that we could gauge his performance in tests.

 

[Picard]

Australia is the best. Accept it or not. They royally ****ed us up.

 

[Smooth Criminal]

Australia is the best. Accept it or not. They royally ****ed us up.

In the past 18 months they've been pretty mediocre. I'll agree that they f#$%ed us up, but we played crap too. There have to be questions asked when your 2nd innings score is almost tripled your 1st innings.

 

[stefan9]

Actually I'm afraid that the series loss is another case of choking when there's something on the line. All this time they played great, but as soon as the #1 spot came into contention then they fell apart. They could have been #1 in Sydney already.

Anyway I'm glad that Mckenzie is gone, and I hope that Ashwell puts in some great performances in Cape Town. Dropping him IMO was the biggest mistake because we needed him this series. Also glad that dropping Morkel should be a wake-up call to the bowlers, although I'm not really expecting much from Parnell. Albie would have been a better replacement so that we could gauge his performance in tests.

Albie is still in the squad, he was part of the squad for kindsmead and is still there for newlands.. I reckon he will play before Wayne. Parnell isn't ready yet imho.

 

[killadoob]

Stefan judging from this performance and the last could parnell really do any worse?

 

[AirWolf]

http://content.cricinfo.com/rsavaus2009/content/current/story/394673.html

Prince returns as captain for third Test

Neil McKenzie's Test career is at the crossroads after he was dropped along with Morne Morkel for the third Test in Cape Town. Ashwell Prince will return to the side as captain to replace the injured Graeme Smith and Prince will also take Smith's role as opener, alongside the Dolphins batsman Imraan Khan, who is in line for his Test debut.

Albie Morkel has a chance to make his first Test appearance having been retained in the squad, while the uncapped fast bowler Wayne Parnell has also been included. McKenzie and Morkel have paid the price for their indifferent form during this series and McKenzie also failed to have a significant impact during the tour of Australia.

...

Interesting move to let Prince open the batting.

The home series has been truly disappointing thus far. After our series victories, people were talking about the end of an era of Australian domination.

But did we play exceptionally well, or did the Aussies play exceptionally poorly? Vice versa for the home series?

The end of an era looks merely to have been a blip on the radar, a tiny dip that lead to premature conclusions.

It is not like we don't have the talent, but what we do with it, is what really counts. We hate losing especially against the Aussies, but until we can get the mental game under wraps, we will never be as good as them, unfortunately.