Aus v SA

[PowerBug]

What needs to happen for Australia obviously is get early wickets again and put RSA in trouble. Remove the two batsmen out there, get Prince and de Villiers at the crease.

[BratPack]

I think we can take only one lesson from last night..


Say it with me folks


Michael Clarke: Still a knob

[ossie85]

The test would've been over in 2 days - possibly 1 - if not for Clarke!

Not a fan of Clarke, and don't want him to be captain, but clearly our best batsmen atm

[PowerBug]

Michael Clarke: knob of a captain.

[Voldemort]

The test would've been over in 2 days - possibly 1 - if not for Clarke!

Not a fan of Clarke, and don't want him to be captain, but clearly our best batsmen atm

I would be inclined to think that Watson or Hussey are the best batsmen in the team atm. Clarke is just having a good game, a very good game

[Cicjose]

i keep telling you Clarke can only have a good game when the rest of the team is playing terribly that is why he will always be picked

[c4v3m4n]

Some interesting statistics about the current game...

• 23 wickets fell yesterday, which is the highest in over 100 years. In fact, only three times have more batsmen been dismissed in a day, and all of them before 1903. The record stays at 27, in a Test at Lord's between England and Australia in 1888.
• Australia were bundled out for 47, which is their lowest score in, once again, over 100 years.
• South Africa's innings lasted only 24.3 overs, which is their lowest since their readmission to Test cricket.
• For only the third time in Test history, some part of all four innings of a match were witnessed in a single day - Australia lost two wickets from their first innings and all ten in the second, while South Africa were bundled out in their first and then lost a wicket in their second.
• For the first time in the history of Test cricket, a batsman from both sides was dismissed twice in a day: for Australia, Michael Clarke suffered that fate, while Jacques Rudolph was the unfortunate batsman for South Africa.
• In Australia's second innings, Nathan Lyon, the No.11 batsman, top-scored with 14, which makes it only the eighth instance of such an occurrence. Bizarrely, three of those have happened in Cape Town.
• When Australia's ninth wicket fell in their second innings, their score was 21. The last wicket put together 26, more than double the runs scored by all the previous wickets. That's only the second such instance - the only previous such example was in a drawn Test between England and West Indies at The Oval in 1980. In their second innings, England lost their ninth wicket at 92, but eventually finished with a total of 209.
• Shane Watson's 5-wicket haul was the fourth-fastest in history at only 5.0 overs. South Africa's Vernon Philander took his five wickets in 7.0 overs, making it the equal eleventh-fastest.
• Also, Philander's haul is the fifth best on debut for a South African player.
• Jacques Kallis suffered his first duck in 4 years, his last coming at the 2007 Boxing Day Test against the West Indies.
• Conceding a 188-run deficit in the first innings, if South Africa manage to win, it'll be the biggest first-innings deficit that they've turned around into a victory. The previous largest was 148, also against Australia in Durban.
• If Shane Watson takes three wickets in the coming innings, he would have taken more wickets than runs scored. 

:o :o  :o

[Cicjose]

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/sport/cricket/time-to-clear-the-test-slate-20111111-1nam7.html

In so many ways, Australian cricket has reached a juncture where important strides can be taken, or pointlessly and potentially dangerously delayed. Given what has transpired in this Test, it's perfectly valid to wonder what players like Ricky Ponting, Brad Haddin and Mitchell Johnson, among others, can really contribute to the future well-being and success of our Test side.

[BratPack]

The test would've been over in 2 days - possibly 1 - if not for Clarke!

Not a fan of Clarke, and don't want him to be captain, but clearly our best batsmen atm

But he's still a knob  :P

[Cicjose]

can we just play this team in the first test of the summer

Watson
Warner
Finch
Ferguson
Khawaja
Paine
Pattison
Krejza
Smith
Copeland
Hilfenhaus

Henriques
Wade
Coulter Nile
Cummins

[PowerBug]

can we just play this team in the first test of the summer

Watson
Warner
Finch
Ferguson
Khawaja
Paine
Pattison
Krejza
Smith
Copeland
Hilfenhaus

Henriques
Wade
Coulter Nile
Cummins

lol, no.

Not warner, tail is too long, and there's no Ryan Harris.

[Torpedo10]

I agree with PB. Ryan Harris is a key to the Aussies team.

[Cicjose]

and is too old

[Voldemort]

can we just play this team in the first test of the summer

Watson
Warner
Finch
Ferguson
Khawaja
Paine
Pattison
Krejza
Smith
Copeland
Hilfenhaus

Henriques
Wade
Coulter Nile
Cummins

pretty terrible team there, no offence, but absolutely no experience there, and Finch?!

[Cicjose]

we dont need experience we need guys who are playing well and finch is the best number 3 we have coming through that isnt on the wrong side of 30