Australian Domestic Season: 2012-2013

South Australia defeated Tasmania by 82 runs in the Ryobi Cup match at Bellerive Oval today.

Set 249 to win, Johan Botha ripped through the Tassie lineup claiming 4/29 and Paine, Bailey and Ponting all fell victim to Jake Habberfield (3/35) in quick succession after a decent start from Mark Cosgrove and Tim Paine.

Earlier in the day, Hughes had posted 114 (134) and Botha a quickfire 55 (52) to reach 248/8 off their 50 overs.

Apparently WA are sniffing around Katich to take over as skipper, he rejected that before the season started so doubt it will happen.

Thanks LB for starting this.
The move to SA seems to be benefiting Hughes. And good to see Johan Botha doing well. Interesting to see how he would go about in the FC matches.

Australia A side for tomorrow's match vs the South Africans at the S.C.G.

Phillip Hughes
Rob Quiney
Liam Davis
Alex Doolan
Steven Smith
Tim Paine (wk)
Moises Henriques
Andrew McDonald (c)
Glenn Maxwell
Nathan Coulter-Nile
John Hastings

I'm not sure I like the balance of that team but maybe CA is not wanting to give too much away. No Burns, nor any Queenslander for that matter which seems a bit harsh. The batting seems a bit light too. There are better in-form pace and spin bowlers going around currently who have also been left out for whatever reason.

SA Squad:

Graeme Smith (c)
Hashim Amla
AB de Villiers (wk)
Jean-Paul Duminy
Faf du Plessis
Imran Tahir
Jacques Kallis
Rory Kleinveldt
Morne Morkel
Alviro Petersen
Robin Peterson
Vernon Philander
Jacques Rudolph
Dale Steyn
Thami Tsolekile (wk)

Anyway, I'm still looking forward to going to this match just to see the South Africans show their wares against this motley group of players.

The likes of Peter Forest and Usman Khawaja still in the frame for test selection in the near future? Bit surprised with that team selection for the practice match.

It seems they are way down the pecking order now, msp.

Ponting and Cowan both failed yesterday in their SS first innings... weather wasn't too good in Hobart though.

Scorecard for Australia A vs South Africans:
http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-south-africa-2012/engine/current/match/573006.html

Having seen Khawaja in county and international action I'd say he's not good enough.

Forrest is OK but if you want a player from that category in my view Bailey and Marsh are better bets...

Shelsey93 wrote:Having seen Khawaja in county and international action I'd say he's not good enough.

I'm interested you're quite so categorical. I think technically Khawaja ticks all the boxes - I've seen him bat a few times (against New-Zealand, South Africa, England) and for me the guy oozes class, reminds me a bit of a young Ian Bell. What he does seem to have though is a knack for getting out to innocuous deliveries and indeterminate shots. Not terrible deliveries, and not god-awful shots, but he just has a waft, or doesn't get forward to cover the spin, or... and gets out. Inexplicably. Like his sweep in his very first innings, or when he nicked a Tahir googly to slip, or the drive against New Zealand during the loss. Just "nothing" shots.

Unlike Ian Bell (who when he started suffered from a lack of confidence, not helped by the media deciding he was the new Ramprakash), I think part of this is his natural make-up in that he seems to me to be quite "happy with his lot" - he doesn't strike me as someone who will put the hard yards in the practice nets, and bust a gut for the team. Whether this is curable or not I don't know. But to write him off as "not good enough" strikes me as odd, given what I've seen.

Pat Cummins out for four months and set to miss the whole Aussie Domestic season, and unlikely to be fit for the Ashes in England next year. I do hope that this won't be the pattern for his career, he does have so much potential.

http://www.ecb.co.uk/news/world/cummins,320069,EN.html

Australia A 325/7 at stumps on Day 1 of the match vs the South Africans.

Had a great day at the SCG yesterday. I sat just beside and in front of the players pavilion... a few feet from Rod Marsh and John Inverarity.

Hughes went cheaply for 5 runs - clean bowled by Kleinveldt after Liam Davis had succomed to a Dale Steyn delivery for 10 runs. McDonald came and went quickly for 0 but then there was a decent partnership between Quiney and Smith.

Conditions were near perfect for batting - fine with a slight breeze but the gap where the Bradman/Noble stands were maybe has changed the dynamic of the ground. Quiney caught by Smith off another beauty off Steyn for 85. Shot of the day for me was a textbook cover drive from Smith off Kleinveldt. He then fell for 67 - lbw Tahir. Henriques then went cheaply before Alex Doolan and Glenn Maxwell put on a 133-run partnership. Maxwell was caught by ABDV off Steyn late in the day.

Steyn and Kleinveldt were the stand out bowlers and worked hard all day. Tahir went for quite a few runs but picked up two wickets. Philander 0/76 off 18 overs but he still looked fairly comfortable. I got a few good snaps of the players coming off the ground - the vibe of the SA team was very positive. Honours fairly even given the batting conditions.

Rain overnight but it will probably clear up. I actually got a little sunburnt - and I'm paying for it this morning - although it certainly did not seem hot in the morning but the Aussie sun can be very unforgiving!

Oh, and I said "Hi" to Paul "Pistol" Reiffel. Very nice bloke and a good umpire too.

No Kallis or Morne Morkel... who was carrying the drinks at one stage.

Here's a review of the day's play...

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-v-south-africa-2012/content/story/589382.html

where is Ed Cowan who opened agaainst India...is he in scheme of things?..and what about shaun Marsh ?

Sometimes when I see Smith I feel he would have been considred and gotten more chances as a specialist batsmna had he not been bolwing his part time leg breaks

Perhaps "not good enough" is a little harsh, but I just don't think he scores the runs you want from an Australian top order player.

Room for improvement of course, but I expect him to be well down the pecking order.

I've always felt that the early criticism of Bell was a media invention - for whatever reason he was never fully accepted until the tour of SA in 09/10 despite having scored quite a few hundreds (including 3 or 4 in a row in 2006), an 199 v SA, 50 on debut and a couple of important 50s in the '09 Ashes. I always rated him highly.

Quite often he batted six and that led to other batsmen (often KP) grabbing the headlines when Bell put in a good display. And then given the popularity of the rest of the top five (Strauss, Cook, KP, Colly) he became a scapegoat for 51 All Out...

---

Terrible to hear Cummins out again... does he bowl too fast, is he unlucky, still growing or does he have a dodgy action (injury-wise)?

Ed Cowan plays against SA, KPF.

The jury remains out, after mixed returns at the start of his Test career. Sometimes he just seemed to be trying too hard to live up to his billing as 'the last of the blockers/ leavers' against the new ball. On a couple of occasions he got bowled leaving...

I like him, but Marsh should be applying the pressure.

He's playing in a Shield match, KP_F.

I also heard Ponting has done his hamstring and left the field.

Poor scores from Warner (2), Watson (33), Clarke (8), Cowan (6), Punter (5) Hussey (3 after 65 1st innings), Wade (8).

I feel the same about Smith. He should be concentrating on his batting.

Khawaja is 36* batting with Joe Burns in the NSW-Qld Shield match at the Gabba.

Often happens with people who bowl leg-spin - get built up early on because of the 'potential' when realistically they don't have the consistency to be better than part-time.

Plenty of people have fallen into the trap of picking leggies because they are a leggie - just look at Ian Salisbury, Chris Schofield, Adil Rashid to some extent and even Cameron White (when Australia somehow came to the conclusion that his part-timers were sufficient spin for a tour of India)

I think Cummins is where Finn was a couple of years ago - needs to bulk up and strengthen his action as currently it puts too much strain on his fairly lanky body. Once he does that I expect he'll be fine.

I've always liked Steve Smith - a few years back his leg-spin had fantastic potential, but then he got the yips rather badly. his batting is unorthodox and as yet a bit inconsistent, but he is very talented; perhaps if he concentrates more on his batting he could be good enough. Plus his fielding is worth the entrance fee on its own.

Australia are insisting that Ponting's injury is nothing serious. Make of that what you will.

https://2img.net/r/ihimg/photo/my-images/72/pics012w.jpg/

Image shack playing up on me a bit... can you guys see the 6 photos?
Taken with phone - apologies for quality of the snaps. One there of Alan Donald.

Smith can be as a batsman to Aus's ODI and T20 side what Morgan is to England.......and add to that his electric fielding........turned fielding into an art form this IPL......and the boyish exuberance and passion every moment of his cricket...he was a great package even without an over of spin bowling given to him in his 16 games

I'm pretty certain Ponting will be fit.

Steve Smith has gone in and out of favour with me. I think his batting (at least in limited-overs) is not dreadful, and his fielding great.

But I see his spin as part-time and think he lets the teams he play for down too often with the bat for an international player.

Could well still be a handy ODI/ T20 player though.

Seems Shane Watson is set to add to that atrociously long list of injuries. Very unfortunate for Australia if he is to miss any part of that South Africa series.

It is a mild calf strain - same one as last time.
Hopefully he went off as a precaution and it will be fine for next week.

I've been a bit quiet on here recently but I hope to make more regular posts soon.

Just watching on TV:

They've discovered some decent footage of Australia's 1932 Tour of Canada and North America (prior to the 1932 Ashes Series) recently in a box in an attic in Canada.

Quite good quality film.
The Don had just married his childhood sweetheart Jessie. He looks so relaxed sitting on canvas chairs with Stan McCabe, Victor Richardson & Co having a good laugh.

There's also vision of him sweetly dispatching some deliveries along the carpet ("hitting them along the ground makes it harder for them to get you out" as he said).

He also scored over 3000 runs in matches like these (non-FC) at an average of over 102.

Yeah LB, more regular inputs please.

The Big Bash has just begun so Sheffield Shield and Ryobi Cup matches are put on the back burner for about 8 weeks.
Both of those competitions will recommence on January 27.

Sheffield Shield Table:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sheffield-shield-2012/engine/series/576078.html?view=pointstable

Ryobi Cup Table:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/ryobi-cup-12/engine/series/576079.html?view=pointstable

Big Bash League:

http://www.espncricinfo.com/big-bash-league-2012/engine/series/571220.html?view=pointstable

LB would you explain a bit about the point system in the Sheffield Shield?

msp83 wrote:LB would you explain a bit about the point system in the Sheffield Shield?

A win (irrespective of the first innings result) - 6 points

A tie (irrespective of the first innings result) - 3 points

A first innings lead in a drawn or lost match - 2 points

A first innings tie in a drawn or lost match - 1 point

A loss on the first innings - 0
An outright loss after being behind on the first innings - 0
Abandoned or drawn matches with no first innings result - 0

*Quotient (team's batting average divided by its bowling average) is used to separate teams which finish on an equal number of points.
*Teams can be penalised points for failing to maintain an adequate over rate.

Check this out for the history, etc: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheffield_Shield

Any points for a drawn match for the team that falls behind in the first innings?

No.

It used to be more complicated with bonus points for batting and bowling in the first 100 overs of each team's innings but that was scrapped a while back.

The bonus point debate has gained renewed significance in India recently. The BCCI technical committee had made changes in the Ranji format and point system this year, still teams aren't quite doing everything possible to produce an outright result every time, although they are trying a bit harder towards the latter part of the tournament.

Don't think giving no point for a fighting draw is a good move though.

Why should they get a point for scoring less in their 1st innings in a drawn or no result match?

Fair enough for a 1st innings lead which ends in a draw though.

Players also have to learn to fight it out and save a losing match isn't it? Sometimes even a draw has to be earned, and that has to be rewarded. The du Plessis match against Australia? Ponting at OT in 05?

That's part and parcel (learning to fight it out) but I still wouldn't give points for a team behind on the 1st innings who manage to earn a draw and score less runs than the other team.

The Victorian Bushrangers will meet either the WA Warriors or Qld Bulls in the Ryobi One Day Cup final.

The Queensland Bulls have won the Ryobi One Day Cup Final beating the Bushrangers by 2 runs (D/L).

After struggling to 146 in 32 overs, they bowled out Victoria for 144 in a rain affected match at the MCG. It's the 6th Finals loss for them in the last 7 years now.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia-domestic-2012/engine/current/match/576137.html

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/story/622826.html

No. Final wins since the One Day comp was formed here in 1969/1970

WA 11
NSW 9
Qld 9
Vic 5
Tas 4
SA 3
NZ 3

Tasmania have won their 3rd Sheffield Shield.

The Final in Hobart was a draw but that was enough for Tassie to secure the Shield after finishing with a better quotient.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/626848.html

It was quite a congested Final Points table in the end.
There were only 4 points separating top from bottom and 0.555 between the highest & lowest 'For & Against Quotient'.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/sheffield-shield-2012/engine/series/576078.html?view=pointstable

noticed there was no big bash thread this season...LB are you following it?

Yeah, sorry mate. I'm actually watching some now in between overs from the SA-India test.

I've just updated the links in the OP.   



Some great recent BB matches. 

Thunder very unlucky to lose to the Strikers the other night. Set 153 by Adelaide, they got off to a hopeless start... 20/3. Then enter Mike Hussey. He and Morgan smashed it around... amazing batting. After Morgs got out the scoring stalled. Then the Huss himself got out with only 7 runs needed.  They bottled it. 

Then last night - probably the match of the BB season so far. The Heat piled on 209 runs but the 'Canes snatched it scoring 10 runs off the last 2 balls. Some massive hitting.

You watching it?

Saw some of the Hussey hitting...impressive.

Don't get around to watching much BB myself , despite constant CA exhortations to do so landing in my in- box.
Partly a feeling one who watches so much International cricket and spends hours trying to play the blessed game should try to balance his life with other more serious pursuits    - and give his wife and child some attention occasionally.
And partly I can take only so much watching muscular batters smashing hapless bionic bowling machines into the next suburb...but a little of it can be fun .
Probably last night would have been one to select for watching. But the movie was good instead....

I'm a bit the same. There's enough proper cricket on all the time (this time of year) and I need to change the scenery too!   

I find the commentary so annoying.  Who is that 'other guy' in the box... Andy Maher?

Ricky struggles for words compared to Gilly - who is doing his best to play the straight man with Flem and Junior carrying on like 'comedians'. OK, Flem is fine but Mark Waugh has some sort of chip on his shoulder... always trying to make others feel uneasy. He even dared to have "a go" at Sir Viv but Viv certainly out-cooled him and returned serve with interest. I also find Mark Howard (who?) irritating.

I think the young lass Mel McLaughlin is easy on the eye.... after a long day in the sun.
Her little interviews with Beefy at The Duke have been good fluff.  

Viv could out-cool anyone .

Must check out this McLaughlin chick...

Ponting as a commentator drives me crazy!

I like Punter! Tries to talk too fast at times, but talks done sense. Give me him over Strauss anytime!

Top knock by Jos today too!

Jordan Silk's catch. That's pretty much it. Absolute worldie.

Perth got home today by 3 wickets against the hurricanes.

Scorchers beat Sixers in a super over.. Arafat knocked over the sixers for 2 in 4 balls in the super over, and Voges knocked off it off 1st ball in the reply.

Thunder won for the first time in about 19 matches... beat the Renegades.

Trust my luck I didn't pick 'em....

cf, that super over for the 6ers was a complete disaster. What was Smith thinking? Silly attempt at a Dilshan scoop which failed miserably.
They only scored 1 run and lost 2 wickets.

Sixers play Hobart tonight at the SCG.
I'm sort of torn between the 2 Sydney teams. Essentially, I should be a Sixers fan (by origin) but having moved out here I have a soft spot for the Thunder... or "Tunder" as Sir Viv says... and I would like to see them do much better.

Oh well... maybe next year?

Good to see Pat Cummins back and bowling quick again. Hard to believe he is still only 20...