South Africa v Australia, First Test, Centurion

So the much anticipated series is getting underway tomorrow. South Africa, the number 1 side in the world, will be taking on a confident Australia. South Africa have enjoyed a solid stay at the top of the test rankings, for a year and a half, and the Australians are coming into this series after Thumping, Pulverizing, Thrashing, Humiliating and destroying England 5-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series.
Both sides have quality bowling units, and 4 of the top 5 ranked bowlers will be battling it out, and cricinfo points out, that doesn't even include Mitchell Johnson!. And Morne Morkel as well.
Australia are likely to go in with Shaun Marsh and Alex Doolan for the injured Shane Watson and the dropped George Bailey, the rest of their Ashes winning side should stay the same.
South Africa are likely to bring in one of Ryan McLaren and Wayne Parnell, and move Faf du Plessis to 4, as they contemplate life after Kallis. JP Duminy has some injury concerns going into the match, but he is likely to play.

cant wait to see how SA go in their first test without Kallis...i think the batting will be fine,but i think it will really hit them that Kaillis was easily good enough to be a 3rd seamer in most sides, but as their 5th bowler, he wont be there anymore..

If I had any say in the team selection I would have replaced Kallis with Beuran Hendricks and Duminy with Quinton de Kock.

Sadly Duminy is part of the clique and will therefor play unless he is not fit. I heard through the grapevine that Parnell has the inside track due to him being a left arm bowler.

Whichever this series is going to go I don't exoect many big scores, perhaps one innings of 400 but recently big innings wasn't really all that necessary to force results.

I think the ball is going to dominate at Centurion and Newlands, but one thing is for certain, this will be a hard fought series.

Biltong, how is Hendricks with the bat?

Not worth noting msp.

Biltong wrote:Not worth noting msp.

So you think SA should go in with 5 bowlers? And if de Kock also plays, who would you have taking the gloves? AB or QdK?

I think Quinton could probably be given a place ahead of Duminy, but then again, half the Lions team could probably deservedly stake a claim... Tsolekile has averaged 40 over the last three years. Morris has a strike rate of 47. Stephen Cook has had a good last two seasons. Eddie Leie (our other leggie) has a bowling strike rate of 40. Pity the squad is set up in Cape Town while having a braai at Kallis' house

kingraf wrote:I think Quinton could probably be given a place ahead of Duminy, but then again, half the Lions team could probably deservedly stake a claim... Tsolekile has averaged 40 over the last three years. Morris has a strike rate of 47. Stephen Cook has had a good last two seasons. Eddie Leie (our other leggie) has a bowling strike rate of 40. Pity the squad is set up in Cape Town while having a braai at Kallis' house

Kingraf, can you tell us a bit more about this Eddie Leie guy? Has a pretty decent record for a legspinner, even more impressive that it has come in South Africa of all places. Why hasn't he come into the discussions so much even though SA do not have too many quality spinners? I know Harmer has played for the A side and there was a U-19 kid who played in the 2012 wc who could turn it a bit.......

Thumping, Pulverizing, Thrashing, Humiliating and destroying England 5-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series.


Did you have to go into so much detail Msp   

skyeman wrote:Thumping, Pulverizing, Thrashing, Humiliating and destroying England 5-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series.


Did you have to go into so much detail Msp   

Not even half of the story there, skye!!.

msp83 wrote:

skyeman wrote:Thumping, Pulverizing, Thrashing, Humiliating and destroying England 5-0 in the recently concluded Ashes series.


Did you have to go into so much detail Msp   

Not even half of the story there, skye!!.

NUTS. KP nuts 


2 - 1 for me, slightly in favour of SA.

Ah this series is worth getting out of bed for; and worth missing the Jezza Kyle show as well.

Come on you.....I'm firmly neutral.

Proteas overwhelming favourites. 

We have 4 batsmen averaging near 50 or above. Smith, Amla, ABDV and Faf. 

Whereas only have Pup averaging over 50. And the majority of Australia's batsmen have vastly worse records away from Australia. 

Hopefully Parnell is selected over McLaren as he's been back to bowling over 145kph.  

2-0 Proteas.

Parnell's FC bowling average over 32 is poor, but when he was playing that U-19 WC in 2008, along with Virat Kohli, he looked a special player. He has had issues on and off the field since then, hopefully he's beyond all that and can start realizing the obvious potential.

msp83 wrote:

Biltong wrote:Not worth noting msp.

So you think SA should go in with 5 bowlers? And if de Kock also plays, who would you have taking the gloves? AB or QdK?

Yeah 4 seamers in case Robin Pieterson is being tonked around, and for now I would still give AB the gloves, we have a test series in Zim in August, Quinton should take the gloves then.

msp83 wrote:Parnell's FC bowling average over 32 is poor, but when he was playing that U-19 WC in 2008, along with Virat Kohli, he looked a special player. He has had issues on and off the field since then, hopefully he's beyond all that and can start realizing the obvious potential.

unfortunately Parnell never kicked on after a promising start.

msp83 wrote:Parnell's FC bowling average over 32 is poor, but when he was playing that U-19 WC in 2008, along with Virat Kohli, he looked a special player. He has had issues on and off the field since then, hopefully he's beyond all that and can start realizing the obvious potential.

FC averages aren't the be all to judge a Test player.  

Parnell's rarely much FC as he was often carried around as 12th man. 

He's bowling better now than he has in the last 3 years.

Gerry SA wrote:

msp83 wrote:Parnell's FC bowling average over 32 is poor, but when he was playing that U-19 WC in 2008, along with Virat Kohli, he looked a special player. He has had issues on and off the field since then, hopefully he's beyond all that and can start realizing the obvious potential.

FC averages aren't the be all to judge a Test player.  

Parnell's rarely much FC as he was often carried around as 12th man. 

He's bowling better now than he has in the last 3 years.

Of course averages do not tell us everything. Virat Kohli, Tim Southee and Wayne Parnell were the best players in that U-19 WC. Along with Ravindra Jadeja, they all got senior team opportunities soon enough. While Kohli has emerged as one of the mose exciting young batsmen in the world, Southee established himself as New Zealand's attack leader, and Jadeja showing his utility in all formats, Parnell failed to live up to the potential, I think it can be fairly said. Injuries didn't help, as did the offfield issues, and as you rightly pointed out, being carried around for drinks duties at the international level a bit too much didn't help much either. Lets see what he can produce now, hopefully he has turned a corner in his career.

My current hope is that the Vern doesn't go on a tear and bowl Australia for 36 or something. I have tickets to days 4 & 5 and I'd like to put them to semi good use

kingraf wrote:My current hope is that the Vern doesn't go on a tear and bowl Australia for 36 or something. I have tickets to days 4 & 5 and I'd like to put them to semi good use

  I'm praying lightning doesn't strike twice.... on the same spot.

There should be more chance of this going more than 3 days than the one I had tickets for in January.

I made sure I got there on a sunny Saturday - Day 2... and avoided the pink too.

Some news from the ground.

No chance of rain.
Smith won the toss and will bowl first.
Lots of grass on the pitch, however not a lot of moisture.
Wessels did the pitch report from a batting perspective. He suggests leave the ball as much as possible early on, score off the back foot, play the length ball as late as possible.
Pollock did the pitch report from a bowlers perspective, he suggested you must bowl a little full of a length to get the most ot of the pitch.
There is almost no wind, 30 degrees celcius and 21% humidity,

So Mclaren replaces Kallis.
Makes their otehr wise strong batting a bit weak.
Do they really need a 4th seamer and 5th bowler ?


While Aus bring in Doolan and Marsh.........and this is a stronger batting line-up than the one with watson and Bailey

So McLaren's overall numbers wins over Parnell's potential and the possibility of a left-arm option. Interesting call that, from the South Africans. Decent start from the Australian openers. 14 without loss.

KP_fan wrote:So Mclaren replaces Kallis.
Makes their otehr wise strong batting a bit weak.
Do they really need a 4th seamer and 5th bowler ?


While Aus bring in Doolan and Marsh.........and this is a stronger batting line-up than the one with watson and Bailey

Well that rather depends on how well Doolan adjusts to Test Cricket , does it not ? In truth we don't know yet...
Gerry pointed out earlier that the SA batsmen have considerably better averages than the Australians , other than Clarke. This is true , of course : but it should be noted that the same could have been said of the England batting before Brisbane   

The game isn't played on paper...and people can either improve or go backwards. For what it's worth I fancy SA to edge this series , but not putting money on it.

Smith clearly wanted to get at Australia quickly with the insertion. Philander looks dangerous...

...but Steyn gets the break ! Not the best shot from Warner...

Steyn's on the board!. Warner goes. Australia 15-1.

Early arrival at the crease for the debutant...off the mark quickly at least...

First test run for Alex Doolan.

Yuck horrible shot by Warner

Philander has been the better of the 2 so far, but its Steyn with the wicket. Steyn these days takes a bit of time to get going in a series.

Morkel replaces Steyn, bounces Rodgers on the arm with the first delivery and sends him packing with a second bouncer.

2 down.

Good catch Duminy   

The two "new" players at the crease now ...and under a bit of pressure.

With the 2 left handers gone, Steyn can now settle down more easily and attack the Australian middle order.

I know Gerry wanted Parnell rather than McLaren, what do you reckon, biltong and kingraf?

So far , so good for Doolan.

Marsh gets moving now with a nice drive off Morkel...fifty for two.

Johnson has grown his lucky tash back  

Marsh and Doolan have taken Australia to 61-2. There were a few edges, a difficult chance put down by Hashim Amla, but the 2 batsmen have shown good intent.

Australia 70-2. Marsh and Doolan involved in a good partnership.
Ryan McLaren into his 4th over, his first 3 overs went for next to nothing, but he really doesn't look anything special.

And McLaren strikes!. Robin Peterson with a terrific catch as Alex Doolan goes for 27 on debut.

as i said before the start this Aussie batting line-up looks more organized and competent than the one with Bailey and Watson.......

and also allows Clarke to drop back to No. 5 where he has been prolific and pushes Steve Smith down to more appropriate No.6......always thought mercurial as he is.....No.5 is one position too high for him.



A more optimal batting line-up for Aus then they had in Ashes........which pouts into perspective their win by a mile even with sub-optimal batting.

Rather disappointing bowling effort thus far from the Proteas...

Bowling too short. 

Ryan McLaren justifying his recall. Bowling with great control, swinging the ball away and bowling around 8-10kph faster. 

If McLaren had missed out to Parnell today, it might've ended his hopes of ever getting another a Test cap.

83/3 at lunch. SA session with that third wicket ; though I think Smith might have been hoping for a bit more sending them in.

Important hour after lunch...if Clarke settles in Australia might be on for a decent day : but a quick break after lunch and Haddin might be needed for another rescue act...

Pity Doolan got out after doing a lot of the hard work. Still , not the worst first innings at this level.

by the look of score card SA with 3 wickets down should have won the session.

But having not seen it live...I don't know how bowler friendly the wicket is...it must be bowler friendly is why Smith put them in.

At this rate if Aus are bowled out for 270-300 can't say if that is a par score for the pitch

South Africa's session, just. Australia won't be too disappointed, but they need a partnership or two to make sure they get a competitive score.

Doolan looked OK and will be disappointed at getting out with much the hard work done.

Marsh (kiss of death) has looked pretty solid so far as well.

Terrible shot from Warner - I have nothing against him going after the bowling, but that was nowhere near there for that shot.

The pitch is doing a fair bit, but consistent bounce and pace so value for your shots also. The bounce means most edges will carry so as a bowler you're likely always to be in it. Not a 400+ pitch (unless it flattens out) but not a 150 all out one either. Around 250-300 looks OK and about par, but of course it then depends on how well SA bat and Aus bowl ("par" is pretty much a meaningless word anyway).

Crucial session coming up. If Clarke and Marsh can string together a partnership to get Aus to around 200/4 they'll fancy it. A couple of early wickets and from 100/5 it's asking a lot of Haddin to keep doing his rescuing; I suspect the better quality back-up from SA (as opposed to Eng) will make it a lot harder.

KP_fan wrote:as i said before the start this Aussie batting line-up looks more organized and competent than the one with Bailey and Watson.......

and also allows Clarke to drop back to No. 5 where he has been prolific and pushes Steve Smith down to more appropriate No.6......always thought mercurial as he is.....No.5 is one position too high for him.



A more optimal batting line-up for Aus then they had in Ashes........which pouts into perspective their win by a mile even with sub-optimal batting.

Sorry replacing Bailey and Watson with a debutant and a 7 capper who both average under 40 in first class cricket (and one under 30 in tests) is adding strength to the batting line up ? Really?

I have no idea why Clarke is coming in so low down the order other than that they have assumed (correctly) that the top 3 will offer little resistance to the new ball bowlers.

83/3 batting first when the safricans havent bowled well is not the sign of a new organisation and quality to the batting.

Mike Selig wrote:South Africa's session, just. Australia won't be too disappointed, but they need a partnership or two to make sure they get a competitive score.

Doolan looked OK and will be disappointed at getting out with much the hard work done.

Marsh (kiss of death) has looked pretty solid so far as well.

Terrible shot from Warner - I have nothing against him going after the bowling, but that was nowhere near there for that shot.

The pitch is doing a fair bit, but consistent bounce and pace so value for your shots also. The bounce means most edges will carry so as a bowler you're likely always to be in it. Not a 400+ pitch (unless it flattens out) but not a 150 all out one either. Around 250-300 looks OK and about par, but of course it then depends on how well SA bat and Aus bowl ("par" is pretty much a meaningless word anyway).

Crucial session coming up. If Clarke and Marsh can string together a partnership to get Aus to around 200/4 they'll fancy it. A couple of early wickets and from 100/5 it's asking a lot of Haddin to keep doing his rescuing; I suspect the better quality back-up from SA (as opposed to Eng) will make it a lot harder.

Morning Mike and all distinguished others,

Only saw a bit of the first session but generally go along with that. I got the impression (may be wrong?) that the outfied seemed quite fast. If so, I would have thought Australia should be looking for 300 rather than 250. Anyway, a smallish point and not necessarily on a correct basis.

Ghastly shot from Warner! The ball was never there. An attacking instinct for an opener is fine but judgment is needed as well. Warner could do a lot worse than try and talk to Gordon Greenidge or at least look out some of his DVDs.

I think you are always likely to see that sort of thing from Warner ; he got away with similar poor shots a couple of times early on during the Ashes Series. He can play with a bit more discretion , but when he is feeling confident he is prone to that sort of overreaching . Didn't really surprise me.

Clarke falls for the hook trap ! Four gone , under 100...is Haddin up for another rescue    ?

there is Smith before Haddin......and is Marsh and Smith can put together 70 odd........it won't really be a rescue job by Haddin but rather consolidation

KP_fan wrote:there is Smith before Haddin......and is Marsh and Smith can put together 70 odd........it won't really be a rescue job by Haddin but rather consolidation

True. But that is "IF"...

The South Africans had decided on a short ball plan for Clarke and Dale Steyn was Pumped when the plan workd like a charm.