***Official*** South Africa in Australia 2012

[Burgey]

Commentators discussing the importance of a batsman running on the field and past the fielding side.

Love the in-depth analysis.

And now onto the visiting team's slips cordon. FMD

[ajdude]

heals in getting touring team member's name wrong shock, more at 10

[hazsa19]

Philanders bowled more bad balls this morning than during his entire tour of England

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Ruckus

Na just saw highlights, he shouldn't have got out to that imo. He basically looked like he changed his mind right at the last moment, despite it being on a line that could have easily been left. Gotta stop making excuses for Ponting just because of the class player he is. In the later part of his career he has consistently been getting out to decent, but by no means amazing, deliveries. People can go on about the whole Chappell line of "he has just been unlucky, and has often been on the receiving end of very good balls early on", but that's pretty bull**** imo. You're not unlucky over such a long period, and in any case everyone is subject to good balls early on, but that's what having good judgement about what to play at and what to leave is all about. Someone like Amla is an absolute master of it atm. Ponting has probably improved from where he was at a year or two ago, but I think that dismissal yesterday was more of a remnant from his past rather than particularly good bowling.

Yeah Top Cat be fumin'

[Burgey]

Chapps now confirming Rob Quiney's was the greatest debut 9 in the history of Test cricket.

[Jono]

Everybody needs to get around Ed immediately. Best knock of the match so far (come at me Amla).

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Burgey

And now onto the visiting team's slips cordon. FMD

What are they saying? Too close or too deep?

[Top_Cat]

Originally Posted by Ruckus

Na just saw highlights, he shouldn't have got out to that imo. He basically looked like he changed his mind right at the last moment, despite it being on a line that could have easily been left.

That's the point. It's not making excuses, it's the reality of good bowling against good bats. Against a **** like Ponting, unlike bowling at blokes at lower levels, unless you're a genius, you're not going to beat him with pace, you're not going to frighten or intimidate him, you're not going to expose a damn-near impeccable technique, you're not going to bore him out and, worst of all, once he gets past 30 or so, your chanes of getting him at all decrease dramatically. So now what? Short of conceding a triple ton and declaring the match over, you need to bowl in such a way to affect his decision-making and make it harder for him to know whether to play or not. Bowling on the stumps or even a few cm outside won't do it, he's far too good for that and he'll either leave it safely or pick you off which, in some ways, is worse than conceding a boundary.

Morkel's extreme pace makes the decision about whether to play or not that much harder. Truth is, once you pass a certain level of cricket, watching the ball out of the hand is only part of puzzle to solve to play quicks. You need to look for other cues to tell you about what the bowler is going to do and your decision-making processes have to change or, well, you simply won't be out there long enough to figure it out anyway.

If your only criteria for whether he shouldn't play is 'Was it on the stumps?', that ignores the reality of playing against good bowlers. And, I might add, if you're a bowler and you think like that, the level of cricket you'll play will be limited until you wake the **** up and bowl accordingly.

[morgieb]

Great stuff Ed.

[ajdude]

ian, they can't hear you, the horse is already dead son

[Burgey]

Originally Posted by Jono

What are they saying? Too close or too deep?

Too close, babeh

[sonnench]

Good god, the commentators will not shut the **** up about the slips.....

[Burgey]

If those little animated men were the Australian team of the 90s, I'd love to operate it to make second slip walk over and knock the keeper out.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Jono

Yeah Top Cat be fumin'

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

That's the point. It's not making excuses, it's the reality of good bowling against good bats. Against a **** like Ponting, unlike bowling at blokes at lower levels, unless you're a genius, you're not going to beat him with pace, you're not going to frighten or intimidate him, you're not going to expose a damn-near impeccable technique, you're not going to bore him out and, worst of all, once he gets past 30 or so, your chanes of getting him at all decrease dramatically. So now what? Short of conceding a triple ton and declaring the match over, you need to bowl in such a way to affect his decision-making and make it harder for him to know whether to play or not. Bowling on the stumps or even a few cm outside won't do it, he's far too good for that and he'll either leave it safely or pick you off which, in some ways, is worse than conceding a boundary.

Morkel's extreme pace makes the decision about whether to play or not that much harder. Truth is, once you pass a certain level of cricket, watching the ball out of the hand is only part of puzzle to solve to play quicks. You need to look for other cues to tell you about what the bowler is going to do and your decision-making processes have to change or, well, you simply won't be out there long enough to figure it out anyway.

If your only criteria for whether he shouldn't play is 'Was it on the stumps?', that ignores the reality of playing against good bowlers. And, I might add, if you're a bowler and you think like that, the level of cricket you'll play will be limited until you wake the **** up and bowl accordingly.

YESSSSSSSSSSSsss

[Burgey]

Couple of these straight drives from Clarke have been sublime this morning.