***Official*** Australia in South Africa 2013/14

[Tangles]

Actually, very few top order bats can even cope with consistently fast, accurate, body bashing stuff. Even more so when there's no let up because the other bowlers are ao accurate and pose different problems themselves. Johnson's action, that slingy sort of release makes it even harder.

You know what to expect, but you still can't deal with it, and it's a physical threat too. It's the most god-awful feeling in the game.

Harris, Siddle and Lyon along with Mitch has quickly become a very good combination. Watson is handy but not essential as long as everyones fit.

 

[burr]

I know I'm Australian, but this is the most exciting team to grace cricket in years. I hope the BBC comms from the Ashes are looking at this and realising maybe they should have focussed a little more on how good this team actually is right now, instead of how bad England is, huh Boycott? Nothing better than a fast bowler, except for Warne early 90s maybe. Wow. I love test cricket.

 

[Sean Flynn]

I wonder.

Would you blokes still be crushing us and the Saffers without MJ? I mean would Siddle, Harris etc bowl Australia to victory in Test match cricket?

It's a funny old game.

 

[harsh.ag]

Thank you Mitch Johnson for reminding me that I had gotten dull with age. No more telling any of the boys at school to emulate McGrath if they can go on and become real fast bowlers !! I know, I know, McG is a real fast bowler too..

 

[Shri]

*Medium fast.

 

[YorksLanka]

Well done to Aus on a comprehensive win. Johnson has been fantastic and throughly deserves the wickets he is getting. As a neutral, i am disappointed that SA didnt perform better withthe bat. For me, Alviro Pieterson and Du Plessis are not good enough to be top level and the top 5 depend heavily on Smith/AB/Amla..as others have commented before, the Aus bowlers are hunting as a pack but in reality, its Johnson making the damage..

 

[Tromperie]

I make that 49 wickets @ 13 for Johnson in his last 6 Tests - how does that compare in terms of hot streaks in Test history?

Khan took 62 wickets in 1982 at just above 13. My cursory glance can't find anything similar in terms of number of wickets combined with average.

 

[frey]

Great team and great to see Aussies dominate world cricket once again!!

 

[BoyBrumby]

I wonder.

Would you blokes still be crushing us and the Saffers without MJ? I mean would Siddle, Harris etc bowl Australia to victory in Test match cricket?

It's a funny old game.

The 3-0 loss in the 2013 Ashes sans Mitchell suggests not, obviously.

Siddle's a very good test bowler and I bow to no-one in my admiration for Rhino, but it's pretty clear what the catalyst has been.

 

[Shri]

Alviro and Vijay should open in the longer format for some domestic side. Survivor gets to face Ishant and Sami.

 

[frey]

I wonder.

Would you blokes still be crushing us and the Saffers without MJ? I mean would Siddle, Harris etc bowl Australia to victory in Test match cricket?

It's a funny old game.

Cricket is a team game. Could MJ be crushing teams without the other 10?

 

[Eds]

I make that 49 wickets @ 13 for Johnson in his last 6 Tests - how does that compare in terms of hot streaks in Test history?

There was obviously the aforementioned Imran streak but IIRC Malcolm Marshall had a stretch where he averaged 14 over about a year, with a similar number of wickets to Mitch.

EDIT: yeah -- 50 wickets @ 14.54 for MM. Would argue it was even more destructive given that it included a 7-22, and a 6-32, as well as 2 other 5fers.

Syd Barnes had 100w @ about 10, McGrath had a bit of a ridiculous run circa 2000, and I suppose you could include big Vern's early career too.

 

[Garson007]

I can't believe the calls to drop Faf. He has shown amazing amounts of grit. He's not the most talented, but he could be our Collingwood.

Ultimately we have to bowl Australia out for sub 300 scores. We're just not going to win otherwise. McClaren is not going to cut it - we need another strike bowler; get Hendricks in there. If they really want to keep Morkel in the team then have him tie down an end - as he has been doing at times; just not aggressive or smart enough for a strike bowler. Do we need a spinner? Maybe it's time to try Harmer if they think we do. Get Elgar in for Alviro; he'll like the St. Georges pitch most out of all our batsmen. Duminy? Eh. What can I say. Keep him if we don't go with a spinner else replace him with Van Zyl/De Kock.

 

[Flametree]

Whatever happened to Ashwell Prince? Not many batsmen average over 40 then just disappear from the scene. I think the Saffers have to take the gloves off de Villiers and get him up to 4. Or maybe,,, didn't he once open? - Alviro looks more like he belongs in the NZ team.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

I said this before the series started and I will say it again, RSA needs another batsman.

 

[GotSpin]

Oh yeahhhh

 

[Flametree]

In terms of bowling hot-streaks, the closest I can recall to Johnson is Waqar Younis, who also carried the threat of injuring batsmen - mostly their feet and toes rather than their bodies and heads, but he did have a slippery bouncer too...

From his 6th to his 14th test - against NZ, WI and SL admittedly - he took 61 wickets at 14.6, and in one of those tests he didn't get to bowl, so very nearly 8 wkts per test. And between his 18th and 25th tests (against Eng, WI, NZ and Zim) he took 63 @ 15.4. At that point he had 143 wickets at 18.5.

 

[Hooksey]

Mitch Johnson & team in clover for the 6th Test in a row.

 

[TimAngas]

I assume now that one or more of Petersen, Peterson, Mclaren and Duminy are going to be dropped. From a South African perspective is Dean Elgar really the man going to get put in, maybe even as an opener? I know he has a good FC record and all and made that mammoth innings against Australia A last year, but this was the guy who was bounced out for a pair on test debut by Johnson. Why not blood QdK for a top order role, or at 6/7 as the gloveman because he's clearly the most talented young batsman in the country.

Surely they won't bring back Imran Tahir considering how scarred he'd be from the Clarke first day Adelaide massacre? It'd have to be another quick and I'm assuming one of Abbott, Hendricks or Kleinveldt?

 

[Hooksey]

I assume now that one or more of Petersen, Peterson, Mclaren and Duminy are going to be dropped. From a South African perspective is Dean Elgar really the man going to get put in, maybe even as an opener? I know he has a good FC record and all and made that mammoth innings against Australia A last year, but this was the guy who was bounced out for a pair on test debut by Johnson. Why not blood QdK for a top order role, or at 6/7 as the gloveman because he's clearly the most talented young batsman in the country.

Surely they won't bring back Imran Tahir considering how scarred he'd be from the Clarke first day Adelaide massacre? It'd have to be another quick and I'm assuming one of Abbott, Hendricks or Kleinveldt?

After a performance like that, how much difference is one change to the line-up going to make? They need to find a way to combat Johnson. It's that simple.

Or hard? Depending how you look at it.