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

[Flem274*]

SA chased 400 last time out, and it's about time Australia scored some runs.

Clarke still has about 300 runs still to score himself in the match.

What will happen is Mitchell Johnson will score a big matchwinning ton and you guys will be stuck with him for another Ashes.

 

[Pup Clarke]

In other words,tis a given that Kallis and Amla will depart early on then.

 

[Burgey]

Loved Wade's comment in the press conference, "Yeah, I think the difference was they took wickets and we didn't".

Well, yes.

 

[Top_Cat]

yeah cant say im busting to turn on the tv at 1:30 today. might even clean the gutters or mow the lawn, and I *never* do that stuff, would rather go audition for a Nickelback tribute band and listen to One Direction in the car on the way there.

Damn you Saffers, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ROB.

 

[Spikey]

if kallis and amla survive the first hour, ab will ton up. just to further piss Burgey off

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Curious as to whether this pitch is gradually flattening out or the future (and recent past) of Australian bowling is legitimately crap and Amla is siphoning Ponting's batting-fu out of him.

 

[Son Of Coco]

. Then the bowlers, tired and demoralised by the batsmen undoing all their good work, bowl a bunch of pies and any chance of a win evaporates into thin air.

Disagree with this bit. Looking at the bowling line-up we picked and hoping for consistency was a pipedream. I'm a bit confused as to what the plan was given we were going into a deciding test that could push us to no.1 in the world.

On another note, was lucky enough to get out to the ground yesterday to have a look at the last hour and a half (have been in Perth for a week studying). It's a beautiful place to watch cricket. Thanks very much to the person who left early and gave me their ticket and pass back in. You do have to wonder what the WACA management are thinking though when they still insist on charging full admission right up until the end of the day. Is it better to have 0 people going in at $70 (the only tickets left) for the last hour or so...or 15+ people going in at $10?

The bowling I saw yesterday was way too short, I have no idea what the plan was. Probably saw about 6 balls that were on a decent length from the quick men, the rest were short ****. Still has me ****ed how these blokes apparently have to be constantly reminded to pitch it up.

Great experience getting to the WACA.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Don't think I saw a single yorker or slower ball yesterday. The McGrath school of back-of-a-length only works if you hit the damn seam and land it within 3 metres of the corridor.

 

[Spikey]

hastings bowled plenty of slower balls

Yesterday was the 17th time in Michael Clarke's 17 Tests as captain Australia were three wickets down for less than 100 - at one point they didn't look like making 100

are we close to breaking the record?

 

[uvelocity]

holy **** spikey

 

[Top_Cat]

WACA is like that, though. Guys I know who've played on it say your first 20 balls are really tough but after that, everything seems to hit the middle and rocket to the fence. The margin for error, especially give these ****s are in-form, is very, very little even with good bowling.

Couple that with inexperience, panic, etc. and some relatively crap bowling was utterly punished.

 

[NUFAN]

Utterly punished alright. Also that's pretty crazy and disappointing to hear that stat about 17 times in 17 Tests that we've been 3/100 (or less).

Not sure if its been mentioned yet, but man Alviro Petersen has found some unusual ways to get out throughout the series, they've all been different and he's looked in on most of the occasions (without really domininating) and gotten out quite unexpectedly.

 

[Furball]

to the point where Smith was denied a runner by Strauss

As Ian Healy put it, you don't get a runner for being a fat, unfit ****.

 

[LongHopCassidy]

Yeah, two sessions of nurdling and we're ****ed.

 

[aussie tragic]

Hoping Amla falls for the most common 3rd innings century score at WACA (batsmen scored 115 five times out of 20 centuries)

 

[Pup Clarke]

Loved the sound of a half-full WACA 'cheering' that direct hit.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Amla's driving is beautiful to watch. The shot towards the end of Johnson's last over was sensational.

 

[NUFAN]

I absolutely hate watching bowling machine Johnson, bowls so many deliveries you'd love to face as a batsman.

I miss Siddle and Patto, even Hilfs accuracy.

 

[Pup Clarke]

How close together are Amla's feet when taking guard? Always heard coaches go on about how they should be shoulder width apart - obviously works for him.

 

[Stapel]

Hmmm, Amla wouldn't go for that shot in a somewhat more tense situation, would he?