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Unfortunately the 3rd test was won by Australia. There is no worse sight in world cricket than seeing the Aussies winning…

It started badly for South Africa when Australia won the toss. Winning all 3 tosses has certainly helped Aus, but this one had the greatest impact as the pitch condition was a major factor.

Winning the toss and getting the best batting conditions was extremely useful. The Aussie batters threatened to get away numerous times but were pegged back by some determined South Africa bowlers. However the long duration in the field, some poor catching and fielding and Aus desperation enabled the tail to wag and Australia ended up with a match winning total of 445, when they could’ve been restricted to 300-350. Interestingly the average first score at the SCG over recent times has produced an average first innings of 448, so South Africa didn’t fare too badly.

I thought Kallis and Harris bowled well, but the fast bowlers lacked a bit of zip and didn’t make the Aussies play enough early on. My one criticism of South Africa is we still don’t attack the stumps enough. When we have a bowler like Steyn who bowls fantastic yorkers, we need to utilise that. Bowling outside off too often, where the batter doesn’t have to play limits your modes of dismissal and opens up too many scoring options for little risk. When you bowl straight, you have more wicket taking options – bowled, LBW, caught keeper, caught slips…You have to try and hit the top of off stump as a stock delivery. It’s not that difficult to understand!

Our batting started off reasonably badly. McKenzie is out of touch. He was never a long term proposition. Drop him now and replace him with someone who we can develop. The Aussie bowling lineup was pathetic, we should have scored 500+. We made them look very good. In fact we were batting on a minefield whereas they were batting on a very easy batting wicket. Amla, Kallis, DeVilliers have all got to start converting starts into hundreds, and win us games (like Duminy in Melbourne). We have relied way too heavily on Graeme Smith to win us this series, although he has delivered superbly.

With over a 100 run deficit, we were always going to struggle batting last on a wearing pitch. Our bowlers looked tired, and we were sluggish in the field. The pressure on our batters in the 4th innings was simply too much. We fought bravely but it was not to be. I blame our middle order.

Of concern has been AB DeVilliers. He started off the series so well and then just seemed to vanish. In the field he has been anonymous after 4 fantastic catches in Perth. This obviously has affected his batting too.

It was a pity to see us lose. 2-0 would have been much better than 2-1. With the one dayers and 20/20 series to come before a return test series, the Aussies have gained valuable momentum. Our one day unit is nowhere near as polished, as we look to build for 2011. We could suffer big time at the hands of a Australian team desperate to win something. As I stated before Amla, Kallis and De Villiers hold the key in our middle order batting. Without the leadership and run making ability of Smith, their roles are even more vital.

The return of Herschelle Gibbs could be a match winner but I fear it is a poisoned chalice. Every now and then he produces an innings like he did at the Wanderers, but by and large he underperforms. At his age he is not going to be around much longer, we are better to put younger guys in. I am excited to see what Vaughn Van Jarsveld can do. I don’t think Morne Morkel will be in the side, but his brother Albie now needs to step up to centre stage and show us his tremendous talents. It could just elevate him into the test arena at his brothers expense.

Here’s hoping for a South Africa win on Sunday and a chance to put the Aussies under pressure.

A first series win for South Africa in Australia. The first win by an overseas team in Australia for 16 years. It has been fantastic!

South Africa came to Australia having planned for this tour for 3 years. Whilst no one in Australia believed they would be a genuine threat, they have managed to astonish the Aussie players and public.

We started off fantasticly well on the opening morning in Perth, having Australia 3 for 16. At this stage I believe we got too defensive and instead of attacking and going for more wickets, I think Smith opted for the “lets wait till they get themselves out” approach. This didn’t work as Australia took back the initiative at times and their tail could attack us. It has been my criticism for years, we need greater belief in ourselves. I think the first 2 days showed we hadn’t had enough hard cricket recently, and our bowlers looked like they weren’t match fit.

Australia got a competitive total of 375, but I felt we had their measure with our batsmen. Whilst we got a good start, the pressure got to us and we threatened to throw it all away with a spell of decent fast bowling from Mitchell Johnson, but worse application from our batters.

We were able to regroup mentally more than physically, and managed to restrict Australia so that our total was not out of reach, although something that was large from a historical perspective. But with a bit of application on a decent pitch, all we had to do was bat sensibly, and let the aussie bowlers tire themselves out. What a fantastic victory it was. I have mentioned for some time now that Duminy is a player for the future, and I think it is great see him and Amla in the side. I am sure they will show their worth.

What was noteworthy was the Aussie reaction. Channel nine who had another 3 hours of scheduled coverage did not even spend 5 minutes wrapping up the game. No interviews, no nothing. Obviously the second biggest run chase in history wasn’t deemed worthy of coverage? And the criticism of players by the captain was a sad indictment by the losers. Krezja takes 12 wickets on debut and then is dropped after 1 game? For Hauritz? Talk about problems in the aussie camp!

And so to Melbourne, with a spring in the South African step. Whichever team went to Melbourne behind was always going to struggle in a 3 test series.

The opening day was reasonably even, but the Aussie tail got them to a competitive total of 394. South Africa started badly in the chase, again due to poor batting rather than inspired bowling, and we were in deep trouble at 184 for 7. In the past series between South Africa and Australia have come down to Australia winning the key moments under pressure. For once we displayed the guts, determination and courage we played with under Kepler Wessels and Hansie Cronje. Duminy was tremendous under pressure and simply played the type of innings he had too, whilst Harris was not going to surrender and backed himself to attack his way to victory. However when Harris left, there was still a lot of work to do. Steyn showed the most courage of all, getting hit on both hands, and facing some fiery bowling at his body. Slowly but surely the pressure eased off South Africa and onto the aussies, and they didn’t know how to respond. There was no go to bowler, no Warne, McGrath or Lee.

Once we had a lead, we were hardly likely to lose. I am sure that mentally the aussies knew this and simply succumbed to pressure. Ponting was the only player to respond to the pressure but it was too much, once 1 or 2 wickets went down, the rot could not be stopped.

The most pleasing aspect for me was our ruthlessness. We could so easily have reached the target 5-6 down. The fact we were so focused and professional in our run chase rubbed salt into the wound even further. Seeing the Australians so demoralised has been well worth it! Seeing South African pride and how much it means to the players, the team and the country has been even better.

Now it’s off to Sydney and to start the year off well, beat Australia once more and get the number 1 ranking officially

2008 has been a year of change, and I believe cricket has survived it and grown immensely.

It started on the 2nd Jan 2008 with India taking on Australia at the SCG. What transpired has taken this increasingly intense rivalry to a new level. Australia came out top but I thought the umpiring was pretty dubious.

Since then we have had some major changes in the cricketing landscape. The introduction of 20/20 competitions in India was a major change to the schedules. Many top players were playing in the ICL, whilst the majority of the current world elite were playing for ridiculous salaries in the IPL. Both were a resounding success, and are here to stay, changing the cricket schedules forever. In my point of view, I thoroughly enjoyed the ICL too, I see no reason why those players should be banned from test and provincial cricket. I think the BCCI (board of cricket control India) has a lot to answer for and should get their s?*t  sorted out. Why should those who were innovative and prepared to do something to promote and grow the game of cricket be disadvantaged?

Terrorism played a huge role too. Of this I think the ICC and BCCI have shown double standards. The fact that Pakistan got to play no test matches at all in 2008 is a disgrace! Yet when terrorism reared it’s head in India, England displayed the sort of courage and commitment required to ensure terrorists don’t take control. For India to then turn around and say they will not go to India reeks of hypocrisy. The fact remains that India control the game of cricket, and at world level, Pakistan are not big enough to make an impact in the political arena. Whilst we have seen some fantastic test matches this year, it is a shame it has really only involved 3-4 teams. Australia, India, South Africa and just recently England.

With the advent of 20/20 cricket, the one day has not produced a lot of note this year. India beat Australia in Australia, but there were few major tournaments this year. The introduction of the power plays and short boundaries is not something that I think has helped the game. Giving the 3rd power play to batting team also does not help. If anything it over complicates the game. I am not a fan of the short boundaries either. These days you only have to have a huge bat and get an edge on it and it is 4. or get a top edge and it sails over third man or fine leg for 6. I don’t think you should get rewarded for a poor shot. The longer boundaries (especially at the MCG, Calcutta etc) made the game more interesting by working the ball around the field and making the batsmen have to have greater endurance by running a lot between the wickets.

Interestingly all the major cricket commentators (the supposed experts of the game) have stated that India deserve to be ranked the number 1 test team in the world. And Dhoni has been hailed as a revolutionary captain. India are reported to have the most balanced attack in the world and the best batting lineup.

I personally (and I know I am biased) dispute that. South Africa have not lost a series for 2 years…home and away. We have beaten England, West Indies, Pakistan overseas. We have drawn with India, in India.

India on the other hand have not beaten Australia in Australia. They have always been good at home but have struggle overseas. Whilst they have got better, they are still not consistent enough. They have beaten the West Indies and England away, but have been beaten recently by Sri Lanka away and 2 years ago by South Africa. Dhoni may be a good captain, but lets see him captain a side overseas and see how he responds to some pressure situations. I feel Smith has done his hard yards and would be much calmer under pressure. His team would also respond much better as individuals too. The much vaunted bowling attack of India is not as good as many would have is believe. Zaheer Khan is an average bowler, and always has been. Sharma is ok, lacks consistency for my liking and doesn’t do enough with the ball. In any case I hardly think he will rip through a batting lineup. He is more likely to chip a few wickets out per innings. Harbhajan is past his best, and seems to only pick up wickets against the aussies. This is not an attack that I believe can travel around the world consistently damaging batting lineups.

South Africa on the other hand have the 3 exceptional pace bowlers, backed up with Kallis and Harris. All 5 of these bowlers get 2-3 wickets here and there, and then Steyn usually cleans up the rest.

In the batting department I feel it is more even, but if you get Virender Sehwag early, I think India can be in trouble. Dravid and Tendulkar are nowhere near the level they used to be, and Yuvraj is simply not a test player. He is fine on the sub-continent where he can get away with no footwork, but against pace, bounce, swing and seam he is found wanting. South Africa meanwhile have 6 batters who can all stand up and take responsibility.

So in both batting and bowling I believe South Africa are superior to India, and based on results over the last 2-3 years, I think they deserve to have the number 1 spot